Electives For Sale !!

Today some of the Professors pitched their respectives subjects to the MBA batch. They tried their best to make us believe that the subject they were teaching was most pertinent for an MBA.

When I walked into the hall, I had 90% made up my mind of opting for Finance II and Strategy. However, as always there was a twist in the tale.

The first one was Finance II: Very articulate, a good sense of humor... did not take me long to be convinced even further.

Second one was Organisational Analysis II: After my sleepy state in DEM, which seems like a pre-cursor to this elective, I had decided not to even consider this one. However, the paper seems to be a good match between Strategy and Implementation, and the course structure is extremely practical, with class presentations included. I decided to consider it.

Next was Macroeconomics: The Professor here did not seem half as animated as my dear Macro Professor from college (Dr D.K.Sethi). He did not refrain from advising us that Macroeconomics is the favourite subject of discussion during Investment Banking interviews, and would be more useful than NPV and IRR (Finance Stuff for the uninformed) .. Although I am keen on the subject, I was not convinced entirely. But it is still under sonsideration.

Then came Strategy II: This turned out to be a bit different from what I expected.... it was more focussed towards a budding entrepreneu wishing to start a techie firm .. or the like.

The last pitch was by Prof. Linda Scott, who will be teaching a new paper - Marketing, Culture & Society. This is her first year at Said.... but she appeared very confident of herself, and was the only one who dared to mention that this would be a toughie. (the Finance professor was the other extreme mentioning that anybody with a GMAT of 400 would pass Finance II ... Now that's a big joke considering majority of the class is already struggling with the first assignment of Finance I )

I really liked the content of the last paper. I will onl have to consider the fact that there is another core marketing paper next term.

Net net ... I am pretty confused on the second Elective to take .... Will probably check the Core papers of Term 2 and Electives of Term three and then decide.

I better get back to my Finance Assignment ...... I am looking at a future in this paper after all ... He He !!!!

Diwali In Oxford

Well this was my first Diwali outside India ..... and I could very well feel the difference. missed family and the 'patakas' ..... but I will be wrong to say it was dull. We had a great time.

On Friday, we had a Diwali BOP at St Anthony colleg, which was organised by the Oxford Indian Society ..... The place was completely packed with desis and students of other nationalities. There were these particular two guys i found very amusing..... they had loosely tied turbans ..... more 'Osama like' than Indian. :)

We finally got back around 1:30am ...... worked on the DEM assignment till 3:30am ... and then went to school Saturday morning for some 'catching up' studies.

A number of us met up at Ravi & Shweta's place for dinner (Yummy Thai food) .... I got a little feel of Diwali at their place as there were some 'Diyas' (earthen lamps for thos with poor GK)... And ...... I also ate Ben & Jerry's icecream ..... 'Chunky Monkey' and 'Peace of Cake' .... these are innovative flavours of B&J ..... and we all concluded that 'Ben & Jerry's does have a sustainable competitive advantage'.

And we are not done yet with Diwali celebrations. As I am publishing this, we have a number of us meeting at the Castle Mill (that's where I stay) common room for a 'Pot Luck' ...... yummy Indian food.

So I better run along ... as good India food is a scare commodity in this part of the world :)

Matriculation

This has got nothing to do with Exams...... its about getting enrolled into the university. Its confusing for sure.

At oxford, all incoming students get officially matriculated into the university. One of the many customs that go with the 800 year old history of the university. And come to think of it, we attended one full week of classes not realizing that we were still not bonafide members of the University.


So I woke up at 7 in the morning, only to be greeted by a misty morning. After dressing up in my dark suit, white bow tie and the 'sub fusc' (looks like a Batman cape), I cycled to my college - St Hugh's for a college photograph. The college has a lovely campus, and we had the photograph session in the college grounds.

This was followed by a roll call which is like an official record of our entry into the college. We then walked from our college to the Sheldonian Theatre, where the official matriculation ceremony took place.









The ceremony was short, but grand in itself, with some Latin mantras, everybody in gowns, lots of tourists, cameras flashing everywhere .... Once the ceremony was over, we made yet another customery trip to the Turf Tavern.











After then I rushed home only to join my study group later in the day to complete our first assignment.

End of Week 1

Week 1 is over ... but somehow it feels that I have been studying here for quite some time. Classes after all those years of work, can be taxing. We had a lecture each for the the 6 core courses that we will be studying this term.

Some of the classes were fun.... especially the Financial reporting class..... it was a laugh riot.... Our professor ... Dr Tomo Suzuki is hilarious to say the least. I am a complete poet (his term for a beginner) in Accounting, and he made me feel pretty much at ease.

We also had some company presentations .... a couple of Investment banks - Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers. I even met up with some of the career consultants to understand the various functions and roles with Finance, and if my background is suitable for it.

We also had to submit our first group assignment, this one was for Strategy. After much debate I think we have submitted a good analsis of the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream case....... I have resolved that if we do well, then we are gonna treat ourselves to B&J ice cream, and if we ont, I am gonna boycott them ... just kidding.

The week has just whizzed past, and I have loads of work to complete.

See ya ....

Its Study Time Folks !!

After a week of orientations, college events, BOPs, etc etc ..... classes finally started this week. I am one of the chosen few in Section C, which seems to have a relatively easier schedule. Maybe its a comforting tactic, but we want to believe it that way.

