Flirting with curves...!!!

Flirting with curves...!!!
Human mind is a funny thing... U never know what games it’ll play with u... One of those things is ‘love of math’... Everyone loved 2 + 2 = 4... but all hated Integration... All homo sapiens love shapes... Martians’ adore Andersons, Basus... The inhabitants of Venus like the bulging biceps of Pitts and Roshans or the Doughles of yore... but when u see the same curves on graph paper ??? Now u get my point... Mortality is a curse... Cause u have to b immortal to completely understand the language of Axes... So there we were... Friday the 5th ... Morning 9am... Trying desperately to meet the deadline of the upcoming MBS event( ZietGeist...Spirit of the Time...)... Wat happened after that was incredible... We were never hit with such pure awesomeness ever... Suddenly all was clear... Deviations and dispersions... ranges and frequencies... Symmetries were no longer a planet in the milky way... All became crystal clear... Thanks to Prof. Nimkar... I’ve never seen any one so subtle, so soft teaching quant... trust me... he was explaining a certain problem for 15mins... till the time all understood it well.. We salute u sir.. Another day at MBS well spent... Another set of rules learned... Another fear dealt with...

Bhushan Vishwasrao
Trendsetter- 30
A proud MBsite.

Gyan of the day!!!

We were sitting through our Business Immersion presentations - when Girish Sir (Regional Director of PRMIA) - he evaluates our presentations - gave us the lesson for the day.
"Shoppers are of 2 types - Fools and Idiots"
Fools: A fool is categorised as someone who goes to a mall and ends up, buying an Ipod from one store at a higher rate without enquiring at the nearby store.
Idiot: Some one buy's 2 axes (not the deoderant) because you get one free with another - in a place like Dubai where there are no trees. :)
Definitely a gyaan for Sales and Marketing aspirants on how to understand and tap shoppers.
Nikhil Neelakantan
Trendsetter # 22

OB!!!!

We had one of the most enjoyable teaching sessions at MBS– Organization Behavior – we had Prof. IFS Raj from XLRI, Jamshedpur who had come to teach this subject to us. As a class, we felt he was by far the best professor who had taught us so far - someone who always had a smile on his face, someone who addressed his students as “Sir’s and Ladies”, someone who was so well connected with the class – not ignoring the value we have received from other professors like Prof. Rakesh P Singh, Prof Sunderrajan etc.
I believe, Prof. Raj was incredible when it came to making a connection with the class. He was so good while conversing with us; he thought at our level at the same time, taught us how to think at his level. As any other normal class, we would play around with cell phones…. The way he conveyed his message on any issue, was just remarkable. Believe me when I say this, he noticed a few of us messaging on our phone, neither did he take names, nor did he shout at us – the only thing he said was “Friends, I believe I can say this and be open to you – please don’t use your phones again” – and I know for a fact, I didn’t see even one student using his phone after that. I think his sessions were so much of value add – we all have a different respect for OB as a subject… Once again MBS has provided us with another awesome faculty – another faculty with wealth of experience – another faculty who makes us believe that he is one among us, another faculty who we are blessed to have among us.

Nikhil Neelakantan

Trendsetters - 22

Good Read

India can now emerge as Asian superpower Stephen S Roach

IN RECENT years, the global view of India has been couched in terms of the daunting China comparison. It wasn’t all that long ago — 1991, to be precise — when Asia ’s two giants had similar levels of income per capita. That was then. Now, China ’s standard of living is more than three times that of India .
The China comparison has been India ’s wake-up call — a striking example of how economic development can be galvanised by pro-active government policy. It’s not that India has floundered. To the contrary, over the 2001-07 timeframe, India ’s real GDP growth averaged close to 7.5% — an impressive pick-up from the 5.5% pace of the 1990s. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this accomplishment was that it occurred despite the government — in the face of stiff political headwinds.
Those headwinds could now quickly become tailwinds. Thanks to the stunning victory of the Congress-led UPA in the recently concluded elections, there is a distinct chance that India could now benefit from its own strain of proactive, development-friendly government policies. The same reformers that were so successful in opening up India in the early 1990s were stymied by the politics of coalition management over the past five years. The massive win of the Congress Party all but removes that impediment — hinting at a new era of reforms that could well unshackle the increasingly robust potential of the Indian economy.
The dirty little secret of the Indian economy is that it has actually been performing much better, beneath the surface, than the China comparison might otherwise suggest. India has long had a much better micro story than China : A large population of world-class companies, outstanding entrepreneurs, a well-educated and ITcompetent workforce, relatively sound financial markets and banks, a well-entrenched rule of law, and democracy.
By contrast, India has suffered more from its macro deficiencies — especially when compared with China . That’s especially been true of savings, foreign direct investment and infrastructure. Yet, in the past three-four years, India has made impressive progress on at least two of those counts. Gross domestic savings rates have moved from the low 20s (as a percent of GDP) in the late 1990s to the high 30s in 2007-08. Foreign direct investment accelerated to a $40 billion annual rate — still short of Chinese style numbers but a fourfold increase from the pace of India’s inflows as recently as 2005. Even on the infrastructure front — where development constraints remain quite serious — the GDP share of such investments is up from the rock-bottom levels of the late 1990s.
Therein lies India ’s great potential — an increasingly virtuous cycle brought about the self-reinforcing interplay of its micro and macro drivers that now stand a real chance of being augmented by pro-active government policies and reforms. The new government needs to seize this moment — moving aggressively on four fronts — public sector deficit reduction, infrastructure support, privatisation, and deregulation of pension funds, retail, and banking. These are all tough battles for any politician to wage. But, if the government makes a down-payment on these critical initiatives, the Indian economy is well positioned to benefit for years to come.
The world has fallen in love with the China miracle. India has slipped between the cracks in all this euphoria. Yet, China now faces increasingly daunting challenges in coming to grips with long-simmering imbalances of its export — and investment-dominated macro structure. That could be a great opportunity for the ‘sleeper.’ Shifting political winds now give a well-balanced Indian economy a real chance to emerge as Asia ’s biggest surprise in the years immediately ahead.

