One of my friends recently told me that he would like me to write some articles on the Stock Markets. I am not a speculator in the markets and hence I will not write about what I think the Stock Market is going to do or what I expect from it. Rather I will put down some of my thoughts with regard to Finance, Business and Companies. This post shall cover one of the oldest so called laws in Finance “Risk and Return”.

For those unfamiliar about this let me give you a brief descriptions (Investment Bankers and Research Analysts: Do not point out insufficiency, since I am trying to put it in a language that most of my visitors can understand). It is said that every stock listed on an exchange has too kinds of risk – Market Risk (Risk that affects the market as a whole) and Company Risk (Risk that effects that particular company). Now, they say that all these risks can be bundled in up a shown as a term called beta (β) with respect to your standard index (like the Sensex or the Nifty). Now, what financial analysts and Investment Bankers say is that the profit that you make on your investment (i.e. the return on your investment) marches along with the Risk that your investment carries.

I, though, have a problem with this. Now, the way β is calculated, the risk of a stock is higher if the stock is more volatile. What I fail to comprehend is that if a stock is volatile how can you state that your investment will give better returns. Let me explain this further. Stock A is currently at 100. This entire week the price of this stock looks like this

Monday: 80

Tuesday: 120

Wednesday: 79

Thursday (Today): 100

This stock is volatile. That means the price is going to fluctuate vastly as indicated above. But how does that relate to the risk of this stock. I may buy this stock today at 100. But if it is plagued by bad managers, it is possible that the price of my stock falls to 40 at the end of the quarter. Some smart financial analysts deviced β to be based upon the past history of the price of the stock and said that this value is the risk. But if I were to logically analyze the risks affecting a company they would be as follows:

Market Risks

Terrorism, Economic slow down, inflation, rise in interest rates, rise in Credit Reserve Ratio

Company specific Risks

Incapable Manages, Poor processes, poor products, unstable market for the product

Now these risks have nothing to do with the price of the stock. Yet everyone in the Financial Markets still uses them. According to me, there is not much correlation between risk and return. It is impossible to state the returns just observing its past price trends. It has to be something more substantial rather than mathematical complexity to confuse people. Alas, it amazes me how even today we still don’t use the basics.

I am a great believer in incentives. Incentives play a major role in almost every walk of life, especially in business. Almost nothing is done with out an incentive. in order to explain this situation further let me take an example from the business area. Consider a company ‘COMP BIG’ want to acquire another company ‘COMP SMALL’. In order to do so they need to secure financing from their Financiers ‘FIN BIG’. They also need some one to help them decide what is the right amount to be paid to purchase a stake in COMP SMALL. So they hire ‘ADV BIG’ as their financial advisers. COMP SMALL wants to ensure that they get the best pay possible from the deal. So they hire ‘ADV SMALL’ as their financial advisers.

Now right at the start lets map out the incentives for each of our participants.

COMP BIG – To buy COMP SMALL at a reasonable price so that the purchase helps them grow faster inorganically than if they were to consider organic growth

COMP SMALL – To ensure that as high per share price from their buyers

FIN BIG – To ensure that the deal goes through, since a successful deal will ensure that they are able to loan the money that would otherwise remain idle

ADV BIG – To ensure that the deal goes through, since their rewards are higher if the deal actually goes through. Plus they can use this a reference for their future deals

ADV SMALL – To ensure that the deal goes through for the same reasons as ADV BIG

There you have it. Three out of the 5 participants want the deal to go through not matter what the situation since the entire exercise makes sense only when the deal is successful. Further, you will notice that most Financial Advisers only disclose the quantity and size of the deals that they have done and not on the impact of the deal. Several deals are done where the purchaser pays much more for the company than it is worth because their Financial Advisers convince them that the price was right. This is the reason why you have so many mergers and acquisitions that fail with 5 years.

Now consider a twist in the tale. Assume that there is a deadlock between the two. The two companies now get a third financial adviser ‘NEGO’ to negotiate and find out the actual worth of COMP SMALL. Lets say ADV BIG says that COMP SMALL is worth $100 while COMP SMALL’s adviser ADV SMALL says that the true intrinsic value of the company is $150. What do you think NEGO will do?

