Getting ready

Here are some IIMA terminology before I start:

Fachcha : The guinea pig entering IIMA knowing very well that he is going to get slaughtered.
Tuchcha : The 'been there done that' 2nd yearite having fun at the fuchcha's expense.

There are tons of thing to done before the joining date and tuchchas have been of great help to get a lot of things clarified. The yahoo group for 2010 batch is flooded with queries and concerns of apprehensive fachchas. Most of these get patiently answered but some questions are so absurd that those get ripped apart by tuchchas. Here I quote a few mails:

Fachcha: When you say that each dorm has a washing machine, do you mean that we
have to wash our clothes ourselves? Though I think it's shade away
from impossible but still would like to get cleared.

Tuchcha: The washing machines are FULLY AUTOMATIC: That means =>
a.) Put clothes in
b.) Put reqd amount of detergent
c.) Select program: Heavy, Delicate, Stained, OMG dirrtty etc.
d.) Note the indicated time duration
e.) Come and pick up clothes
I don't think it'll be too much of a trouble but for step c.) for
which we are planning to start a washing machine manual if lots of
people are interested. You can show interest on Interest NB upon
reaching the campus.

Fachcha: What if you have to take your laptop outside india?
koi pain to nahi hoga na? especially with pirated OS and MS office.

Tuchcha: Pain to hoga. the first thing that the customs people do at every international airport is open your laptop
and check every software installed whether it is pirated or not. If not, then you'd have to pay
the amount equivalent to the price of each software in the market.

If you continue to persist with the same software, then you'd have to undergo the same at every airport in every
country including India on your return.

lekin zyada pain nahi chahiye to dual boot mein linux install kar do. customs walo ko linux nahi
chamakta hai. :-)

Fachcha: I was told that Ahmedabad is very hot in this season. Are the rooms
having fans?

Tuchcha: Yes you would be given a hand fan each, soon you will become expert at using them. This is in response to the competition from China, who seem to derive all their strength from their hand-fan. FYI, there will also be 2 lights in your room (it gets dark in the night in ahmedabad, it can be difficult to see things), one tubelight and other a table lamp.

Fachcha: *&%^#$ studies in IIMA &!*#$@ ?

Tuchcha: Muggo fachchon Muggo!! Muhahahahaha

All set for IIMA

I have had many attempts till now to start a blog all of which have gone in vain. Somehow after the first few blog posts, I find it extremely difficult to continue. For one thing, I don't have a theme for my blog and secondly I easily get bored by what I am doing. Though that should not stop me for trying, so here is a renewed attempt!

The life has been more or less smooth in my last 4 years since I graduated and came to the software industry. I love technology and hence being in core software companies seemed like the right thing for me. But now I am standing on the juncture where my life is taking a turn ("kahani me twist"). After much hesitation, I have finally decided to join IIMA to pursue the management degree. I will me moving to Ahmedabad in a months time. This was definitely a difficult decision for me as I was pretty comfortable with what I have been doing till now, mostly enjoying it all the way. And it payed me handsomely too!.But as they say, "Live in Northern California (or Bangalore, India's own silicon valley, for that matter) once, but leave before it makes you soft.", it is time for me to move ahead. I understand that there are lots of things in life which I need to improve on (like soft skills, time management, setting priorities, networking etc) and I hope 2 years in IIMA would help in refocus in life. Also I plan to do a start-up at some point of time in the future and an MBA from IIMA should be useful. So here I come, IIMA!

I am all excited for this amazing journey and let us see how this unfolds.