The author is chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia

Winston Dsouza
Trendsetter # 7

WEEK 4...

Week 4...
Ever heard of EL Dorado... the city of gold... Well we are in pursuit of the same... An elusive dream... A chase for the perfect tomorrow... but its not that easy... trust me... its tougher than ever... but as they say... when the goin gets tough... d tough gets goin... Last three weeks were really eventfull... from Rappling in 42⁰C at Dabosa camp to Sector assignments in 18⁰C MBS classrooms... don’t know which one was tougher... but one thing is sure... We survived it all... Its become a part of life...A part of the MBS culture... Eyes are wide open from 6am to 2am... Assignments are fun to do... Teamwork has a whole new meaning... Leadership is no longer just a word in the dictionary... Sharing is not just a hotel thing anymore... We can watch, see and feel the transformation... TRENDSETTERS... the name given to this batch by Dr. Rai... We are doin our best to live upto it... and i am happy to say that... to some extent we are successful too... An average day in an MBsites life’s pretty tough... 9 am sharp lectures... A demon awaits us... Financial Management... They say Achilles was the greatest warrior ever born... I say he never faced Fianancial Management... Troy was easy... 10:15am... a well needed breakfast arrives... 10:30 am the fight resumes... 11:40am... a well deserved tea- break... 11:50 am... the war resumes... 1:20pm... a well earned lunch break... we rest till 2:30pm... After that comes something which even a Spartan soldier would fear... Naepoleon would think twice... Hitler’s suicide makes sense... Its time to meet the SATAN... The Devil’s trio... Bow before ‘ YOGA, AEROBICS & DANCE’... 6pm is a sigh of relief... But wait... You are not yet free to go home... NO KID NO KIDDIN... Assignments awaits us... So its a quick snack in Shivsagar or a round of yummy BBC frankies... Back to work ppl... Its bout 9pm when we actually leave the campus just to go home and study the read- up for the next day... So dinner at 12 am... followed by some intelligence exchange with roomies... Then we sleep to wake up by 6am and the process goes on... There are no shortcuts to success... But this is probably the best thing that could have ever happened to us... Its just the beginning now... Just four words to explain MBS... Survival of the fittest...


Bhushan Vishwasrao
Trendsetter – 30
A proud MBsite.

Trendsetters

Here we are, at Mumbai Business School - I already feel the burn out, it has been 3 weeks, I have 10 months to go... Financial Management is a bouncer... so was our first test - but it has been an experience to remember - as i had expected an experiece i will cherish for a life time... There were eyebrows raised on our initial trip to Dabhosa - we left at Mumbai to Dabhosa - at 5 in the morning... I dont even remember the last time when i saw what 5 AM looks like. Trust me - this was the ice breaker - we got to know our batch well.... we did the Rappling, River Crossing, we jumped from trees, trekking, mountain climbing... and guess what.. we all did it well... though we stretched our limits, we did it... No wonder we are called the TRENDSETTERS.

Since then, its been a grind - we ve been studying studyin and studying- Shiv Sagar is our second home ( the hotel below), college is our first - we sleep 4 hours a night on average, never knew we would hit the sack so late so soon - group studies, assignments, presentations, classes, tests... its all happening its all fun...

Nikhil Neelakantan

PGPM 09 Spring

Mumbai Business School

Info on MBS...

Plenty has been spoken about MBS on all forums – amidst all confusion and perplexity, I would want to write this post for all students who are keen on joining MBS.

· There have been a lot of questions raised about MBS and its fee structure – as a student today, I would want to state that the fees charged by MBS is nominal. Don’t look at 8 lakhs as a figure – weigh it against the quality of teaching, value of staff and the worth of exposure provided to students. MBS student would be taught by world class staff and faculty – it includes exposure at industries both in India and Abroad. MBS students would also study and intern in the middle east and Europe. Putting all these aspects into consideration – I guess the fees is nominal.
· The fees is by and large considered to be nominal when the returns are satisfactory. MBS would definitely provide good placements – keeping in mind the high profile board and faculty. For any details on placement – students can speak to Nidhi Rawool who is the program coordinator at MBS.
· Since the school is new, it is quite apparent that a lot of questions will be raised against its credibility – MBS is a school for students who believe in themselves, and would use the exposure provided by the college to grow… Students who expect the school to take them forward without putting in any effort – this would not be a school for them. As long as you have the purpose and the focus to study and excel – the school would definitely change the destiny of its students.
· Bearing in mind the seriousness of the program – students would need to have extreme amount of self belief, and confidence… believe me , those who are the best – don’t get bothered by factors like recession – to state an example – my boss at work is an MBA from a university is Nashik – but he is better than the best. MBS is here to create managers of confidence….
· Please feel free to get in touch with me at +919833414740 for any more questions to be answered. Cheers!!

Nikhil Neelakantan
PGPM – Batch – 01/09