SHOE AND DISSENT

Whoever said “You judge a man by his shoes”…boss you missed the trick by just a bit…tho“one can judge a man by the way he uses them”…
It took Gandhji 40 odd years to generate mass appeal via non-co-operation movement, but it took a stroke of genius by a gentleman called Maliki to borrow a predominantly feminine technique used on streets to capture instant fame on Indian roads and use it on the president of America in a slightly different setting, a press conference and boom courtesy 24 hour news channels, the world had a new celebrity.
Our own Jarnail Singh was a little less creative and not so surprisingly, but he did mellow the speed of the shoe.
So rule#1 The more the intensity of the dissent the greater the speed by which the shoe is hurled…this is obvious by the ferocity of the shoe attack at Bush.
Rule#2 …The more the level of disagreement and discontent, the superior brand of the shoe used
Hence
Woodland shoes: I strongly disagree…
Adidas,Nike,Reebok:I disagree…
Bata: I don’t quite agree…
Paragon bathroom chappals: You are right, but there is a better alternative…
Logic: Person throwing the shoe is caring enough to throw that much money to show that they DO NOT AGREE…

What is more surprising is that the attacks came against prominent leaders of the world’s biggest and largest democracies by people who represent the best forum (newspapers) to disagree in such regimes…Guess temples will no longer be the best place to look for free shoes in India…If you ve read “The Argumentative Indian”…you will know what I mean…Boss it is in our genes to disagree…

Talking about management…there is this big urge of coaching institutes to teach just that one extra technique which will help their students get through…and go one up on the other coaching institutes…So picture a conversation during a GD-prep class at one such institute…
Student: “Sir what kind of shoes should I wear for the GD?”
Instructor: (Logical as they always are) “Since I don’t want you to project a personality who doesn’t accept ideas from others I strongly denounce woodlands. Adidas will be a bit over-board…wear BATA and you can always manipulate the speed with which you throw the shoe at the other speaker to shut the other speaker up and break-in.”
Student: “Sir when is the best time to throw the shoe?”
Instructor: “As soon as you think you disagree…and make sure you work on your aim and take our aim classes for which you will have to pay extra fee of Rs.5000. We have hired Jaspal Rana to help you out with that. You have to use your shoes judiciously because you have 15 minutes and just 2 shoes…exactly the number of times you need to break-in to make an impact. When you take an aim, make sure you hit hence the aim classes become important”
Student: “What body part to aim at?”
Instructor: “Well the mouth will be the best part to shut up any person who is talking. Make sure you always mellow the speed for female candidates….that way you show a bit of courtesy to girls and panelists always like that…a good way to earn a few goodie points. Don’t worry they will teach you all that in our aim classes. Make sure you take them though. Its about your career yaar.”
Student: “What if I hit one of the panelists?”
Instructor: “That is a sure recipe for disaster. Management aspirants need to perfect their aim to get into B-Schools of their choice. Nobody needs managers hitting people they don’t disagree with or people who are not talking at all.”
Student: “What if I hit the wrong candidate?”
Instructor: “That is why I said perfect your aim…or make sure you have points of disagreement for the candidate to the left and right along with the one you are aiming at so that you don’t look stupid if you do hit the wrong person.”

Instructor: “Don’t worry we will teach you all that you need to do to master this new technique just go to the gym and build you muscles to make sure when you hit them, you hit them hard. All the best son.”

Student: “Thank you sir…It was a great help…”
Instructor: “Anytime…Make sure you pay for our Aim Classes…B-bye”

Agree or Disagree it always boils down to the money…
Keep checking this place for more…

