Brawn GP: A dream debut – The B Effect

When Ross Brawn, former team principal of Honda F1, announced his purchase of the team no one knew what in store for his team. The dominance of the Ferrari’s and McLaren’s had made things tougher for other F1 teams. Its new car, the BGP 001, is powered by Mercedes-Benz engines, and drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will return for their fourth year together.

Mr. Brawn had a strong background in winning. He was the technical director for Benetton when Michael Schumacher won his championships in 1994 and 1995. When Mr. Schumacher moved to Ferrari, he brought Mr. Brawn with him, and they won five more drivers’ titles together. In 2008, Mr. Brawn was hired to be team principal for Honda F1.

Saturday’s qualifying results at Melbourne showed the world who they were by occupying the front row. While teams like Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Red Bull were struggling for grip (tyre), the B’s – Button and Barichello were setting the fastest times one after one. Hamilton last year championship winner qualified at 18th.
Race day was eagerly awaited, if Brawn GP finished 1-2, it could be the most historic moment in Formula One, for the first time since inception of the FIA World Championships, a team has made its debut and managed to get the first two places in the race.

The first corner saw a fantastic start for Button and the Ferrari’s. Barichello dropped 5 places at the first corner. At the end of the first lap Button started stretching his lead over the rest of the pack. Meanwhile at the end of pack there was a silent mover Hamilton moving up every lap. The Ferrari’s were struggling for grip and were clocking 1:30 mins compared to Brawn’s 1:28 mins. Traditionally Australian GP throws up a few surprises as reliability issues hits teams and usually one expects some lower-mid rung teams to score but this year there could be a pattern which is coming in and this could be anyone’s season with Brawn GP leading the way. Button got a lead of 47 secs over his nearest rival. Soon the race turned out to be a different thing altogether, with accidents and skirmishes galore, and the safety car was called out quite often, including the last couple of laps, when Kubica tangled with Vettel.

It all boiled down to a simple fact; the one who could keep out of trouble, and keep his car out of trouble would win the race / finish in the points. Button held on to win his second race, in a 154-race career. Veteran Barichello finished second despite his first corner melee. Hamilton was elevated to third after Timo Glock was stripped of his standing after passing Hamilton under yellow flags following a crash.

Formula 1 history was rewritten, for the first time since 1954 when the Juan Manuel Fangio led home Karl Kling for Mercedes in the French Grand Prix, a debut team captured the top two places in a race.

Cheers 3 B's - Brawn, Barichello and Button

A dream debut for a new team..
Wondering if the B effect would continue @ the Malaysian grand prix!!

!Life of an MBA graduate

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MBA seems to be the best option available for all those who want to pursue a higher education. Whether you are a software engineer with a couple of years work exp in an IT company or a fresher the idea is simple – get an MBA admission - work hard for a couple of years – prepare for placements – you are placed with an average salary of around 8 Lakhs(varies on how efficient your placecom is on the subject Financial management – Number crunching).....finally you graduate and enjoy the position and the new role of being called a MANAGER...But what exactly lies in store while you do your MBA course..

Let’s have a sneak preview of the life one would have to go through while pursuing an MBA....

The toughest of all!! Especially for all the work experience guys...you get back to studies after having a worked with an IT/Manufacturing company for years!!... For all the software engineers a word of caution, Studies is more than just browsing, copying, pasting, coding and debugging (@times) and most difficult of all !! - Sending forwards...

Dont forget the Diversification concept..in your batch you have from with XYZ to VLSI specialization(People still wondering why MBA!! - One reason definitely being Money!!)...The diversification leads to minimization of risk - Atleast some would appreciate it!

