The journey !!

Here I am writing after such a long time. Life had been a race since past 11 months at ISB. The final chapter a.ka. the last month as a student has begun at ISB and everyone is busy trying to relive the experience as many times as possible. Partying everyday, finding some or the other excuse to do things which we always wanted to do but somehow missed that during the race.

ISB has taught multiple lessons to me, it has showed me a face of life which I was not aware of. Today when I look back I realize that it has been an awesome roller coaster. The ups and downs have taught numerous lessons which could not have been possible otherwise. As one of the professor once mentioned that by the time we graduate we wont be remembering more than a word per subject. It cannot be more true than this, when I realized this at the time of placements that I remember nothing of Term 1 subjects :)

There is no doubt that this school has given me the best professors anyone can ever imagine. Most of them are virtually GODS in their respective fields. Second greatest learning I feel is from peers. People from different background have helped shape a real sense of the world. I didn't even have any idea that so many disciplines exist when I first walked into the campus. In the words of my quadiee "ISB is loong" :)

Lets start the journey as it started in April 2013. The day I walked into those gates reading a poster which said "Welcome to 52 weeks of roller coaster", I had the slightest idea of what's in store.

So what has MBA taught me?
It taught that word hectic is underrated. Hectic got redefined in first week itself. I never knew so much could be done in 24hrs. At the beginning of every term I felt I have reached my 100% utilization, but the next term proved mt wrong where more things pilled up on the plate and soon you realized that you really dont know your limits.

It taught that never underestimate others. ISB has truly been a humbling experience. When you enter here, you feel out of the world, you are 0.5% of the country who could make it. So you feel special but reality check happens when you realize everyone in here is too good. This check happened with me during term 1 itself. When one day after getting my mid-term scores, I sat in my room and quietly introspected what went wrong. I underestimated my fellow students. I realized that everyone here is better than me in everything else.

Journey matter more important than the destination. Yes I now believe in this. ISB is all about those highs and lows, teaching you to enjoy the victory and simultaneously accept defeat. As the famous quote goes "...in the end the race is only with yourself". If I got a time machine to go back, I will relive this experience the same way but this time will focus much more on the journey and not worry much about the destination. In the end it was worth it all.

In this journey I made some friends for lifetime, the biggest takeaway from ISB.

Now before more nostalgia kicks in, I need to enjoy this remaining one month in this place we called home for past one year.

Looking back @TwentyTwelve

So as the title says, its a post which most write at 31st Dec every year. For me I think this year had been the most, the most beneficial, the year which fulfilled my dreams to a level which even I felt at times was not achievable. Thank You for making my biggest wish come true.

The year started as a usual one. I was not sure what I wanted to do. Had many questions like, should I change the job or should I not, should I do an MBA or should I not, and many other shoulds and should nots. Had many dreams, they were like the song "saari duniya par main chahun, bas itna sa khwab hai". But as its said "Life is NOT Fair" and as I had faced many times in life of not getting what i wished for, I hoped no better this year. But nonetheless life always have much more in store for us than we think.

Then there were days(or nights) when I used to study for my GMAT, then that painful essay writing process and the entire application process for the B-school, then the wait for the interview, and the final interview day etc etc etc. Whole time I had just one wish, just one thing for which I wanted desperately, I was hanging on to a single thread. There were times when I felt that I have put a lot at stake for this. But all is well that ends well or may be as its said "Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho to saari kaaynaat use tum se milaane mein lag jaati hai"

I had dreamt everyday how would it feel if I get into ISB and when that actually happened, for few days I couldn't believe that it happened, I couldn't believe that sometimes Life gives you want you want, that sometimes Dreams do come true. This time it was more than a dream and I would like to quote what i posted on FB "Sometimes you hope against hope and sometimes that hope comes true. For everything I ever wanted and didn't get, this one made it up for all :) :)"

I am an atheist, I dont know if GOD has a hand in this, but if HE exists, then I would like to thank him from the bottom of my heart. I would like to thank my family and few of my close friends for being there throughout and helping me achieve what even I was not sure if I deserved. Next year has lots in store for me, a new life, a new beginning. I hope I am able to make the next year even better.

Luck !

