The campus placement season is coming like a drunk and unbathed Gulshan Grover staggering towards a cowering and trembling girl who took refuge from the rain in one of his luxurious bedrooms.
That's how an IIM Calcutta student describes the feeling of hurtling towards the 'final destination'. The all-important, all- essential, all-you-really-wanted-from-the-MBA: the Placement.
In the movies , the girl generally pulls out a seven inch knife from the apple basket lying on the side table , positions it right over her tummy and yells "Kutte , ek kadam bhee aage badaya to main khud ko khatm karr dungi". But I do not feel any amount of artillery positioned over any part of my anatomy can halt the oncoming placements .
Like it or not, that ‘these-are-the-best-days-of-my-life’ feeling you get in year 2 of the MBA is now, inevitably tinged with the worry of what is to come. Will I get placed on day Zero, day One or still be hanging in there like a monkey on day Three?
Well, if placement details so far are any indication, you can expect far fewer monkeys. And far more peanuts. Make that pistas and badaams, actually.
The Madras Institute of Management (MIM) is one of the first b schools to announce its complete placement picture this year. The average salary offered at MIM increased this year to Rs. 5.66 lakh as against Rs 3.77 lakh last year. 71 companies were scheduled to participate in the placement process but only 38 companies could recruit students.
Which is great news. The economy is booming, the job market is robust. You are lucky to be passing out this year, folks.
But, a word of caution. Let’s not make placements into an Olympic style competition. This is not a race to be won by any one institute. It’s just about getting off the starting block in the Marathon of life.
And yet, B school after B school – including the best of them – pad up the salary figures in their press releases. As do companies themselves, when making their offers.
The biggest culprit: the concept of CTC or ‘cost to company’.
An annual package of “12 lakhs” (CTC) offered by a well known foreign bank last year actualy included:
* Cash component of salary.
* The rental value of the chummery (shared) accommodation provided.
* Interest on the deposit paid for a flat.
* Allocated cost of furnishings.
* Company’s contribution towards provident fund.
* The employee's contribution towards PF.
... and of course, the taxes that the candidate has to pay.
The joke went, even the toilet paper provided in the loos was accounted for in the package. Certainly, the cost of training in the UK was factored in. So, in hand, the MBA could expect to get about Rs 35-40,000. Which, although excellent, was far less than what the hype would suggest.
One accounting method, please
With tax rules changing, many companies are expected to do away with the CTC concept and offer all-cash-component salaries. Which may make the job of adding up apples and oranges - when it comes to salary packages - that much easier.
Either way, B schools must adopt a uniform method of ‘accounting’ for their placements. If one institute reports ‘CTC’ while another refers to actual cash component, there is ample scope for confusion.
Secondly there is the issue of ‘incentives’. A sign-on amount is one thing but otherwise a bonus is linked to performance. How can that possibly be predicted and included as part of ‘salary’?
What’s more, many companies, especially in industries such as insurance, financial products and marketing clearly specify a variable package. Say Rs 2.2 lakhs will be ‘fixed’ while Rs 1.8 lakhs is based on your meeting certain target. Which means it’s more like a commission.
Hence referring to such a package as Rs 4 lakhs p.a. is misleading.
As for the students - this is a consideration in deciding which institute should they choose if they happen to get calls from multiple institutes. Hardly something to worry about.
The more worrying feature of this hype is the number of students trying to become an MBA - without much analysis of cost they will incur and the returns they might generate.
The hype on salaries is making every student to pursue an MBA.
And it is making every businessman to open either an MBA institute or an MBA entrance institute.
This is a self serving vicious circle. The hype so generated about MBA has attracted a lot of media attention - so everybody writes about, covers live, reports on CAT & B-Schools. This is turn makes the hype a hyperbole.
Most of students take decision keeping this in mind.Moreover even now the Brand image of college plays a much important role in the final decision than the average pacage.
But i do hope that some form of regulation must be imposed on all the B-school to quote the figures in a standard way so as to allow a fair ground for comparision.
