Measuring the Worth Of An Indian MBA?

I have been active on MBA forums for two and a half years, and now I am also in a B-School - IMT Ghaziabad.

Well, one thing that is repeatedly mentioned on B-school forums is the term ROI - Return On Investment. Mr. X usually intends to mean monetary ROI - the college fees compared to the average package. If the fees are lower than the average compensation, the ROI is "good". If they are higher, it's "bad". If they are extremely low, the ROI is "fantastic". FMS Delhi, NITIE Mumbai, LBSIM Delhi, and the MMS courses of Mumbai B-schools like JBIMS, are the ones that charge very low fees - ranging from Rs. 40 K to Rs. 2.5 L for the entire course. The placement figures of these B-schools are also very good, with average salaries ranging from Rs. 6-7 LPA to Rs. 14 LPA as of 2010. So you actually manage to pay off your entire loan (if you have taken one) in the very first year of your job. That is, undoubtedly, great.

Then you have the IIMs - the best B-Schools in the country - at least 6 of them are - with high fees ranging from Rs 10 L Rs to 13.5 L (IIM-A) for their course duration. The average compensation ranges from about Rs 11 L (IIM-I) to Rs 15.32 L (IIM-C) as of 2010. These schools then, by the definition of Mr. X, give lower "ROI" than the ones I mentioned before them. For the purpose of earning quick, these are less effective than the former ones.
But IIMs do give considerable concessions to low income students, so for these people, the ROI is good.

The third category of schools are the private B-schools which fall in the top 15 or 20 of most rankings, and are considered worth applying to by good performers. MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad and SIBM Pune are the most prominent ones in this category. As far as my knowledge goes, these B-schools do not provide fee concessions to low income students. SIBM-P provides concessions to "lower castes".
For the general category in these B-schools, the fees are in the range of Rs 10-11 L for the course. The average (claimed) compensation that these B-schools offer ranges from Rs. 8.8 LPA (IMT-G) to around 11 LPA (MDI) as of 2010. Certainly, with no fee concessions and average packages lower than those of the IIMs, the monetary ROI these schools offer is lower than either of the first two categories. The fees exclude the expenses for a foreign exchange programme - a few lac rupees.

And here's the interesting part - once upon a time the IIM fees were lower than Rs. 2 L for the course. And at that time, most other good B-schools too had almost as low fees as the IIMs. The IIMs increased their fees and the other schools followed them!!

So is monetary ROI the ONLY thing that differentiates B-schools? Obviously not. The infrastructure, faculty quality, placement profiles, alumni network, international linkages...that the IIMs offer (at least IIM A, B, C offer) are way superior to just about all other B-schools in India. The resources that the IIMs have at their disposal, being non-private colleges, and the strength of the IIM brand, have no parallel.
For these reasons, IIMs are the coveted places. Given a choice between IIM-C and FMS, or even IIM-K and FMS, many students choose the former over the latter, despite the huge difference in the ratio between salaries and fees in the two colleges.

So, when it comes to the IIMs, "ROI" usually takes a backseat.

Okay. Now the ROI question does not arise even when comparing a non-IIM, top-10 or 12 college with a Rank 11 to 20 college. Because some of the top non-IIMs have great monetary ROI, and all have better brands that the Rank 11-20 colleges.

The question really arises when one has to choose between colleges ranked below 10/12, but not below 20-25.

As reference for viewers unacquainted with the MBA field, here is a ranking of colleges (by Pagalguy for 2010 - considered quite credible in general):

http://www.pagalguy.com/rankings/2010/national.php#overall

Now coming to the crux.

The ROI problem is not entirely dismissible. By that I mean that holier-than-thou statements like, "the value an MBA from a good B-School adds to you and your future is much higher than the monetary compensations."
Such statements are not invalid, but they ignore a basic truth - one needs to live decently in the years following an MBA. One cannot spend most of her income on paying off loans, work hard at office and then live in a shanty.
So for that reason alone, monetary ROI matters big time. I shall write about the tendency of B-schools to raise fees and the number of seats, and open multiple campuses, in the next post.

However, there are things beyond monetary ROI, ones that really MAKE a B-School. Student activities form an important part of this. The number and quality of opportunities the students get to express and hone their academic and non-academic skills, is an important variable.

Another important variable is the presence and quality of international linkages - exchange programmes, tours, faculty visits.

A third important variable is the quality of full time faculty. Learning through faculty interaction plays a major role and the role of the faculty, as a guide and facilitator is invaluable. The skills that a good faculty must possess are not just good teaching skills, but holistic knowledge of the subject, good communication skills, decent leadership skills (for example the ability to hold a class's attention) and a degree of maturity in interacting with the class.

A fourth variable is infrastructure - not just limited to a WiFi connectivity on campus. Library resources, e-learning resources, Audio Visual resources, academic block quality, all are parts of infrastructure. So are the quality of hostels and the quality of food!

Alumni networks matter because alumni help the college get good placements. Alumni also often contribute to the direct brand image of a college, and may take guest lectures also.

Then comes batch size. A higher batch size implies more fight for placements and in some cases, for infrastructure usage. This I shall write about in the next post.

These are the most important non-income variables. These differ reasonably among B-Schools, and considerable weight should ideally be attached to considering these variables. The problem lies in three things - one, the bandwagon of B-School placement figures and the halo created by them, two, in the lack of proper, credible and transparent tools or methods to assess the above mentioned non-income variables, and three, in the Indian social system (Yes!).

I shall talk about the first two here and leave the third for an exclusive post.

The first one is almost self explanatory - given the considerable advertising done by B-schools in this regard - and the release of a formal yearly Placement Report mentioning the average compensation - which all contributes to the "money is everything" concept.

