Fog everywhere

We got our share of fog on our way to India ... first it was the chaos at Heathrow, and then more for at Delhi. We finally reached Delhi after more then three hours of delay 'onflight'

India Calling !

I am finally going home today. Its only for ten days and I know they'll be gone in a jiffy. Will be in Delhi for most of the time. The only other place I am visiting is Kashmir (to meet my folks).

I am glad to be going for more than just the charm of going home. If yesterday's weather was any indications of the times to come, I wanna be out of here for as long as possible. It was 1 degree (celsius) during the day ...... and the prediction for Friday is "minus 1" ... again during the day. Not that Kashmir is a sunny beach resort. But this place is crazy !!!

Anyways .. wishing everybody a Merry Christmas !

Respite from Exams

If I tell my classmates that I woke up at 4:00 am on the morning after exams, they'll freak out. But I did wake up at that crazy hour (Its not crazy during exams though). I had to go to London to get my passport renewed, and wanted to reach the Indian High Commission before it opens at 9:30 am. Pre-empting your next question - "Then why at 4:00 am ?" , for anbody who has had experience with the Indian Embassy would know better about the long queues outside the Indian Embassy.

I reached London at 7:00 am and then took a pleasant walk to my destination, past Trafalgar Square and the Big Ben. When I reached the Embassy at 8:00 am, there were already more than 350 people lined up ........... I hope that is evidence enough !! .... After spending another 5 hours there, my work was only 10% done, and I will be going there again sometime in March now. :) ... I have a passport that was issued in kashmir, and now these guys have to do some extra verification. I think I look Indian enough to be treated like a normal citizen ! So far people have taken me to be a German, Afghani and Swedish...... Crazy I tell ya !!

Spent some more time roaming around London .. went to Piccadilly Circus & China Town .... met Sudheer (who had come for an interview with Diamond) and his wife Sushma (who had come for Chicken Biryani) ...... a simple illustration to show how much fun the spouses are having vis-a-vis the students.

Finally got back to Oxford, had a nice dinner out with wifee dear ... and then slept for 15 hours :)

The return to Normalcy

The exams are finally over. All but the last one (Finance) went off well. I have slept for barely 2-3 hours in the last 2 days and I am dying.

The end of exam celebrations started right after the exam ended. Some of us had wine outside the examination hall to celebrate the end of torture. (ha ha)

I came home biefly to discard my sub fusc and formals, and join the other MBAs for a "Pub Crawl"tha started around noon at Oxford Retreat.

I though I will take a well deserved nap before heading out to the 'G-bar' where fllow MBA student Dheerin will be the DJ

Looking forward to the evening !

Drama on Day 1

That's how I would like to summarize my first day of exams at Oxford.

Four of us had decided to take a taxi to the exam school, and inspite of proactively reminding the taxi guy on the eveof the exam and early in the morning, he ditched us. We waited till about 8:45 am (exam was to start at 9:00 am), and then started walking towards the train station for another cab.

The rain gods decided to add to our woes and it starting pouring (i haven't seen such a heavy downpour in my last three month here). Add to that the wind factor, and we were pretty much drenched (considering the four of us had two umbrellas to share amongst us).

As in a crisis situation, we formulated a strategy and spread in different directions looking for cabs. Finally our 'booked' taxi nly picked us. It was 9:25 am then.

We were fortunate that it was the first day, and the exam started a bit late. I sat for both my exams in a wet suit. I discarded my 'sub-fusc' as it was drenched.

The silver lining of the day - the papers were 'passable' ..... Just in cae ou did not know, I belong to the "Get 50 Club".

Now lemme get back to my Org. Behaviour Models .... This subject puts me off to sleep in an instant...... Here's hoping that the exam paper is more engrossing :)

Last Minute King !

Ya that's me ...... Yet again I have proved it that I will make sure there is a bit of an adrenalin rush in everything I do. There is no fun in studying religiously everyday of the term ..... that ways one misses the excitement & anxiety that comes with exams. Given that I have a lot of ground to cover in terms of completing my syllabus, I would have surely amplified the feelings associated with examinations that I mentioned earlier.

I am an optimistic to the core, and firmly believe that 30,000 pounds is a lot of money, and SBS would not fail us after we have paid them so much. And I don't mean we have bribed them to give us the degree. :) Having said that, people do fail, and that scares me, especially in Financial Reporting and Finance ........ Just in case I ever mentioned in this blog or elsewhere that I had come to SBS to major in Finance, I take my words back.

Exams start tomorrow....... and guess what ? My first paper is Financial Reporting, and Decision Science in the second half ...... What a start !!

Now before I make my exams more compelling, I better get back to my books. Wish me luck !!!!

X-Mas Dinner At St Hugh's

Last Sunday ...... some of us got together at "The Comfy Room" at St Hugh's for my first Turkey Dinner ..... Thanks Hiro, Madhu & Saheel for your enthusiasm in organizing the dinner. Special mention for Hiro, who froze his back off carrying the turkey from Sainsbury to the college.

We had a great time together .... all of us pitched n with some food or drinks or snaks, and by the end of it there was enough remaining to ensure that the chief organizers could go without cooking (that is if they chose to) for a week.... slight exaggeration here :)

Some learnings/observations:

• Stick to chicken ........ cooking turkey is not for the impatient


• Madhu's obsession with chips


• Jeane's ability to shrink peas


• Brian's culinary skills ... and his obsessions with certain parts of the anatomy :)


• Chris North's determination to eat good food (he cycled to St Hugh's braving heavy rains)

Snaps from the evening ...

Dinner at Templeton

I am a week late on reporting this one ..... The whole of last week was spent submitting the 'biggie' assignments: An industry report on eBay for Managerial Economics, and a Financial Analysis of Vodafone for .... Financial Reporting obviously.

Going back to last friday, I made a trip outside Oxford (literally) to eat the famous Templeton dinner. The food was nice (my kind), there was lots of wine, champagne ...... and surprisingly lots of 'Vodka' for people like me :)

We had a nice three course dinner, after which we walked through the lovely campus to their GCR for (more) drinks and dance. The pampering went on with chocolates fruits, cheese, crackers ..... I am told these are like 'given' at Templeton. Lucky fellas !!!

Got back home at 2:00 am ... probably the longest I have stayed out this term.