Placements...

Finally its that time of the year… ‘so called’ most important part of an MBA… Placements! I however think its nothing but a mad rat-race to nowhere. Ya nowhere! For most of the cos that come recruiting are the Bhed-Bakri Software Recruiters (ya that’s my term for cos hiring in bulk as if they were buying livestock!). And I know once you become a part of those glamorous names, you loose your identity and just become a part of the crowd. You soon realize that no one is actually listening to you…. that the race you ran on ‘Day 0’ of placements so madly, actually led you nowhere! But alas its too late!

And then you stop worrying. Who cares anyways you think? Why should you care?

With the vulgar imbalances in the Rupee to Dollar ratio, who in the Indian software industry cares a damn shit about those lesser things like better productivity, resource utilization, turn around strategies et all? None! There are no challenges to face! Their entire life just focuses on how they can ‘bill’ thy clients per hour and keep the cash registers ringing. You become Bean-Counters (remember what Lee Iacocca said about MBAs? :-). You soon start wondering if all the Org Behavior, the Research Methodology, the Financial Management and other courses you took were good for nothing!

And that’s precisely why some people consciously opt to work for more satisfying roles in smaller companies. Because they know that they will find the perfect roles there… roles that will not just improve their self-worth, but give them that feeling of responsibility, achievement and an ideal launch pad into the real world of business... where making profits is not a joke! For when you do not enjoy the blessings of a cash-rich employer, you have to go the extra mile to clinch that next deal, and thus learn a lot in the whole process. This habit of going the extra mile then becomes your USP. And this USP makes you even more successful...

Because at the end of the road you realize that....

it’s not the final destination that matters...
...it is the journey to that destination that makes all the difference!

New Years Eve In Singapura...

On New Year's Eve this year all roads in Singapore seemed to lead to just one destination... the Siloso Beach on Sentosa Island.

Picture this:

- A spectacular display of lasers, moving lights and pyrotechnics,

- Singapore's biggest beach dance party,

- a giant dance floor under the stars,

- a fantastic line-up of non-stop party music from Hip Hop, Retro, Trance and Chill Out music,

- Fire-eaters, dancers, stilt-walkers, temporary tattoos, palm readers,

- Singapore's and Indonesia's best M-TV DJs battling it out as they pumped up the volume from an 18 feet tall tower,

- Hottest Music jointly produced by M-TV and the Sentosa Trust,

- The Hottest Tourist Crowd from across the globe,

- and above all an explosive countdown to a brand new year!

That's how we celebrated this New Year's Eve, my Best New Year Bash so far by any means!! This was the first time in months that I got a chance to spend a chill night out with mah friends and let me tell you... we just rocked! With Just Exhilarating fun with non-stop events throughout the night and the foam dance that went on till dawn, we wished the night would never end. It felt awesome to celebrate the New Year by welcoming the New Year's rising sun... something I always wanted to do.

In retrospect, 2006 was a very eventful year.

June 6th saw the turning point when I bid good bye to a wonderful job at CG to set sail on a journey called an International MBA.

The first six months in Dubai had their own ups and downs. The white turbaned sheiks and their burkha clad 'wives' (no, the plural is not a mistake), the white sand flying all over the place and the air-con villas, the Dubai construction boom complete with the cranes and mushrooming malls. The never before seen cars and the affluent lifestyles. The way the Arabs do business and our futile attempts to try to understand why every damn Company name had to start with an "Al".

Net-Net it has been an awesome learning experience all the way with Singapore now turning out to be a totally different ballgame altogether.

Let’s wait and watch and see what the New Year has in store for me... Tell me how was your experince this new year's eve. Let thy comments flow in!

Ciao!!