War - good or bad?

War has been a method of dispute resolution among pretty much all creatures who have the intelligence to demarcate territories. It is unfortunate that toll of war among the humans has gone up significantly due to application of technology. Moreover, due to creation of nation states, wars of attrition have become more common and quick victories are a matter of past. Greed and lust, which were an important motivators for the foot soldier before, have now been banned from modern armies. Therefore, there is even a greater need of two other tools - hatred for the enemy and love for your cause. Creation of fear psychosis and propaganda practiced by modern leaders to achieve political or war aims are manifestations of this reality. Weather, war is good or bad, is relative, and can be judged only in hindsight. It also differs for different people. Abraham Lincoln had forged USA with blood and freed black people - at least in name. While the second world war was terrible for many countries - it in a way gave India its freedom. Just imagine the havoc full strength British armies would have created in India otherwise. Having said that, I don't want to become a guinea big of any hindsight analysis and therefore, I oppose war whenever my ass is likely to be in the line of fire.Cheers! Check out...

History, information vs misinformation!

For serious readers, I would recommend The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire.

It was written by a famous Historian - Edward Gibbon. It traces the sequence of events that led to the demise of Roman Empire. Romans were a great civilization whose achievements were unmatched till the Age of Industrialization. The book is a masterpeice.

Two things stand out - an immensely powerful prose, and the impact it has had on shaping the thinking about Romans. However, the dark side of the story is that a well-meaning Gibbon relied on science and rhetoric of his times to extend his arguments. Unfortunately, the latter was far more advanced than the former. Therefore, a number of fallacies have crept in.

Sometimes of his arguments do not hold up to good scrutiny. To give a man credit - he wrote all of that all by himself. Very few people have been born who can do this much.

For example, the impression one gets about the successors of Romans - the Byzantine empire, is that they were often incompetent, corrupt and scheming. However, one only need to look at the fact that Byzantines survived till 12th century while the Roman story was over by 5th century to admit that the Byzantine empire was a durable state. Just for the sake of comparison, Indian democracy is not even 100 years old. Check out...

How to tame the Facebook privacy dragon?

These days everyone is complaining that Facebook is a monster which is out to sell our data against our wishes. It seems that we are helpless and can do nothing. WRONG!

Bizarrely, we blame FB for what is essentially our fault. We have willingly given so much information to Facebook, that many a times they know more about us than our best friends and parents. After committing this mistake, we crib about privacy issues.

If you go to Times Square, New York on a Saturday evening and dance naked, you cannot bitch about privacy!

So what is the solution? The solution is not to never go to Times Square, i.e. leave Facebook. It is a fantastic tool, I sincerely thank the guy who came up with the idea and will continue using it. The solution is cover up. Mess up your data and make it worthless for advertising purposes. A few simple tricks are

1. Set your age to 14. The only piece of information worth sharing is your birthday
2. Do not add your school and college information. You have the likes of LinkedIn for that
3. Do not click through links posted on Facebook. Copy and paste them directly into browser Facebook will never know if you liked a particular link or not.
4. Go like random stuff as well. Your data on preferences will be confused. Or just put comments saying you like it or not in weird language and weird spelling.
5. Go and reject all ads marking them obnoxious.
6. Change your sex. Your friends know about your plumbing even if the relationship is platonic.
7. Do not use Facebook provided tools to share information as declaring someone a spouse or a sibling. Mention that elsewhere – like in a note or in a picture

If someone builds a tool to implement some of the above mentioned ideas after getting inspired by this article, please acknowledge my contribution to your effort by declaring where you got the idea from.

Here is a CARTOON which talks about the impact of such an obfuscation exercise.

I am admitting with a lot of pain that I am not the smartest guy around. Therefore, I am sure you can come up with many more ideas. Please feel free to put them in comments below.

Please be advised that personalization is the future of human race. The way you fill forms to get accepted to schools, go abroad and get healthcare, even IT firms need information to serve you well. Trust me that you want those personalized services. Therefore, to some people, you will provide good information. The good people are those that are honest about their intentions. If they want to sell our data, they will explain it to us and will help us make an intelligent choice.

Therefore, what we need is a comprehensible transparent privacy policy and a reasonable code of ethics on part of every company which handles our information. We do not want reams of legal bullshit. They are as bad as a lie. An average internet user cannot comprehend them. We should have a few bullet points and 3-4 classes of data which can be either blocked or unblocked at user discretion. This is will enable us to understand what is at stake, and will help an average well-meaning Joe or a female Joe working at these firms protect our data.

If you think this article is useful, PASS IT ON and please do check the CARTOON. Check out...

Muhammad Ali, Pele and Indian Sports

Muhammad Ali is my favorite sportsperson.
He combines courage to combat the political and social system of his country, with excellence in the arena. He won an Olympic Gold, and then threw into a river to protest against racism. He refused to join the army even when he was offered a desk job - as a matter of principle. He had the courage to say the war his country was fighting was unjust. (I am not making a judgment call here about Vietnam war. It was just for many and was unjust for many others). He was jailed and was out of action for a while. After being released, he bounced back and topped his sport again.

I would like to have someone like that in India too. Someone who will win us a world cup and bring down the politician-bureaucrat-businessperson nexus holding down the Indian sports. It just makes me sad to realize that every single day, we are missing finding yet another Pele on Indian streets. Check out...

Guns, Germs & Steel> Wars & India>Human folly

We are a divided society. Divisions are natural. Human beings band together around identities and causes to lay claims to natural resources in order to prolong their lives and spread their genes. Divisions lead to inequalities as the more powerful groups begin to claim rights to resources - sometimes even divine rights. However, most of the time we miss this driver of social divisions on our interactions. Often we do not understand it even if we spot it. A book which has significantly shaped my thoughts on society is Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.

In the book Author tried to answer the question - is there fundamentally different about Western "civilization" which has led to it being the technologically dominant society. In other world, is there a justification for the assertion that a race or type of people is superior to another race or type of people?

The answer is a resounding NO and Jared beautifully explains how various circumstances led to different developmental paths for different people.

This discussion is extremely relevant to our society of today where the young people are themselves discovering that all men (and women) are born equal, and are slowly eroding the rules of the old order. Often the youth acts on instinct and is carried away by the moment. He goes ahead an make a friend from a different section of society - sometimes a much maligned one - without understand why it is OK to do so.

This book provides scientific and philosophical underpinning to the assertion that all humans are equal. Each one of us can commit most horrific crimes, and is capable of supreme sacrifices in the name of the good.

It is a must read for anyone planning to wage war in name of nation, religion, caste or any other such human grouping. Check out...

Wrong instructions in IIT JEE

Prof. Rajeev Kumar of IIT Kharagpur recently raised the issue that instructions in the JEE paper were wrong. Initially, the Directors refused to admit a mistake but then the issue snowballed and even the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal got involved. Let us see who solves the problem.

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My first colored cartoon made electronically

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Friends on a cricket field!

My first ever digital drawing board cartoon! Afi - thanks for lugging it along!
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3G - the Indian turning point

According to the Telecom Minister A. Raja, Indian telecom operators are expected to dish out $9bn to get rights to provide 3G services to the Indian market. There are 500 million cell-phone subscribers in India. Assuming half of them go 3G, Indian telecom companies are dishing out $36/potential customer just for the right to serve her. Is it dot-com like craze or is there some sense in it?

Indian telecom companies are operating at razor thin margins. The regulatory authority has done a decent job of maintaining a fair market. That the operators all have sufficient political capital and money also helps in maintaining the balance. Savage price wars have forced them to charge by the second! They are so desperate that they are trying to sell horoscopes and musical ring tones.

Although, Gartner says that there will be 771m subscribers in 2013, I personally think telcos will soon have milked the population potential because 42% of India is below poverty line. I am not sure how much of India can be a profitable telco market, but either that market penetration has already been achieved or will soon be achieved. The only way to make more money in such situation is to expand margins. As they look to do so, 3G appears as on the horizon as a ray of hope. Not only it will provide the telecom companies will incremental revenue streams, but also allow them to push value-added services.

As grains of sand together make a desert, half a billion subscribers make Indian telcos cash rich. They have money to splurge and are eagerly looking to invest. Specially after sinking $9bn in getting rights to 3G, they will be eager to make it work. Therefore, expect a massive and concerted private sector push to drive 3G penetration. After a relatively transparent auction, I expect the government to stay away – which is always good news.

The effort will bear fruit because internet penetration in India is very low – only 45m active users in 2009. A key issue is that the primary internet access device –computer – is out of reach for most of the Indians. Therefore, economical Smartphone devices blazing at 3G speeds will likely lead to an explosion in the internet usage. India has little to worry on content creation front. Indian is a software factory second only to the Silicon Valley/Seattle complex. Websites will pop up at the speed of light serving every niche.

Moreover, there is one more reality – it is impossible to lay out fiber optic lines to serve all of India. The private sector fixed line providers are concentrated in major metropolitan cities. Other areas are simply not profitable enough. The only way they can tap the grade B/rural market is by using 3G connectivity. This also means that, there is no large scale legacy investment in fiber optic systems competing with 3G and there will be no effective lobbying against and constraints on 3G rollout.

I believe that Indian consumers will lap up internet once the access problem is solved. I think a key entry point is the Indian education system. It is a mass exercise at a mass scale. Education is the over-riding part of a teenager’s life in India and mobile connectivity to process of education will meet with immediate acceptance.