Consider this. NEGO’s incentive is not different from either ADV BIG or ADV SMALL’s. So what NEGO will do is do their analysis and fianlly come to the point that the company is actually worth $125. Now you cannot have 3 different valuations for the same company. So how does this difference arise? Its simple. Valuations are not exactly just mathematics. There are assumptions to be taken and here is where incentives come in to the picture. Each adviser makes assumptions in line with his incentives in the success of the project.

What I want to showcase here is that everyone of us has an incentive for most of the things that we do. And when it comes to business everything boils down to the party’s incentive irrespective of what they showcase it to be. I have seen cases where bosses ask their employees to stay for peanuts stating that one should see the company’s best interests, but at the same while refuse the basic requests of their employees. Its simple. Showcasing patriotism to an organization to prove peanuts as pay works in line with the boss’ incentive to keep his costs low and pocket the profits. I believe that in such cases its essential for the employee to identify his incentives of staying in such a company and if it doesn’t make sense, should move on because there are plenty of opportunities available there.

PS: The example of incentives provided for the purchase of one company by another is a true incident that took place in the early 1990s.

Ask any Bombayite (yes, I prefer Bombay to Mumbai) the most frequently heard announcement on the railway stations and you will get the following answer “Platform number 5 ki gaadi platform number 3 par ayegi. Asuvidaa ke liye khed hai; Dhanyawad.” (The train on platform number 5 will now come on platform number 3. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Thank you). Today I had another dose of the same. I think most of you will have a good laugh on my misfortune, so go on a read.

My train to Ajmer was supposed to leave Bombay at 2.30 pm. We I reached the station at 2.10pm, This was however not before I ran across the station to find out where exactly on which platform the train would arrive. I climbed and got down the stairs of the station over 6 times (Believe me, its actually like climbing Everest. The only difference is that instead of lots of snow you will find lots of people). It’s a hot summer day in Bombay and by the time I reached the required platform I was drenched in my own sweet and am sure that I had lost around 1 kg of my weight! I approached the station master and that’s when I came to know that the train is delayed by 3.5 hours and now will leave only at 6.00 pm. I disappointed, I turned to return home since the station does not have a good enough waiting room and at the same time saw the same fleet of stairs I had just descended. I held my breath before climbing my Everest for the day again.

I returned at 5.45pm. I climbed the same set of stairs again with all my bags. When I reached the platform I met the station master, who told me that my compartment will arrive at the end of the platform. Carrying my bags, I walked to the end of the platform. I reached there happy, that I don’t have to walk much to reach my platform. But I have seen that my life follows Murphy’s Law to the word. Just 5 minutes before the scheduled arrival of the train there’s an announcement in the station “Ajmer jaane waali gaadi aaj platform number 3 ki jagah platform number 5 par ayegi. Asuvidaa ke liye khed hai; Dhanyawad.” (The train heading for Ajmer will now arrive on platform number 5 in place of platform number 3. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Thank you). All I could do is regret in despair as I realized that I had to climb the steps to Mount Everest yet again! (Don’t ask me which time this is, I lost complete track of the same). Not only that I had walk all the way to the other end of the platform to climb those treacherous steps! I put my bags on all ready for my trek to platform number 5. But I decided that before any more treks I should confirm the same with the station master. I went over to his office, confirmed the announcement that I just heard (you can never be too careful in Indian Railways) then hiked to platform 5. When I reached platform number 5, I marched with all my strength to where my compartment was supposed to arrive. After reaching that place, there is yet another announcement – My bogie would now arrive 50 meters behind me. I was now so fed up that I emptied my bottle on old water on my hot, sweaty face. I accepted my fate in line with Murphy’s Law and walked to the spot. “Now I can breathe easy” I told myself. But it seems that fate had other plans for my already screwed up soul. The train finally arrived 10 mins after the scheduled delay. But my compartment arrived 100 meters from where I was standing. Looks like the announcement was wrong again Moreover, the train halted only for a couple of minutes. I had to run to get into the train in time. I had only just started my journey but it seemed as if I had just complete one.

I salute all those brave souls travelling Bombay Suburban Railway!

I was travelling by train for my friend’s wedding in Ajmer. It is after a really long time that I am actually travelling by train – 3 years to be precise. As soon as I entered the compartment and reached my seat I found that I was sharing the cubicle with another family consisting of 3 kids. All there kids were engrossed in themselves. 2 of them were playing with the PlayStations while the third was listening to music on her mobile phone. The kids spoke about PlayStation, iPods as if it were a part of their every day life. It reminded me of when I used to go with my brother and parents of vacations. PS did not exist at that time and walkman was still an expensive gadget. We used to spend more time reading, playing board games and making friends on the train rather than being self engrossed. Its is probably for this reason that I manage to make friends with absolute strangers that I meet in flights (the more frequent mode of transport of late). What amazed me is the difference created by technology in a matter of a few years.