My first class for Strategy..... and the professor (Thomas Powell) was good and engaging .... Well.. its Oxford after all :) ... It was a bit tough getting used to a 3.5 hour long class, and I was pretty tired by the end of it.... and ended up dosing thru the next session on Projects.

I have two classes each on Tue, Wed and Thu ... and am not at all looking forward to them .... considering that we have to prepare for the classes in advance, which entails studying the readings and cases ...... I guess its time to bid goodbye to my much cherished sleep. :(

My first BOP

BOP at Oxford means a party, and I attended my first one at my college, St.Hugh's this Saturday. It was a 'Back to School' BOP, so we all dressed up in white shirts et al. We first trekked to Ruzbeh's place at St. Hugh's, mixed drinks, leading to a state of happiness, and then headed to the college bar for the BOP. It was good fun..... I got back around midnight, but most of the others stayed till 2:00 am .... Some die hard party animals also went to Exeter for their BOP.

Here are a couple of snaps from a memorable night...

My Photu

Putting my snap here in no way means that I am self obsessed...... I was trying to include it in my profile, but my IT skills are limited, and I only managed to get this far. :)

Day 1 of Week 0 ... What ??

What the hell do you mean by week 0 ?? If this is Zero, then what was last week, when we had those career services sessions and the IT sessions ...... Minus 1 I guess.

Anyways, for the benefit of those who may not be aware .. this is Week 0 ... classes begin next week, which is Week 1 and we have our exams for this term in Week 10. Right now that somehow seems like a long way... There is no Tax for dreaming, right ?

To sum up Day 1.. It was exciting.... I got to see my cllassmates in full strength for the first time. It truly is a diverse bunch representing 41 countries.

We were introduced to the Dean of SBS, the MBA Dean, and many more ...... We had a presentation by the security folks, which was ok ..... I was in the first row, and could not even afford to wink... Not to forget the presentation on Examinations... which was kind of scary !

We had the first round of introductions..... Having done dramatics all my life, I am not the kinds to get a stage fright. But considering that we were being recorded did make me a bit uneasy.

We also had individual portrait photographs taken by a professional photographer, and we have been promised that they will not be morphed, and there is no likelihood of them appearing on any of the (in)famous websites.

But, for me the highlight of the day was the speech by Mr Kevin Sharer, CEO of AMGEN, which is the world’s largest biotech company..... and growing pretty fast. I must admit that I had previously not heard of Amgen ..... my poor General Knowledge to be blamed here I guess. Mr Sharer was extremely impressive, very witty, and gave us some great mantras for effective leadership.

I was one of the very few who skipped the Suits and ties for the day. So I had to scram after the speech to get appropriately dressed for the Reception.

The enthusiastic batch, not satisfied with just wine, headed off to 'The Living Room' at The Oxford castle.

I take this week as the start of our MBA Roller Coaster ride ....We are right now creeping our way to the top... and from Week 1 ... its gonna be a really Topsy Turvy ride till the very end !!!

Best September of my life !

September 2006 has been the most relaxed month for me since I started working..... and it will be till I retire. I came to UK very early (reached here on the 5th of September). There are three reasons for that:

Firstly, had I stayed longer, I would have ended up working longer. I was infact in office till 7:00 pm on Sep 04.... and my flight was the next day at 1:00 pm.

Secondly, I did not have a place to stay in Oxford. I spent numerous hours on the net looking for a suitable private accomodation close to SBS. they were all frightfully expensive, and frankly speaking I am not the type who will select a place basis some snaps on the net. So I had to pretty much sweat it out. Fortunately for me, the University Graduate Housing found my name at the top of their list when I visited them in Summertown. So here I am well settled at Castle Mill, a brisk 10 minutes walk from the B-school.

Thirdly, I wanted to spend some time with my good friend from school, Tarun, who stays in Essex. I had a lovely time with his hospitable family. My wife Harshita is accompanying me, and we used the time exploring London, its train network, and coming to terms with the steep prices of everything when comaped with India.

I have been Oxford since Sep 15 ...... and so far have only slept, wined and dined. As my batchmates started to trickle in, the get-togethers increased, and I am having a swell time meeting new people everyday.

At first I felt a bit funny every morning, coz I had nothing to do - There was no urgency to get ready and go to office. No worries about pending deadlines. No presentations, meetings... basically absolute bliss. This was compounded by the lovely weather, and the luxurious sunny days.

I haven't walked so much in years...... I cycled after like 15 years (I still have to learn the gear system on bicycles, coz the last time I cycled, I did not have those).

Yesterday, we had a team building activity which was fun. After the drinks at school, it was nice to see such a large turnout at 'Frevd' ..... I do appreciate the capacity !

September has done me good ...... I guess only Keanu Reeves Sweet November was better than this..... Just kidding.

Lets see what October has in store for us ......

Blog ??

The first question is ... what prompted me to start this Blog ? ... I read a few blogs of MBA students in the past month and they were extremely interesting. I am starting on my MBA tomorrow, and I am dead sure that this is gonna be one of the the most exciting years of my life. So why not document the experience ? Reading this many years from now seems like a good idea to relive the good 'ol days.

I know this is gonna be a tough year, and I hope my blog goes beyond this opening article :)

Here's wishing myself all the very best for this Blog... and more importantly my MBA.