In the first semester you are put through a coursework which comprises of subjects from HR, Finance, Marketing, Operations....Everyone is hyper active (Metastable state) – case studies, surprise quizzes, summer placements, assignments..The average sleep that one gets is only around 3-4 hours a days (Value calculated after a primary research from Tier 1 B school students.. Tier 1 – Definition varies from one Business magazine to the other ). Every day you are given 2-3 cases and would have to present the same the very next day. Nightouts, skipping lunch, dinner, breakfast, oh ya! Even your bath, at times becomes a routine...The most embarrassing of all, there would be a nameplate kept in the class room for every student and one’s participation is continuously monitored for internals.. Well in short..You sleep in class, your marks would also become Lt(Marks) -> 0

Within a few weeks (before you get settled), it’s time for mid sems and the most important your summer placements. Well the fact is everyone would come with the perception of specializing in CORE FINANCE but what happens when your summer placements starts is .....

You don’t know what each specialization exactly means, are you fit for the role being offered, do you understand the prerequisites required...etc etc...and once your summer placements start looking bad..u finally end up saying..all I need is to “Get placed”...I can always change my specialization during my finals (does it really happen???).....

A mistake made in one decision would make you repent for rest of your course!!

No more weekend parties, discos....Wondering what you do!!... cases studies, assignments and preparing for the so called CLASS PARTICIPATION and surprise quizzes

The only thing that remains the same (while working and studying) is “Your always connected to the internet”...with a different purpose and it being – WORK unlike it being browsing movie reviews, copying codes in the net and the important of all forwarding mails...downloading music, movies etc....

Oh I forget to tell you about the most important advantage while you’re doing your course..u come to know about DC++..Wondering what it is!...it’s a tool for sharing data...”Yo! and now you get all the crap you need at a single place – the DC++ repository”.. Name it from “Balika Vadur” to “Lollu Sabha”, from WWE smackdown to Kabbadi matches, from cricket to football..You get all the crap from !@$$ to !%$#@... Wondering what to do with so much of data!!..Watch it obviously..but where is the time..I hardly sleep for 3-4 hours a day....

Soon it becomes 1-2 hours a days...night outs become more common – reason you start getting addicted to downloading stuff from DC++...the nights become longer ( :0) )

Haan!!.soon you realise an important aspect of classes...Proxy..You start applying scheduling algorithms to optimize and effective use of resources – your classmates... Rotating proxies and achieving 100% attendance (lets be practical at least more than 75% is what I need..thats enough). Once you have cleared this phase, the final part of the semester comes... End sems!!!..Here too the concept of managing the friends around your seat comes into picture..Copying!! ..

Profs still wondering what to do with the stories written in the answer scripts by the students...They come with different strategies (different paths taken to reach the goal – Grades!!)

Correct the paper

Weigh the paper + “Name” - Weights vary J

Use excel - RAND function - Form a normal distribution

Job well done!!!! First semester results are out!

Students start wondering – How come I got so much??!!! So less (Was the paper actually correctedJ??? - it does happen @ times!!)???....Soon they realise that the grading was an execution of the option 3.

Finally it all ends...you have completed your MBA... now you are a Manager...

Hey I forget to tell you..I didn’t do any of the above ...Bunking classes, lesser sleep, class participation, working on cases....In fact I slept for 7-8 hours (not including class Sleeping participation into it), didn’t participate in class unless it was really necessary!!(that was once a semester ) u know why!!... I was a better manager, I foresighted things and completed the tasks well ahead of time....

P.S.: Everything mentioned in the above blog is to show the funny side of MBA and doesn’t try to intimidate anyone... esp the toppers!!!

72 hours at the Capital City

72 hours at the Capital City

Delhi was the next destination in line... It was a B school event and I was beckoned to be there !!!! The journey was the most exciting and at the same time the most thwarting one. The week was filled with a lot of activities..Fresher’s party, Leadership series and the B school event @ Delhi. Was required to miss the first two (felt bad missing the first one), A strategic decision turning out to be a --!$@#-- Off we left for Destination 3..An announcement @ The railway station which had the longest platform in the world – “Train no 2819/ORISSA S KRANTI Platform No 5 mei kadi hein”...The superfast express was supposed to have only 4 stops had an exponential increase in the number of stops as it was in the vicinity of Delhi...Delayed by more than 3 hours!!