So I am back here, and when I saw the date of my last post I was surprised that it was 2 years back :-(. Time just flies. So now lets get back to business of why we are here.

Today i was thinking about LUCK. Not sure about you, but life has shown me many instances where i was forced to think that did this happen because me/he/she deserved it or was just Lucky. I feel its about being at the right place at the right time, and everything else just falls in place, as if it was supposed to happen.

Weather the only few questions you studied last night were the ones asked in exam, or the promotion one got just because there was a business requirement (may be company needed him/her just because everyone else left), or you got the admission to the college you wished(may be because other applicants screwed up or the adcom was in a good mood when they read your application), or put simply - The thing you wanted just happened. So will you call the above circumstances luck or was it something like the dialogue from a film "Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho to saari kaaynaat use tum se milaane mein lag jaati hai"

There is another line from the Poem of  Allama Iqbal "Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqder se pehle Khuda bande se ye poche bata teri raza kya hai". So is it about hard work, is it about being lucky, or is it purely just good timing, I don't know. It tough to decide which one it is.

If you believe in luck, you should watch the 2009 Hindi Movie "Luck", where they bet on someone else's luck. They have shown, that if you are lucky you can survive any difficulties.

I would just like to say, I believe in "Success is not about being Lucky, its about your attitude because everyone in the top 5-10% are equally lucky or talented, what sets you apart is the attitude. Period"

Trust !!!

Trust, Faith, Belief all go hand in hand.
When do you loose trust in someone? When do you doubt someone? When do you loose faith in something?

Whats important is not these WHEN question, whats important is the WHY !
Its just that you lose trust because you doubt, because you fear. Its the fear that makes us doubt, and its that doubt that takes away the long trust you had.
Once i got a message from a friend of mine.. it seemed so true to me. It goes like this:
FAITH is small word but has supreme implications..........
The problem with many is that... they have doubt in their faith and have faith in their doubt.

It takes ages to gain trust but it just takes a moment to loose it... strange but true........
Trust is like a mirror... clear but fragile. Till its in one piece you believe it to be true even though it shows you an image where left is on right and right is on left... that's how trust works.. till you trust everything is right.
But the moment that mirror has a crack, everything becomes a doubt, now even on the area its not cracked if it shows a tiny dot, you still doubt it and verify that... again strange but true... same with your trust on someone, the moment you loose it now everything is in doubt, every thing needs to be justified, every truth needs to be proved..... Isn't it unfair???  But that's how it is......

We lose faith because we test things, we as human have a bad habit of checking everything, checking every person and sometimes its that check that breaks the trust, and sometimes its true that we trusted a wrong person but sometimes it someone elses doubt that brings a doubt in our minds...sometimes its just a misunderstanding which bring that doubt......but in the end the reason never matters......

Its the doubt that breaks, its our fears that takes it all away... just believe more and fear less... give everyone a chance........ :) :)

When is Enough, Enough ?

When is Enough, Enough ?

How much is too much ?

Does anyone has answer to these questions... Sometimes there comes a time in your life when you start analyzing, start realizing that now its enough, it could be enough of work, enough of rest, enough of laziness, enough of hard work and no benefit, enough of a relationship, enough of getting hurt, enough of hurting others, enough of crying, enough of enjoying........... enough of anything...... enough of everything.........

Then you realize that you need to change... yes CHANGE... sometimes a point comes when you sit back and think what went wrong where, how much was it your mistake, how much was it natural and how much influential... but in the end the reason never matters, its the action...

You think and analyze, realize that its all waste as "jo hona hai wo hona hai"...
But still the question remains...

When does a person change?????
Change comes when there is excess of anything, excess of pain, excess of being hurt, excess of happiness, excess of good or excess of bad...
Its that tipping point which causes a change in a person or anything...

There is a beautiful song Change by Tracy Chapman on this ...

The lyrics goes like this...

How bad, how good does it need to get?
How many losses? How much regret?
What chain reaction would cause an effect?
Makes you turn around,
Makes you try to explain,
Makes you forgive and forget,
Makes you change?

Change is the only thing constant in the Universe!!