Though I myself am a technology addict and find it difficult to do with out my laptop, I believe that we in general have today become too dependent in technology to think of anything else. Take a crowd of city people and ask them how they would feel if the use of mobile was prohibited for a week and you will be amazed by the number of youngsters who will feel positive about the idea. But what they don’t realize is the wonderful feeling you get when technology is taken away from you. True you would initially feel helpless and bored but soon you would realize that there’s more to life than showing for your latest gadgets. Let me give you one example for how technology takes our pleasure away. I have seen many people (especially Indians and Chinese) claim that they have visited 7 cities in 3 days of their vacation time and have all the photos in the world to substantiate it. When you ask them what they felt about the place they will give a quick reply that the place is pretty, restaurants are good, malls are huge and the monuments in the place are different. I am amazed how some people get satisfied with such a general answer for the bomb they spent on their trip. They feel better seeing the photos at home rather than having a feel of the place. Make no mistake; I was a part of this group as well until I realized that it was wrong. I once had a quick tour of Swiss and Austria with a couple of friends and later realized that it was the worst trip ever since I never learnt anything about the place. For me visiting a place is much more than going there and taking snaps. Rather, it’s about having a feel of the place, discovering the history and the culture of the place and its people living there. Nowadays, I try to spend as much time in a place as possible. I was cut off not only from technology but also the rest of the world when I went for a Himalayan Expedition a couple of years ago. But the feeling was amazing. I felt one with the mountains – a part of them. The beauty of the landscape amazes me every moment and the amazement grew second by second. Every minute of my 15 day journey felt like heaven.

Though I am from one of the premier technology institutes in the country I believe that too much technology is not good in the long term. I have no doubt that over use of technology hampers our basic communication skills. Kids today are any day ready to play football or cricket on their XBOX and PSP rather than on the playground. Youngsters prefer online dating to meeting people. I see kids becoming increasingly introverts. I do not disagree with the use of XBOX and PSP but it’s the over use that I find unacceptable. Ask how many kids prefer reading to playing their handheld video games and you will find facts to substantiate my answer. Giving too much leeway to kids is bad, since they cannot differentiate what’s good and bad in the long term, but its time parents step in to stop their kids from becoming slaves to electronic gadgets.

Well looks like I will be returning to Bombay finally after over a month. I have to say that my experience in the Arabian Peninsula has been unique.  But I am all ready to come to my lovely hometown, the most lively city in the country – Bombay! Obviously, parties, enjoyment and dance is on the cards!! Lets go peoples!!!

For all you folks having wild thoughts in your mind, get it out. I am not talking about myself, but rather a book. I have almost finished reading this book and though it was worth putting a review on my blog. For here goes folks, Ubiquitary’s first book review as well as my views on it Ubiquitary-style.

Well for starters a 600 page book is quite intimidating to conquer (especially if you are not an avid reader), but i have to say that its one of most amazing books i have read. It may not be as funny as the Hitch Hiker’s Guide To the Galaxy, as self motivating as The Alchemist, as gripping as The Da Vinci Code or as dramatic as Liar’s Poker but it has the combination that is just right.

The book starts off with Richard Branson’s childhood and what school taught him. He indirectly states that what he learned in school was not applicable in real life. A point I definitely agree with him. I actually find this part a bit dragging but when it gets to the point where he is about to set up his magazine, the book’s engine races and you feel the thrill. He explains in detail about his carefree and unorthodox way to business. His sexual adventures keep you amazed all the time. His candid attitude in the book gets to you and you literally feel the entire situation is unfolding in front of you.

Though people might underestimate his unorthodox ways, he give a logical explanation for them all through his book. He candidly states the moments when he broke down because he couldn’t do something or was in a Catch-22 situation. It makes you realize that its ok to make mistakes or feel helpless at times, because life is not a bed or roses. His war with British Airways shows how he effectively managed to win the war with a huge airline as an underdog in the business.