One example is publication of examination results. Another driver will be the difficulty of getting things done in India. Any tool which will allow people to avoid wading through traffic or to cut bureaucracy will be extremely popular. A good example is the website of India railways which is one of the rare portals making over $1bn in revenues. It helps people avoid queues at crowded and dirty railways stations and exempts them from dealing with the unhelpful ticket clerk.

3G is the inflection point. I am betting big on the Indian internet space. I personally think that we will see an accelerated adoption of 4G too – how can you keep the Indian away from streaming cricket for long? Check out...

MBA: Flexible curriculum, fun & social life

Flexible curriculum is more than an academic asset. It can jazz up your social life. Unlike a lot of other schools where you are boxed into cohorts and sections, Chicago Booth is a free for all. There are no specific course requirements which hold you down in a silo.

However, I must admit that there are clear advantages to being in sections. You form deeper bonds with a small set of people. On the other hand, in a situation like at Chicago, you can choose which people you want to form those deep bonds with. This is really advantageous when you are very interested in meeting with people with shared interests. There are arguments and counterarguments. I will give them a pass and focus on what does flexible curriculum mean outside academics.

Due to flexible curriculum you can go to classes with a large number of of students in Chicago Booth academic system - first years full-time students, second year full-time students, PhD students, evening students, weekend students and students from the wider University of Chicago. This is a blank check to socialize - do whatever you want to do it.

Some students pick people they like and just work with them. Bad idea! Challenge your interpersonal skills and maybe work with people you don't like. In 20 courses, you can potentially work directly with hundreds of other students and impress them with your capabilities. Among my good friends at Booth I count part-time students, PhD students, undergraduate students and students from Law/Medical schools. It really worked for me because they give me access to other networks. Sure, full-time program network was my core network and priority asset. If I could tap other networks without much effort - why not? Booth facilitated it.

The opportunities to socialize are so immense that it is difficult to remain a nerd if you are one. You have to be really homophobic to not have fun! Check out...

How my friend cleared customs with 11 bags cost-free?

What will happen at customs is often a worry for a lot of people visiting idea. I have heard good stories and I have heard horror stories. This post is targeted at the law-abiding legitimate people and how there are provisions to protect their interest. Most importantly – sometimes it works. This is a good story.
When a friend of mine was moving back to India from London, he was wondering what he should do with the pile of electronics he had. That is how he stumbled upon – “Transfer of Residence”.

Under its provisions, an Indian citizen can bring in almost any household stuff barring a few specifically mentioned items – duty free – into India! However, he should have not claimed the benefit in last three years and he should have been outside of India for past two years. There are other provisions, but they are finer details and can be Googled.

The drama started when he landed in Delhi.

The customs officer at the Red Channel first refused to acknowledge that he was eligible for ToR. He was grilled mercilessly for a weakness in his story. However, he was ready for such eventuality and had printed out relevant pages from the Customs website. Given the documentary evidence the officer had to give way. The customs guy then simply moved on to other revenue opportunities, and left my friend hanging.
After, nearly an hour of waiting and having his juniors constantly badgered by my friend, the officer returned. My friend still refused to part with any money. The officer was annoyed at my friend’s obstinate behavior. He asked one of his underlings to open my friend’s bags and see if there was any other stuff. After checking many bags – they gave up. They realized that my friend was clean.

Then it boiled down to plain – “you must pay”. Customs officers let my friend go but signaled a policeman to stop him at the gate. The cop tried to intimidate him. My friend glared back and told the cop – “I owe no duty and I will pay no money”. The cop gave up too.

It took my friend two hours to get through. This is an example of how information can empower people. And to be honest, you must thank Indian officers for the higher level of professionalism. I am not joking. This is a relative statement. In old socialist times – my friend would have lost all baggage. I hope that things only improve from here. Check out...

Why Indians run after a job?

I think a key driver of such a career choice is the inherent conservatism of the Indians when it comes to making a living. Some of the many key drivers are

1. Lack of an organised social security system reduces risk taking ability. In USA, if you are unemployed, the government will take care of you. In India, if you are unemployed, either relatives take care of you, or you starve

2. Marriage system controlled by family and community requires potential grooms to reach a certain level of prosperity and competence by a certain age. Otherwise, the quality of bride drops off drastically. Increasingly, similar demands are being made on the potential brides as well.

3. In a country which suffers from acute material and welfare shortages on per capita level, those who have it , hold a place of honor in the society. The sooner you get it, more honorable it is

4. Parents are the key decision making factors. Indian society gives them extraordinary influence and they don't hesitate from deploying emotional, financial and social levers in any dispute with their children. Usually they don't have the intellect to look beyond the obvious - making money now is better than hoping for more money later. They also make decisions based on their experiences, which are quite irrelevant in the world of Facebook and IPL.

5. There is a general lack of awareness. People in the metros experiment more, and people in the villages less

I am sure there are many other things going on. But these were my two cents. Check out...

Obama, citizens, moneybags, India's 3G auctions - new democracy!

Obama has been a pioneer in many ways. While, the rise of a Black American with the middle name of "Hussein" has great symbolic significance and has given hope to minorities across the world, his campaign managers have done something else which will have far greater repercussions. Popularization of internet fund-raising!

Till now Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people, funded by rich people. While the power of vested interests has reduced, they still have massive influence. The ability to perform low cost fund transfers on the internet makes it possible to raise large funds from the common citizen. It will lead to democratization of electoral financing and will be giant leap for democracy.

If 100 million Americans donate $10 a pop, there will be enough funds to fund many presidential candidates. Given that US per-capita income is $46,000, it is not an unrealistic expectation. As a result, true mass leaders will be able to compete with money bag fronts - $ for $. The retail investors therefore, have come of age in the market of politics. Of course, the money bags can always bid up and raise more funds, but beyond a limit the marginal returns on extra dollar collected reduces. An American presidential candidate needs low hundred millions - which can be raised from the mass market.

A key tool needed for the success of the internet politics is free flow of internet information. All websites and all email addresses are technically accessible to all. This reduces the power of anti-democratic information brokers such as partisan media and censors.

I think that there are a number of implications of this dynamics:

1. Accelerated political careers: Even very young politicians will be able to grab center-stage by becoming champions on issues of the day. While experience, service record and credibility will always have importance, Obama has shown catching fancy of the people can bear quick results too.

2. Rise of demagogues: Given that masses are now capable of deploying significant political money too, leaders who will take advantage of mass emotions will have more power. This is damaging.

3. Reduced power of lobbies. The ability of moneybags to buy politicians and the people who can influence them will reduce drastically. The way the common citizen can now fund her favorite candidate for president-ship, she can buy lobbyists too. With fragmentation of financing, the power of individual financier will go down.

4. There will be fragmentation of political ideologies. The time is in sight that, Democratic and Republican parties will no longer be there in the current form. Parties will form around a wider spectrum of political agendas and people. There will be niches to serve specific electorates.


I sincerely hope that such democratization of fund raising happens in India too. Therefore, 3G spectrum auctions mean more than better communication to India. They are expected to reduce the cost of internet access and expand the % of people who go online. Hopefully, more will happen. Check out...

IPL, Modi, Tharoor, Sunanda and the X-Man

She was supposed to bear only 1% of the loss. However, her supposed 5% in the Kochi IPL franchise has already claimed two careers – Shashi Tharoor’s and Lalit Modi’s. Personally I think Shashi got a better end of the bargain. Due to the investments by a whole lot of powerful people, the matter will be whitewashed quickly. Shashi will be able to portray himself as a victim and reap political rewards.

Meanwhile, at the risk of beating a dead horse deader, I would like to look at what they call Sunanda’s 5% stake. According to the deal, she would have had rights to 100% of the profits. This implies, all future cash-flows belonged to her. Basic corporate finance then tells me that her economic stake was 100%. The other people simply held a form of debt in the firm. Perhaps, even they were acting as fronts to someone else who just decided to use multiple channels to obfuscate the source of investment and use one clean channel to siphon off the upside. It implies that when she gave up the equity she held, the principal behind her lost nothing more than a convenient profit booking channel. The investment remained intact.

So why did Modi take on a Union Minister? He would do so only if he had a lot to lose. Either, he had an indirect stake in the other bidding team, or having received a kickback, he was asked to deliver the goods. There can be a simpler reason too. His meteoric rise in past few years must have misbalanced his thinking and he genuinely could have thought that he can tackle the Union government. Poor judgment – I’d say.
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Should we pillory the banks?

There is a trend in power circles – attack on the banks and look good! While this is not healthy, it is very understandable.

I believe that all the banks have at least a few things to hide. Some have a lot to hide. At some places corruption is driven from the very top. Sometimes, banks cover up the damage because it could destroy the whole business. Sometime they keep doing the wrong thing in the hope that they will be able to get out before the whole house of cards crashes down. In some other cases it happens due to impossibility of policing thousands of extremely intelligent people – some of which may be crooks. Most importantly, the incentives of professionals are not aligned with that of society. More often than not, the benefits of financial bets are cornered by the finance professionals and their clients, while the downside is shared by the client and the society. Unfortunately, bankers have much power and impact of the society can be massive. Therefore, if something goes wrong, sometimes the society has to pay up to save itself. When the skeletons tumble out, there will be a loss of confidence in the market. I am not sure who to blame – for the market for having faith in the banks, or the banks for breaking that trust.

However, I do believe that the society is over-reacting and recent political actions may do a lot of harm. It is fine though - the society has the right to get screwed, and it enjoys the privilege often. Also, the bankers must shut-up. They lost the right to protest long ago and they get stop getting screwed by whining!