Change brings hope, change brings anxiety, change bring something new...
Sometimes change is for good, sometimes you have no other option... one needs to change to progress, because if you keep doing what are you doing, then you will always get what you are always getting.
So if you want something different, something better you have to change, and its the change that brings spark in ones life.. change bring fun, change is good...........

Success and Happiness

Why do most people don't succeed? Why do majority just keep cribbing.. i couldn't do this, i didn't have time, i could have done if that would have happened blah blah blah....? But the ques is WHY ?

Reason is we dont maintain things properly. Like you need to maintain a thing, get it repaired, serviced etc from time to time, we need to do the same with us. Human beings are no less than a machine ;)
But it seems to be human nature to wait until something is not working in our lives before we change our priorities. This concept applies to all aspects of life. We just want all our troubles should get over automatically, we should do the least, rest should be done by someone else which many times we think GOD will do.. but please tell me why should GOD help you. Even if he exists why can't you help yourself..why cant you be happy yourself ???

Its human nature to do things under pressure, when things really go out of control then we relaize what went wrong, rather we should take care even before it started going wrong. Responding at a late time is what worsens the situation.

The other reason of not facing success is: Most people simply don’t stay in the game long enough to win it.They loose focus,  concentration. Steve Jobs once told in a speech that with time we loose our spark. It is this spark which keeps us alive, keeps us going. Its very necessary for long term goals. Quiting ealry is what i feel is the major cause of failure and the reason of quiting is unhappiness in sustaining the happiness for achieving the goal.

What we try is to measure everything, and its the measuring that breaks us down. You cannot measure happiness, our health, our relationships and the things we can't measure we ignore. and we fail.
Einstein said it best, “Not everything that matters can be measured and not everything that can be measured matters.”
Success not only means success in one field, a true success is success in every field of life.... work, health, relationships, peace of mind,professional success, personal success everything.
No point getting success in one field and failure in another, then also you cant be happy.
Happiness comes only when you have a mix of everything.

We just need to relax and sit and think what exactly do we want and what are we doing to achieve it.
and GO FOR IT ... ALL THE BEST :-)

Jeene Ke Liye Bhi Waqt Nahi..

Its been many days, was not getting time to write, actually there was many things i wanted to write on.. then i got these lines somewhere... they say it all....


Har khushi Hai Logon Ke Daman Mein,
Par Ek Hansi Ke Liye Waqt Nahi.
Din Raat Daudti Duniya Mein,
Zindagi Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Maa Ki Loree Ka Ehsaas To Hai,
Par Maa Ko Maa Kehne Ka Waqt Nahi.
Saare Rishton Ko To Hum Maar Chuke,
Ab Unhe Dafnane Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.

Saare Naam Mobile Mein Hain,
Par Dosti Ke Lye Waqt Nahi.
Gairon Ki Kya Baat Karen,
Jab Apno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Aankhon Me Hai Neend Badee,
Par Sone Ka Waqt Nahi.
Dil Hai Ghamon Se Bhara Hua,
Par Rone Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi .

Paison ki Daud Me Aise Daude,
Ki Thakne ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.
Paraye Ehsason Ki Kya Kadr Karein,
Jab Apane Sapno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Tu Hi Bata E Zindagi,
Iss Zindagi Ka Kya Hoga,
Ki Har Pal Marne Walon Ko,
Jeene Ke Liye Bhi Waqt Nahi.........

-Unknown

Branding and Costing

So this post is about BRANDING and COSTING.

What determines cost? its not the quality, its not the quantity... its just the BRAND. Be it anything, branding is the only point why you but a product. thats why it is said packaging is important than the content, be it any product, or your life or anything.

By branding i mean, the name it is given, the value anything has is not what it actually is, but it is by what others think of it. You go to market and you will pick anything even if you have not used it but if you have seen it on TV lot of times, or you have heard your neighbor talking about it. I have seen others and even myself that we leave a product we had be using long to try something new, we do it based on how much others have branded it. Thats the main reason why companies spend so much on advertising, because advertising is what creates a brand.

You will never question the cost in Adidas, Reebok, Woodland showroom about the cost of any shoe, you wont bargain.. ever thought why..not because its quality is good or something ... because of the BRAND.