Towards the end he reflects upon this entire career – his successes and failures. At this point, you feel that you have completed the same journey. It amazes you that person can be so diverse, so free and yet be successful in business in spite of starting from scratch while living in a basement for the first few years. He proves something that I always believe in – Your dressing sense and the way of conducting your business has nothing to do with your success as a businessman. There are times I have felt ridiculous when my manager has told me that my dressing sense is not professional enough, though it has absolutely no correlation with the productivity, efficiency and quality of my work.

I believe that this book is a must read, especially for all you budding entrepreneurs out there – its time to loose your virginity!!!

Its April Fools Day and I though I should put up a post. Luckily I found something on the net.
Laugh Out Loud Guys!!!

Here are 10 of the top April Fool’s Day pranks
ever pulled off, as judged by the San Diego-based Museum of Hoaxes for
their notoriety, absurdity, and number of people duped.

— In 1957, a BBC television show announced that thanks to a mild winter and
the virtual elimination of the spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were
enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. Footage of Swiss farmers pulling
strands of spaghetti from trees prompted a barrage of calls from people
wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti at home.

— In 1985, Sports Illustrated magazine published a story that a rookie
baseball pitcher who could reportedly throw a ball at 270 kilometers
per hour (168 miles per hour) was set to join the New York Mets. Finch
was said to have mastered his skill — pitching significantly faster
than anyone else has ever managed — in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans’
celebrations were short-lived.

— Sweden in 1962 had only one television channel, which broadcast in black and
white. The station’s technical expert appeared on the news to announce
that thanks to a newly developed technology, viewers could convert
their existing sets to receive colour pictures by pulling a nylon stocking over the screen. In fact, they had to wait until 1970.

— In 1996, American fast-food chain Taco Bell announced that it had bought Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, a historic symbol of American independence, from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.

Outraged citizens called to express their anger before Taco Bell revealed the hoax. Then-White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale and said
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington had also been sold and was to be
renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial after the automotive giant.

– In 1977, British newspaper The Guardian published a seven-page
supplement for the 10th anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic
located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semicolon-shaped
islands. A series of articles described the geography and culture of
the two main islands, named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse.

— In 1992, US National Public Radio announced that Richard Nixon
was running for president again. His new campaign slogan was, “I didn’t
do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” They even had clips of
Nixon announcing his candidacy. Listeners flooded the show with calls
expressing their outrage. Nixon’s voice actually turned out to be that
of impersonator Rich Little.

— In 1998, a newsletter titled New Mexicans for Science and Reason carried an article that the state of Alabama had voted to change the value of pi from 3.14159 to the
“Biblical value” of 3.0.

— Burger King another American fast-food chain, published a full-page advertisement
in USA Today in 1998 announcing the introduction of the “Left-Handed
Whopper,” specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans.
According to the advertisement, the new burger included the same
ingredients as the original, but the condiments were rotated 180
degrees. The chain said it received thousands of requests for the new
burger, as well as orders for the original “right-handed” version.

– Discover Magazine announced in 1995 that a highly respected
biologist, Aprile Pazzo (Italian for April Fool), had discovered a new
species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. The creatures
were described as having bony plates on their heads that became burning
hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speed — a technique they used to hunt penguins.

– Noted British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on the radio in
1976 that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event, in which
Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, would cause a gravitational alignment
that would reduce the Earth’s gravity. Moore told listeners that if
they jumped in the air at the exact moment of the planetary alignment,
they would experience a floating sensation. Hundreds of people called
in to report feeling the sensation.

I was watching the a show on the sub-prime mortgage meltdown today on CNN where they discussed in detail what went wrong? Why did it happen? Who’s responsible? blah blah blah. It was a pretty interesting discussion with the so called ‘experts’ in the concerned fields. For those who are not aware of the how the meltdown took place, let me give you a brief in the following paragraphs.

In 2004, interest rates hit rock bottom and at the same time, the US began to recover from the IT bubble burst. Banks found themselves loaded with cash and were waiting to offload them. But people were already earning a good amount of money since the economy started recovering. So what did they do?? Simple. Target the one’s who don’t have houses. Market it to them that their life long dream of having a huge house can become reality because they had a magic pill for it. Of course, they don’t tell you that this pill has some side effects. Most of these loans had a flexible interest. That means that if the interest rate increases, your monthly installment. If for a 4% you pay $2000 and the interest rate goes up to 8% a couple of years later, then – BANG!!! – you now have to pay $4000 a month. But how do you make sure that people don’t realize it? Another simple solution is to have the interest rates fixed for the first 2 years. Most people don’t see too much in the future and the minority groups who were never given a loan in their life had no idea that something like that even exists. They all dived into taking loans and the greedy load agents helped in every way they could including over stating their incomes, financial background and their payments of past loans (if any).