The second one - lack of accurate tools - means that aspirants have no foolproof way of judging the true worth of a B-school, given the emphasis on placement reports and the halo created, and that aspirants are never taught to look at factors beyond placements. B-schools not only just put out placement reports, they often misquote the figures - inflating them. Also, very importantly, never does a B-school publish detailed data about the quality of its infrastructure, or any material that would help judge the quality of its faculty (A PhD does not imply one can teach well) . If an aspirant is asked the intricacies that make a B-school infrastructure or faculty good, she would have no answers.

The lack of stringently monitored regulations means that private B-schools have ample scope to lie and paint rosy pictures. Combined with the aspirant's focus on placement figures, the end effect is devastating to the noble and desirable motive of good learning, and of creating great managers and human beings. This is very sad.

The next post will be about a relatively recent phenomenon - continuous increases in B-school fees, batch sizes and opening of multiple campus, and how this impacts quality.

It's Time........

I have just learned discipline the hard way.
I had it coming for years.
I knew my luck would run out at some point.
It has run out now.
It's time to work hard.
It's time to earn the glory.
It's time to stop relying on intelligence, on natural ability, and on empathy.
It's time to stop believing in the magnanimity of the world.
It's time to live up
to the potential that is in me.
It's time to think really hard.
It's time to show the unbelievers
how good I really can be.
It's time to show the believers
that they believed right.
But above all it's time
to prove my mettle
to myself.
Why do I always wait till the water is up to my neck?
Why do I always make horrible starts?
Why am I always slack first and toil later?
Why do I have to learn my lesson always?
Why do I end up making a decent goal look like a hugely tough one?
No idea.
It's the dark side of me.
It's time to bring out the good side.
It's very high time to be damn good.
There is no way out.
For years I have rode my luck.
And used the natural gifts I have been bestowed with.
But it's all or nothing now.
There will be no more chances ever again.
I'm on my last chance ever.
On my last chance........EVER.

The Nostalgia I Feel....

Sometimes, many times, I feel very nostalgic about the times that have passed. For example, I was just wondering an hour ago as to how my life has changed so much over the past 15 months.

So I am just going to write some random dates here - they appear random - but they represent the days I remember, the ones which are memorable. They start from 1993, before which I was too young to remember anything of consequence.

October 1993....7/1/1994......Oct 1994....Nov 1994.....31/12/1994.....19/4/1995.....February 1996....March 1996.....9/6/1996.....16/2/1997.....July 1997.....December 1997......22/4/1998......24/4/1998......11/5/1998......28/9/1998......December 1998......January 1999.....11/4/1999.....17/4/1999.....2/6/1999.....August end, 1999.....14/9/1999.....31/12/1999.....21/1/2000..... 21/2/2000.....May 2000.....11/7/2000......27/9/2000.....31/12/2000.....March 2001.....April 2001.....11/9/2001.....12/9/2001.....April 1st week, 2002.....28/4/2002.....6/6/2002.....19/12/2002.....23/12/2002.....13/1/2003.....1/2/2003.....3/3/2003.....23/3/2003......25/3/2003.....21/4/2003.....6/6/2003.....10/8/2003.....5/11/2003.....11/12/2003.....1/1/2004.....23/1/2004.....24/1/2004.....28/1/2004.....14/2/2004.....7/4/2004.....25/4/2004.....19/5/2004.....22/5/2004.....30/5/2004.....6/6/2004.....2/7/2004.....19/7/2004.....1/8/2004.....2/8/2004.....4/8/2004.....7/12/2004.....25/12/2004.....26/12/2004.....7/1/2005.....14/3/2005.....22/4/2005.....26/4/2005.....6/6/2005.....17/7/2005.....26/7/2005.....27/7/2005.....30/7/2005.....19/8/2005.....12/9/2005.....30/9/2005.....1/10/2005.....5/12/2005.....10/12/2005.....2/1/2006.....February end 2006.....27/4/2006.....3/5/2006.....2/6/2006.....14/6/2006.....13/11/2006.....December end, 2006.....7/1/2007.....23/3/2007.....30/3/2007.....12/4/2007.....May 2007.....6/6/2007.....10/8/2007.....12/8/2007.....27/8/2007.....24/9/2007.....October 2007.....January 2008.....February 2008.....12/4/2008.....16/7/2008.....8/8/2008.....22/11/2008.....23/11/2008.....1/12/2008.....2/12/2008.....3/12/2008.....15/12/2008.....28/12/2008.....4/1/2009.....24/1/2009.....9/2/2009.....8/3/2009.....15/3/2009.....29/3/2009.....11/5/2009.....6/6/2009.....8/6/2009.....July 2009.....September end, 2009.....10/10/2009.....11/10/2009.....18/10/2009.....19/10/2009.....23/10/2009.....7/11/2009.....9/11/2009.....10/11/2009.....13/11/2009.....18/11/2009.....6/12/2009.....8/12/2009.....18/12/2009.....21/12/2009.....31/12/2009......16/1/2010.....17/1/2010.....24/2/2010.....1/3/2010.....29/3/2010.....3/4/2010.....24/4/2010.....1/5/2010.....8/5/2010.....9/5/2010.....16/5/2010.....19/5/2010.....24/5/2010.....6/6/2010.....10/6/2010.....17/6/2010.....18/6/2010.....6/8/2010.....7/10/2010....18/10/2010.....26/10/2010.....4/11/2010.

Over this period I have changed from an intelligent 6 year old to an MBA student. This encompasses most of the life that I can remember. These days are the days that I remember the best over the last 17 years of my life. They are the memories that will never perish . Each of these times/days/dates changed some part of my life, permanently. They may have been happy or sad moments, but they define my life.