Once a brand is established , now you need nothing... add as many zeros to the cost as you think and you can sell it. People are crazy about brand. the most interesting part is, to make a bigger brand, just increase the cost, nothing else.

Everyone knows Quality has a upper limit, so everyone is making good quality goods, its just if your cost is more so you are a bigger brand and a bigger style statement ;)

Even if it comes to yourself, if you can make yourself a brand, you can go places, you can rock the world. Take for eg Ankit Fadia.. go google him.. you will find everywhere written "self proclaimed hacker".. In the wikipedia article every line starts with "he claims...." , so nothing is true, its just he has made himself a brand and he is making money.
If Picasso signed a painting it becomes priceless, if its not branding then what is it ?

Go for Google instead... Majority of Google products are nothing but acquisitions, Google made nothing from scratch in-house. What do they do, they buy a small company, give it a BRAND name called GOOGLE, and you are done. It is sold.

This all was about branding your company, products etc, but this applies to real life also.
Have you ever noticed someone in your group, team, class is most popular, is not popular because he has something extraordinary, its just because majority thinks so. So if everyone says that you Mr X is good in so n so, you cannot deny even though you didnt find it that good because everyone else does.

So moral is just brand yourself and then you are done. It reminds me of a story of 5 monkeys kept in a cage, and a banana is there on the ladder, and whichever monkey tries to go for the banana, all other monkey are sprayed with chilled water. Some time later whenever a monkey tries to go for the banana, all other stop him to save themselves from cold water. Now a monkey is replaced a new one, this new monkey unaware of the consequences tries to climb the ladder, and is beaten up by remaining four. Now one more monkey is replaced with new one and now this first monkey also beats this new one unaware of the reason why he is doing so, just because everyone else is doing. Then third, fourth, fifth monkeys are also replaced one by one.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.

Why not?

Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around here.
That's BRANDING, noone knows why is a brand X better than brand Y. It the cost which make a brand bigger as it becomes fashion statement. Almost all brands give best quality, its just whichever makes a bigger hype, it bigger and you just follow the trend of market, you follow the masses like those monkeys. What everyone says or does is right ;)

Hanging to the Past

The title of this post is "Hanging to the Past".
Many times we hang on to past for very long... but why do we do that?

Is it because we feel we can correct or we feel we can change it....
The thing that one should not do is hanging to past.... it hurts.. it eats you up...it actually kills you from within because you keep on hoping to go back and change it if it was bad or live it again if it was good. But in any case you cannot do it, so why worry....

Rather we should change .... change is always good... change always helps... change is LIFE or rather its the change with brings happiness to LIFE because change brings anxiety, change brings new things... good or bad but its new... its a new experience for you.

One of my friend always says i am RIGID... i stick to past and keep on hanging to it...and with period of time i have realized i have lost a lot because of this...
When we keep looking at a closed door, we miss many new doors which are opened.

So its better to look at new doors and enjoy the change... so just move on in life... Move on with all bad things... move on with good things... decide what exactly you want more and whats worth it....

Looking at it from a different angle:

Actually LIFE is all about adjusting... if we look at change, its nothing but adjusting to new things as soon as possible. The more time we take in adjusting, the more its bad for us... Its this adjusting that we call CHANGE...

So its upto us to decide what we want .... "PAST" or "PRESENT and FUTURE"

LIFE... Destiny... Again

We all are confused many times, rather i should say every time when we have multiple options for anything, be it small thing like buying something to as big as deciding your career path etc.

But sometimes when you have decided everything, taken some steps and you feel everything is going as per plan, thats the time when suddenly something will happen and your whole world will go upside down... Now you are in a dilemma weather your decision was right, weather you should rethink. This now starts in your mind and you are again back to square-one, again confused :(

Life is not that simple, its full of ups and downs.
And i thinks it rightly said... It does not matter which road you choose, it matters which ones you leave... and taking right decisions and moves at the right time is what is called Success.

This can also be taken as Destiny... Many relate it to destiny, luck etc etc
But is your fate really written??
I am not sure because sometimes i start feeling +ve about it and sometimes -ve.
Again i am confused, so i have stopped thinking :)

Best solution for everything is to be just happy... enjoy LIFE as it is rahter than analyzing on it and understanding it