This started a real estate bubble. The sudden demand for houses due to easy availability led to an increase in house prices. As in any bubble, people tend to buy when during the bubble when the price is increasing in order to be a part of the lemming parade.As people started taking the loans, traders wanted to trade these “mortgages”. So what they did was collect various mortgages and convert it into a package. This package was then securities so that it can be traded. But to be traded it had to be given a credit rating. These so called “Securitized Mortgages” had a mix of loans some of which were low risk (meaning that the probability of the borrower paying his interest dues are high) and others were high risk (meaning that the probability of the borrower paying his interest dues are low). But again traders were smart enough to make these packages as complicated as possible.

Financial Instruments can become so complicated that only a handful of people can understand their working. (The fate of Long Term Capital Management has shown us that event noble laureates are incapable of fulling understanding the workings of financial instruments). The credit ratings agencies gave these “packages” a good rating since they had low risks mortgages. This set up a wonderful house of cards ready to fall anytime. These packages were traded and brought by banks since they thought it was a good one. After the two year time period, the interest rates sky rocketed since the duration of the fixed interest rate was over and the era of flexible interest rates had begun. Suddenly people earning just $1500 a month had to pay $2500 as interest on their loan. Common sense tells you that there is going to be a default on the loan repayment. However, as per the mortgage contract if the loan was not payed back in time, the bank would auction the house to raise the money. In order to avoid this scenario, the borrowers started selling their houses.

The age old theory of supply and demand tells you that if demand is more prices escalate while is the supply is excessive prices fall. This was not exception and the real estate bubble that had developed since a long time was not ready to burst. This was the last puff of air to blow the house of cards away. Interest rates were high, your house is worth half that it was a couple of years ago and you have no money, yet you have to pay the high interest rate associated with the flexible rate interest. Most of the law income minority groups defaulted in their payments for months on a row. Banks suddenly realized that their mortgage assets are worth half their value. The result – huge write offs by banks which has amounted until now a mammoth $150 Bn. Banks seized the houses of the defaulting borrowers and auctioned them. Though they managed to get a part of the money back, their losses were huge. This where we currently are. Many people lost their houses while banks have claimed huge losses. But who’s fault is this? Why did such a scenario develop? Can this happen again? I have put thought to this myself and have come up the conclusions that I have explained in the following paragraphs.

As humans we are selfish species. This is because incentives matter a great deal to us. Anything that is not a incentive to me is not worth doing. The complete cycle that I have stated above can be explained through the theory of incentives. The lenders initially had an incentive of providing loans to the low income groups for housing so that they can off load their assets. Most of my Indian readers would have noticed this phenomenon a couple of years ago when loans were aplenty and it was normal to receive 10 phone calls a day from banks wanting to sell you loans. However, banks don’t sell these loans directly. It is done through agents.

Now for these agents are paid based on the amount of loans they have been able to sell. Generally banks are not meticulous in placing minimum quality requirements for these loans. Thus they have a different incentive from that of the bank. Thus they go to any extent to make sure that you take the loan even if this means lying or making fraudulent entries in their forms. They also make sure that you don’t read the contract so that you don’t point of issues and spoil their chance of making money. Further, their role ends once they have sold the loan. So they are interest in whether the bank will make sure that you have your home come what may or that the loan payments are sustainable by you. This is one point that frustrates me deeply. The agents incentives are not aligned with those of the banks or the customers and neither is he responsible. The result – he lies to you so that you buy and then runs away with the banks money. I believe that they should be made much more accountable so that their quality of work improves.

Now lets of the next individuals – the traders. The main aim of traders is to sell and buy. The more they do, the more commission they earn. So again, their incentive is not aligned to those of either the banks’ or the borrower’s. So they package these mortgages so that they are priced more than they are valued. They trade and finally some bank ends up with this package of good and bad loans and the rest is history.

So given this, who should be held responsible for the losses? i believe that you cannot burden the end borrowers who do not understand what they have got into. The banks that initially lend these loans should be held responsible. It was their responsibility to see that their agents were qualified and ethical enough to sell the loans. This was the root of the problem and if addressed would not have caused a meltdown like this.