And some more now...

25/11/2010.....30/12/2010.....9/1/2011.....29/1/2011.....8/2/2011.....14/2/2011.....28/2/2011.....16/4/2011.....27/5/2011.....5/6/2011.....12/7/2011.....26/7/2011.....

The Post That Won Me A Job!

Hi.
Back after a LONG time. Dunno why I was away for so long.

Anyway, today I will copy paste a post - my own post - on the IMS student forum - over 21 months ago - which got me a job at IMS! My Product Head told me one fine day that that was virtually my CV and convinced him that I was the right man for the job of content developer at IMS!

This post is and will always remain very special for me - because it secured me my first ever employment....


Hi Guys and Gals...
This is Pranav from IMS. Some of you had requested tips on Verbal Ability (VA).
So here goes....

Firstly, everyone should understand that VA is a section which is more intuition and estimation based. You might be really good in VA and still not be sure of all your answers all the time.

Now getting into the topics in VA:

1)Parajumbles: This is a very logic-based topic. There are 3 things to be considered here.
a) You must read all the sentences carefully in the given order first. This is very essential.
b) Once you understand what the para is all about, try to form links between 2 or more statements.
c) Usually the statements starting with "hence" or "so" or "but" etc. are never first. Usually the correct order starts with a sentence that introduces the topic, the middle statements explain it, or give stats or contradictions or proofs. The last statement concludes the topic or gives the author's opinion.

2)F-I-J: This is a definition based topic. Read up the definitions for Fact, Inference and Judgement. Facts are verifiable either in the present or in the future. Facts either have given figures or incidences which are perfectly verifiable.
Inference is a conclusion drawn on the basis of given information. It can be the result of a pure guess or a logical thought process.
Judgement is an opinion about people, places, things, ideas, etc. It is often biased and may differ with every person. It usually provides a conclusion about the person's view about the issue.

3)RC: CAT RCs are not content based, they are logic and analysis based. You must read the RC thoroughly and look for implied (and not direct) meanings. It is necessary to read ALL of the RC, because the most minor parts can be the most important.
You must get an idea of the mood, the content, the style of the RC as well as the opinion of the author. (ie. Neutral, Biased, etc.). The style may be descriptive, narrative, analytical etc. The mood can be positive, sarcastic, cynical, mocking, hopeful, indifferent etc. All this is very important to get a good idea of the questions.
Above all one must be able to gauge the central theme of the RC. If it takes two readings to do so, it's fine. Moreover it is wise to divide your time 70-30 between the passage and the questions. For questions your analysis while reading the RC must help. There are no direct answers.

4)Vocab: Needs good word power. The IMS word list is good, but not exhaustive. A good reading habit is essential. Read Nautical Miles. Also read the editorials of newspapers such as the Hindu.

5)Sentence Correction: This also needs grammatical knowledge. Doing the initial chapters in the BRM's really helps. You could buy some easier stuff like Arun Sharma or Trishna to get a feel of sentence construction. Technical explanation will go beyond the scope of this email.

6)Summary Questions: While writing a summary, all the important points in the main passage must be highlighted, but the verbosity should be excluded. Underline the important points in the main passage when you read it and while choosing the option, see that all these points fit into the summary. The summary should give equal weightage to all points and not overstress or under stress any point.Summary should ideally be 1/3rd the passage length, but this is the norm, there can be exceptions.

7)Arguments: Sometimes a question is given as: Which of the following if true could weaken/strengthen the above argument?
In such a question, the weakening statement always contains information that runs directly contradictory to the given argument or exposes a fundamental flaw in it.
The strengthening statement is the one that provides more teeth to the given argument, vindicates it and almost renders it non-refutable. Unrelated or unverifiable or biased claims or counterclaims can neither weaken nor strengthen an argument.

These are the basic things need to be understood to score good marks in VA. However practice is very important. 1 RC per day will help. In fact try solving some VA/RC questions every day, with or without time limit depending on whether you have problems with speed or not. Generally an RC must take about 10-12 min including questions. You could start by solving without a time limit, then keeping a time limit and slowly reducing it.

Hope this helps. Best of Luck. If you have any more problems you are free to communicate them.

Regards,
Pranav Joshi
Academic Specialist
IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd.

This thing above will always remain my most cherished piece of writing. Presently I also need a strong dose of motivation and reading this might help me realize that I have potential.

I am back and will be posting more consistently on various topics from now on.

Good night for now.

"Family Legacy" and Women - Part II

Agreed that having some sort of a family system is good. The first part of my friend's premise is not flawed; the second is. Patriarchal family systems should NOT be acceptable in modern society. For too long they have sustained themselves through unified public (read male) opinion. Society till recently was much simpler and it was easy to define social roles. Of course this disregards the fact that women's opinions were rarely, if ever, taken into account. The society has survived. Religion has triumphed based on the subjugation of one gender to another. It is my firm belief that people who set social mores used their superior intelligence to make facts suitable to themselves, put logic into an opinion, and declared this the will of God. Women were never taken into account - indeed- this is evident from the fact that hardly ever are women priests. They are not allowed into places of worship as priests. Sometimes they are not allowed in at all, because they might "defile" the place. It should be amply clear what regard most traditions hold for women. People have been conned for centuries and continue to be conned.

So what's the relation between this and family name? Following the patriarchal line is the classic proof that women have no identity. Their names change when they marry. Sometimes their husbands change their first names too. Never heard of the other way round. Consider this - in Indian society, it is obligatory for the female to stay in her in-laws house, but a shame for the man to do similarly.
The changing name is a strong symbol of lack of identity. It needs to be corrected - even at the cost of causing the so-called initial confusion in recognizing a person. Here's a suggestion - the child should take either the father's or mother's surname till he/she becomes an adult, and then choose a different name altogether. This would also be a great way to throw away expectations or perceptions as well as provide motivation to excel personally.

