Why cant Managers get a Nobel

Obama wins a Nobel prize for 'Peace'.... One for me too !!!!!

The news and survey sites were busy covering public reaction. But it kindles a new thought
"Is there a way a manager can win a nobel?". May be I need to be 'Mother Teresa' or 'Obama' to win a piece prize.. or start preaching economic theories .. which will go beyond 'Opportunity Cost' Vs 'Marginal Benefit' analysis .. and probably take all of your lifetime to realize the actual benefit. With a good rate of return ofcourse!!

Why cant there be a nobel for someone like 'Jack Welch' or 'Narayan Murthy' who motivate thousands of business leaders and provide directions to a greater economy that brings substantial results, to rich and to poor.

GBC Elections 2009

Some of you are curious. Let me explain Ws (what-why-when) of the last blog 'Ideas for GBC Elections'.

GBC is an elected student body of Simon School. We call it 'Graduate Business Council'. I was running for the post of '1st year Rep' for MBA class of 2011. And guess what. I lost .. by margin of 1 vote. See the opportunity cost of that 1 vote now. But does it matter...

First the curiosity, then the desire to be the voice of first year. Small meetings and casual discussions give you an idea. It was a stressful week, starting from 'Writing a platform' to calling individuals and answering their questions. But to sum it all, it was fun.

A good beginning to my first year. Win or Lose. I am happy.

Ideas for GBC Council - Election Platform

Dear friends,

An opportunity to contribute to the effort of 'Simon GBC' council. I welcome all your ideas that you think will help
1. A prospective student learn more about Simon
2. First year student
3. Second Year student
4. Alum

I plan to add them to GBC election platforms.

Orienated Officially

"FOCUS..FOCUS..FOCUS" .. Two weeks of Orientation are over and we are officially 'Oriented' to start our transformational 'Thinkers become Leaders' journey. One must complement the ability of the organizers of the event to keep such a large and diverse crowd engaged and motivated for such a long time. From Professionalism to Lunch Etiquette and Personal Assessment to Interaction with alumni, everything something to offer something or the other.
The 'Rock Climbing' event tops the list when it comes to teaming and was like an ice breaker and 'Lunches with alumni' reiterated the importance of networking.
Thanks to Chris for arranging a 'Just for Fun' beer party at Elmwood Inn. 'Cheers to Simon and Cheers to batch of 2011'. Its gonna be an incredible journey for next two years.

Coming alive

And I am back .. so says Arnold Schwarzenegger. I am not Mr. Schwarzenegger but I am back again, after a long break. Its been a hectic 1 month where I was wrapping up things, saying good by to my beloved job and adieu to friends. Was thinking of writing a blog dedicated to Bangalore but could never realize those plans.
So, today's blog will be about my first impression of 'Rochester'. They say it was a FLOUR City .. and now it is 'FLOWER City'. I still need to explore these terms. But one thing is certain, its a beautiful city. Landscapes and River canals. Glofcourse atop mountainhill .. good looking girls and plenty of senior citizens. It was named 'The sixth most Livable City' in USA.
UorR is situated at the centre of city and my school is on River campus. Canada border on north and niagra falls somewhere nearby. I am yet to visit the downtown place here. I live in University Campus at Goler house for graduate students. See the attached picture.

It's been a nice week. A party at Whipple to begin with, International Students Orientation at Simon School and 'Happy Hours Get Together' on Sunday. Its exciting to meet so many people from so many countries. And names .. probably first thing to learn would be to find some ways to remember name vs country correlation.
So, all you viewers keep tuned in for further updates.

Monkeys raid my house

I am writing this blog after a long gap now. Well, ever since I am back, there was nothing much to write, as nothing exciting was happening out here until ...

Thursday, 11 June, these little monkeys barged their way into my house. Few months before in a rain storm a flying tin object broke the glass panes of my apartment window. Fortunately it did not break the glass completely, and so .. I decided to put off the fix until further damage. And yesterday, these monkeys found their way into my house. I still wonder how did they manage to remove the patches of card-board, break open the cracked pieces of glass .. and barge their way inside. The site inspection shows the aperture to be not more than 3 inches wide .. and probably 10 inches long. But these little monkeys managed to slid through, tear the curtain and enter my 3 BHK apartments.
Once they entered, they feasted on mangoes .. which our dear shetty had brought from mangalore, found the tin boxes that had biscuits .. and spoiled the whole kitchen. I wanted to find if they opened the fridge, but somehow .. they couldn't .. or didn't.
The whole house was in litters .. and the scene was an evidence of what we call .. 'Monkey Business'.
So, prevention measures. First fix the window panes .. I have fixed the cardboard again and gonna call the secretory of apartments immediately. I wish I could lodge a complain against these tiny little creatures .. but I cant :(

But I must appreciate their intelligence .. afterall.. they are our ancestors.

'OASIS' T-Shirt Shop at Dodoma

Ok, Finally I sit down to write my experience about 'OASIS' shop that we came across while we were walking in market of Dodoma - apparently somewhere near One way street.

So, the main purpose of my walk was to find a shop where I could buy a T Shirt with local names or symbols on it. While exploring small shops we came across a shop which said something like '**** printo ***'. For curiosity sake, I asked the shop keeper if you can print, and if yes, can you print something on a T Shirt. Apparently he understood what I said. He took me to a nearby shop. We took a plane T Shirt. I felt confident. I explained him my requirement with mixed swahili and english. He was nodding his head in agreement. So I told him to print my black color T Shirt with a picture of Simba and text Dodoma below it. He understood. I was happy, I got what I was looking for. I got a deal .. and that too for just 2000 TSH. He told me to come after three hours and collect the T Shirt. I was so happy, I ran down and told my friends about my latest discovery. Well, it was worth mentioning. Afterall I found a shop to get custom made T Shirts and that too in Dodoma. And all that for just TSH 2000.

I waited at hotel for next 2 hours, and went back to the shop at 5 pm. Liz accompanied me as she wanted to buy some 'Congas'. I had some milestones in mind. And what a surprise. The scene was completely different when I returned the market at 5 in evening. The flags were gone. My first milestone disappeared. But I managed to remember some static building. First right from One Way Street and I reach the corner.

The scene is completely different now. The Conga shop where we we bought congas was closed. No congas on display. And I look at the corner where I had found my T Shirt shop. And it was gone. Disappeared. There was nothing. I walk around next two corners. Reassured myself that I am at the same place. The shop simply disappeared. I was completely disappointed. I asked some onlookers who were kind of curious to see me walking around a corner suspiciously. I asked one person about the shop. He didn't understand a word and gave me a weird look instead. I felt like I am in a completely different world now. I am an idiot now. How can something change so drastically in 3 hours.

So, my friend Mr. Dan named the shop 'OASIS'. But I was determined to find the shop. Next day I visited the site again. This time morning 9. But to my disappointment, I saw a guy laying wooden planks at the 'OASIS' place. Well, the inquiry was useless.
But what happened to my shop. So, if next CSC members happen to read my blog. I would be happy if someone finds that shop and get my T Shirt. :-)