This the most frequently asked question. Other versions of this question are:

• Is my GMAT score good enough?

• Will this score get me into Harvard/ Wharton/ LBS?

• Should I give my GMAT again?

• I heard that a GMAT score of 780 will get me into Kellogg. Is this true?

To answer this question in one line, your GMAT score does matter. But how much is good enough. Based on my discussions with current and past MBAs, a score of 700+ is good enough. GMAT is just one of several criteria used to evaluate prospective students. From what I have heard, a good GMAT can either balance out or uplift an application that lags in academic success. There have been cases where people who have scored 780 have not got into top B schools while applicants with a score of 650 have. I suggest not to dwell too much into it. Plan your GMAT at least 5-6 months before you start your application process. Get it out of the way. The score is valid for 5 years. So you don’t need to worry about it after that. Also, once you have got a good score (700+), be happy but don’t get over confident. Concentrate on the rest of your application.

One more thing, many companies do ask for GMAT score while recruiting candidates. While it might not be one of the core criteria, it may be used to select amongst 2 identical candidates. For those who disagree with me, please do so but what I am saying
based on the information provided to me by current MBA students.

I have visited over a dozen countries and during my visits I have encountered some surprising and funny events. Today while I was meeting a client, one of the managers started talking to me in Arabic. I introduced myself in English and he immediately he apologized to me while saying that he thought I was Arabic! (or at least spoke Arabic). Later, one of the co-ordinators revealed that many managers thought I was Arabic since I looked Arabic!!

This is not the first time something like this is happening. For your convenience, I list all such events below:

2008: Managers at the client think I am Arabic

2005-Present: Half of my friends consider me French (Annaps please concur )

2006-Present: Many people I meet in India think I am Christian

2004-2005: Had a huge problem in Italy, where people came up and started speaking to me in Italian thinking that I belonged to that country

2004-2005: One of my Swedish teachers though that I was Swedish (before meeting me) since my family name also happens to be a Swedish word.

2004-2005: The departmental secretary thinks I am Iranian (for some weird reason)

Looks like I covered half the world with that I guess that I can safely call yself a gobal citizen now

I have riddle for some of you (as other might already know about this )

===Question 1===

If
you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who
were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had
syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.

===Question 2===

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.
Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A. Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologers. He’s had two mistresses.
He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, us ed opium
in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C He is a decorated war hero.

He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

The Answer

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Candidate B is Winston Churchill.

Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:

If you said YES . . .

. . . you just killed Beethoven – Gr8 musician


I think prejudice is the greatest hindrance in humans. We tend to judge people based on our notions of good and bad rather than digging for facts. For example, the just because a person is a drunkard and a Casanova has nothing to do with his intelligence. But we are brought up to accept the fact that a person must be stupid and a loafer to drink daily or sleep with many women. Adolf Hitler was extremely disciplined. But that did not mean his intentions were good. Both Einstein, Agatha Christie, Richard Branson were slow starters and no one would have predicted that they would become such great personalities. Some one who hasn’t heard of Stephen hawking might consider him an invalid and incapable of doing even the basic things lest considering him amongst the world’s most intelligent people. I have faced many situations where people wrongly judged me based on their presumptions. I am not a saint and I accept that I have done the same as well. I guess this is a very human nature that most of us do not realize and a nature that I would like to live without.

Well after the first round of mythbusters that I encountered in my initial days in Saudi Arabia, here is the second list of myth busters that I have encountered after that:

It is prohibited to enter a lift with an unknown woman: Myth

There have been several instances where we have used the lift while a woman was also present. Also, just yesterday, a woman entered our lift. I think it’s more left to individual choices rather than compulsion

Men wear kaftans and women wear bhurkha: Fact

All men are dressed in white while women are dressed in black. It’s a little weird to see people in the same outfit everywhere. But hopefully you get used to it in time.

It is prohibited to stare at women: Fact

Though this is true. Men do snatch a peek here and there. Yesterday a blond entered the computer store that I was in. I could say that there were at least 10 people staring at her as she removed her cloth covering her hair and face.

I just completed my first day of work at the clients place today and during the day I have developed my first impressions of the place. People told me a lot of things about this place before I arrived here. A few of them have turned out to be myths. Below I have classified information as ‘Myth’ and ‘Fact’ to separate the real from the rumour.