I do not attach great importance to maintaining family "legacy" and identification with a family. People pretty much know their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc. even if they are named differently right? And there is unlikely to be any loss of affection if one is named differently.

The whole concept of familial legacy brings to the fore concepts such as "family honour" and other crap. There is no logical explanation for "family honour". How is my family to be shamed if I indulge in a criminal act? Does "upbringing" explain everything? Why do I have to decide what is right and wrong based on what my family believes? Do I have no identity? The irony of this is every member of a family adheres to the "family principles". In other words, there are some widely accepted rules, mostly imposed by social perceptions. Everyone in the family follows them, so no one really decides. And who decides social ethics? Some godmen claiming to have knowledge of or from the Divine, mostly not negotiable. Crap.

And women, as the physically weaker sex, with more emotional inclinations than men in general, are the worst sufferers. Anything a woman does is subject to the measuring stick of "family honour". This idea is extraordinarily hyped up. There is no sound logic behind this - it is cold opportunism translated into dictum over centuries. Period.

"Family Legacy" and Women

Part I
The other day I was having a discussion with R on the issue of "family name". It was more of a debate, and it centered around the appropriateness or inappropriateness of this system of "family legacy". The point in contention was basically whether a proper family name is essential and/or desirable, or whether it is outdated in the modern world and breeds intellectual, moral and gender prejudices. I am loath to remember how exactly the debate started, but it proceeded with R saying he'd prefer a son to a daughter, as a son would enable him to realize his unrealizable dreams, and also continue his family legacy. Now the staunch libertarian that I am, I was, needless to say, a bit offended, but we decided to take it as a point for a healthy debate.

His points were simple but not without thought: a) He wanted to be a great cricketer; a son would help him fulfill the dream (women's cricket is not as popular as men's); b) A son would be able to keep his family name. Complementing this line of reasoning he said that 1) Family system is essential to keep society in shape, even though the former may be patriarchal and flawed; 2) A family with different surnames looks appalling; 3) He admits that women do not get their fair share of recognition due to this system, but that this might be inevitable, and 4) The family provides an established standard for each of its successive generations to accomplish something in life, and without this concept of family lineage, such a measuring stick would not exist.

These are valid points, and deserve their share of acknowledgment. Points 1) and 3) are the key ones here. 2) is a pure personal opinion and 4) is an individual preference. So let me concentrate on points 1) and 3) here to form an analysis and express an idea. The detailed analysis in Part II.

God and Individuality

I saw some beautiful Ganesha idols today at K-Star Mall in Chembur.

Unfortunately they were in a set.

What I loved most about them was there was just Ganesha there, with a violin, flute, or a tabla.

The other idols of Ganesha were enclosed in glass, or just like wall hangings or pictures in frames.

I hate religion, but I loved the only-Ganesha idols because there was nothing else there to take away Ganesha's greatness, splendour.

Nothing else to diminish the effect of his individuality in other words.

These only-Ganesha idols were depictions of Ganesha as an individual, as a force, as a sum of his qualities of wisdom and intellect.

This is the kind of God that appeals to me. And this might only be my opinion, but the world today needs this kind of God, not the one who preaches scriptures, prayers and adherence to certain set virtues.

When I say this kind of God, I don't mean Ganesha, I mean God as a force or quality. The individual embodying the quality.

If we look around us we find inspirational people still. Sachin Tendulkar, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawkings, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, still exist. A few more could be named. These individuals stand for one or another quality - balance, patriotism, knowledge, power, science, and so on.

No doubt they could be called the Gods of today.

I seriously doubt it was any different in the ancient days when Eastern religion found its "Gods". All these "Gods" must just have been extraordinary individuals in one or another way.

But religion in its present state has twisted and distorted this concept to encourage idolatory, discourage idolatory, create divisions in society, introduce ridiculous concepts like salvation and damnation and so on.

A person's salvation is achieved only when she or he is extremely happy and content, and looking to forces and qualities might just be the way in the world of today.

Because though some people may not like it, individualism is the ideal of today and will continue to be so for a long time.

And forces or qualities are nothing but expressions of individualism.

A Dilemma of Modern Times

Today I am going to say something about a very specific trend I have been observing amongst a lot of my female friends, something that requires attention, something I may or may not be able to do justice to in this post, yet feel both obliged to and interested in expressing.

In modern India, especially in India of the 21st century thus far, though debilitating gender prejudices against women remain, admittedly, there is a growing willingness among educated middle-class parents, especially in the metropolis and Tier-2 cities, to fund their daughter's education after she graduates, and "allow" her to study further without as much as a protest. Now, "allowing" someone to practise their own rights is in no way a sign of emancipation, but it is a start anyway.

Now the present situation in these households affords considerable liberty to the girl at least till she turns about 23-24. Certainly, I know several households where the girls are still controlled, threatened, their freedoms severely curtailed and their choices stamped on. But this is thankfully declining in pure percentage terms.

Please note here that I am referring to a very particular aspect of gender rights, that of "having no opposition" to higher education for women, and not to the generic idea of gender equality. Indeed, many, many prejudices against women still remain even in the most educated of Indian households, and even though a lot of the family keeps denying this, they keep cropping up through dress restrictions, behavioural sermons and so on.