This is the time when institutes come out with placement stats and also students apply to institutes based on the "brand value" of the institute. We should educate applicants to consider not the placement statistics as the main criteria.
Then, of course, there are blatant lies. A click of a mouse and suddenly figures get transformed. The main thing is that if institute X has released its figures, then we have to look equally good. Or better.
Institute X may have indulged in a bit of exaggeration to begin with - that gets compounded as institute Y also decided to add some lipstick, powder and paint before facing the world.
And so the chain reaction continues. While B school community is not fooled by tall tales – the truth is generally known - the real loser is the prospective student. He who takes the very decision to pursue the MBA based on these fantastic figures...
Will B schools come together and solve this very real problem?
Friday, November 12, 2010
IISc attack: A never-to-forget sad day for science
Army establishments.
National monuments.
Political figures.
These were the original terrorist targets.
But this didn't instill fear in the common man, so they started attacking places of worship, railway stations, cinemas, random marketplaces.
And then, they chose to attack a scientific establishment.
CNN IBN reported: An armed intruder opened fire at the Indian Institute of Science premises in Bangalore on December, 2005, killing former professor of IIT Delhi MC Puri and injuring four others. Intelligence sources said the attack might be linked to Abu Salem's presence in the city that time.
The intruder, came in an Ambassador car around 1845 hrs (IST) and started firing indiscriminately near the Tata Auditorium where a seminar, International Conference on Management Studies was being held. Professor Puri was among the 250 professors attending the seminar.
A symbolic target? Or just a soft and easy one. A kid who's just passed the KG level in terrorist training can be entrusted a rifle and let loose on such a campus. A campus where brain is at a much higher premium than brawn.
I mean, sure, there would have been some routine security checks at the gate but who seriously believed that a bunch of scientists gathered to discuss string theory or particle physics could be of interest to the Lashkar-e-Toiba?
Laymen envision all scientists as variations of Einstein. Unfortunately not all scientists are that photogenic - most look rather ordinary, and could have been working in State Bank of India except they dress shabbier and attend office on Sundays of their own free will.
Well, at least that's how scientists are. Which is also why the IISc shooting was something that was to be taken note of.
And of course people as usual asked : why was there no security? But although there was talk of scientific establishments being possible targets, army-like security was a little alien to the laid back culture on these campuses.
The question is: how many soft targets can you eliminate? How hard would it be to enter an IIT tomorrow and open fire at the crowd gathered ??
A terrorist attack is a terrorist attack be it on a military establishment or an educational institute. It is despicable. Terrorism has now become an industry and it is only flourishing with time. Innocent killings have to be deplored. The terrorists try to get targets that are vulnerable as well as something that will bring to their cause publicity. Sometimes the cause itself becomes a vested interest and is perpetuated without rationale.The cost is too high in terms of innocent lives snuffed out.
But looking at other side of the picture, it is not possible and even feasible to provide high security at all places. Not all the terror attacks that takes place in our country are religious in nature. The entire militancy in North-East, the MCC, the PWG...and to some extent LTTE was driven by various ideologies nothing to do with religion. And I condemn all of them, irrespective of any great ideal or religious reasons. Every movement starts with good ideals and intentions, but if the means are wrong (i.e. resortment to violence), they nevertheless degenarate to the levels we see today and finally hurt the same group which had espoused it in the first place.
Gandhiji was right! An eye for an eye will lead to the whole world becoming blind. If we trace down the issues to the grass roots, shouldn't we step up security at the points where people can come in? (Airports, seaports, borders etc). Our corrupt officials get bribes and let in people with fake passports, illegal documents and such illegal immigrants may end up being criminals. To top it all, I fail to understand, how some people who were born and brought up in our country, get conditioned by those illegal immigrants and are ready to bomb or attack people/places in our country? Shouldn't the country welfare be put before religion?
Why only the IISC, IITs and IIMs ..this holds true for any institution imparting education in India..Imagine tomorrow terrorists barging into a primary school...what would happen..Well the consequences will only be too grave to think off..We live in a very fickle world...we dont know what happens next and where ...