Saudi is a place with very poor people: Myth

Saudi Arabia is a place with lots of rich people. You can see that very well when you come to the city center, which is the business center of Riyadh

Movies are banned in Saudi Arabia: Myth

Though there are no theaters in Saudi Arabia, you do get CDs and DVDs of movies here.

Prayers Take place 5 times a day: Fact

Saudi is a religious state and praying 5 times a day is compulsory for muslims here. In fact during the prayers, all shops are closed and all business activities are suspended temporarily.

It is dangerous to go out during the prayer times: Myth

Though it is not dangerous to go out during prayer times it is generally not advisable to do so. You need to respect the law of the land and wait patiently while the prayers take place.

Women are dressed in bhurkas and only their eyes are visible: Myth

Though women need to cover their body, hair and ears, it is not necessary for them to cover their face. I have seen many instances where women have also not covered my their head.

Women are not allowed to drive: Fact

Though weird, it is actually true. Women are not allowed to drive in the country. I dont know the reason behind it but am in the process of finding out why.

Well that’s all for now. But I think I will be back with more of myth-busters. Keep seeing this space for more updates about my Arabian expedition.

Well…I have finally reached Riyadh. The city is very different from all the othert cities that I have visited until now. It is right in the middle of the desert. In fact, there was a sandstorm when I arrived tis morningThe country is very religious and the laws have to be obeyed without compromise. i will get you the list of Do’s and Dont’s as my stay here progresses. I should be here for around a month, after which I will return to India. Based on that I might need to return back here. For those unfamiliar with the customs. it is a relatively conservative place and getting adjusted is not going to be easy.

Done! Finally!!

I have finally submitted my B-school application. I dont know whether my application is good enough to get me an interview call, but I am not going to worry about it. Submitting the application has been like a typical hindi movie – filled with fun, despair, suprises and shocks. It’s also as long as a Karan Johar movie Thanks to everyone who helped in the process. Each gave a me a unique way to look at things!

For those wondering how write an application, there are loads of sites and blogs that will give you infomation on the topic. But I am going to state my experience with them.

1. Start Early: Don’t think that you can finish it even if you start working on it a day before the submission deadline. Remember, there are lots of people applying along with you and many of them are going to put in a lot of effort for it.
2. Know your school: Don’t apply to a school for the sake of application. Do a proper background work on the school. Find out about the professors, the recruitment, progress of alumni over a 10 year period, the school’s strengths and weaknesses, The USP of the school, how the school can help you in accelerating your career. When you do back ground work the same will reflect in your essays as well
3. Know yourself: This is the most important of all. Schools want to you! And they can’t know you if don’t know yourself. Understand your strengths, weaknesses, important events during you life/career, your USP.
4. Write the Essays yourself: For those who are thinking of outsourcing the essay writing part, I personally feel it is a very bad idea. This follows from the previous point. The agency writing your essay has probably met you for just a few hours and I don’t think that’s enough to know someone’s history. Don’t be lazy. In fact, if someone tells me that they have asked an agency to write the essay, I begin to think if they actually have enough commitment to do an MBA. The essays are about YOU! I don’t think the agency has enough incentive to actually go that extra mile to make your application that extra special – So do it Yourself!
5. Be Truthful: Don’t lie in your essays. Don’t be ashamed of
   showing your weaknesses. Everyone has them and it’s a part of life.
   Anyone who says that he doesn’t have weaknesses or failure, has not
   tried enough. However, make sure that I portray that you have been
   taking steps to address these weaknesses.
6. Review: I think it is good to get your essays reviewed by someone else. Especially from a completely different field. This will test whether you are able to get your thoughts and point across well. But make sure that the essay doesn’t stop being you! I mean check the grammar and modify sentences to get the point across but make sure that your essay doesn’t loose its identity. I know people who have put exclamation marks and anecdotes in their essays. No one is going to reject a candidate just because it has got exclamation marks and inverted commas in it. Just be yourself and communicate well to the adcom (admission committee). No need to use difficult and little known word either. That does not make your essay look like a master piece. In fact, if any it hampers the communications skills of your essay.
7. Know your story: Make sure you know what you are writing about. You should know your story. Remember that in the event you are called for the interviews, you will have to speak in length to explain your essays. This where the interviewers will separate the good from the ugly.

In my opinion these are the 7 most important points while making your application. They are simple but difficult to follow. But they make a huge difference in your application.