Coming back to girls being "permitted" to seek higher education. I have made a very discerning observation in this regard, I think. But before that, let me concede that there is considerable pressure on me to become well-qualified and financially strong. Perhaps it is society's dictum that men financially run the household once they cross 25, and this expectation remains in today's world. To that extent, men's freedom gets curtailed by social restrictions. We have considerable freedom to make career choices, even marriage choices, but we are not expected to be unambitious and safety-seeking. It is also a matter of truth that biologically, naturally, men are the slightly more ambitious species, though this definition may not apply to all men and negatively (i.e. a lack of ambition), to all women. There are many ambitious women, but many more ambitious men, and this difference helps the society cultivate legendary stereotypes.

What is implies though, is, that in the "liberal" households that I spoke of, as far as making career choices/ seeking home comforts goes, girls have more choice than boys do, at least for a certain length of time. Now many a woman has two instincts: the ambitious and the homely. I have seen some very good friends struggle to fight this material dilemma. Just last night I was advising/ talking to/ consoling/ explaining to a female friend who'd lost out on a few interviews and felt frustrated. Like me, other boys/men face little dilemma as they graduate, owing to a combination of the social expectation of career success and a slightly more ambitious bent of mind. We know what exactly we have to do. Many of our female friends, it seems, don't.

What does a girl do faced with such an issue as this? She knows that if she were to stay home and not run after a good career, few would object. But she dreams too- of success, of achievement, of recognition and fame. And besides, if she were to follow this conservative path, in a few years' time, she'd start facing tremendous pressure from her family to get married. This would leave her in a very disadvantageous position- being financially dependent and blackmailed into a marriage she, in the majority of cases, would not want to make. Of course, there are parents who "believe" in a daughter's right to marry the person she wishes to, and yet the family pressure does come in when they believe she's getting "too old".

On the other hand, if she were to seek a successful career, she'd most certainly have to abandon her comfortable family life. She could do that; however the struggles and prejudices associated with a quest to achieve are very high, especially for women, in a crude male world. And the familial pressure does come in nonetheless; even today one of the first questions people ask when they see a 30 year old executive woman is, "is she married?" She also knows her reproductive age is running out, especially if she is the type who loves children.

In this double edged scenario, there is often the danger of the woman sitting on the fence, being neither here nor there, neither achieving anything, nor being comfortable about it. It brings about a very understandable frustration, because the woman knows she has been whiling away time and is yet not sure of what to do. Some finally discover a path, some drift into marriage with a faceless stranger, some others drift into a purposeless and wasted life- the worst cases.

Sometimes these girls/ women turn to their friends for help. The parents can definitely help; but fortunately or unfortunately, a lot (though not all) of our generation regards parental interference as an impediment, and fears that once you let them into your personal lives, they would attempt to control all of it. This belief may or may not be a misguided one.

One of my good female friends was subjected to hours of personal counselling sessions by me, though I by no means can call myself successful or knowledgeable. At the end of these discussions she remained as confused as ever. Later she even asked me to tell her what to do. I was quite miffed about that prospect; I refuse to ever decide anything for a woman in a personal capacity. It contradicts my life principles of being pro-choice.

Added to this is the problem that parents often fail to see the world with fresh eyes and discourage offbeat careers, or unusual choices. They also feel their daughters would be better off living closer to home and try getting them into nearby educational institutions which may be far inferior to those which these girls are worthy of getting into. This is very sad. Even sadder is the widespread belief that "giving" freedom to a woman is a "noble" act and demands extreme gratitude on her part. Consequently parents try to set moral and material limits to their daughters' freedoms, without using the same yardstick for their sons.

Last but not the least, fortunately, India is not the home of firebrand "feminists" who actually defeat the very purpose of women's freedom by playing up pressure on them to jump headlong into the competitive world. Isn't "freedom" all about choosing your way of life? Then why the pressure to conform?

In this scenario, I believe it is essential for women to take a long, hard look at their lives post-graduation, and firmly decide what they would want to do hence. In my humble opinion I would suggest some sort of financial independence to be a necessity in order to avoid having to succumb to outmoded familial beliefs and traditions. Women must take advantage of this double freedom they attain during these few years of their lives to pursue their dreams, realize their ambitions and generally live a happy and productive life, whether it is that of the CEO of an MNC , a small-time painter or architect or simply a nature-lover. First and foremost, they must be firm, determined and confident. Only then can they succeed in their endeavours and successfully fight and defeat the monsters of social backwardness and prejudice.

A Major Discovery

Just one thing.
I have just discovered that my philosophical expression in the post "Clear the Smoke" is merely an elucidation and fits in with the philosophy of René Descartes on the definition of "Self" and "Truth".
I'm feeling very good.

Another thing- I dearly want to read the works of these great philospohers- Descartes, Plato, Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche, Socrates et all. I also wanna read the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital by Karl Marx.

The Consequence of Stardom

Firstly, I think my blog looks bland, with hardly any pictures. I'm gonna add a picture for most posts I make from now on. I started this practice with the last post.

So finally IPL-2 is over and the Deccan Chargers have won. Personally, I supported the Bangalore Royal Challengers, after the Mumbai Indians exited unceremoniously. But I'm happy the better team on that particular day of the final, won.

A lot has been said about the stalwarts, the seasoned campaigners, having had a gala time in this version of the IPL, making merry with runs and wickets, sprawling dives and mind-blowing catches.

But the youngsters? The ones from the Indian domestic cricket scene? Those who had never been to South Africa before? Those who, not being part of Team India, had never known the limelight?