It's a fact that in the near future we'll have to live with this menace called Terrorism. And many more attacks to come. Unlike US or Isreal we are still caught with the our hands tied...Must we wait till we bleed to death...
The immediate reaction is to fortify places. But how many can we fortify and for how long? The next question in the mind is "why is it happening, how can we change this?" For a country with so many religions and tolerance record, how this ugly black pit called terrorism came to stay?
Mine is not a loney voice, there are so many out there , wondering helplessly. Can't we all join together and look for solutions at the grass root level? I am sure there are ways to curb these acts of hate. Shall we all explore together?
Because life is precious. More precious than any abstract ideology. Or concrete cause. Any motherland or fatherland. Any zid, jehad or junoon.
National monuments.
Political figures.
These were the original terrorist targets.
But this didn't instill fear in the common man, so they started attacking places of worship, railway stations, cinemas, random marketplaces.
And then, they chose to attack a scientific establishment.
CNN IBN reported: An armed intruder opened fire at the Indian Institute of Science premises in Bangalore on December, 2005, killing former professor of IIT Delhi MC Puri and injuring four others. Intelligence sources said the attack might be linked to Abu Salem's presence in the city that time.
The intruder, came in an Ambassador car around 1845 hrs (IST) and started firing indiscriminately near the Tata Auditorium where a seminar, International Conference on Management Studies was being held. Professor Puri was among the 250 professors attending the seminar.
A symbolic target? Or just a soft and easy one. A kid who's just passed the KG level in terrorist training can be entrusted a rifle and let loose on such a campus. A campus where brain is at a much higher premium than brawn.
I mean, sure, there would have been some routine security checks at the gate but who seriously believed that a bunch of scientists gathered to discuss string theory or particle physics could be of interest to the Lashkar-e-Toiba?
Laymen envision all scientists as variations of Einstein. Unfortunately not all scientists are that photogenic - most look rather ordinary, and could have been working in State Bank of India except they dress shabbier and attend office on Sundays of their own free will.
Well, at least that's how scientists are. Which is also why the IISc shooting was something that was to be taken note of.
And of course people as usual asked : why was there no security? But although there was talk of scientific establishments being possible targets, army-like security was a little alien to the laid back culture on these campuses.
The question is: how many soft targets can you eliminate? How hard would it be to enter an IIT tomorrow and open fire at the crowd gathered ??
A terrorist attack is a terrorist attack be it on a military establishment or an educational institute. It is despicable. Terrorism has now become an industry and it is only flourishing with time. Innocent killings have to be deplored. The terrorists try to get targets that are vulnerable as well as something that will bring to their cause publicity. Sometimes the cause itself becomes a vested interest and is perpetuated without rationale.The cost is too high in terms of innocent lives snuffed out.
But looking at other side of the picture, it is not possible and even feasible to provide high security at all places. Not all the terror attacks that takes place in our country are religious in nature. The entire militancy in North-East, the MCC, the PWG...and to some extent LTTE was driven by various ideologies nothing to do with religion. And I condemn all of them, irrespective of any great ideal or religious reasons. Every movement starts with good ideals and intentions, but if the means are wrong (i.e. resortment to violence), they nevertheless degenarate to the levels we see today and finally hurt the same group which had espoused it in the first place.
Gandhiji was right! An eye for an eye will lead to the whole world becoming blind. If we trace down the issues to the grass roots, shouldn't we step up security at the points where people can come in? (Airports, seaports, borders etc). Our corrupt officials get bribes and let in people with fake passports, illegal documents and such illegal immigrants may end up being criminals. To top it all, I fail to understand, how some people who were born and brought up in our country, get conditioned by those illegal immigrants and are ready to bomb or attack people/places in our country? Shouldn't the country welfare be put before religion?
Why only the IISC, IITs and IIMs ..this holds true for any institution imparting education in India..Imagine tomorrow terrorists barging into a primary school...what would happen..Well the consequences will only be too grave to think off..We live in a very fickle world...we dont know what happens next and where ...
It's a fact that in the near future we'll have to live with this menace called Terrorism. And many more attacks to come. Unlike US or Isreal we are still caught with the our hands tied...Must we wait till we bleed to death...
