The Flu Mania

Happy Birthday India !!!!
For the past 10 days India (especially Pune) has been in a grip of severe Flu Mania. On Aug 3rd a family lost a girl child to H1N1 flu.Since then there have been 25 deaths to date with Pune bearing a major brunt of it. Though majority of doctors say H1N1 is nothing but any other Flu, but how will this fact console the families of those who have lost some one. Especially people who have a weak imune system have been falling victim to the H1N1 virus.
This week even i lost 2 of my friends, though to a different type of Flu. Blackie and Brownie,the two stray dogs which we were looking after, both passed away from Kennel's cough..a sort of Dog's flu. Blackie, the small pup had been with us for about month and a half. Brownie had been with us for 6-7 months. Both were, brought here when they were small and abandoned / lost. With whatever time they spent with us , a deep bond was formed, not only with us but whole colony. Whether we got food or not but it was ensured that they get food atleast twice a day. But perhaps we as humans could never really understand their needs. Perhaps an average vegetarian human diet was not enough to make the dogs strong. And they succumbed to weak immune system. Blackie caught cold first and then the Kennel cough due to weakened immune system. Brownie too caught it because they shared space and food bowls.So i'll like to pen down few indications of Kennel cough so that a few dogs can be saved(if someone can read this piece and act in time).Look out for following symptoms in dogs to catch kennel cough before it becomes fatal
1) Loss of Appetite
2) Low level of activity.If dogs seem to be lazy ,not doing the regular jumping stuff and showing signs of fatigue.this is an early sign
3) Cough and respiratory problems. At this stage the disease becomes really serious.
4) getting reclusive,hide away from approaching people.This means the death in only 2-3 days away
5) Not wagging tails

This is a highly contagious disease and a good population of dogs in my area is falling ill these days with similar symptoms.
Perhaps i could have done more and maybe both Blackie and brownie could have been saved. But now i can learn a lesson from history and spread awareness.

H1N1 is curable.Just read the symptoms early and go to doctor for screening.Precaution is teh key word here.

The Need for Attrition

Attrition has always been the buzz word in the Industry.During the boom, people get onto the Job hopping spree and the Attrition increases, In Bust the companies encourages employees to resign volntarily and again Attrition increases. Attrition is a necessary evil. The liquidity and flow of skills in market could very well be attributed to Attrition.
Though high Attrition rates are unacceptable to companies, they do desire attrition to say the least.
Primary causes of Attrition are
1)Stagnation/Lack of growth/learning opportunities
2)Tiff with seniors
3) $$$$$$$$
4)Families

Managers do play a major role in Attrition.Behavior of Managers(PM/SPM/DM) influences the decision of poor IT Staffers a lot.Of late companies have increasingly bent towards Share holders rather than stake holders. The key Stake holders are the share holders and hence it appears,atleast on surface ,that the actual working labour class are the ones who are targeted with any and every policy.
For me Attrition is a very useful tool to answer the injustice that may be dealt to you. When an employee leaves,he not only takes knowledge with him, but also the culture, the understanding, the relations.Building these again can take a lot of time and hence result in potential revenue loss to company.Also attrition is a performance measure for senior managers. To teach Senior managers the lessson they ought to learn, you need to encourage people to hop on and hop off.

As a Wise man has said
"Never love your Company,as you never know when it stops loving you"

It Moves On.....

As you ride , the train called Life
Many a people board it
to be by your side

They make your life complete
they help you make it Alive
without them, it would be dry

To make a difference, Is Why
they come to help you
to appreciate the virtue called life

Some make you laugh
Some make you cry
But when they get off
a part of you feels sad
when they bid goodbye

Leaving them in tears
One day , You too shall say bye
Never to return to the train
which keeps on moving
through Day, through Night

The IPL

In this Election season, jaagore campaign has been a real hit, atleast in media. though the reports on polling seems to contradicting all that. But nevertheless JaagoRe for me is a revolutionary initiative which will pay dividend in coming years. Elections in India have become a Strat Mgmt class. With umpteen number of regional parties coming over last few years, a hope for a single party stable govt has faded into oblivion.
Though i'm a big supporter of national Parties because they bring in a lot of stability to the country, the thing that regional parties cater well to their designated regions can't be denied. Also being a young country India has not really matured enough to vote for development and prosperity.She is a country, whose majority still votes based on cast and religion. However sorry it may be, but it is the truth. Living in urban posh areas the educated class seldom ponder over these themes.
But there is nothing in it to be disheartened.Of late our politicos have improved, atleast IMO. They hold the key to the bright future for India. But one dilemma faced by voters is Candidate vs Party. Sometimes candidate are so good both politically and personally, that you just cant vote against them, but then they represent parties with which you do not identify yourself. and then there are cases when you want to vote for a parties manifesto but the candidate put up by that party is a disgrace to Politics.
This is a big question that needs to be answered.I still havent found an answer to it.Voting for candidate is equivalent to voting for party at centre. Hope so i come across an article which can resolve this dilemma.

The Journey Starts

Last April, around this time i was cooling my heels back home in delhi, courtsey a daring 1 feet jump. Sitting idle, bored from Saas-Bahu serials i was looking to take up something. MBA, was on mind, as it is on mind of every Bencher, but being a theory master i was, i didnt have any aim to do MBA.Just knew that CAT and GMAT were two things that could help me realize my dream.Since CAT was some time away, just picked up Kaplan's Comprehensive and 1k SC's,CR's,RC's. That was start of the journey or was that my misconception in hindsight.
By the time i started walking it was May. In June i decided to gift myself the GMAT challenge. On my B'day i decided 3 months is what is required to crack GMAT and i started preps.Though at the end of those 3 months i didnt exactly cracked it, but managed a decent score.But this time around i was not going to goof up as i did with my GRE score. I was going to take admit in Fall 2010 for sure.But in following months CAT and Office Wrk took majority of my time.
But now when i'm free to think about it, the mor ei think, the more i feel i'm un prepared.The point which i thought was start of journey was just a mere Gas Filling act. What lies ahead is the real challening journey.Journey of finding who i am, what i want, why i want, where should i get what i want and most importantly how to get other things in order so that my dream falls into my hands.
This week as i start my real journey, just wanted to make a note of it ,as suggested by McCoy. I hope so i'm able to post some relevant stuff which maybe of help to some of you.
In the end would just like to say, going to B School is your choice, go for it whole heartedly. In the end what is right for you may be wrong for the rest of the world. But opinions always do count. Experiences will help from all nook and corners. Any fellow applicant who is planning for Fall 2010, please share your thoughts. Collaboration is the basic of any B School

Good luck to myself and Good luck to all of you