But it an exciting journey..We had an Army Jawan ready to return to Siachen after a month’s break, An elderly and very knowledgeable person and then Mr Am Jho ver 2.1(No need of any introduction to this dude) As usual I spent time sleeping as much as possible, Global warming made things easier for me, the temperature was cold and I wasn’t concerned to get out my seat..Mr Am Jho , Mr active got into the act, woke up early kept reading books and started off a great engrossing conversation with the junta...Time passed on..each one narrating their stories...from Siachen to Chennai via Kharagpur.. At last we reached Delhi around 1am..The temperature was around 5 Degrees.. To a guy who stayed in Chennai for 21 years, enjoying temperatures around 35-45 Degress..It was easier said than done..

Delhi greeted us with arms wide open!.. We reached the B school needing much rest..Things started getting from bad to worse – temperature started dipping and We were put up @ at one hell of a place – a common room which had enough openings in the roof to help the cold wave take on us.. We had no other go, had to adjust...8 hrs of sleep and it was time for some action...

It was the flagship event and was always exciting to be a part of it. It had 6 rounds, none on them disclosed before hand to the finalists. Each round was enthralling and exciting. The third round was the most exciting – had to create an Ad for “Zipper Lungi”..It was an amazing experience creating the Logo, Brand Name, Radio Jingle, Video Ad and a Paper Ad.. Our creativity and MBA’s fundas were put to test..after 4 hours..the complete plan was ready..The next rounds made us solve a case study and then an interview round. Made it till the 5^th round...was completely worn out it. The event drew a lot of controversies and soon participants and organizers started fighting it out and to make matters worse there were “other students from the B school try to intimidate us by mocking us ” Matters got worse with some participants walking out..This can’t/shouldn’t happen atleast at a B school event where the future managers are groomed..these guys aren’t able to organize an event!!!! What the !$@( was happening!!!!... Enough is Enough things drew to a close..3 days of amazing experience, new friends...it was time to move on with a Certificate to cherish these memories..

The event gave me a real time experience of What not to do while organizing an event..

Here are some of the learnings...as what is to be done.. which wasn't done..

Plan Plan and Replan were the golden words..Plan for the unexpected..Time management, Get the right sponsors and always work in a team where each one knows the ultimate “Goal” of the work - be organized and be professionals @ work

Full Stop to event management... The stage was set for some fun... a great time @ one of the shopping malls. – Dj nite, Window Shopping, Miss F&L contest, dinner @ McDowell’s.... From Bird watching to some serious stuff it was all possible there....Kharagpur was beckoning us and it was time to bid adieu to Delhi, and the B school event ...The train journey was another exciting one with around 300 Russians travelling..All Shree Ram,Krishna Devotees..Reading Bhagavad Gita and Chanting Slogas..Got to meet people from another corner of the world..Language is no barrier with me speaking English and the other fellow speaking Russian..The experience was amazing..Got to learn Russian (Can’t remember much now – Reason – Read my previous post) I haven’t read the Bhagavad Gita and it was time for me to get one, Russians were reading it. the compartment was flooded with Bhagavad Gita..each one getting a copy for themselves...It sounds weird when we people don’t buy these books at the stalls (its available in any book store) but when we see foreigners selling it..Immediately everyone gets a copy of it..How strange the people are and So am I!!!!...It was time..Back to the longest platform in the world..Back to college life...Kharagpur has commmmmeeeeeeeeeeee.........the journey was over..one of the most exciting ones...in a different flavor...

Want to get back to Delhi but surely not for a B School event...