The immediate reaction is to fortify places. But how many can we fortify and for how long? The next question in the mind is "why is it happening, how can we change this?" For a country with so many religions and tolerance record, how this ugly black pit called terrorism came to stay?
Mine is not a loney voice, there are so many out there , wondering helplessly. Can't we all join together and look for solutions at the grass root level? I am sure there are ways to curb these acts of hate. Shall we all explore together?
Because life is precious. More precious than any abstract ideology. Or concrete cause. Any motherland or fatherland. Any zid, jehad or junoon.
Dil Manga More
From there he migrates to Canada.
He marries a Polish woman.
A child is born.
This child grows up in Canada.
He migrates to America.
At the age of 37, he is featured by People magazine in their issue on the 'Sexiest men alive'.
Journalism students: How many permutations and combinations of headlines can you make with this news? And which of these combinations is technically correct??
Indian scientist among Sexiest Men Alive said DNA. It goes on to call him an 37-year-old Indo-Canadian geophysicist.
NRIs can't ask for more, Manga Sexiest Man Alive said HT. A geophysicist of Indian origin has been selected the 'Sexiest Man Alive' ... went their story.
PIO prof among world's sexiest men said TOI. It went on to observe - quite rightly - that the list came out some years ago but made headlines in India only after the delirium-stricken desi media (their words, not mine!) discovered that he had a remote Indian connection.
However the TOI web version was equally delirious:
SILICON VALLEY: An Indian geophysicist of Indian origin has been selected the 'Sexiest Man Alive' by People magazine along with Hollywood superstars Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt.
Meanwhile a Canadian TV station reported: A Canadian shares a page with Bono in People magazine's sexiest men issue but Michael Manga is a reluctant and unlikely heartthrob...
Further down it briefly observed: "Manga is 5-foot-11, has long, dark hair and his family background makes for an interesting DNA mix with ties to South Africa, India, Germany and Poland".
My question is: who or what is 'Indian'.
Had Michael taken more after his Polish mother and looked Caucasian with blonde hair, would we have rushed to claim him as one of our own?
Is being 'Indian' a racial characteristic ie defined by colour of skin? In which case no matter how many generations we may move away from the Motherland, its culture and customs - we will never be fully 'American' or 'Canadian'?
Science can be sexy?!
I know every newspaper needs a peg to hang its news on - so that's where the 'Indian' bit came in. But to me, the fact that a scientist made it to the 'world's sexiest men alive' was a far more interesting point.
As every write up mentioned: Manga was one of only two men in academia admitted to the ranks of America's dreamiest dudes. "That's why I agreed to do this..." he explains. I wanted to get information out to people who wouldn't normally hear or see anything about science."
Of course, I may be more excited about a 'scientist' being called sexy.
The category was 'Smart Guys'.
As one blog noted:
To celebrate the 20-year milestone, editors highlighted some "smart guys" (CNN's man of the hour, Anderson Cooper), a few "bad boys" (actor Russell Crowe) and a bunch of "funny guys" (Steve Carrell).
Glad to see that the definitions of sexiness are expanding! Point to be noted is that Manga was not smart in the regular "muggu" sort of way.
In September 2005, Manga was named a Mac Arthur fellow. The fellowship was described as 'an exclusive club of creative and original thinkers given $500,000 with no strings attached over the next five years'.
Manga, who combined theoretical geophysics with innovative laboratory experiments, intended to use some of the money to travel more and visit the subjects of his research: volcanoes.
Hot stuff.
But this was bound to happen. We as Indians are so starved for attention that anyone who has the slightest Indian roots is extolled by us far beyond any limit. Another case in point is that of Bobby Jindal. A guy who has relinquished his Indian roots totally, follows anti-Indian policies a la Republicans is held up as some sort of a hero because he won an election, especially by the expats. Same goes for Navin Andrews and Kal Penn, who have finally found fame with Lost and Harold and Kumar Goes to Whitecastle respectively. I consider people of Indian nationality Indian. All these examples are totally and completely American. Time we stopped fawning over them because of nationality and just appreciate them, if they deserve it, for their achievements.