In such a situation restructuring of employee incentives is necessary. What shape it should take - I don't know! Check out...

What is happening to the investment bankers?

Investment Banking – one of the most dynamic environments – is changing even faster now. However, all is not well this time.

In many cases the changes are negatively impacting the professionals in the industry. While it will remain a lucrative career the compensation structure has changed. A part of the compensation in many publicly traded banks will be either in equity or will be deferred. Other restrictions in public banks such as greater compliance requirements will come into place. Moreover, political actions will continue for sometime around the industry - mostly punitive in nature. Alastair Darling's special tax on bonuses is one such example. In some cases the politicians will act vindictively to make a point for electoral gains. Moreover, due to massive budget deficits in US and UK - taxes are likely to remain high on high income bracket or even increase.

Therefore a large scale exodus of professionals to private firms and increase in importance of Switzerland and Hong Kong is likely. However, it will be tempered by the fact that USA and UK will continue to be largest sources of banking fees and the place where banks have very well developed and complex service delivery platforms. Check out...

Fortis Hospital - a mixed bag under a glossy veneer!

Recently one of of my Uncles fell seriously ill. We rushed him to Fortis Hospital in the Indian National Capital Region - which our extended family had adopted after suffering from blatant profit-chasing and lack of care at Apollo - a high profile hospital in the Indian capital city. I was surprised that such was the demand for healthcare, that Apollo was getting away with utter non-sense. They were off in my mother's height and hemoglobin count by a non-trivial amount in a regular health check-up. Many other such instances forced us to look elsewhere - and we adopted the neighboring Fortis - which did a decent job in most situations. However, I was surprised by what they did this time.


The Doctor who was going to operate my Uncle told us that the operation would happen the next day. My cousins went to the billing department, and asked how much they needed to pay. The billing department told them that they had no news. This happened multiple times. We were very uncomfortable with the situation and knew it was coming, and it came! At 11pm that night, they called my cousins and asked them to deposit Rs 200,000 by 8am and were uncouth enough to add that the operation won't happen without that money being deposited (we can figure that out - you moron!). Who walks around with 200,000 in pocket?

The next day the operation which was scheduled to happen at 1100, happened at 1600. While, the excuse that there was a critical operation which ran over was quite acceptable, we didn't really believe them.

After the operation, the doctor told us that the patient was perfectly find and would be kept in the regular ward. In the evening when we went to visit our Uncle, they had planted him in ICU without doctor's orders, and obviously charging us happily for that.

When my cousin raised a ruckus, they moved him to a ward bed. Unfortunately, this time again they failed the integrity test. Fortis had charged us for exclusive room, and they transferred my Uncle to a ward with 7 beds. Again screaming was required to set things right.

When I recently visited my Uncle, he asked for water. I rang the buzzer in the room, no one turned up. I rang it again, and no response came. Frustrated, I stepped out and politely asked a nurse for water. She went about her business and I waited and waited. Finally, I let go in style, and a grudging nurse brought water.

As I walked back home that evening, I was just saddened to think if that was Fortis, what poorer patients who end up at Government Hospitals suffer. Only when one was smart enough to audit and bold enough to scream, he could get things done right at Fortis. At many government hospitals - doctors just don't turn up. There is no doubt in my mind that Fortis is a giant leap forward in Indian healthcare. However, there is also no doubt in my mind that they are miserably failing their stated aim of providing compassionate healthcare. Their claim to fame now is that they are better than Apollo in some ways. Poor standard indeed!
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An ode to schooling - revisited!

I just now came off a call with a very interesting person. She clearly has had a very colorful life (don't get me wrong!) and we had a very colorful conversation (don't get me wrong - again!) We talked about a whole bunch of things including renaissance, classical architecture, music, drama, past and most importantly future. My future, I believe, involves imparting education. She said she wanted to do the same - although she sounded like Osho for quite a while before I cleared my head. For now, I will ignore that clarity and being the down to earth guy I am, I will focus on my thoughts. For past many years, I have been singularly focused on opening a chain of schools. Those who have followed my blog since the beginning know about my obsession with education. You can check out my previous posts on schooling.

The roots of this obsession lies in the important role academic success in professional schools has played in transforming my family's fortunes. I was extremely poor at one point of time. I don't want to get there, and when I see a poor person, I know how it feels (perhaps!) I have expended significant energy in building a wall of skills by going to IIT and Chicago Booth to protect myself from poverty. I have done my best - rest lies in the hand of fate. Like a well-fed dog, I have now started barking - in other words - have started worrying about what I can do for others who are now in the position similar to the one I was in when I was a kid. I believe that since I was able to tunnel out of misery with a spade made of books, others can too. In other words - salvation lies in TEXT books.

It is very myopic, but that is all I know. I agree that everyone can't ride the boat of knowledge, but quite a few of them can. One step at a time, please! After figuring out where I can change the world, I drilled down into the problem. I was blessed with having seen best and worst of schooling. My father is a retired professor, and my mother is a retired teacher. Therefore, my life has been full of teacher talk. To top that up, I spoke with a bunch of people including government school teachers, NGOs, private education businesses and so on.

After long sleepless nights of staring at the roof, I formulated my objective. Make millions of Indian children productive members of society in a very flexible manner at a very low cost. Now starts the bitching session. Below is the list of things which get in the way of achievement of my objective.

1. If the student-teacher ratio is not 1-many thousands, it is inefficient and unfair. This simply means that the rich or the brightest get the best teachers

2. Teachers' salaries are obscenely low as compared to other highly skilled professions. One cannot motivate the stars to join the teaching at such compensation levels.

3. Teaching infrastructure is concentrated in Grade A cities. Other cities and villages are totally deprived of even basic academic resources.

4. The government cannot do a good job of providing universal education.

5. The classroom today looks like the classroom thousands of years ago. The pace of modernization of teaching is woefully lagging behind pace of modernization of other institutions of society

6. Education system is too rigid. We have grade I, II, III till XII, and then Bachelors I, II, III, IV etc. Within each class, there is little flexibility. The world is moving towards flexible and custom production guys!

7. There is too much reliance on human beings as delivery agents of education, and too much focus on standardized exams

8. The kids mostly want a cool job after graduating. Very few think business.


9. For many parents, kids are just a tool of fulfillment of their own unfulfilled desires. This is very retarded!

I have spent a lot of time thinking about way out of this unfortunate problem. But a discussion of that, my friends - will come later…
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House hunting in London!

I learned a few things while I was looking for an apartment in London. I was one of the fortunate ones to have fallen in love at the first sight! I took the first apartment I saw. Therefore, my knowledge is limited. However, whatever I have, I am sharing it.
Be aware that I take no responsibility if you suffer negative repercussions due to following my advice. You are a smart person – and you know better than trusting me! ;)

1.
While looking for the house
1. Keep away from those who charge money for getting you an apartment. It is usually the landlord who pays it. You can find enough people who will help you out for costs limited to agreement, inventory taking and other minor costs of few hundred pounds
2. Go for reputed agents with established offices in brick and mortar located in London city – preferably many
3. If you see a pretty picture on the internet, be ready to be disappointed. Price is a fair indicator of quality
4. Try to get a managed property It makes life easier. They will have their electricity, plumbing and other staff
5. If you work 14 hours a day, get a place next to your work. You can always cab it to cool places when you get time to go there. Mostly you'll just come home and crash Why waste time in commute?
6. Try to get some sunlight. As you know, sunlight is necessary for metabolism
7. Get a place with a porter Life becomes so much better!
2.
While entering the house
1. Bargain hard Start with 15-20% rent reduction. I know a lot of people who achieved that
2. Get an agreement break clause inserted in your agreement. I know a gentleman who had to pay £6,000 to get out of an apartment he couldn't live in. I got one inserted in my agreement for ability to get out after 6 months with one month's notice. I think you can negotiate it better
3. Don't trust the inventory taken by professional inventory takers. They had missed a rotten bathroom floor and sever scratch marks in my apartment. Fortunately, I got a brainwave and I took photographs of everything as soon as I entered, and emailed the managing agency the same day. This has helped me avoid not only future disputes, but convince them to fix problems today
4. Be there when they are cleaning the house. You don't want to deal with later
5. Check out all the electrical equipment! All you need to do is to switch it on
6. Make sure that the landlord has given you manuals for every piece of equipment that requires a manual in the house
7. Make sure the furniture is not broken, and unless you are a cat, lighting is working
3.
After you have entered the house
1. You have to get a license to own a TV here!! Talk about license permit Raj! However, you can call up the TV licensing authority and tell them you don't intend to use TV if you don't intend to.
2. Internet takes a while to get connected (months?) Get a USB based wireless in the interiml It works pretty well!
3.
Some of the expenses I ran into after I entered the apartment
1. New BT line (installation charge £100) required to get an internet
2. Higher unit cost electricity charges (to which the apartment was defaulted after the last tenant left)
3. Internet installation (TBD – I expect only monthly charges)
4. Council tax (£1,000 per year)
5. Steam cleaning of carpet, sofa and curtains (TBD) Check out...

My walk to office (part 2 of 2)

As I walk along, I keep keen eye on the traffic and at the scaffolding right around the corner. I don't want my epitaph to read like – "A good son and man, killed by a flowerpot that fell off a window".
Perhaps that won't happen in London! So far, I haven't seen any flowerpots precariously perched on the balcony railings along with family innerwear in London – a sight common in a certain country I am very familiar with. Take a guess!


