Category: Uncategorized

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It is about 50 days that am here in Vizag, and am proud to announce that have done nothing substantial. Yeah, have started taking up classes at T.I.M.E. for one week now. This was good time spent in catching up with friends on the latest media – TV Series and movies. I never ever in L felt the urge to watch any TV series during my stint at L. Moreover seeing my friends getting totally hooked on to it, I decided on purpose that I would be away from them.

This would be quite surprising to know, but in the whole of my two years at L, when people complete the TOP 250 at IMDB, are up to date with the latest seasons of all TV series and also pick up an interest in EPL and stuff, I managed to stay away from most. I just saw HEROES season 1 completely and two and a half men Season 1 to some extent. I was thankfully smart enough to load them all up in the 1TB hard disk with the vision that I would see them some day.

Never thought that someday would be so soon. Now that I am home and completely jobless I have started my romance with these TV series, and dude! They are so addictive. I don’t feel like sleeping till the wee hours of morning, just in the pursuit of completing up “one more” episode of HIMYM. I am again proud to announce that I have completed five times more seasons in these 50 days than my 2 years there at L.

Well, now getting to the core. What intrigued me the most of these English TV series, other than the fact that they are a good time pass, is the level of marketing and viewer engagement that these people get into these Shows?

• Brad Pitt was dating Jennifer Aniston, so get him to an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
• It is thanksgiving time, so celebrate this in the show.
• Blackout in the US, so make a complete episode out of it.

Well, these things even the Hindi TV series probably do. What they miss out on the most is creating the characters in such a way, that people actually start believing that they are real people. The case in hand that I would be detailing in this post is HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

Before starting off, this sitcom (situational Comedy) is about Ted, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting their mother, which explains the title and allows for a narration in the past tense. How I Met Your Mother’s other main characters are Marshall, Robin, Lily and the LEGENDARY Barney.

Some of the main points that really impressed me about the involvement level created by the marketing team are:

• The Bro Code, stated by Barney many times throughout the series, is a set of written rules for bros to follow, and has been published as a tie-in novel and also an audiobook. Now this is going really far. Actually sensing a market for a book of rules that are just passed off as dialogues in the series is excellent.

   

• Throughout the series Barney makes references to his blog. CBS hosts and updates an online copy of Barney’s Blog online. Actually having a blog on the characters reference, and also updating it would make the viewer completely involved with the AWESOME character.

   

• There is this one episode when Barney is referred to as Swarley. Barney towards the end tries to pretend he loves his new name to avoid being called Swarley again. Though it is not shown in the episode, there is a website called Swarley.com about it.

   

• In one of the episodes it is revealed that one of Barney’s former one-night-stands, whom he told that his name was Ted Mosby (in Ted Mosby: Architect), created a website denouncing him called TedMosbyIsAJerk.com. Actually designing such a website is great.

   

• A website made by Victoria as a response to, called TedMosbyIsNOTaJerk.com also exists. This one is not an official site, and there it shows it all. The fans have become so loyal and they actually want to follow the makers and leave no stone unturned.

   

• Marshall and Lily are married and there exists a website with videos and pictures of Marshall’s and Lily’s honeymoon, never showed on the show.

   

• A complete website of Ted’s “mysterious” identity when he was in college, as seen in one of the episodes is also hosted.

   

• Barney’s Video Resume: The most popular of all, this video has actually been making rounds online. In one of the episodes Barney reveals that he has created an online video resume at BarneysVideoResume.com and the makers took the pain of actually creating one, and a very funny one for that.

   

• Also there is a page on myspace for the show as well all the individual actors.

   

I wonder when Indian Television will rise to make such Series that become a cult in themselves. When will Indian TV dole out series which can actually be sold on DVD as seasons and have buyers. I can only remember Sarabhai vs Sarabhai to have reached to some extent of popularity to actually have reruns and reruns and even be sold on DVD, and shown on in flight entertainment systems. Well, sooner or later they would catch up am sure.

The corporate have caught up to some extent in harnessing the internet to spread their brand message further. AIRTEL recently came up with an interactive site impatient tones.com to involve its users. It is also running a promotional campaign to promote impatience theme and is asking the consumers to come up with a version of a 30 second video or a 30 word story on the most boring movie ever seen, and be declared as the next featured impatient one. This is to promote their impatient theme for the airtel broadband that recently launched internet at the speed of 16MBPS.