Some of them failed, unable to cope with the pressure and the bounce and pace of the livelier wickets. But some others like Manish Pandey and Abhishek Nayar shone brightly. In the end, it was not whether they failed or delivered, but simply that they were there, on that grand stage, playing alongside international players whose reputations had gone through the roof, who had scored 20,000 to 30,000 international runs, played 15 or 20 years on the international scene, who had taken 600 wickets, 800 wickets, 1200 wickets. Cricketers who were the cleanest hitters of all time, who were the most complete batsmen, the most techically correct batsmen. Cricketers who had single-handedly demolished powerful batting line-ups, won series after series with their unparalleled skills.
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Matt Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Muttiah Muralidaran, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble...the list of these super-heavyweights was considerably long.
How would it have felt for a youngster from the hinterlands of India to stand alongside the great Adam Gilchrist, who was holding the IPL trophy aloft, in a foreign country, fluff falling from the air, 40,000 people on their feet, Ravi Shastri's booming voice..."the IPL Champions, the Deccan Chargers!!"....

It is quite an unprecedented thought, a truly overwhelming moment. It is, the stuff of dreams, a fairytale so wonderful it becomes unbelievable even for a fairytale.

How do these youngsters feel? They would never have been on such a terrific stage before and some of them never will again. This would be a moment in history, that would be loath to be over. It would be over, it was over, for time waits for none. But in the mind of the youngster, that moment should have been still forever. Time should have waited. The clock of Nature should have stopped. The leaf blowing away in the wind should have remained suspended in mid-air. Parrots and mynahs should have turned their heads towards this wonderful place. Rain should have forgotten to come down. The sun should not have set. The world should have abandoned its daily, mundane routine and stood absolutely still. It must almost have happened so, for the fleeting moments that these youngsters occupied the podium. The feeling, the emotion is so very deep, so profound, yet so simple to comprehend. The joy is indescribable, unfathomable. I've felt this way once or twice before- under different circumstances of course- but the realization of success, in whatever measure it might have come, is really very astounding, incredibly beautiful.

The aspirations of youth are some of God's miracles. They are so eternal, so earnest, that their realization is almost unpalatable, surreal. How deep is the mind of a youngster, boy or girl, how optimistic his/her beliefs, how crazy the assumptions, how utopian the ideals, is perhaps incomprehensible to any poet, musician, lyricist, writer or artist. Youth is like a bird which wishes to fly and fly and fly into the open blue skies, without hindrance, without any chains, without a look behind. The potential of youth is immense, unrevealed, unmeasurable.

To what extent this brazen desire for the pinnacle takes the not-so-pleasant form of ego and self-centeredness is something to be thought of. Certainly, it is extremely easy for success to go to one's head. Again, I've known it myself- and my achievement was a very small one compared to that of these youngsters, behind closed doors, in a virtual world, in closed forums. However, being nearly 22 and close to home, I was able to pull myself back down to Earth before it had eaten me away. What about these poor souls then, thousands of miles away from home, 18, 19, 20 years of age, with instant fame and unprecedented adulation? Some handle it well, some don't. Those who do rise to the occasion, the opportunity, become greats, legends, stamping their legacy on the sands of time. Those who don't, wither away, either wasting away in indulgences or mitigating back into their ordinary, anonymous lives.

I shall leave this post here, unfinished. It does not deserve a conclusion; the incompleteness completes the journey.

P.S.: "Language post" later. Don't think interested people mind anyways. I thought this was a better topic to write about.

Amen.

An Epilogue to Confessions

Firstly, thanks a lot for the considerable response to my last blog post (positive and negative). To the people (and they are in majority) who found it great/ interesting/ readable I thank them for the like-mindedness, though this is inherent, not cultivated. Also thanks for speaking out to say that I have a right to publish whatever I wish. We need more, many more such heads in India today.

To the naysayers and constructive critics that sit in the minority opinion (there were a few who haven't commented on the post) I acknowledge and respect their opinion and their right to it. Meanwhile I must reassert my position that I am entitled to any opinion I wish, and even more so, entitled to publish it anywhere which constitutes my space. Some of you have decided to "stop talking" to me after this post and an argument. Apparently it is something blasphemous and derogatory that I have written.

I do not think it is. I like the fact that I can write without inhibitions. Those who cannot (or do not want to) need not complain. More upsetting is the fact that people who most certainly form part of society's "classes" found the post revolting. To these critics, I must say this- you cannot complain about half the things around you being unfair and undesirable if you cannot summon the guts to come out and speak out, a bare minimum essential to enable any kind of change, whether in society or in politics. If you are so deep in the closet- for example if you make remarks at college girls with coloured strands of hair- calling them names- I'm sorry you do not deserve the change you want in India. Change cannot be lopsided or only in part. It has to be universal and preceded by a change in the basic mindset of the populace, an entire paradigm shift, a transformation in social dynamics. This change can only begin at the micro level. We the youth of this country need to lead by example.

I am not perfect in any way whatsoever. But I feel for certain issues, and my imperfections cannot come in the way of dealing with them in the way I possibly can.

My only appeal to my disgruntled friends is- do not be judgemental. Do not be stuck with preconcieved notions of things, people and ideas. Do not presume and then read. Do not presume at all.

All of us suffer from presumptions and stereotypes- whether it is of the life in a small town, the corrupt nature of a politician, or the South Bombay girl across the street wearing a miniskirt and walking with such confidence that unnerves many. This is where we need to unclutter our minds.

I've discovered some things in the last few months. I am still firebrand, I still get absolutely livid with certain happenings all around me. But there is a growing sense of satisfaction coming from a spiritual liberation that is slowly beginning to happen. I have started seeing various things in a different light over these few months. I have been more active in these months than in the past several years. I hope it gets better. Life is so much more fun when you can see all sides of a picture.

I hope those who have shut their eyes tight and existed in pitch darkness for long finally open their eyes and draw back the blind to the light outside.