Again, I notice a man sitting on the pavement and begging. Interestingly, they are always young males – though they look quite battered. Moreover, there is always a new guy every day. Perhaps – they have a rotation system setup amongst themselves. I slow my pace and the sequence of thoughts which goes through my head whenever I see a beggar begins. Should I give him money, or not! One part of me refuses – the government which takes away nearly half of my annual income throws money at their welfare, and most probably this guy doesn't want to go to homeless shelter because he doesn't want to give up drugs. I also think if I am to spend a pound, I'd rather send it to India, where it will be Rs. 75 and go a long way. Another part of me says, for whatever reasons – this guy is less fortunate than I am. Perhaps the only difference between us is the will to do things, and that will was significantly defined by his genetic makeup and his upbringing. Both are not his fault! Well – they aren't my fault either! Sometimes Jekyll wins, and sometimes Hyde! Either I give 0, or a pound. I have noticed that without fail mine is usually the only pound in beggar's cup. Am I generous, or are others cheap?


As I wind my way through modern glass buildings in the heart of London – I feel pleased with myself. Years in Gurgaon, New York and Chicago had accustomed me to massive modern buildings with gigantic lobbies. For most part – London lacks them. I can't forget the magnificent sight the magnificent mile was as one got off the #6 bus from Hyde Park in Chicago. However, the area around my office has a few modern buildings. I feel alive when I see them. Here stands a pleasant symbol of regeneration! I like old buildings too – but on the other end of the fence with a board declaring – "This is a World Heritage Site. Please don't scratch on the walls – Pappu was here with Munny – 8 November 2009"

I am usually on phone with my family, when I cross Liverpool street station. There is a flower kiosk with a pretty salesgirl. I wonder if she happier than I am? She seems to have an easy job – agreed that she makes far less money. But is she happier than most people who make more money? Mentally, I agree with the study which said that the richer you are, happier you are – up to a certain limit – that is. But – has she reached that limit as a flower salesgirl in a developed economy? I don't need money to be happy – the feeling is hard wired into me. Then – shouldn't I sell flowers? Well – this is just a confused medley of thoughts which occur when you try to evade the morning crowd at a major railway station. I leave the station and the confusion behind and focus on the street and traffic again. I feel happy to see street bathed in sunlight.


A short walk later, my office building looms up. I say goodbye to my family, and enter another world. Check out...

My walk to office (part 1 of 2)

My first Sony alarm clock went off followed by the second Sony alarm clock and finally the alarm in the Blackberry. I get up and quickly get ready for work.

I live 15 minutes walk from office – a deliberate choice in order to maximize the sleep time. Fortunately, I managed to get quite a decent pad by London standards for a person of my means – a modern, spacious high ceiling place with tall windows right across from a very busy market area, and surrounded by pubs and clubs. I find it bizarre that the landlord agreed to a 30 pound reduction in weekly asking price. Thanks to a tip by a senior from school I did that. The real estate market is hurting a lot. Good for tenants!

I have a set routine in the morning. I throw in milk, sugar and tea bags into water, and leave the mix to boil up in my kitchen. Thereafter, I reach out for my continuous steam iron – a new fangled device which forces massive amounts of steam at a high velocity through the fabric. This allows me to rapidly iron clothes – one pass is usually enough. Then I rush back to kitchen, grab my tea. Meanwhile I get my Roomba going – which for next few hours will roam around my apartment sucking up dirt and restoring the state of cleanliness which it had created the day before. Maybe in the evening when I return, I will switch on the Scooba which will go and wash the floors. Someday, maybe I will write a post about the tech museum my apartment is – I am a very early adopter of technology.

I get ready and head out.

In my hi-tech world, my building's elevators are a disappointment. Though they look quite shiny, but the ride is always bumpy and doors open and close with delay. As I quickly walk out of my door, I am dialing my family with my personal phone as I scan the blackberry for any urgent emails from my Bosses. Fortunately no part of the banking world is on fire, and I can afford a leisurely walk to the office. Thank goodness! I say hello to the porter in the lobby. Porter is quite a misnomer. Proper word is sitter. They don't move anything from any point A to any point B. They just sit in one place. However, they are a bunch of very pleasant people who never fail to greet politely and smile. God bless!

It is November in London and it is getting depressing. Sun gets up late, and goes to sleep early. At 4PM!! In the name of devil – hang on for a few more hours dude! What's the point of me having tall windows? Anyways, the Sun is up, and I soak in its warmth as I take easy steps along a well trodden path. Maybe it will be a good day! But then, I am a die-hard perpetual optimist! Check out...

MBA: Flexible curriculum! (Part 1)

Most of the people I have met from Chicago Booth point out its flexible curriculum as one of the most salient features of the school. However, as applicant, as admit and as first year student, I did not perfectly understand what all this meant to me. Now that I am wiser, I would like share my understanding. In this post I would tackle the mechanics, the dimensions of the flexible curriculum.

Aquick glance at the School’s website indicates that 196 professors in the School offer 154 courses under 13 academic areas. In addition to that, the courses in Harris School of Public Policy, the Law School, the Department of Economics, the College, and independent studies with professors are available for Booth students. Only one course – Leadership Effectiveness and Development aka LEAD is compulsory. In a nut-shell it is a choice galore!
How does it work?

It is not a free-for all. There are some limitations and restrictions – some implicit and others explicit.

The first limitation is that not all professors take their courses at all times. Most of them teach in a specific quarter or two specific quarters. Moreover, some of your favorite classes may be at the same time, or may have demanding assignments or examinations during the same time.

Furthermore, many courses require you to take another course before enrolling, or to complete a specific number of courses. Some of those requirements, or pre-requisites, may be suggested, while others are strictly enforced by the professor. In a small number of courses, enrollment requires you to obtain the professor’s permission.

There are also certain requirements imposed by the Academic office. You are expected to choose and take courses from a specific set of courses. You need to plan for that because if you don’t complete those requirements, you won’t graduate. That is STRICT! Here the School is striking a balance between flexibility and the need to ensure that the students graduate with a basic set of business skills.

Another dimension is timing –not all timings may be suitable for you. During the weekdays there are two class timings at Harper Center targeted at Full-time students - 8:30 to 11:30, and 13:30 to 16:30, and one class timing at Gleacher center targeted at evening/part-time students - 18:00 to 21:00. On Saturdays, there are two class timings at Gleacher center targeted at Weekend students - 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:00. Irrespective of whose convenience the timings are intended, you have option of enrolling for any.

You get your courses through the bidding. It is a separate and complex topic which I hope to address later, and here I will mention in brief. A few weeks before a quarter commences, the Office that runs the bidding process sends you an email directing you to log into a tool call iBid, and bid on the available subset of courses. You go through the motions, and get a set of courses you’ll be taking during the quarter.

Once the class you have enrolled for starts, it is runs as the professor wants to run it. Till they operate within a very loose set of rules governing curriculum, process, grading, etc, they are free to do whatever they want. So those who wish to pick a fight with a professor be advised that she is the sole master of your academic experience in the class. It is better to request a change in a polite manner because most of the professors are committed to teaching you exceptionally well. Otherwise you might end up biting more than you can chew!

You grade may depend on a combination of periodical assignments, class participation, paper, projects, examinations and whatever else may strike a professor’s fancy. There is a wide variation in the emphasis on various elements. Some professors will grade every submission, while others will randomly pick. Some professors will put 50% on class participation, while others might be happy with putting 5%. For some courses you may end up working for 20 hours in a day, while for others you will get away with little work.

I have this much to say about how it works. In the next post – part 2 of this series - I will address what it means to you.

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Resume tips! (Part 2)

In the previous post on resume, I discussed the timing and dynamics behind resumes at Chicago Booth. I will now discuss, what are the key things to keep in mind while writing a resume.

Some key points to keep in mind while working on the resume are:

