Princely tales ...

Now that the Prince of Calcutta seems to have regained some of his royal touch in the English county championships, it's probably the wrong time for a Ganguly joke. But I just can't resist passing on this one ... A creative executive at the ad agency of one of the two aggressive CDMA players in the Indian mobile market is reported to have got the sack recently. The reason for his dismissal is a punchline the executive suggested for an ad for the firm's new prepaid service, featuring none other than Sourav Ganguly. The line read: "Our tariffs, lower than he scores. Our pulses, more than the time he spends at the crease" :-) PS: All those with whom I've had countless arguments about the merits of Ganguly as both batsman and skipper, please don't think I've jumped over to your side of the fence! I'm still very much an ardent Sourav supporter! May the form he's found in England stay with him through the next international season as well ... Go Dada!!

Thursday on a Tuesday

Never thought this day would come ... me getting a chance to blog on a non-Thursday (Hari, please note!). Well, today is a comparatively relaxed evening for the usually harrowed first year students at SPJIMR. For the uninitiated, we have a day off only on Thursdays, which is mostly just an opportunity for the faculty to burden us with even more work! Nonetheless, Thursdays do provide enough time for activites the civilized world does all through the week -- read the newspapers (not just catch the headlines), watch some TV (not just hear about earth shattering events like Bangladesh beating Australia) and of course, post on my blog! But, wonder of wonders, today isn't Thursday and you still get to hear from me! Hope this doesn't leak to the faculty, otherwise a bundle of assignments might just roll out of their closets straight into our mailboxes! Today hasn't exactly been a "free" day -- the usual rigmarole of classes happened just as usual. The only relieving factor is that there's no "must-submit-by-9PM-today" or for that matter even a "must-submit-by-9AM-tomorrow" assignment. And even more unbelievable - there isn't any (announced) test tomorrow either! What that effectively means is there's time for a nice long evening nap, without the guilt which would accompany the same on other days! Of course, all this happiness (and laziness) isn't likely to last till way past tomorrow morning, when a surprise quiz shall undoubtedly find its way to our desks! Anyway, the one thing I've figured out quite quickly (and smartly I should say) is that tomorrow's perils will be handled tomorrow! For now, its time to hit the sack and forget about the outside world ... snorrrrrrre!

No lights, no camera ... LOTS OF ACTION!

"Catch it fast ... that's your breath!" That would perhaps be the most appropriate way of summing up my first few days at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research. Lectures through the day, group assignments, presentations, surprise quizzes ... the WORKS! And all in the first week itself! The cushy existence of a lazy engineering student has been well and truly disposed off to some dustbin of history!! The silver lining (ah, when will I ever stop looking for them in everything I do?!) is that I've met a huge number of new people from diverse backgrounds. Though predictably the class is dominated by engineers, most boast of work experience in a variety of industries ranging from IT to automobiles to consultancy which makes the classroom and group work sessions that much more interesting. And there's a healthy chunk of Chartered Accountants and commerce graduates who are much sought after during the Financial Accounting assignments! As is the norm at SPJIMR, there aren't too many freshers in the batch ... we'd like to think of ourselves as an exclusive club, though I think the more accurate description would be "sore thumbs"! More than anything, the first week has ensured that none of us have any illusions about b-school life. The glamour and shine the term "MBA" was associated with till not so long ago is wearing off at a fast clip! Hopefully, I'll find a few free minutes like these to catch up on the outside world and pay attention to this increasingly neglected space ... PS: For the few who've been eagerly awaiting the second part of the "Lessons on the Road to B-School" series, please accept my sincerest apologies. I'm not too sure when I'll be able to deliver on my promise, but will surely make an effort to eke out some time and pen some more pearls of wisdom!

Up in a cloud of smoke

Much has been written and spoken about (and mostly and quite rightly against) the recent crusade by the government to prevent the depiction of cigarettes and smoking in films and television programmes across India. What few know is that this newest form of inane moral policing isn't the brainchild of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which is mandated to handle issues of this nature. Instead all efforts in this direction have apparently been made by the Health Ministry, under the honourable stewardship of Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss. Even if we give the good doctor the benefit of doubt as far as his intentions are concerned, there have to be serious questions regarding the practicability of his proposals. For one, tinseltown is agitated because they will now be forced to ring in several changes of script in films already on the floor, some even ready for release. Secondly, the task of implementing the ban on tobacco brand names from even flashing momentarily on television screens is quite frankly going to be an impossible one. There are at present close to 300 television channels aired in India, many of which are beamed in from foreign countries where Indian regulations have no standing. Even for channels beaming from within India, ensuring complete censorship of this nature will be arduous to say the least -- can you imagine a news channel doing an innocuous story on the latest car rally in town and suddenly having to blip out the portions where a Marlboro-sponsored car whizzes past? Apart from the obvious question of what difference this sort of censorship will make (if anything, it will probably attract more attention to the expunged brand!), there is also concern about how these regulations can be implemented and monitored on an ongoing, long-term basis. Clearly this isn't the last we've heard of this saga. Bollywood bigwigs are already lining up to have their views heard, and I'm quite sure the tobacco lobby would have more than a thing or two to say as well. Dr.Ramadoss and his able colleagues will need more than just a "we're out to cure the world" attitude in their defence. Let's hope that this at least prompts them to have a look at some cold statistics, because that will be quick lesson in the infeasibility of what they're setting out to achieve.