Of course, all of this is my personal opinion and unbinding on anyone. I have been quite utterly shocked by some of my friends' comments and their (issue-based) support for some unbred, goonlike, sexually frustrated Mr. Anonymouses in the comments list. They very carefully registered their "dislike" for the dirty, vile, abusive language used by Mr. Anonymous, while exhibiting defeaning silence when asked about the content of his/her post.

As for Mr. Anonymous, I saw no reason to give you undue respect with a befitting reply to your despicable post. You seem to be one of the million trolls roaming the cyberspace, your unworthy tummies filled with malice and impunity. Period.

P.S.: I had informed a very good friend of mine that my next post after Confessions would be on my use of English and Hindi and my unhappiness with the latter dominating my talk nowadays, in spite of me not being great at it. Now that will be the next post.

Regards,
Pranav

Some Interesting Facts Related to My Birthday

Since my birthday is coming closer, I thought of putting up some facts about myself I discovered on http://www.dayofbirth.co.uk/
Frankly this post was not an original idea..I discovered the link and a similar description on a friend's friend's blog.

Results for 6th June 1987 ( My birthdate):

• You were born on a Saturday.
• Your star sign is Gemini.
• Your birthstone is Perl or Moonstone.
• The season was Spring.
• You were born in the Chinese year of the Hare.
• The US President was Ronald Reagan (Republican).
• The UK Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher (Conservative).
• You are 21 years 11 months 7 days old.
• It is 24 days until your next birthday.
• In dog years you are 147 years old.
• You are 8,012 days old.
• You are approximately 192,299 hours old.
• You are approximately 692,277,565 seconds old.

Clear the Smoke!

I don't think this world exists. I exist, but then the Pranav my mother knows is different from the Pranav I know, the Pranav you know, the Pranav one of my friends knows, and the Pranav another friend knows. So there are about a hundred Pranavs and only one real one-the one I know. But it cannot be so with the world because it has no universal soul. Or may be it does, but not on an earthly level. Therefore everyone "knows" something different from everyone else, even about the same thing. Therefore reality does not exist. Most animals see trees to be grey or black or white in colour. We think they are green. So the truth is that "colour" does not exist, and neither does the tree. But when the world ruled by humankind ceases to exist, we have a problem.

Senseless? Made no f*****g logic? But it does.

Firstly though, we need to differentiate between good illusion and bad illusion. Good illusion is the apparent difference in things due to the difference in naturally bestowed qualities. Animals are colour-blind, humans are not. This cannot be a cause for indignation. It is a fact. But bad illusions arise when humans create something, and destroy it themselves a million times over.

Let me explain with a potentially outrageous example. Did the Holocaust really happen? Methinks it did. Iran doesn't. The USA and Western Europe think 6 million Jews were murdered. Lets not forget that the USA and Great Britain won World War II and rewrote history. Methinks the figure was closer to 2 or 3 million-an educated guess-the golden mean always takes us closer to the truth.

Now we cannot ask Hitler, or Goebbels, or Himmler, for they are all dead and gone. And if they were to be alive, what was the guarantee they'd tell the truth? So the truth will never be out.

Similarly, everything before us is a cloud of thick smoke. No one knows the truth about virtually anything. Did Mahatma Gandhi actually say "Hey Ram" while dying? Was Shakespeare a plaigarist? What is the real aim of the BJP? Who actually runs the media in India? Does the Illuminati exist? Who really wielded influence while naming the street across my society?
In other words, in the huge mass of information, and the fact that humans create and destroy knowledge for their own selfish motives, results in a haze of smoke over our eyes. No wonder then, that the world is an illusion- in short, no one really knows who they are, what they are, why they are what they are, or who someone else is and what is their motive. Period.

Mind One versus Mind Two

Hi everyone.

As promised here's Part 1 of the Mind One versus Mind Two debate. Basically both represent the dilemma and conflict I face every day, at virtually every juncture.

Mind One is the liberal, pro-freedom, pro-women, pro-globalization, egalitarian humanistic mind. It is the stronger one in this mind war. It has been strengthened by years of training and persuasion. Mind Two is the Indian mind, the conservative, family and society-oriented mind. It is not absolutely anti-women, but certainly a cynic and a traditionalist. It is very weak and fragile, due to years of invasion and erosion perpetrated by Mind One. Nevertheless, the two minds are still at war, even though Mind Two knows it's losing fast.

Mind One: Ahh..what a nice day..Ramadoss is very likely to resign. I feel so happy. No more moral policing in the name of protecting people's health.

Mind Two: Oh really, Mind One? What about the girls billowing smoke at the hookah parlours in Bombay? Isn't it shocking?

Mind One: So? Have you ever noticed the guys there? Or just the girls?

Mind Two: Men are intrinsically, biologically wasted creatures. No use grudging their activities.

Mind One: What an excuse! So it's fine to be imperfect if you're a guy, but girls must live as society wishes?

Mind Two: But smoking is harmful to a woman's reproductive system.

Mind One: And what about men? Does it not harm them too?

Mind Two: But if a woman's reproductive system is damaged, how will she produce children?

Mind One: (Angry) Is that all a woman is supposed to do? Is she born so she can raise children and look after them all her good years?

Mind Two: So how will a society survive? Do you know that Western Europe actually has a negative population growth rate?

Mind One: We don't need any more population in India than we already have. Also this family preservation thing is stupid. Anyway your whole premise is biased and chauvinistic, baseless.

Mind Two: Why? Why?

Mind One: Any philosophy that actively or passively seeks to or promotes subjugation of half the human race, over several centuries, in order to "preserve" society in the way it sees fit, is evil, purely Satanic.

Mind Two: That cannot be helped. An equal society will self-destruct in a short while. Look at the West.