Now I am off to catch up with the rest of the episodes of HIMYM, while you can chill watching these funny animated spoofs on popular hindi movies.

http://airtel.impatientones.com/devdas.swf

http://airtel.impatientones.com/mughalai-azam.swf

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It is said, that a person should give back to society what he has attained. I have not earned lots of money, to donate to charity but yes, I think this city has given me the pedestal to rise to be in an IIM. So I think it is my duty to give it back, by teaching the younger generations. Also, this would help me to pass time and be in touch with the collegians of today, thereby being abreast of the latest happenings.

Thus, I have started taking classes at T.I.M.E. – A coaching institute for MBA/ MCA entrance examinations.

In this regard, many students keep asking me about the possible effects of the CAT going online from this year, and how it would impact them. I thought, I should be taking this opportunity, and also enlighten my readers of the possible changes and how it should be handled, as I am sure many of you there are CAT aspirants waiting to nail CAT’09.

So far the information doled out by the IIMs,

• Confirmation that CAT is becoming a computer-based test from 2009 (CBT CAT)
  
• Prometric ETS has been awarded the contract for conducting the test
  
• CAT 2009 will be conducted over 10 days at the end of 2009
  
• More details will be communicated along with the advertisement (this is typically released in July)
  
• According to IIM-B admission chairperson Subhashish Gupta, CAT 2009 is unlikely to be computer adaptive
  
• Most likely there will be three tests a day over 10 days — meaning a total of 30 different tests. (source : Rediff.com)
  

CAT 09 is very unlikely to be computer adaptive (that is the system adapts itself to the test takers according to their intelligence. If you answer a question right, the next question would be more tough and of more marks, and if you answer a question wrong the next question would be a slightly easy one). Making it Computer adaptive would not be feasible right now, as I don’t think the IIMs would have the repository of the correct answers and the wrong answers attempted by CAT takers all these years. So deciding if a particular problem is difficult or easy would be purely based on the judgment of the CAT question paper setter.

One more issue lingering in the minds of the aspirants – is it not unfair, that I may get slightly difficult questions and my competitor might get easier ones? Well, very possible. But realize that no question is easy or difficult. It is only our preparation that determines that. Also, IIMs would ensure a fair competition and would set questions from different set of question banks dependant on the difficulty level or the time taken to solve it. Of course, there would be people cribbing that wish I had the paper given by someone else. Remember, the grass is always greener on the other side.

How are the IIMs going to compare or normalize the scores across various tests?

While the information has not been made public, we can extrapolate from the manner in which they compare scores for past academics for CAT aspirants.
 
If the IIMs decide on non-adaptive testing, they would be expected to normalise the scores across different papers using statistical distribution of scores for each test. A basic example would assume that the scores follow a bell curve. Then, the performance of students would be measured by how they have performed compared to the average performance.
 
If the IIMs decide on computer-adaptive testing, then each question will have a difficulty rating. A student will face a moderately difficult question first. Based on whether he gets it right or wrong, the level of difficulty will go up or down. There will be an algorithm that will generate the scores. (Source: Rediff.com)

A student very innocently asked, do I require any extra computer skills to attempt this exam? NO. It is just a question paper which comes on the computer screen. So if you know how to operate your cell phone, operating the graphics on the computer would not be tough at all. Moreover, I am sure the coaching institutes would have sufficient material and arrangements to give you practice. Also, the IIMs would ensure that you first take a practice test on their system before jumping into attempting the actual questions. Yes, it would help to practice reading on the computer screen, which is quite tiring.
 
About being able to do rough work, this I think is the biggest disadvantage of taking CAT online. The second one being reading huge comprehension passages online. For rough work, I loved doing it just next to the question on the question paper itself. Now as that would not be possible, IIMs would decide to give you rough sheets or maybe create special scribbling space on the computer screen like in GMAT.

