Senses and Actions

I had a difficult time deciding between having “Exams are Over” or “Senses and Actions” as the title to this post. While I was slacking about it, I came across this video in youtube and if you want to know why I selected “Senses and Actions”, then see the video:

Anyways, lets start from the beginning. P1 exams got over today. The past 2 weeks were stressful enough for me to start reconsidering my notion of INSEAD being a “party place”. We basically covered enough material taught in 4-5 months in other business schools. P1 has been, in general, 2 months of exceptional learning for me. I learnt about the importance of time and setting priorities. I understood the meaning of Spiderman’s philosophy “With great power comes great responsibility”. Most importantly, I came to know a lot about myself and my alignment with the world I want to be in. Ah! genius is boring you with futile generalities. Alright then me hearties, let me wear my pirate suit…

My P1 from a pirate’s eye (the uncovered one) was housing problems – conveyance problems – study group conflicts – social scene mess-up – more housing problems – academic nightmare. With P1, most of these problems seem to have vanished. Today after the exam, the bar area actually looked like it was hosting the mardi gras in France. Beer and nick knacks all over the place. A couple of hugs – people leaving for their ski trips or to see their girlfriends and boyfriends in London. I just went home and slept a couple of hours then I was back at INSEAD replying to emails and talking to my folks back home. I think I will not go to the party at “Bakardi” tonite just to spend some time with myself. Ah! And now genius is so vain. Well, maybe genius just needs some more sleep! 

I like French better than Americans + bonus: first few minutes at INSEAD

So I guess I’ll have to explain the title in detail. I am about to leave for my first round of introductions with fellow Fonty INSEADers. I am excited. I found this opportunity to fill in my blog because I know I am going to be influenced by this experience of meeting for the first time, people from 70+ countries in a single day. So, before this effects the content of my journal, let me quickly give you my “top 3” for France vs US:

1. The French are soft spoken. I heard an occasional “wei” but at the airport I did end up appreciating how quiet and respectful the French are towards other people.
2. France is undeniably more beautiful.
3. Unfortunately, France still derives its entertainment from American movies and a little bit of music too. Throughout the airport, I saw French versions of trailers of popular Hollywood movies. But the French have still retained a liking for their own music.

That’s all the insight I can give you right now, this is only so much I have gathered through my limited stay here. Yesterday, around the same time, I went out for a stroll to see my neighborhood, and hit the Veneux Les Sablons train station. Lo and behold, there it was just 2 stops away – Fontainebleau. My woes actually started when I reached Fonty and was told that INSEAD was not walking distance from the station. So I waited an hour for the bus. When I finally got there, I was surprised to find a lot more Dec 07s had come to visit Fonty before our opening day. More surprised to see that most were Indians. I met 2 Jul 07s who were jovial and fun, maybe because a harder part of their MBA was over. They gave us great insight as to what we can expect to happen in the next few days. Made me wish I had not been lazy and actually done a bit of pre-reading.

Then I met some more – who else, but Indians! After introductions we decided to head out for Lunch. Again, it took us quite some time to figure out an appropriate place to get lunch. There were 2 ladies leading the pack – one Indian and the other American, and I guess that was part of the reason why we went hungry for a while. This was also the first time that I realized that maybe I shouldn’t have come because I was freezing to death (remember, I intended to be out of my apartment for a stroll and ended up at INSEAD)

MBA – A Haven for an Escapist Or A Bigfoot Step to $$$?

Here’s a list of top 3 “eat-shits” in my life:

1. Obliging a complete moron with status reports, etc. Because he happens to control 15% of the variable part of my salary
2. My absolute loneliness. Coupled with growing frustration (these are related so I will not have separate points for each)
3. The fact that I am growing older without enhancing the quality of my life

You, avid reader, obviously identify with the above or at least think “genius-at-large is fecking pathetic” but you are certainly not without a myriad of feelings. So 3 months ago I decided to change my frustrated life. I started working out because one day I saw 2 of the prettiest girls in the gym, as I was walking by. On my second day at the gym, I lost my iPod. Since then, I can’t bear to go towards the gym because it just reminds me of what happened to me when I thought “positive”. “Positive Thinking” is the latest “eat shit” in this world. People should learn to see things for what they are not what they look like when you cover them with icing.