1. Plan your resume to be read in 1 minute. Think how you would read resumes if you need to read 200 of them. Within seconds people will decide to read on or not to do so.
2. Employers look for transferrable skills and relevant experiences. Prepare a talent inventory – a list of skills & experiences which you believe that are important in your desired career track. Do not worry about which skills you think you have. Focus on the recruiter's desires. For instance, problem solving is important for Consulting while financial modeling is important for Investment Banking.
3.
Distribute the items in the talent inventory across your professional positions. Distribute such that….
1. …it shows progression in career. As you grow you increasingly are judged according to what other people do for you. Therefore, most recent part of career should be lean towards soft-skills while earlier part of career should lean towards hard skills.
2. …your recent role should be content heavy while the early part of your career should be brief. Perhaps one bullet about internship 6 years ago is sufficient while multiple bullets about your latest role are desirable.
3. …the first thing a reader sees in experience should addresses gaps in assumed in your stereotype or first blush perception. For a consulting position, a liberal art major should declare her comfort with numbers as soon as possible. For investment banking an engineer should bring up team work as soon as possible. If you have poor GPA, bring up educational excellence in some other way – maybe your undergraduate program was hard to get into!
4. Think hard about your experiences and come up with information to substantiate each item as distributed above. Do not try to impose your old resume on required skills. Do the other way round.
5. Order the bullets well. Don't put what you think is coolest first. Put what is most relevant first within the overall reverse-chronological listing of your roles.
6. Don't be absolutely super correct in titles and company names. It just eats up space. Instead of "Sun Microsystems India Private Ltd", you can use "Sun Microsystems". Put a short 4-5 word description of your company next to the company name.
7. Use simplest English possible. I don't know what "MVP" is. I had to be told that it "most valuable player" and that it is a common term in US sports. Just say "deemed most valuable player in college baseball team". The problem may be worse in investment banking and consulting industries where there is a heavy international presence.
8.
Be brief. Resume is a Zip file of your experiences.
1. Think hard if you can say the same thing in fewer words. If you can, say it in fewer words. Else, get your friend to do it for you.
2. Do not put information which just fills space. If it doesn't make you a better candidate for consulting (or whatever), don't waste space. For instance, putting all the GSB groups and concentrations you have paid your fees for will make you look unfocused. For instance, for consulting – MCG and Strategic Management are likely to add value, while think before you put IBG.
9.
Assume no contextual knowledge. Assume that the resume reader knows English and that's about it.
1. "First class with honors" has no meaning unless you say only 1 out of 10 achieved that. "Award for excellence" has no meaning unless you say only top 1% received it. Merit scholarship is not cool enough unless you tell people with 99th percentile score got it. If something is not rare, it is not good enough. Unless you tell me it is rare, I won't know.
2. "Implemented IP v6 protocol stack" is Greek to me. If you want consulting, it doesn't tell me why you would be a good consultant. If you say, "Researched special components of Internet; identified opportunities to speed up software; wrote computer code which processed internet traffic 50% faster" – it'd be better
10. Mention the end result and quantify as much as possible. "Created business plan" is not good enough. You should mention, "Convinced senior leaders, and received $100K funding for plan. Plan implemented"
11. Additionals is to help you connect with people. It is not a litany of what you love. Provide hooks. Make it more interesting. Instead of saying "can read Greek and Latin" say "Favorite Greek book – Illiad; favorite Latin book – Meditations by Marcus Aurelius".
12. Don't make grammatical and spelling mistakes. Get someone who has never seen your resume before, and for whom English is a native language to review your final draft. However, you can take liberties with grammatical conventions to the extent they don't detract from value and help you succinctly convey message. For instance, I never use articles (a, an, the) and always use digits (instead of writing numbers in words)
13. Be honest. No exceptions to this one!
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MBA: Resume tips! (Part 1)

As soon as I entered my second year, I jumped full-steam into helping out my first years. That I had a job helped. During the process, I reviewed circa 50 resumes. In this post I will discuss the timing and dynamics around resume at Chicago Booth. During the dozens of hours I spent with first years, some themes kept came up. I have jotted down some thoughts for you. Please be advised that my thoughts are heavily influenced by my consulting and banking experiences. I have only limited idea of what happens elsewhere. However, many of the things I say here will have universal applicability. Obviously, I assume no liability if the mafia comes after your guns blazing after reading your new resume! (Hahaha?)

Keep in mind that the resume deadlines come in pretty quickly. As such, the first month is busy as you come to grips with the phenomenon called Chicago Booth. I strongly advise that you have a good control over your resume as soon as possible – preferably first few weeks. Catch hold of second years and your contacts in your target industry to review your resume. They are the best people. Don't wait for things to kick off on official basis – everyone will get busy and you may end up with under-reviewed resume. Just having someone read through the resume is not enough. Find people who can help you creatively paraphrase what you want to say. Tens of reviews per first year are not uncommon.

Your resume may make its way into the School's resume book, and the resume books of specific groups such as Management Consulting Group and South Asia Business Group. Make sure you check the deadlines with your groups and career services. They distribute the book to their target audience. Resume books are then pursued by the recruiters who shortlist the people they want. The school and most groups utilize an online resume tool into which you need to login. Some groups require you to email it.

When you send out the resume books, make sure you don't have Investment Banking Group in a submission to Management Consulting Group, and vice versa, unless it is a deliberate well-thought out decision on your part to do so.

Significant amount of formal and informal assistance will be available to you. Pretty much all professional and semi-professional groups will organize resume review sessions. You can also set up appointments with Career Advisors. You can also tap second year students directly. Lastly, someone from the school itself may review your resume quickly.


In the next post, which was previously a part of one long post, I will discuss, what specific things to keep in mind while writing the resume. Check out...

MBA: Convocation!

I am an MBA now.

In this post you will read about the how The University of Chicago convocation works, and how I felt going through it.

It was the culmination of a sequence of fairytale events! As a kid running through the mango groves (You can read more about that here), I was incapable of dreaming that one day I could get The University of Chicago on my resume. I didn’t know what a resume was anyways! As I went through the day, I constantly thought of the path thus far, and the way ahead!

The following words will be a curry reflecting motions and emotions of the day. By the way – we ended the day with a sumptuous Indian dinner at Sabri Nihari on Devon Ave.! My day started with me trying to fix my blog which I had infected with a hidden piece of code that dished out “Escort services” ads! It was a disaster of an attempt to convert my blog into a magazine style format. I could not get it done before I began running short of time. Surely, I did want to turn up for the event of my life on time in order to prevent certain services from being sold! (Hahaha?) Later, I had to sit up till 3AM to fix it after I eventually came home.

Early in the morning my room-mate, another Boothie, my parents, and I, took a cab to the Harper Quad. The ceremony has been held at the Quad in an open-air setting every quarter since the second year of the university’s life, circa 125 years ago. However, the ceremony and the process have evolved significantly. These days, the convocation is organized into multiple numbered sessions. Each session is on a different day, and is focused on a different school in the university. The Chicago Booth convocation was the Session IV. I arrived on the venue at 10:40 am, and we were among the first few. The ceremony was scheduled to start at 11:45. To kill time, I began taking photographs in the beautiful lawns in that area. It was a great sunlit day - the Sun God Himself was happy for us! It was in a stark contrast to the pall of darkness that Rain God casted over the College convocation this year, and the Chicago Booth Class of 2008 convocation last year. By 11:20 am people began to arrive in droves, and the area filled up.

I headed to Ratner, the assembly area, with a large group of students. As we walked along the university roads the mood was gay, and I was hyper. I was clicking everything that moved and was making a significant amount of noise. Over the next few hours, I accumulated nearly 300 photographs. I was eager to take pictures of my friends, with whom I had spent two fantastic years of my life – sharing joys, disappointments, and dreams. When we arrived at Ratner, there were tables at the entrance which were giving pre-assigned numbers printed on cards to students. After yelling for a while, “Please hold on to you number, there is going to be a raffle afterwards!” I decided to look for my place. (Hahaha?) I was 140, and was required to find 139 and 141, and park myself between them. However, I was satisfied with just finding my queue, and immediately restarted my relentless photograph taking spree. I also kept yelling, “Move quicker, they are running out of diplomas!” (Hahaha?)

When, the provost of the university, began to speak, I fell in line. She explained the process to us. The numbers were in order that the diplomas were stacked in, and the names would be called out. I was amazed by the superb organization of the whole process from start to finish. Every queue had a trained volunteer to guide its march. With almost a military precision, we began our move to the Quad. I continued my photo-shoot. On the way a band with bag-pipers and drummers took its place at the head of procession, behind the flag-bearers. Soon the Quad appeared, and along with throngs of people lining the road and cheering. Bobby Zimmer, President of the University , Ted Synder, Dean of Chicago Booth, Prof. Raghu Rajan, the Convocation speaker, and a host of other VIPs waited by the road-side and cheered us on. Everyone was trying to find their dear ones to wave at. Soon, the queues were efficiently shunted off to their seating places in the front half of the seating area, and next to the canopy where the satraps of the University stood. Our folks were in the half away from the canopy. There were some people sitting on the either side of the students as well. All in all – it was one fine country fair!

Some music and singing was followed by speeches. Prof. Rajan spoke eloquently about both crisis and hope. Joseph Eazor, an SVP at Hewlett Packard, made some remarks after him.

Soon enough, they began to handout diplomas. Cheers erupted as the names were announced. It was interesting to see how some people cheered only for those whom they liked, while some others cheered and clapped for all the 720 people who got their degrees. My time to get up came soon, and I walked towards the canopy. On the way, a photographer asked me to stand at a marked spot, as he clicked a picture. I entered the canopy from one end, and walked towards the President. The pace of the event was controlled by two marshals who tapped the shoulder of the student with a baton to make them stop. I am not sure if that was traffic control or a ritual.

Despite multiple email reminders, I had not left the mandatory voice message on Dean Ann Harvilla’s phone to advise her on how to pronounce my name. I was hoping that should would mispronounce it and give me something to remember, and everyone something to laugh at. When the moment came, Dean Harvilla faultlessly executed the act of speaking my name - just like she did with each of the other 719 names, weaving through international accents and dialects. Till that time I was just happy and wasn’t too bothered. But when I heard my name, an unknown emotion gripped me. A person, who prides in his self-control, stepped forward towards the President like a zombie. I smiled only when I noticed that he was smiling hard. He gave me a paper worth $150,000+ interest and all my hopes from the future, and pumped my hand. I think someone took a photograph. Then I almost missed Dean Snyder, and he had to tap me on the shoulder. I think he did that. Maybe, he didn’t! I turned and shook his hand, and faced the world armed with my M.B.A!

As I walked down the stairs, I felt both invincible and vulnerable. I felt invincible because I was now recognized to be amongst the most skilled business professionals in the world. So far so good! I felt vulnerable because I was not sure how I’d wield the Excalibur I was just handed. Will I do well for the society and for myself? Check out...

MBA: Party with folks!

In this post I will tell a story of a great party, how we did it, and why you may want to do it.