Is there any change in strategy required? I would say, not really. Right now, it is more important that you prepare the normal way and stop speculating. Get your fundamentals right, and get trained for the three sections which sure are not going to change. There is no clarity if the entire question paper would be given at once online, or would it be question after question. Also, there is no clarity if one can return back to an unanswered question. So there is no point thinking about it, and rather follow and make up your strategy of selecting questions and answering them. Sure, if anything changes, you would have to dump the strategy later. Of course, start practicing reading comprehensions and content on the computer screen to increase speed.

These are some issues that could be discussed with the information in hand presently. Any more discussion would just lead to speculation and unnecessary wastage of time. So it is recommended that you rather concentrate on building up the fundamentals and ground knowledge. It could be adapted to whatever technology and form required. Yes, this year’s CAT would be an unfair disadvantage to those who have been writing it for many years, as they must have gained considerable knowledge and built up enough strategies to attempt CAT like in the previous format. It would be a fresh start for them all over again.

Content in this article is inspired from an article in rediff.com, and due credit has been given wherever it has been quoted verbatim.

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Well there have been talks of Shah Rukh Khan dumping the letter Kolkata from his team name – Kolkata knight riders, but dumping the team in its enterity – that no one expected.

According to a news article in Business Standard,

After dropping “Kolkata” from Indian Premier League team (IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), actor Shah Rukh Khan has started discussions with Nokia, Sahara, the Anil Ambani group, and several other companies to sell the team he bought just over a year ago for Rs 300 crore, and exit the business.

Shah Rukh could have easily sold a stake in the team, but that would come at the cost of sacrifice of part management control. Well, did not expect this romance to end so soon – afterall Shah Rukh’s team garnered the highest profit last year (only one of the two profit making team, the other being the champions RR)

Now what could be the reason behind this motive?

TIME – It does take a lot of time on Shah Rukh’s part to keep the team running, and everyone knows how much money he would be making if this time is spent on making films and ads.

PERFORMANCE – The sad performance of the team in this edition, and the final nail in the coffin being the loss with RCB – the clash of the titans, battle for the last position.

MONEY – Selling off the team right now, for the next edition, and if no fresh teams are issued would lead to huge valuations and thus a very high ROI in a short span.

HASSLES – the frequent tiffs with the Kolkata municipal corporation, Kolkata police and this new issue with the Fake IPL Blog.

Whatever be the reason – KKR was associated with SRK, and had developed a brand identity with King Khan. It would be interesting to see how the team develops after SRK, well that is if it happens!

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There was this time, not many years ago when computers were something alien to the Indian students. Now it has become more of a necessity everywhere. I for one have got totally addicted to this case. Early morning, the first thing that pinches me is checking mail, reader, twitter etc..You probably can’t do an MBA without a laptop. Projects, presentations, work… Everything is done on this wonderful machine. Thank you Bill gates, for Microsoft office.

Now even the entrance to this exam is going online from this year, according to a release by IIM, Bangalore.

Hundreds of thousands of students aspiring to get into the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will now be answering the Common Admission Test (CAT) online from this year onwards.

The CAT, scores in which decide admission to the IIMs located in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Shillong, will now be a Computer Based Test (CBT), said a statement issued by IIM-Bangalore on Monday.

This has been in news of late for some time now and the main reason is the exponentially increasing number of applicants.

While about 95,000 candidates took the CAT in 2003, the number rose to about 250,000 in 2008, indicating a whopping 163 percent rise.

According to the IIMs, this has resulted in severe strain on the administrative system of the institutes to conduct the CAT in its existing format.

Some people have raised concerns about the security of the test, which I am sure the CAT admissions committee would look into in detail and ensure all the process before going ahead. Outsourcing it to a third party is nice, but it would be held over a span of days. This has some issues, for one I believe the performance on that particular day, in those particular 3hrs is very crucial, and that very largely depends on the questions coming in.

I hope the committee ensures that everyone gets the same type of questions, and thus ensure fairness. This is far more crucial here as the scoring pattern of Cat has always been relative. 99 percentile meant you are in the top on percent of the applicants and nothing about your score. So maybe, a GMAT type score, say from 1000, would be a better metric, and take the Indian MBA system a little closer to the foreign B schools. (Not saying that they follow the best process, but an online test with different questions for different people has to be scored, and not compared).

What does this shift mean to the aspirant?