So I tried staying home. I tried getting certified in Project Management Certification. The people at the PMI.org interchanged my first name and last name and 2 weeks into negotiations, they were still not convinced of their mistake. (Added on 31st Aug->) As it turns out, there was a major confusion about my records. The certification is a very stringent process which requires you to have managed projects for thousands of hours and also undergo a formal training in PMP. The procedure is organised. And I finally got a green signal to take the exam, that I scheduled for 31st Aug. (<-Remarks end) That was a development! Inspired, my happy brain cells started a cascading effect and woke up the dormant “effort expending” cells…So I gave my GMAT and applied to INSEAD. To cut the long story short, I got my offer letter today! Now I look at the facts. It’s going to cost me way more than a ferrari. Then, getting a >$200,000 job is not guaranteed. Worse, I’ll have to move from the US and leave my (prospective) girlfriends behind. Then I re-read the last few sentences. Are these really that bad? I am off to France…wait..lemme use google language translate tool to express myself…”J’aime les femmes françaises.”

My life has certainly taken an interesting turn and lets see if I make millions or if I eat more shit.

An INSEADer’s Point of View

(I had posted this on 11th August. I realised that many who had received admits from INSEAD were trying to make up their mind. I did not want to influence their decision making in any way so had withdrawn it…)

Two weeks into spending hours researching INSEAD: its, alumni, philosophy, mission, etc, I can solemnly say “INSEAD is the business school for the world.”

To all future MBAs let me tell you what you will miss out on if you don’t go to INSEAD:

1) Making Friends from Everywhere in the world. My batch has almost equal representation from 70+ countries.

2) The most diverse professional backgrounds. Every time I go thru the “selected students” message board, I come across amazing profiles. For example there is a guy who was a team member of the US 2004 Olympics team. There is also a top model in my class. (I am already sharpening my math skills to be able to help her out)

3) An MBA in a year! It is strange why the “Ivy League” schools are still stuck with 2 year MBAs. Things have picked up since the easy paced days of the Victorian Era. You should he enterprising enough to get it done with your MBA in a year.

4) Have I mentioned the fact that though it is considered to be the best “general management” school in the world, if has the best finance professors too.

5) INSEAD’s December batches have had comparable placements with the US top 5 – Wharton, Hrvard, Stanford, Kelloggs and Chicago.

6) You can stop having nightmares about loan sharks following you for the $110,000 that you need for the US top 10. INSEAD will get you a World Class MBA for about $70,000 inclusive of everything. And then you start making $$$ one year early (US Top 10 are all 2 year courses).

7) Your job is not dependent on any economy. If you graduate in a year when US economy is slowing down, you’ve had it unless you are an INSEADer – because companies from all over the world come here.

And companies that visit US Top 10 also visit INSEAD and pick an almost equal number of dudes and duddettes.

9) Female ratio is the lowest in INSEAD. Is this something good? Well, INSEAD selects people on basis of merit rather than to maintain a healthy sex ratio. Then there are 2 schools of thought. One, if you are a guy, you will be less distracted in your studies. Two, if you are a guy then you will make efforts to impress the one female in your group and study harder! If you are a girl, you will be oblivious to what’s going on and you will study harder to catch up with rest of the group.

10) Since I want to make this a “10 reasons why” list, I will combine 2 points to make one. INSEAD gives you a fair chance to go to Wharton for 2 months. Second, you have a choice of going to Asia for a part of your course – it has a campus in Singapore too.

My ever esteemed readers, the negative part of your thought machinery is saying “How did genius-at-large get through to INSEAD in the first place?”

But then I implore you to listen to the fast diminishing positive vibe in your machinery saying “genius-at-large has again lived up to his name; INSEAD must be the best business school in the world but then would if add any value to this already well established consultant of consultants?” (Ok, I admit no one is thinking that)

And to that, my ever humble answer is “Yes, my friend, yes.”