Sitting at my desk, trying to solve some of the most crucial problems in the internet space (really), a colleague walks up to me.

“Should we change the homepage of this site? I think we should add a new section here”, he says pointing at a section of my product’s webpage.

Suddenly, this seems very familiar to me. As though I had lived this moment before. A deja-vu, as many nowadays would term it. A deja-vu it indeed was. I have been in similar situations before and I am sure I am not the only one who has had this rather strange experience.

This time, however, I was determined to make some sense out of it. Every time I uttered a reply, I quickly predicted (in my mind) what the response would be and surprisingly, the response came out as per my predicition – right up to the last word.

Now, I quickly decided to do another thing – I shall predict the next moment in this deja-vu warp, and instead of saying the thing that I am supposed to, I would say something drastically opposite. That is, I wanted to make a conscious effort to force a change of events, different from what I knew was coming. I did so, the responses suddenly changed, the wall of familiarity was gone and we were back in unknown territories of time (speaking on a macro level).

What then intrigued me is this – Did I, by consciously changing the line of thought and making it different from what the deja-vu was supposed to go towards, alter history? Or did I alter my future by that small exercise?

All this might sound like a crackpot idea and I am inclined to believing in the crackpotness of it all. But somewhere, when I felt a similar pattern being revisited, I realized that there is probably a lot more out there which is not seen by the eye, or felt by the mind.

On a related note, I came across this article by Sean Carroll (of Preposterous Universe). It is very well written and goes on to describe the concept of “memory” with regards to the changing entropy of the universe.

Another related article is this one on Boltzmann’s Universe.

Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you all. Enjoy.

Have you ever felt surprised at coming across honesty? I’m surprised to find myself surprised whenever I accidently stumble upon it!

Whenever I’m in Mumbai, I’m taken aback to find the auto drivers actually searching their pockets to return Re.1 to me as the minimum fare there is Rs.10. Earlier (much earlier), when the minimum fare in Bangalore was Rs.8 and you handed the auto driver a 10 rupee note, he would growl at you if you dared to stand around waiting for any change!

Another incident happened when I was in Mumbai (co-incidence? – perhaps this is fodder for another thread – can a city be more honest than others?) at a road side slipper shop.

After haggling at several shops (a favourite pastime in Mumbai), I finally found the perfect pair of slippers at the perfect price. The young boy at the shop took the money I offered and dug in his pockets for change. He did not have the exact change, and guess what he did? He returned more!

He said, “I don’t have the exact amount, and I don’t want to go and ask anyone. Either you get more or I do, it’s the same thing. So you can take this.”

I could not believe it. Here’s someone actually making you the beneficiary of their predicament!
I have come across several shopkeepers saying they don’t have change so you have to accept less in return, or they give the extra change grudgingly. But this young man was very cheerful about it, though I’m sure he could do with the extra money.

Of course, I asked him to keep the change. But I must admit, I found myself surprised once again. Is this how everyone feels or am I just jaded?

Dhi better half and Dhi are quite pleased with this bit of news. Our alma mater, The Indian School of Business has been ranked No. 20 in the global B-school rankings released by Financial Times, London.

Here is the official press release:

Hyderabad, January 28, 2008: The Indian School of Business (ISB) has been ranked No: 20 in the global B-school rankings released today by Financial Times, London.

Congratulating the ISB students, faculty, and staff, Rajat Gupta, Chairman, ISB, said, “This is great news! The ISB graduated its first class in 2002 with a vision to establish an internationally top ranked, research oriented B-school in India. I am extremely proud that the students, faculty, and staff have achieved this in such a short time. I am also delighted that the ISB has brought such academic and international recognition to India.”

Within a short span of six years, the ISB has made a mark for itself as a premier, B-School in India. It has successfully pioneered several initiatives in the field of management education by bringing in international best practices and people. The ISB introduced the one year programme, unique portfolio model of faculty, accepting students with prior work experience and diverse backgrounds, the GMAT score as a selection criterion, lateral placements, international quality research and several other initiatives. Being ranked Twenty among global B-schools is a validation of the ISB’s effort to establish an international B-School located in India.

Speaking on the occasion, M Rammohan Rao, Dean, ISB, said, “This is a vision come true for all of us at the ISB. We owe a lot to our faculty for their research work and for publishing in top tier journals. Our students, who are all successful professionals today, and our staff, who are passionately committed to excellence, have contributed a great deal for our achievement. We are also deeply indebted to our Board members, our Associate Schools, the Area Leaders, and our visiting faculty whose unstinted support has made this possible for us.”

“This is indeed a remarkable achievement for us. ISB is committed to world class research and has actively encouraged the faculty to focus on publishing their research work in internationally acclaimed academic journals. It is wonderful to note that our work has earned international recognition so soon,” said Sanjay Kallapur, Professor of Accounting and Associate Dean – Faculty Development.

Celebrations started early today on the campus, when the congratulatory mail was sent to the ISB community in the morning. The entire campus is abuzz with students, faculty, families, staff, and alumni all gathering at the Atrium to congratulate one another.

“We are all thrilled about this news! This recognition firmly establishes ISB as a truly international school amongst B-school aspirants as well as industry, across the world. As alumni, we have watched our alma mater grow by leaps and bounds, we are all so proud of being a part of the ISB,” said Arjun Srinivasan, Founding President of the Alumni Association, ISB Class of 2003.