Rules would no doubt change. A slightly different skill set would be required, but of course the deserving student would still score. It is like a shift of cricket from one days to T20’s – you still need to know cricket, but just adapt well to the new format. Of course, every deserving MBA from IIM should have this adaptability and ease of change, which is very essential in the current business environment.

What does this mean to the coaching insti’s?

They need to setup computer labs or setup online systems to enable the students to practice tests. Also everyone is in complete confusion as to what exactly would be the pattern. Will rough sheets be given to work? Will the questions paper come all at once, or would it be question by question? How difficult it is to read the passages on the computer screen without the facility to highlight or underline the key words?

More on the topic in upcoming posts

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Surprisingly woke up at 5Am today morning. Well, seeing my recent track record that is like a full minimum 6 hours early than my normal up time. APTRANSCO to blame. How can they even think of having a power cut from 4AM in the morning? Tough time it was with the mosquitoes.

So at about 5AM, I woke up and decided to go for a jog. I wanted Mom and Dad to be awake and if possible go out with dad himself, who has been a regular since more than 30 years. 6AMM, mom wakes up, and I get ready and all set, and the power is back. Mom asks if I am still interested or was I going back to sleep. NO! Today it has to be. From many months now, I have just kept procrastinating.

This interest or rather fascination with jogging started somewhere in the first year at L, when Tanuj proposed that we better jog to keep fit. I agreed, and set out for a day or two and that too in the evening, as morning was for sleep. Poor guy! He agreed to all my tantrums, and what did he have to bear? A jog just for a little more than 150mts. After reaching the director’s bungalow, I just kept admiring its architectural beauty and insisted that w e rather walk. Jogging is painful. (I still don’t understand how I completed two complete rounds of the campus, each being 2.7KM, initially during induction under the name of “Health Run”).

He got fed up and there ended my tryst with jogging in just two days. Somewhere during December 2007, me and Tanuj again planned that from the next year we should be more fitness conscious, and should go for a jog and also gym. One of the countless New Year resolutions that each of us make. We started ambitiously on jan 2^nd, as jan 1^st was spent in deep slumber and hangover after the 31^st night party. The real reason for Tanuj to get attracted towards jogging was his hanging pot belly (tondu). We again kept the promise and it went on, again for two days. Tanuj gave up (Nah not jogging!), he gave up making plans to jog with me.

Now two months of intern gave me lots of time, and I actually thought about it once in Cochin where I had ample time all to myself. The pristine marine drive, so much similar to the Vizag beach, and also the fact that my hotel was at walk able distance from the beach actually inspired me walk the line. But, well again someone to blame – My new Reliance netconnect kept me occupied all night, extending up to the time when people generally jog. So there went two beautiful months across the country.

Second year beginning. Here it is worthwhile to say that those in academic life have two beginnings for a year. One in January, and the other in june. We see lots of resolutions being made by everyone in January, and the same continues with the acad-related junta in june too. So here in june 2008, at the beginning of my second year, I had made many resolutions to myself, and one among them happened to be Jogging. Alas! It did not even have a start this time, forget the two days! That is the reason it is said, whenever you make a resolution (or a commitment), do announce it to a couple of your friends, so that you are forced to abide it for sometime atleast. Now you know why marriages are announced to everyone?

My MBA life of two years can clearly be classified as life before PPO and life after PPO. So in November, after getting the PPO, I was all relaxed. No more placements, no more tensions, I just had to pass through to make it. I decided one fine morning in november, “okay, enough of partying and drowning (you know in what?), I should now think seriously about my fitness. I should go for a jog every morning. Alas! This time agin I just promised this to myself, and as expected it did not see the light of the day.. er! Morning.

I was too engrossed in partying and other sinful activities at the beginning of the year 2009, to be making any resolutions. So no jogging. Yeah, sometime in march I decided once I am back home, I would make use of the long holiday and go for a jog every morning, and to the gym every evening. It has been a month now that I am home, and today was my first morning for a jog. “Delhi 6 loaded on my N72, and running across on the pavement beachside – nothing like it. I am not sure, how long it is going to take to start hitting the gym. Soon, hopefully!

Kill the lazy bugger, where the hell is he?

Tailpiece:

This thing about the fakeiplplayer is making rounds in this season of IPL. SRK is haunted. Do visit it for more dope!