XLRI interview experience 2nd March 2009

When i was preparing for interviews i found the huge repository of B-School interview experiences on the net really useful. Maybe some of you would find this one too...
XAT percentile:99.26
VA:96 QA:97 DM&LR:98 DM:Decision Making
My profile
Profession: Production and Industrial Engineer,NIT Allahabad
Work Experience: 8 months, Bajaj Auto Ltd.,Supply Chain Management
The interview took place at St.Xaviers,Mumbai at around 4:30pm. I was one of the last few candidates for the day.Three professors were there...I would name them P1,P2 and P3 for the sake of convinience...
G : May i come in sir...
P1: yes yes, Gaurang Plz do...oh by the way how tall are you?(i am really really tall...so was expecting this one)
I sign the sheet lying there...and hand my folder to P3...
G: Sir i am 1.94 mts tall...(wanted to sound like an engineer...back fired :( )
P3( scary person):In feets son...
G: 6ft 3 inches sir
P1:So do you play Basket-ball?
G: No sir I play cricket...
P1:If you were to tell a youngster, two things you ve learnt from the sport,what would they be?
G: To never quit and Team-work...
P1:Justify
G:Sir in the 1989, Sialkot test Sachin Tendulkar got hit by a Waqar Younis snorter on the nose.With blood flowing out of his nose he was asked by the team doctor to leave the feild.But he precisely said "mei khelega" and ended up standing alone and preventing an Indian defeat.In the post match confrence he said"it dint feel very nice but i wanted to thrash this bowler."So if a 16 year old boy can do it then...(P1 interrupts)...seems satisfied
P1: How team-work?I feel it is a very individual sport...
G: Sir i used to field as a boundary rider for my team....now with those long legs if you can save a few boundaries...then that can be the difference between winning and losing a crunch game...The idea is to identify the skill sets which various individuals bring to the team and use them effectively,this can be the difference between a winning and a losing combination...
P1: You know so much about cricket...then why not become a cricket analyst...Why PM&IR?
G: Sir india is the second largest HR in the world...with people moving across geographies and with new technologies emerging across sectors i see a lot of scope...
P1:Ok suppose i am a common man...Market me a Bajaj bike....
G:Lets talk about the commuter segment here...Bajaj has models like XCD 125cc.135cc and Platina 125 in this segment...As a common you must be looking for mileage in a bike and XCD 125 cc gives the best mileage amongst all other bikes in its segment...Sir we are also the world leaders in twin spark technology,which helps us achieve almost zero incomplete combustion of fuel(and with no-one saying anything i went a statement too far)...
Sir,Bajaj is the best technology company in terms of motorbikes....(i thought i would get away with it and was about to do some damage control when the inevitable happened...)
P3 (sacary person) kicks in: Oh ya! really!Is it the best technology company?
G (holy s**t):Sir,It's an opinion...(every-body starts laughing)
P3(mellows for the first time): That's a better answer!
G:(I just smile...)
P1: So what do you think is the difference between indian and american bikes in terms of safety?
G: Sir bikes are inherenetly unsafe...(the moment i say this everybody is all smiles)
P1:What is the death rate due to accidents on indian roads?
G:(I did not see that one coming)I dont know sir!
P1:You manufacture bikes and you dont know this?...(almost urging me to blurt out an answer...)
G:Sir,I dont think i would like to take a guess on that one...
PI passes onto P2
P2 in the was in the meantime going through my folder...
P2:I see you have read economics as a subject in class 12th...I would like to ask a few questions on the same?
G:Fine sir...(managed a smile...though on the inside...i knew this was the lull before the storm)
P2:Which major economic theory has been disproved in the present economic scenario?
G:Sir,In the World Economic Forum meet one of the major things that was discussed was the tendency of capital markets to self correct themselves...it's not there
P2:(Nodded his head)
G:The theory was given by Adam Smith...(Father of Capitalism...)
P2:(Again nods his head)What was the name of that theory...?
G:Sir, I would like to take just a moment to recall a little...after 2 secs come up with i dont remember sir...
P2:The invisible hand...
G:(I just nod)
P2:You say capital markets dont self correct themselves...but i see stock markets obeying this law?
G:Sir i would like to disagree a little...
P2:(Nods his head)
G:I have read about Paul Krugman, He is a noted economist he said "We created financial structures which were so far removed from reality"...that he termed it as off-shore capitalism...
Every one nods...
I was about to carry on when he passes it on to P3 saying would you like to ask anything?
P3:No...that ll be all...Thank you Gaurang...
P1:All the best Gaurang!!!
G:Thank you sir...
P3 hands over my folder to me...i leave...
It lasted about 20 minutes and it was a roller coaster...

After the excruciating wait of about 20 days...results were out and guess what...I will be studying Management at XLRI,Jamshedpur...

Book review:Its not about the bike- My journey back to life

For those of you looking for some motivation, this one by none other than Lance Armstrong is a must read...
For me a books of this genre are made by certain key moments which set their tone and in this book those were...
The description of a young Lance asking this his mother when she was facing certain problems at workplace
"Why dont you quit mom?"
and she replies "You never quit son"
This statement of her stuck with him, which is justified when he states in the first few pages...
"Like it or not your future is shaped by your past"
For those of you who think they have failed enough in life...there is this message which he gets from a cancer patient ,when he gets diagnosed with the disease...
"You dont know it yet,we are the lucky ones"
To put it succintly this work covers the transition of a brash youth into a man in the face of adversity.So, Go Get It...