This craze with Indian roots is because of lack of our own heroes who are internationally accepted. So few are they that anyone in these lists even remotely Indian will be big news. We always look forward for some motivator. Media always created them for us. So any person, with even a distant Indian Connection, if he does something good or bad, we call him an Indian. So its like Indians have become wrappers in which we want to pack new dreams..
We follow multiple standards while branding people as Indians. One classic case was labeling V.S. Naipaul as an Indian while he himself had said many times that he doesn't consider himself an Indian. Then we had the case of Mother Teresa and Dr. Hargobind Khurana. The former was born abroad and did work in India while the latter was born in India and did work abroad.
We Indians call both of them as Indians which should not be the case.
Thought for the day
Albert Einstein, Abdul Kalam, and then Michael Manga, being quizzed about their long dark mane. Is being a celebrity scientist all in the hair?!
Life is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful (Italian: La vita è bella) is a 1997 Italian language film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice (played by Roberto Benigni, who also directed and co-wrote the film), who must employ his fertile imagination to help his family during their internment in a Nazi concentration camp.
Guido is both funny and charismatic, especially when he romances a local school teacher, Dora (portrayed by Benigni's actual wife Nicoletta Braschi). Dora, however comes from a wealthy, aristocratic, non-Jewish Italian family. Dora's mother wants her to marry a well-to-do civil servant, but Dora falls instead for Guido where he ends up stealing her away at her engagement party from her aristocratic but arrogant fiancé.
Several years pass in which Guido and Dora marry and have a son, Giosué (Giorgio Cantarini).
Dora and her mother (Marisa Paredes) are estranged due to the unequal marriage. Later on, a reconciliation takes place just prior to Giosue's fourth birthday.
In the second half of the film, The Second World War has already begun. Guido, Uncle Eliseo, and Giosué are forced onto a train and taken to a Nazi concentration camp on Giosué's birthday. Dora demands to be on the same train to join her family and is permitted to do so.
In the camp, Guido hides his son from the Nazi guards, sneaks him food, and tries to humor him. In an attempt to keep up Giosué's spirits, Guido convinces him that the camp is just a game, in which the first person to get 1,000 points wins a tank. He tells him that if he cries, complains that he wants his mother, or says that he is hungry, he will lose points, while quiet boys who hide from the camp guards earn 1,000 points.
Guido convinces Giosué that the camp guards are mean because they want the tank for themselves and that all the other children are hiding in order to win the game. He puts off Giosué's requests to end the game and return home by convincing him that they are in the lead for the tank. Despite being surrounded by rampant misery, sickness, and death, Giosué does not question this fiction because of his father's convincing performance and his own innocence.
Guido maintains this story right until the end, when—in the chaos caused by the American advance—he tells his son to stay in a sweatbox until everybody has left, this being the final test before the tank is his. After trying to find Dora, Guido is caught, taken away and shot dead by a Nazi guard, but not before making his son laugh one last time by imitating the Nazi guard as if the two of them are marching around the camp together.
Giosué manages to survive and thinks he has won the game when an American tank arrives to liberate the camp. He is reunited with his mother, not knowing that his father has died. Years later, he realizes the sacrifice his father made for him, and that it was because of that sacrifice that he is still alive today. In the film, Giosué is around four and a half years old; however, both the beginning and ending of the film are narrated by an older Giosué recalling his father's story and sacrifice for his family.
Awards
At the 71st Academy Awards in 1998, Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor and the film won both the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie was shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, winning the Grand Prize of the Jury. It then went on to win the Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score and Best Foreign Language Film; Benigni won Best Actor for his role. The film was additionally nominated for Academy Awards for Directing, Film Editing, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay. An inspired motion picture masterpiece, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL was nominated for 7 Academy Awards winning 3 Oscars, including one for Best Actor Robert Benigni.
A wonderful comic masterpiece – Chicago Tribune.
Sorry, could not absorb within me, so i let the story flow out.
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