Mind One: Oh do you know the West so well? You've never been there. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others.

Mind Two: It's quite plain that the West is a decaying society. And it's primarily because of this equality rubbish.

Mind One: When will you learn not to point fingers at women for each and every ill of society?

Mind Two: C'mon, it's true.

Mind One: NO IT'S NOT!!! It's just bias, bias, bias. Look at India first. What about our social evils?

Mind Two: Some of them.....are curable....should not...be there...

Mind One: Why only some?

Mind Two: Gender equality...will ruin everything...our religion...our families..

Mind One: That is because you are unwilling to change fundamentally. Yes the present social structure will be uprooted, replaced, and all for the good. But you are not ready for the change.

Mind Two: This is our culture, our tradition. It's comfortable. Don't shake us up so badly.

Mind One: I will. I will do it for my fellow beings. You will have to face it, accept it.

Mind Two: I can't...

Mind One: You will. Slowly, surely, you will.

Mind Two: I'd rather perish.

Mind One: Oh you will, certainly, if you so wish. You are so weak within the brain of this Pranav Joshi.

Mind Two: But I'm really strong elsewhere. In fact in many people I'm the only mind that exists.

Mind One: Oh, I'll fight my way in there. I can.

Mind Two: You can't, never. I'm too strong there.

Mind One: (Sad) Hmmm..I have hope. And you are just a cynic.

Mind Two: I'm a realist.

Mind One: Stop living in the old world for God's sake! Learn to respect women, their choices, their feelings.

Mind Two: All this...leads to erosion of manhood..man's power and control....but I'm tired now.

Mind One: You would be. You're so weak and you're yelling too. Fine. We'll end it here for today. I have other things to do.

Mind Two: Yes, later. I'll be back with renewed energy.

Mind One: Bye!!! But I won again! 

At this point Mind Two is further weakened, exhausted. These debates are what have been killing it slowly.

I go off to office, or for a quick shower. Hope it wasn't boring! I'll publish more of this later if it wasn't.

My Transformation through the Ages

In my last post I mentioned that the regeneration phase was still not over. Ever since I started discovering myself, my ideas, my desires and world view, I have been continually confronted with these questions: The equality of the sexes and the freedom of expression. The first one is irrevocably intertwined in the second, for depriving 48% of the country's population of human rights does not seem a good advertisement for the freedom of expression, a basic fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India.

It was not always that I was egalitarian. It was not always that I felt this way. But by the time I was 14, I had enough brains to think beyond cricket and homework.

Firstly, though, let me say that for all the Puritanism and prudishness in my family, never were we, the children, taught to abuse women, physically or mentally. There were quarrels, as there are in every household, but never did (and never does) my dad hit my mom, neither did my grandfather hit my grandmom. However, this by no means implies that my family ever believed in gender equality. I have seen plenty of women suffer, struggle in my family, because of orthodoxy and harassment. I would not like to elaborate on that as it would be too personal.

So by Age 14, I finally began to analyze the world around me. I firmly believed in the concept of everlasting love, romantic love, so glamorized and popularized by Hindi cinema. I visualized my ideal companion as being pretty, caring, loving, and understanding. I expected her to obey me and be modest and simple. It was the typical doll-like interpretation of a "good girl". It was accentuated and bred by the society's indoctrination. I considered "skimpy wear", smoking and drinking as things undesirable to be practiced by women. However, I always believed in reciprocating love, and never dreamed of violence against women.

By Age 16 and a half, I was in college and the youth years had hit me. I had managed to carve out a considerably more liberal personality. I began to question, internally and with my friends, society's old mores and traditions. I began to see women's freedom as a sign of advancement and liberation. My views regarding the "sanctity" of women became less extreme and I began to accept humanism for the first time, though serious dilemmas undermined this. I was still the kid with the "suburban mentality", the person who so wholeheartedly believed in the demureness of women. Their freedom would be granted to them out of righteousness and compassion. It never occurred to me then that freedom could be a woman's birthright, unquestionable.

By Age 19, I had opened up considerably to the world outside, widening my horizons through both seeing and hearing things I had never seen or heard before. The notion of a class divide between the "high-class" "liberal" metropolis and the "conservative" suburbs began to disappear. By now I was quite clear in the head about my ideas and values, the left-liberal stance. Although I finally began to realize the unquestionability of human rights for one and all, the "protective streak" remained, a faith in acting as the government in regulating the actions of women by occasional intervention.

By Age 20 and a half, several external experiences and changes had caused almost seismic shifts in my social ideologies. A mass wave of moral policing finally began to completely antagonize me from the right-wing once and for all. It was a reactionary sentiment against the censorship of youth culture and values, but it did the trick of finally liberating me from a perverse "Indian" mindset. Theoretically, ideologically, my regeneration had reached the pinnacle, or as close to it as possible, already. Practically though, the internal conflict was reaching its peak too. It was all right to theorize, but now the challenge had finally shifted to the practical application of my beliefs.

Today, at Age 21 years, 9 months and 17 days, the realistic change has finally begun taking place. I am now driven by internal, psychological, spiritual forces. My desire for a free and equal world has transformed itself into action. I have come face to face with the ideologies that I myself theorized about, shaking the ground beneath my feet, attempting to live up to the challenge of women sharing equal psychological and material place with men. The internal conflict just got tougher, the world just got more interesting, and the Enlightenment that I so desperately seek is now very achievable and very close.

I have published this overlong post in order to sketch my journey through the shackles of dogma and tradition into the arms of humanism and self-realization, at least in one particular way. I intend to convey this psychological dilemma further in my next (shorter) post, in a Mind 1 versus Mind 2 debate.