I thought that I will almost never write a diary-like post. I always found it interesting that people found it interesting that the blogger went to the bathroom four times that day – yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I had visualized my blog as a wiki with a focus on art, usefulness, and deep thought. However, I must admit that it is the simple stories that unfold everyday in everyone's lives that make people connect with each-other. Moreover, they always say that never say never! So here it comes – the story of greatest family get-together at Chicago Booth I have had the pleasure of being a part of!

A dozen days ago, CY – a fabulous and an amazingly energetic lady - and I, began to cook something up. A party! We both love people, and derive energy from social gatherings. It was almost natural to us to invite people to share our families' happiness at our graduation. However, we struggled with the party date. We initially wanted to organize something on June 19th. However, my room-mate was leaving on June 17th. By the way - he still owes me money! Can you ask him to pay up? (He also beats me up, especially when he doesn't understand jokes like these.) We realized that a lot of our class would be gone after the graduation on June 14th. So June 19th didn't work for us because we wanted all of you to come. Therefore, we decided on a date of June 12th, albeit with trepidation. We thought that the turnout would be low given a hectic day of activities that Chicago Booth had organized for the families. We would have been happy had 50 of you fine folks joined us in our humble celebrations!

We sent out an Evite, and waited for people to accept. Much to our joy, as days passed by, the count ticked up and stabilized in the 50-60 range. We were happy, and began to work for the party in earnest. Thankfully, we had amazing logistical support from CY's family – parents and husband - and Iday, a blogger of i4iday.blogspot.com fame. We went to Costco to buy stuff for the party, and I had to restrain CY from buying everything. I was not aware of that side of hers – the side that retailers love! I tried to find issues with every beautiful thing she picked up, and had to eventually say, "CY! We don't really want to go down the path of you buying everything that looks good. We would be ruined" That made her come out of the shopping reverie and go about her business.

We assumed that there won't be any more responses, and made ready to have fun with 50 people. It was a stroke of luck that I checked the Evite dashboard two days before the event – just as a matter of curiosity. I know that not checking it regularly was dumb. However, remember that the "dumb" word exists because people often do things that make that four letter word remain in existence. Much to our surprise - 81 of you great folks had decided to join us! I frantically called CY, and told her about it. Soon, the accept number went up to 100, throwing our plans into a tizzy. Here, I must give a big hand to CY & family, for being able to cook the most delicious food for over a 100 people in one day. Hip hip hurrah! Prior to that, I didn't know people had pots that big at their homes!

The D-day arrived! As my parents and the family of Nammo, and that of Ganjaturtle, a blogger of ganjaturtle.blogspot.com fame, floated through events at Harper Center, the Party Task Force was setting things up. We rearranged the furniture with special focus on creating large open spaces for mobility. We lined the sofas along the walls, reduced the numbers of chairs from four to two a table, and arranged the beach-chairs in the balconies in twos to facilitate small sub-groups. We setup alcohol, water, beverages and three different types of rice preparations, one chicken curry and three different types of vegetarian curries. CY's selection of venue turned out to be absolutely fabulous! We had a great view of the city through floor-to-floor windows, chandeliers which were both beautiful and very firmly fixed, and an option to get fresh air on the balconies, or canned air in the party room.

As the posh Chicago Booth official event at InterContinental Hotel ended, people began to trickle in. Soon the arrival of guests became a torrent. We estimated that circa 150 people turned up. Perhaps more did! People were upbeat and happy about the graduation of the class of 2009 – and it lifted the party atmosphere. CY & family, and Iday were amazing hosts, and I tried my best to create some humor. Many people had flown long distances from far-off lands to attend the graduation. One family came directly from the airport! Thanks a lot guys! Over beer and Indian food, people mingled, laughed and joked. We had a little scare when we ran out of vegetarian food. However, CY's great mother rushed to the kitchen and came back with more food quickly, and rescued us. Talk about Special Weapons and Tactics Mom! We were glad that the food, the mood, and the alcohol all held up. Everyone stayed and had fun for a solid two hours. After that, the party began to thin. We ended with multiple rounds of amazingly strong tequila. I remember little of what happened after that because other people were drunk!

We thank you all for making such an amazing evening possible. It was fun beyond our imagination. We hope that among you we have many new lifelong friends, and we are really happy that you came! Special thanks and congratulations to the families! Without your support – there would have been no Booth Class of 2009!

Classes of 2010 and 2011 – I would strongly encourage you to cap off your experiences with a family party. The folks were the soul of the party!

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MBA: Whatsup with Random Walk? (Part 2)

In this post you'll get to know what all happens in a Random Walk.

I had promised in my last post, which was about Random Walk, that I will talk about our Random Walk adventures. Here you go!

Our first adventure was Zip-lining. Since I had severe acrophobia, I found the idea of attaching myself to cables and sliding down hundreds of feet from tall trees exciting! Over the course of many hours, we crossed thirteen trees and twelve cables. Every time the guide had to push me off the platform because I both refused to jump, and move out of the way. A lot of people had a smile on as they rolled down the cable. Were they too scared to even change their expression? Although it was a thrilling exercise, it was a tiring one. We were all glad that it was followed by a dip in the hot springs. There is nothing more relaxing than sipping Imperial, the Costa Rican beer, in a pool fed by warm mineral laced waters. We all started with the coolest pool, and worked our way up four progressively warmer pools. There was one who started with the warmest one and worked his way down. We met him in the third pool. That was a joke, in case you didn't get it!

Next morning we got up early to ride All Terrain Vehicles up and down the Costa Rican countryside. To the uninitiated, the vehicles would look like oversized motor-bikes with 100% more wheels. They also carry a sticker - "No Passengers". I quickly realized that the manufacturer was just joking as we all were two to a vehicle. I was amazed to see that thing cross gigantic pot-holes, a river, many hillocks and forests. The ride was very dusty, bumpy and exhilarating. A few of us decided to take the adventure to the next level by riding into big ditches. I also remember seeing a man with a bicycles standing in a cloud of dust kicked up by our vehicles shouting out bad things at us. I waved at him, and yelled "Pura Vida". On our way back, some of us also jumped into a deep pool of cool water from a tall rock - Tarzan style! Hot springs, more beers and laughter followed. The next day, we took a bus to La Mariposa, one of the most beautiful hotels in the world. It was a colonial style building sitting atop a small hillock. From there you could gaze at a blue bay dotted by small islands and framed by towering rocks and tropical forests.

Our next adventure was white-water rafting. Pedaling in swift water was hard work, and staying on the boat when we hit a rapid was harder. However, the thrill of the speed and the spray on our face justified the effort. Thankfully, I was not in the raft with that big guy. He fell into water and took nearly half the people in his raft along. He threw the remaining half overboard while trying to get back into the raft. The small rescue mission over, we all stopped at a small island in the middle of river to have a lunch of delicious tropical fruits. After a working hard in the river, we decided to hit a bar. It was interesting to see that the bar was located inside a gigantic military transport aircraft, whose sister plane was involved in the Iran-Contra affair. A superbly talented dancer and a classmate led the charge to the dance floor. I followed with significant support from the bar-tender.

We got ready early the next day to kayak in the Mangrove swamps. We said hello to Kampuchean monkeys and held a boa in our hands. We drank fresh juice of coconuts plucked from the trees in the swamp. Unfortunately, my kayak collided with another kayak in a narrow channel. The guys got stuck under mangrove trees. It took many people to get them floating again. It looked interesting from a distance! The kayaking trip was followed by excellent food and a good sleep.

The last day was a beach day. Some of us just lazed around while others did surfing. I rented a jet-ski and went 2 miles deep into Pacific. Racing across the waves in rain at a speed of 30 miles per hour was exhilarating. I launched the jet-ski from top of the waves, pointed the nose towards an oncoming swell, and crashed into water in a fountain of spray - again and again. Unfortunately, I couldn't sit on a chair for many hours after that.

Next day, it was all over and we returned to the Windy City with fond memories. I dedicate this post to Nicole – one of the most amazing people I know at Booth, and the girl who tolerated my incessant yak-yak on the bus. Admits – go enjoy your random walk….

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MBA: Whatsup with Random Walk? (Part 1)

In this post you'll get to know what all happens in a Random Walk.

Soon after that fantastic call from Chicago GSB (now Chicago Booth), I began researching my Random Walk options. I love meeting people and traveling. I just had to be on a Random Walk. However, the long list of destination choices confused me. However, I arrived to rescue myself! I was a hard core consultant and brains behind the patent of an algorithm which could predict a type of human behavior using mathematical models. I prepared a spreadsheet listing out the activities that could be done at each destination, gave each activity a preference weight, and assigned a numerical score to each option. Thereafter, I applied "business intuition" to select my top choices from the top 10 destinations. I sent that spread sheet out to some fellow admits, and they responded with a pin-drop silence. I was later told that everyone thought I was crazy. They continued to apply that label on me till they took some quantitative marketing classes. Then they realized that I was a cool guy after all!

In the interim, my urge to connect with people and organize them kicked in. I tried hard to organize an unofficial Random Walk in India for the Indian admits. However, it didn't work out because of various reasons. Therefore, I focused on the real thing. My algorithm had thrown up Costa Rica, a destination which turned out to be a hot favorite. You see, I wasn't too off with my math!

As was required, I mailed Rick, the guy who ran Random Walks for Chicago Booth, and submitted my choice. I was so confident of my analysis that multiple e-mails from Rick mentioning that Indians might face difficulties in getting into Costa Rica failed to dissuade me. While I did understand that if all the Indians decided to move to Costa Rica, its government would have a small logistical problem, I wanted to just go there even if I had to swim. Fortunately, there was no problem.