Going forward, the ISB will focus on ramping up its student numbers, increasing the strength of its faculty and setting up more research centres. The school is committed to becoming a research hub with a focus on emerging markets as well as a knowledge partner to the industry.

Having spent a year at the ISB, I can safely claim that the school has one of the best staff I have ever seen. And by this, I don’t refer just to the professors, but also the administrative and the support staff. Everyone of them is extremely courteous and go out of their way to help the students out. Overall, its a brilliant institution, especially considering the fact that it has been just 6 years since its inception.

You can view the entire rankings here: http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings
An interesting find: Kellogg, a partner school of the ISB, is ranked behind ISB at 24.

Quotes seem to be the flavour of the week.
One thing that can get me interested in at any point of time in the day is the question: Why the universe is here.

Douglas Adams provides some insight into that question:

“There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”

An interesting quote:

“Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.”
-Anonymous

Ironically, it didn’t work so well for the author!

Introducing, for the first time ever on this blog, Mrs. Dhi Only One as a joint author.
From now on, you will not only get valuable insights from me, but you shall also see some good reading material coming from Dhi better half.

Of course, one immediate advantage I see for you, my (and from hereon ‘our’) dear readers, is that you now get to read more posts.

Hence, here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the second blogger of this place – Mrs. Dhi Only One. (Insert applause).

Take a look at this:

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
Staff: 11,711
Wages and allowances: Rs 191.25 crore
Total plan and non-plan expenditure: Rs 9,362.21 crore

RATIONALE: To formulate and implement national policies and programmes aimed at achieving agricultural growth through optimum utilisation of land, water and plant resources; formulate overall cooperative policy, oversee research and maintain statistics.

REALITY CHECK: Production of grains and pulses is stagnant for over a decade, productivity is down, almost 20,000 farmers commit suicide every year. There has been no breakthrough in seeds or yield since the Green Revolution and agriculture is unviable. The Center’s defence is that the problem lies with the states.

And this:

MINISTRY OF STEEL
Staff: 406
Wages and allowances: Rs 9.39 crore
Total plan and non-plan expenditure: Rs 150 crore

RATIONALE: To coordinate and plan the growth and development of the steel industry; formulate policies on pricing, distribution and imports; and development of input industries.

REALITY CHECK: Steel was one of the first sectors to be decontrolled in the first wave of Manmohanomics. As early as in January 1992, the Government of India disbanded all the controls that shackled the steel industry. That the ministry exists 15 years later is testimony to the power of pelf and patronage.

“Using coalition compulsions as a fig leaf, parties have kept alive 20 dead and useless ministries at a cost of over Rs 74,000 crore only to expand their umbrella of patronage and pelf, writes Shankkar Aiyar and Neeraj Misra in India Today” in this article here.

The article is well detailed and provides an in-depth analysis of the way ministries are being created and retained solely for political purposes.
Some of the disturbing text:

The crux of the matter is that departments and ministries are created not on economic or administrative logic but political arithmetic. “The multiplicity of ministries creates layers and nothing is quite delivered,” says Bimal Jalan, MP and former governor of Reserve Bank of India. As Jalan points out, such is the multi-layering that if one wants to improve sports facilities for women in rural areas it is not one but seven ministries (Rural Development, Social Justice, Sports, Youth Affairs, Finance, Women and Child Welfare and Panchayati Raj besides the Planning Commission) who will be involved.

C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and former governor of RBI and, I must add, a person whose class I have been fortunate enough to attend once at the ISB, puts it neatly:

“There is a need to create a new focus areas and retire old positions which have lost relevance.” As he says: “If there is a sunrise sector, there should also be sunsets.”

Article link here.

The nice and surprising thing to know for the day:

There is a town named Zero in India. It is located in Arunachal Pradesh.
It also has an airport, aptly named Zero Airport.
You can see the airport details and the location of Zero Airport on the Indian map here.

Interesting eh?

Hello ladies and gentlemen.

Blogging frequency has been at an all time low owing to some busy schedules off-late. In between, I was in Gurgaon, braving the cold wave that hit me every moment I stepped out of my office.

The thing I loved about my trip there was one of the dinners. If you are in Gurgaon you should definitely drop into a restaurant called Machaan. The word, I was informed, means a place covered by a roof and open on all four sides. (I know, my Tamil readers might want to inform me about the slang that is used in common parlance)

Contrary to the definition, the restaurant had no roof. In other words, an open-air restaurant. Now, an open-air restaurant is commonplace and there is nothing unique about it.
However, Machaan is definitely a place to dine at when the temperatures are hovering at 4 to 5 degrees. The restaurant places burning wood embers right next to your seat so that frequent rubbing of palms near it can provide some relief from the freezing winds.

Then comes the best part – the food. The kababs are the best I have ever had across the country (and to top that statement, I haven’t travelled much around the country). After the starters were devoured with swift and furtive moves of the hand (mostly due to the chill in the air), came the piece de resistance, if that’s what you call something that is quite good to be written about in a grand way.

The aloo parathas were served hot, hotter than the burning embers and were the best aloo parathas I have ever had outside my home (and to top that statement, I have been around at home for quite long). The parathas were so good that we found ourselves refusing to order anything else and continued eating a steady stream of them.

Finally when done, the cold wind started getting nippier and we had to make our way to our cars.
But, yes, it was a wonderful dinner – partly due to the great food and mostly due to the freezing cold winds. A passing thought – I was, of course, alcohol deprived. (And no, that is not for the record so that Mrs. Dhi Only One reads it)