From the 'I' in "IT" to the one in "IIT"

Back to the Summer of 2005..The days when I Started to get a feel of What IT is ..."Get up @ Odd times..Sleep @ Odd Times"..I got my first job offer in an IT company..I gave my CAT,XAT and JMET in 2004..i didnt fair well in all and was forced to join..The 22 months I spent there were one of the best..Get up @ 8 am..got to office @ 10am..no tension finish ur work by 7pm..play TT after work( During Work hrs also sometimes :)).. enjoy life..and get back to home in the 9pm shuttle.. All that the work demanded of me was..read the spec..write some Asm prog..verifiy modules..training freshers... and done..thats it..no STUDYING !!!!! and the most important of all no EXAMS...
Then the big thing happened...I gave the same exams in 2006..i converted IIT kharagpur B School..aka..VGSOM..Yipee!!! I was going to do my post graduation , MBA -> A Future CEO in the making!!..Had great dreams .Back to Skool!! College and shud i say anything more it was a B school..everyone knows about the life one has in a B school....June 29th 2007, i was relieved from my work...July 25th was nearing..the registration date for all PGs @ IIT Kgp..
What I wasnt prepared was for the big things waiting in queue in front of me..Studies,assignments, placements..from no tension.i started become tensed..have i made the right decision.?? the most imp thing CAN I GET BACK TO STUDIES ? Whts the ROI?
I got answers to all..but the question that was unanswered was Can I study? Write exams? I thought, i could!!!
Classes started...
What followed was a series of nightmares..the very first week we had a quiz in Marketing and i got 5/20...It was a week and i could not define it!! Crazy it is!..I knew what it was ..but i cudnt study,cudnt remember what I studied a few days back.. i was like Surya in Ghajini ( Not Physically only Mentally)..Temporary memory loss..in fact it was permanent..i put in hours to study but couldn't concentrate..cudnt stay awake late night for completing my assignments..got used to typing could write properly..my hands starting giving up..i was lost in a dark world.. i was feeling the pain of being an IT prof..Wht it has done to me!!..
The worst part was when exams came..i felt burnt out.. i couldnt write for 3 hours...Hand started aching, head ache..and fever to make things worse..i felt weak..my USP's were only Browsing, chatting , forwarding mails as in the case of any IT prof..
Well all these experiences in the first sem ..hope will lead to a better rather a more energetic second sem ahead..
and a piece of advice to all those who wanna do PG after an IT job...Be fit !!!! and never lose the touch of studies..I know how hard it is to be back to sleep with books without being able to study them....

Hats off to all u guys who r able to study with work exp!!!!..

From Information Tech to Institute of Technology the transformation was amazing and has taught me a lot of lessons..

SWOT Analysis of Kochi

12th Sept 2005 , 12.00 o'clock..The HR manager announces "All those people who have their Location as Kochi might have to go there after the induction. The technical training will take place there @ kochi"..This day changed my life once and for all....Thanks Kochi and HR...

Here is a simple SWOT Analysis I have done of Kochi. [God's own IT Paradise]

Weakness

Regular Strikes ( Saddam Hussein’s Death was condemned) Narrow Streets People know only Malayalam Give no respect but expect respect policy Unions No development Stupid Auto Fare policies Food made of Coconut Oil Very Tough for vegetarians Pathetic Work Place Sunday’s Malls , main shopping bazaars are closed Wait and watch policy Only a handful of Good Theaters Bad climate ( Either is very hot or keeps raining heavily)

Threats

The King – CPI Labour force STOP!!! Policy..Let’s not grow Only one language known People not willing to change and let other change

Strengths

Small City Amazing Bus service Marine Drive – Kochi Port Nature @ its best Good Omane Kutti’s Amazing Temples SEZ Not much Environmental Pollution

Opportunities

Is the place where OFC network is present so amazing expansion possible Possibility of Dubai Smart city IT parks being setup Possibility of a Fabrication Plant Real Estate Growth due to IT firms expansion

The Fact is that ...I faced all the problems ..Didnt know Malayalam, was a Veggie, Was cheated often..Due to some crap Policy

But I thank This place for it taught me "How to Survive!" , "How to Cook", "How to Bargain"..Experiences are the best way to learn and I learnt a lot ...

Despite all the -ve's...I want to go to Kochi/kerala..Go there as a Traveler not as an Employee..Keep ur expectations low so that they are always met..

P.S : All these are based on Personal Opinion