Each trip has a set of four second year students whose main job is to keep the flock together and keep them moving. They are picked from volunteers by the Random Walk committee of Graduate Business Council, the student government at Booth. Those leaders began spamming us with instructions like "buy bug-spray". I was sure that Indian mosquitoes could beat the hell out of Costa Rican mosquitoes blindfolded, and I was used to the Indian type. Therefore, I added our four trip leaders to my spam filter. As a result, when it came to packing things for the trip, I had no clue. I filled two large suitcases with everything I could think of including a steam iron and cans of soda.

All the Random Walk trips start and end in Chicago. Before the actual trip, there is a big evening event where everyone going on a Random Walk gets together to mix. However, it is such a big crowd that it is difficult to meet every one from your trip. I met them soon enough - all 16 of them at the airport at 5AM. Waving at sleeping people is real fun. The good part is that you can do it as long as you want!

On my flight, I sat next to a massive guy – one of the trip leaders. It takes a lot of beer to make you that big. It was not possible to drink that much in one year, so I assumed he had been working on it for quite some time. My only grudge against him was that he was in the window seat and was blocking my view. Otherwise, he was a perfectly nice sleeping guy.

After two flights and a long bus ride in a bus full of snoring people, we reached Arenal Springs Resort in Costa Rica. I realized that while one snoring person might irritate you, many snoring people sound just fine. Anyways, it didn't matter to me, because I kept chatting with a beautiful would-be classmate throughout the bus ride – for five hours. However, the only thing I remembered was our guide telling us that tectonic plates mess around with each other a lot in Costa Rica and it was good to say "Pura Vida" to everyone we met. So it is quite likely, that I was sleep-talking, and that my new friend was asleep too.

Costa Rica is a large and perfectly landscaped garden full of volcanoes and friendly people. However, nothing had prepared us for the beauty of the Aenal volcano. It was a perfect cone framed by beautiful blue sky with the tropical rain forest climbing its way up like ivy. At nights, one could see the crater glowing, and during the day one could see the smoke coming out. Our resort was beautiful too – with small well maintained cottages spread across a large area. Unfortunately, that was our last few hours of lazily appreciating something. The series of adventures Costa Rica Random walk turned out to be, jerked us out of our lethargy. In my next post, I will talk about them. Do keep reading!

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Myself: History across geographies!

In this post, I'll tell you about my roots!

This is my third post about myself. I will deviate from the topic of schooling a little bit, and discuss something academic although not class-room academic. I would like to talk about the roots of my love for history, and my own history going back 400 years. I absolutely love history! Well before I entered the high school, I had finished the high school history curriculum. As a child, I attempted to translate a history book by Mir, a Soviet publication house, from Hindi to English, for my mother. Mir used to sell subsidized books out of a mobile book store in India. Even though I was very young, I could smell a bias in the book. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the alternatives. Eventually, my area of interest became Roman history. Today, despite being an amateur, I can talk reasonably well about most of the important Roman historical figures, cities, and events.

The roots of my fascination with times bygone exist in my in my own background. Both on my father's and my mother's side, I am blessed with histories which I can talk about.

My ancestors on father's side lived in Termez in modern Uzbekistan in the ancient times. The city was destroyed in 17th century, and they fled from there to India. During those times, India was ruled by the Mughal dynasty. Shanashah Akbar-e-Azam, or Emperor Akbar the Great, had started a Golden Age in large parts of the subcontinent. He gave shape to the lasting cooperation with the brave Rajputs that underpinned Mughal power for a long time. The Rajputs provided the military bulwark, while the Mughals managed the fragile coalition required to control such a vast empire, and provided the Temurid legitimacy. They ruled over what was then arguably the richest empire on earth.

Another version of the story says that my ancestors moved to India during the reign of Sikandar Lodhi in 16th century. I am not sure why they'd do that. Termez was doing just fine then. However, such is history. You never know what really happened. Let us assume for the sake of story that I am right.

So, my unhappy and battered family headed to this land of dreams, opportunities and security from a land which was laid waste in 17th century. They braved a long and dangerous journey across one of the most difficult terrains on the planet, and arrived at the court of the great Indian emperor full of hope and trepidation. What transpired then is lost to time. However, they managed to receive a grant of land at a place near Delhi. Perhaps the fact that my family claims to be a Syed – a highly regarded clan amongst the Muslims – helped. In an age when birth mattered a lot, having a claim to the most respected bloodline in the Islamic world counted for something.

Again, there are stories that some of the Mughal emperors might have not been friendly to Syeds.

Never mind that! They headed to their land-grant and founded a small town there, which later evolved into my village. They built a palace for themselves. Even today a neighborhood there is called Mahal – the palace. It is rumored that some of people living in that area today have found treasures, and ancient weapons, while laying foundations of their new homes. Over the next 400 years, my ancestral place underwent numerous transformations. Sometimes, it became prosperous, while at other times it declined. It was sacked a number of times. The last sacking was at the hands of Mahadji Scindia, a chieftain from the emergent confederacy in south and central India called the Marathas, who raided areas around Delhi to put pressure on the figurehead Mughal emperor. The folklore says that my ancestors armed with sticks successfully ambushed the Maratha troops, and chased them away. Most likely, it was just a case of catching a few stragglers from a booty laden and retreating raiding party. As recently as 1860s, some of my family members disappeared when the vengeful British colonial army suspected them of supplying the soldiers seeking to reinstate the Mughal power in 1857 rebellion.

The story on my mother's side is equally colorful. Her mother belonged to an aristocratic Japanese family. My grandmother had seven maids just for her hair. The turmoil of the late 19th century Japan led to abolition of feudalism. At the same time, Brazil was opening itself up to immigrants in order to resolve labor shortages. In 1907, Brazil struck a treaty with the Japanese government and let the Japanese in. My grandmother's family had lost power in the turmoil, and fled Japan when it could. The destruction of feudalism in Japan also negatively impacted the food production, and destroyed the social structure which provided elementary social security. It caused widespread distress and hunger. A victim of this hunger was my grandfather's family. They were poor farmers whose masters were booted out. They chose to go to Brazil in order to avoid starvation. Later, the princess and the son of a poor farmer met in Brazil, and married in a wedding straight out of a fairytale. My maternal family is now a part of the largest concentration of Japanese people outside of Japan – the area around Sao Paulo.

This is my history. To some my story sounded fantastic and made-up. Most of what I said was based on my readings, observations, analysis and the stories I heard from my elders. I may be totally wrong – but then which history is correct! Therefore, while I told you my story, I make no claim about its factual accuracy. However, I do believe in this story, and I hope that you have enjoyed reading it.

Hopefully, my grandchild will also be able to claim that his grandpa was an interesting man, and will write about me. More on my life coming up… Check out...

MBA: What is TNDC?

In this post you'll get to know what TNDC is all about.

I just directed Jaya, a good friend and "the" great economic consultant, to a comment someone made on my post - "An ode to schooling! (Part 1)". The commentator called the Gujarat pogrom "alleged", and connected it with Muhammad-bin-Qasim, the 8^th century Muslim conqueror. The person also pointed out what some people consider less politically correct poems of Allama Iqbal. I am little surprised because I reported the moments as I lived them, without any value judgment. I did not expect that reaction. Maybe he is right in his beliefs. Perhaps we should punish Allama Iqbal's memory by erasing "Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindostan Hamara" from the collective memory of Indians. My multi-religious upbringing amongst Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs has rendered me incapable of articulating a strong opinion on the subject. What do you think?

As you chew upon that one, with your kind permission I will turn to a lighter topic – Fun@Booth.

TNDC

People below 21 please stop reading now, and go to http://home.disney.go.com/foryou/preschool/

Let us talk TNDC – Thursday Night Drinking Club! It literally means it. I will give you no marks for realizing that it is an event where people get together to get drunk, and it is on Thursdays. It is run by an informal student group – outside the laws and support of Chicago Booth. I repeat – it is a totally student run initiative. Don't go and request a Dean for money for TNDC! He might deny its existence, and might deny your existence a little later. We are strict on discipline at Chicago Booth. For example, passing off someone else's work as your own is considered very bad! Ever heard of that one? It is capital. However, I have strictly adhered to the Honor Code, and would recommend that you stick to that one too.

Every year, TNDC co-chairs select new TNDC co-chairs, and pass on the torch. To become one, I guess you have to be a regular TNDC-goer. Poor attendance at Alcoholic Anonymous meetings may help. Not sure though! Those co-chairs find venues which can accommodate a large number of people, negotiate with the proprietors of those venues for special deals, and then send out an email inviting people to turn up. The catch is that you have to find the mailing list address – currently on Google and previously on Yahoo! – and subscribe to it. So when you come on the campus – subscribe to it. TNDC is a lot of fun!

Speaking of fun – it is not just the drinking which creates fun. It is usually an open event, where friends and family are invited. People come, relax and chat. You need not drink. You can just turn up. The bar-tender won't usually have the time to serve you anyways. You can meet other first years, second years, older years, part-time program students, weekend program students and non-students. You can meet with them with many things in mind, and many different expectations. Just make sure the ring is missing on that finger. I heard it is illegal to mess around in such situations. So many rules! Sigh! (JOKE) You can try and do career and recruiting stuff here. However, try not to spoil the fun of second years. It is a better strategy to be become their buddies here, and then seek professional help, no pun intended, off-TNDC.

