Non Value adding activities..

All I have learnt about them is that the definition is relative. We all have our own reasons (justifications) for our beliefs. Just read on to get an indicative list of the VAs and NVAs.

Well Some of the non value adding activities -

• Examinations: - They do not add value as the system is completely outdated and it promotes only cramming and theorising.
• Presentations:- All they promote is googling.
• Case Studies:- Not at all value adding (how many cases we have done on our own?). It only promotes datamining and googling again.
• Lectures: All they help is in curing insomnia and not at all a value adding activity.

Some of the value adding activities:-

• Day dreaming : President says that you should have big dreams. Even 'guru' says that. Dreaming about becoming a CEO some day is the one thing which has significant value.
• Orkutting full time : Orkut is a social networking site and we should network with more and more people who are going to become someone important. Are you getting it?
• Chatting and going out: Improves your social skills and also helps in building communication skills. Adds a lot of value.

I told you, the definition is relative. For me, sleeping is a VA activity while for others its a NVA. So it depends. It always depends.

Boring and Interesting..

• We wanted to interview some railway officials who are handling the IT functions for our ITES paper so we went to the Chennai office. We talked to this about 50 year old person who happened to be friends with the father of one of our colleagues. All the information we got in 50 minutes of interviewing is that at Chennai they are processing the payroll of 110,000 employees and whatever other information we got from him is freely available on Oracle site (all about Oracle).
• So after getting frustrated we came out of his office and was wondering what to do next? We interviewed this another guy who is from railways and is on a deputation to CRIS. The difference was apparent. This guy was much methodical in his approach and talked in brief only what was needed. In 15 minutes we were overloaded with information.

The turnaround of railway is not because of Lalu, it's because of these employees who brings in fresh zeal and enthusiasm in the enterprise. Though, CRIS do not pay its employees a fancy salary but still the kind of work they are doing is beyond comparison.

Incredible Marketing..

Marketing lecture by Prof. Venu Gopal is the one thing for which I can stay awake all night or even for that reason can get up early in the morning. In an incredible display of humour he reveals the intricacies of marketing in a manner which is captivating as well as enlightening. Well, if I use some more fancy words probably he will kill me for that because as much as he hates Kotler, he hate us using jargonified language. Language should be simple enough to make sense and clear enough to drive the point home. One out of the many interesting topics he took for us is how to use strategy and planning in our lives. And the only learning is that, these things doesn't even matter. In the end what matters is the clarity of your goal and how focused you are towards those objectives. If you are sensible enough you can figure out a strategy and then planning is nothing but seeing the strategy through.

Big questions before me?

• My objective? I am not sure.
• My strategy? I don't know.
• My Plan? I am not sure about the strategy, so I can actually avoid this question because as per our professor, Planning comes later.

This is not all, Marketing is one subject at IFMR for which I can bet my life. I still wonder that how come a person who dreamt about investment banking for all these years actually change his mind to switch to marketing in 3 hours? Well, don't get amused. It's me and the only reason I see is nothing but Incredible Marketing by a professor with incredible sense of humour.

Consensus--> Majority--> Representation --> Where next??

What is the best way to take a decision? Is it by consensus or majority or by a representative group of individuals? Well, each has its own advantages and disadvantages and the trade-offs are generally on participants satisfaction and participation level. Anyways, generally the trend is that people start with a broader goal of getting a consensus then at-least a majority (first deviation) and if this is also proving to be a road-block then go for the ultimate route of indiviudalism. Well, this is the way most of the decisions are taken by our govt and even by us. After a certain point, nothing matters, nothing except our personal opinions, judgements, fears, biases and prejudices. True for me, true for most of us.

The different colours of Holi..

As a kid, I loved Holi not only for colours but also for many more things. Holi is more like a family get together for the extended family and kind of food fest. All the bhabhis, mamis, aunties try to impress each other by their gourmet assortment of food items. But slowly, due to the exams and all the colours started fading. But, this piece of video is really moving and reminds me of some of those colourful moments spent as a kid. Really moving video.

source:- India Uncut

Eye Donation link :- www.ebai.org

Lotus blooms in two more states..

So, the government in Punjab and Uttrakhand has changed. Chandigarh and Dehradun are going to be painted in saffron colours over the next few days. I am wondering that what implication it has for public there. Have they voted in favour of the change or against the old? It's difficult to say. Sidhu has won elections despite of being convicted for a road rage case and Badals will be back into power after all those scams and disproportionate income charges. What does this all indicates? One thing is clear that Congress has to toil hard in the next LokSabha elections and the other thing is that public has no memory. The song of yesteryear " Ye public hai sab jaanti hai, Ye public hai" is echoing into my mind and my honest reaction is that "Kya Bakwaas hai, Public idiot hai".

Consultants in the making..

A student qualifies to become a consultant when he/she can continously speak for 3 minutes in a jargonistic fashion without making any sense. It's an art really difficult to master and requires juggling around with all the vague terms, "the Art of convincing through confusion".

• Well, then why consultant gets paid in hours?
• Man! who can tolerate them for more than an hour or per say for even half an hour?

We are all consultants (in some walks of life) aren't we?

Faster than News Sites..

Another example of the power of blogs and the vastness of this unbounded blog space came in capturing the news about the documentary " The last tomb of Christ" by James Cameroon of Titanic fame. CNN IBN is running the bulletin now on their website.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/world/02_2007/titanic-director-finds-jesus-grave-34473.html

Well, it has happened time and again and sometimes I think that blogs does a better job rather than news papers because one is free expression whereas the other has to go through numerous editing and checks. Well, to see the difference simply compare the articles on my blog, the israeli bites blog and CNN IBN. You will see the difference.

Wonderful times..

It's 8 months since I last went home. Kind of natural for me given I have spent 3/4th of my life away from my parents but then, this picture forwarded to me by an old friend remind me of those days which I have spent at home bugging my parents. When it's hot outside play indoor cricket, when it's raining play soccer in muddy ground. Come home in the evening all soaked in sweat and then mommy has to force feed you. Go swimming in the river nearby, catching fish with cloth nets and bicycling all the way down to the nearest mines and then fighting each other over who will bat first and who will bowl how many overs. Never worry about anything. Days use to fly like anything.

Almost 15 years have passed now. I am Sitting here in my hostel room and reflecting about those wonderful days. I am actually feeling nice. Thanks dear for reminding me that sometime back I use to be a normal human being.

Group or Team?

The most significant differentiating factor between a group and a team is the "identity" factor. A team has an identity and its different from an individual's identity and also a team is always bigger than an individual. The classic rule of 1+1 = 11 stands true for a team. Now a group has no identity of its own and the basic reason for existance is out of some common need. Now, I am wondering that what is my identity? Well, I am still Rajneesh so that makes it clear that I am still an individual and not a team. A self introspection tells me that its actually a poor accompolishment after spending 8 months in a B school.

Making a fool out of myself:-

My habbit of blabbering sometimes put me into embarassing situation. Today when prof asked that did you see this movie (he named some movie which I ofcourse did not hear properly), I said yes, thinking that he is talking about that nearby shop. But then, he put me into embarassing situation (rather I put myself) by probing further that do you know Tamil? Well, moral of the story is that I should be a bit more patient to actually comprehend the question and then come with an answer and I should make a serious attempt towards learning the language. But well, these stupid mistakes of mine gives people a chance to laugh at-least (but it again proves that our batch is still a group and not a team) so I am happy too .