Before you get totally trashed – remember that cameras are one of the most common things available at TNDCs. Make sure that you have ways to get pictures off the Facebook before potential recruiters get to see it. A friend once told me about someone whom he was going to interview for a job. He had Googled that man, and found his pictures wearing a bikini. When the interview commenced, a suit didn't really help the interviewee. My friend had a very good imagination, and he didn't like men in bikinis.

Another problem was that TNDCs were usually way up North in Chicago. It created a little bit of a commuting problem for people who lived down South. Yet another problem, specific to me, was that either I don't drink alcohol or I am not supposed to drink alcohol.

STATUTORY WARNING: In US, you must not consume alcohol unless you are really 21 year and above of age. Alcohol causes severe degeneration of biological systems. It messes up with your biological equilibrium. Don't worry about the last one if you are crazy!

With this, I must now say hello to Jaya on Gtalk, and end my post. I dedicate this post to her. Watch out for more on Fun@Booth.

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MBA: How to engage with second years?

In this post I will talk about how to engage a second year student.

Looks like I have stirred a hornet's nest with my last post on "Arguments for the Indian women's reservation bill (Part 1)". Some of my very good friends were speaking with me in upset tones. Naturally, I became upset too. However, I am glad that they felt comfortable enough with me to tell me in my face that I might be wrong. I sincerely thank them for their feedback. Henceforth, I will try to put my point across in a better manner. In a way, I am glad that I made that post because I could see how varied the reactions could be, and emerged wiser.

How to interact with second years?

I will now take a break from that emotional topic, and return to sharing my experiences with the incoming students. My previous post in the series, "A second year is your best friend (Part 1)", talked about why second years are so important for your recruiting. Perhaps, I will make a post about why second years are very important for other things. Right now, I wish to share some tips on how to interact with the second years.

Let me first tell you about the state of mind of the second years as they walk into the Winter Garden. Let me focus on those who went down the traditional path. They either have an offer, or they don't have an offer. If they have an offer, they may recruit in order to upgrade, or change. If they don't have an offer, they will most likely recruit. Therefore, the spectrum of time they spend in recruiting is from none to a lot. Moreover, the emotional stress they are under will also vary from none to a lot. Also, those who are leaders of the student groups will be starting up on the activities of their groups. This further increases time crunch for some. Therefore, if you want to start on a positive note with a second year, try to be sensitive to her stress levels.

Another dynamics plays out – that of ego and emotions. Someone who received a sought after offer may be in stratosphere! While, someone who did not receive an offer may be really upset. In either case, there are special emotional mechanics involved. You, have to be careful in how you manage that. It is a bad idea to belittle the achievement of someone, and it is a worse idea to ask about offer from someone who doesn't have one. You need to do a little bit of research to make sure you don't embarrass yourself and other people.

However, don't be depressed! There is a powerful positive undercurrent which will make your life easier. Second years are bursting to help you! They have very positive memories of the help they received from the previous outgoing class. They are taking up leadership roles, and are eager to discharge their duties. They want to talk about their experiences. In some cases they want to even brag about them. They are happy to see a new class hit the street, and are eager to welcome them. Some will help because they are genuinely interested in helping, and others will do it because they want to feel important. In a nutshell, there exists a fountain of help, ready to drench you with – even if you don't need it.

However, there are some first years who manage to miss such a big bus. Sometimes, they fail to reach out to the second years critical for their success in time. As they procrastinate, hesitate or ignore those second years, other first years rush in and become the favorites of those who should have made you their favorite. Go to various events. Walk up to second years in the winter garden, the student lounge, and Kovler café. Don't hesitate to extend your hand – again and again – and introduce yourself. Don't start asking serious questions immediately. Get them to like you. Go have drinks with them, bump into them again and again, and address them cheerfully. Few like serious people. Fewer like scowling people.

When you email them, or ask them for help, don't be even remotely demanding. Especially, in traditional favorites such as consulting and investment banking, first years would be raining on the second years. All that is required for you to lose out is just one remark or sloppy email which annoys them. It doesn't matter to a second year if they help 50 people or 49. Don't be that missing one! When you make an appointment, don't miss it. If you expect to miss it, warn the person as soon as possible on phone. If you still miss it, apologize – preferably in person.

Remember, you are not done with a second year ever. When they are on campus, they will help you find your internship. After they graduate, they will come back as recruiters. Never ever ignore a second year, even after you think you are done using her. If you are shy – it is a problem. Some people like to be greeted. If you don't greet them, they will take offense. Moreover, second years talk. If someone hates you, many will know about that. Maybe it will damage you, maybe it will not. Why run the risk?

There are a number of other things I can say about second year-first year interaction. However, I'd like to wrap up by saying that consider second years as your clients. Those whom you really need should be your platinum clients. You need to sell yourself to them, and then maintain your relationship. If you have never handled clients in your life – I am not sure how I'd advise you! However, I must add that I have seen some classmates – especially who were individual contributors prior to Booth – struggle with public interaction. I know of specific cases who managed to create social disasters for themselves. Unfortunately at Booth, there is a thin line between social and professional disasters.

I dedicate this post to a little fellow Boothie and one of the nicest people I know. She is my role model when it comes to creating positive bonds with people.

More on Booth life coming up! Stay tuned! Please send me your reactions and requests at ibn-e-sina@[Chicago booth edu]!

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Opinion: Indian women’s reservation bill (Part 1)

Why the Indian legislature should pass the women’s reservation bill?

I was having a heated argument with an undergraduate friend of mine on whether India should pass a Bill to reserve 33% of legislature seats for women. Nice way to reconnect with someone after 8 years! While, he was against the idea, I supported the idea. We had a good debate leading to no conclusion whatsoever. I decided to post excerpts from our argument. As expected, my post let to a fire-storm of emails. I decided that my puny attempt at supporting the Bill last midnight was not good enough. Therefore, I decided to revise my post.

I will broadly touch five topics – network effect, social justice & compensation, the new equilibrium, futility of slow reform, and national need.

Network effect:

In my Network Structures class at Booth, I learned that studies have proven that success is proportional to the product of connectedness and competence. Often, connectedness outweighs competence. If your Dad was an Emir of an oil-sheikhdom, you wouldn't be wasting your life studying for an engineering entrance examination such as JEE in India with 1% chance of success while your peers elsewhere enjoy love, sex and sunshine. You would just go to a certain business school on the east coast of United States, and receive a very fine business education. Thereafter, you can choose to either just have fun, or make tons of money running a sovereign wealth fund. Go, and have a chat with your Dad!

Being a member of the top engineering school/top MBA club, I have enjoyed the fruits of connectedness. Most of the doors are manned by someone who has the same background as I have. I show him my ID, and he lets me in with a smile. He gives me seat at the table, and respects my opinion. In India, there are some firms who hire only graduates from the IIT – the top Indian engineering school, and IIM– the top Indian management school. Part of it is because usually very smart people go there. But that is only a part of it! I refuse to believe that the person, who is at 99.7^th percentile in management entrance test and therefore fails to secure a seat at IIM, is definitely less smart than the one who is at 99.8^th percentile. Can someone show me a valid study that proves that?

Most of it is because a network of influential people with the same background comes into existence, and it promotes its own. Naturally, they are more comfortable with their own type, mentor their own type, and give opportunities to their own type. Due to tremendous support rookies in the system receive, and the high morale sustained by such a positive environment, they dream big and achieve big. I am extremely skeptical of the fact that a person who was good at JEE, would end up becoming a top CEO as well, without a number of other forces not at all related to engineering excellence, and sheer smarts coming into play. Remember that being the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru was a bigger asset than being a woman was a liability to Indira Gandhi, being the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a bigger asset than being a woman was a liability to Benazir Bhutto, and being the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a bigger asset than being a woman was a liability to Sheikh Hasina Wazed. Networks matter!

This club mentality takes a more sinister form when the members of the club start looking down upon others. They always rubbish what a non-club member did, and create road-blocks to others' success. In worst form, the club degenerates into an oligarchy. Every oligarch is comfortable with sharing all the pie with a small set of peers. The actively, and often successfully, deny a fair share to everyone else. They used to call one such organization the Senate of People of Rome in ancient times. They murdered Julius Caesar because he diluted their power. Power did get diluted despite the Senate – and the Roman Republic became Roman Empire and lived for another 1,000 years in various forms. Not much damage done – isn't it? The term senate is still in used to mask the real intent of some organizations in some modern countries.

There is another effect in play. Everyone in the world wants to reduce risk. They would want someone who has a stamp of credibility and competence. Moreover, if you can't measure something, you can't understand it. IITs and IIMs have established a good brand, and score high marks on certain competence scales. Therefore, people just go for them. Easy and simple!

This network effect plays out in every aspect of life. Women have suffered its consequences for thousands of years. The men have formed a cabal, and due to their physical strength, have denied an equal share to women. Many men still look down upon women, and would prefer to suppress their own daughters to conform to social norms. There is glass ceiling everywhere. Men just trust other men more. Even if it is not active denial of rights, the men's network just promotes its own – the men, by creating an environment where men have significant advantage over women.

I hope that now we agree that it is myopic to assume that training women and educating them will solve the problem. This is a man's world fully geared to protect its rights. Then how do we break the men's power? When was the last time, a King relinquished power without a struggle?

One solution I see is to force women upon men, no pun intended, in halls of power through reservation. After endless suppression thus far, I believe women need to be pushed out of their homes, away from their children, to take their place in the world-order. Surely they will falter initially and we will collectively pay the price. However, hopefully perhaps over next 50 years, women will become competent and equal partners in the social structure.

Thank you for reading. My next post will be on "social justice & compensation."

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