Writing a few words from Bangkok Airport. Flying business class is a luxury I surely am getting comfortable with. With complementary showers to breakfast to beer to whiskey, there isn't much you won't find in the Royal lounge, made available to only business class passengers.
This is supposedly the newly constructed Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Quite frankly, I didn't find it to be all that impressive. There was chaos with all the passengers with a 'deer in the head light' look as soon as they were trying to locate their connecting flights. With an airport just recently constructed with all the planning that goes into the construction, the new Bangkok airport fails to live up to expectations.
Till later.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Lounging @ LAX
I am sitting in a pub in LAX enjoying a tall Sam Adams. Awaiting my flight to Bangkok and then on to Kathmandu. I wasn't sure whether LAX offered cost free wireless connection. To my surprise, they do. Why not take an opportunity to scribble down some lines while I can. Wanted to leave a trail on my blog from one of the busiest airports in the world.
I was under the impression that all major airports in the US charge for wireless connection. Since I rarely ever attempt to connect online at airports, I never knew. So LAX is FREE of charge. May be there are others.
My luggages (extremely overweight I might add) are all checked in. I was a little nervous that the security might ask me to open the luggages in order to dig through them. Thankfully, none of that happened. However, while checking in, Thai airways charged me some money for excess baggage weight. I literally got into an argument with the clerk about it. All the research I did indicated that there would be no overage charge for passengers with frequent flier accounts. I demanded the CRM's (customer relations manager) contact information. I have it now and plan to contact her with my complaints.
For record, here is the email I received from Thai when I contacted them about the overage.
Till later.
I was under the impression that all major airports in the US charge for wireless connection. Since I rarely ever attempt to connect online at airports, I never knew. So LAX is FREE of charge. May be there are others.
My luggages (extremely overweight I might add) are all checked in. I was a little nervous that the security might ask me to open the luggages in order to dig through them. Thankfully, none of that happened. However, while checking in, Thai airways charged me some money for excess baggage weight. I literally got into an argument with the clerk about it. All the research I did indicated that there would be no overage charge for passengers with frequent flier accounts. I demanded the CRM's (customer relations manager) contact information. I have it now and plan to contact her with my complaints.
For record, here is the email I received from Thai when I contacted them about the overage.
Dear Mr. Poudyal,The clerk at the counter dismissed the email mentioning that this luxury applies only while traveling within Asia. The email above never mentions such geographical restrictions, does it??
Thank you for contacting us.
You are entitled to receive normal baggage weight accordingly
to the service class paid, plus 10 kg extra being Silver member.
Yours sincerely,
Namthip Jarusaen
Members Service & Support
Royal Orchid Plus
Till later.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Recapitulation of my IIMA Interview
This weekend, I travelled to New Jersey to appear for an interview with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). The institution, which is a pillar of management education in India, has an exemplary reputation as one of the best management institutions in the world, and for sure THE MOST difficult in the world to get admission to. The acceptance ratio numbers are mind boggling with the best of the best vouching for one of the coveted seats, however, only a handful of selected few landing those seats.
The acceptance rate for their two year flagship PGP (Post Graduate Program) is about 0.16% (yes that's correct), with 150,000 applicants for only 250 seats. The acceptance rate for their newborn one year PGPX (Post Graduate Program for Executives) is a little more comprehendable standing at 7% (1350 applications for 85 seats).
As I checked into the hotel in NJ, I could see that the lobby was filled with PGPX aspirants. Some of them relieved that their interviews were done with, while some of them still biting their nails, awaiting to be dissected by the ever so intellectual interview panel. After all, the panel was composed of the faculty itself, the brain powers of the IIMA. After a cursory chat with a few of the fellow interviewees, It became apparent that the interview had no set pattern, with questions ranging from wide varities of topics such as current affairs, business affairs, why IIMA/PGPX, background and general knowledge, etc. The question I asked myself was, how is one to prepare for an interview with such a broad scope? I had planned to do some light interview preparations the night before. However, this plan was quickly put to rest once I realized that no preparation would be enough with questions coming at you from various different angles.
My interview started the next morning at approximately 9am. I walked in, greeted the panel, and started with my power point presentation. In the center of the panel, seated was the man himself. The man, the standing soul, of the PGPX program, Dr. Arvind Sahay, the chairperson of IIMA PGPX. Every word that comes out of this guy's mouth leaves you in an awe. The eloquency with which he speaks, the brilliance of his chosen words, are just too good to blurt out without a script in front. The flawlessness that he demonstrates in his communication ability is equally matched with his profile. A graduate of IIT Kanpur, he went on to get his Phd from University of Texas, Austin. He then taught at the London Business School for 8 years. After his stint at LBS, he came to IIMA as a faculty. It is often said that getting into IIMA as a faculty is ten times more difficult than getting in as a student. So, you do the math. The other two professors Dr. Manikutty and Dr. Shailesh Gandhi possesed equally impressive profiles with both of them Phd graduates from IIMA itself. The luminaries, the shining lights, without whom, the program would not be where it is today. Before I started my presentation, Dr. Sahay eased me in by verifying that I was born and raised in Nepal. "Very beautiful country, I was there for my honeymoon. We went to Pokhara, a lovely place", he said. What an ice breaker I thought. I couldn't have asked for anything better to ease into the moment.
As I finished my five minute presentation, the topic of which was managing the compliance of a European Union Environmental Regulation, Dr. Sahay threw a wrench at me, "Do you think it was ethical to solve the problem as you did?" to which I responded, "well most of the business laws are crafted with ethics in consideration." I further added, "The complaince to the EU regulation was an industry wide problem, and didn't affect just IBM. In addition, no other countries besides the EU members had such restrictions, so shipping to these countries those inventory that contained elements restricted by EU cannot be considered a violation of ethics. Dr. Sahay: "So you think the solution you found was just an abberation to the problem?" To which I answered, "Perhaps, if you would like to think so."
Dr. Sahay again, "So how would you define business ethics?" The room was getting warmer by the minute as we spoke. "Ethics is making a conscious effort to be inclusive of all factors in society while making a decision that impacts those factors", I responded. It appeared momentarily that he liked my response. "What about corruption, how would you define it?" he asked. "Corruption can be looked at as a person not finishing a job in the manner he is supposed to (aka without asking for illegal and unethical monetary compensation)" was my response.
"So why do you want to come to India? After all, India is a very corrupt country with dirty politicians leading the way. It appears you've done quite well in life. Your undegraduate GPA is quite high, you have a good career with IBM. Why not apply to Harvard or Stanford?", was Dr. Sahay's next bullet to be dodged. "First of all, I am not looking to limit myself to careers only in the US, and therefore, I am looking at schools outside of the US. Secondly, there are lots of other countries in the world that are corrupt besides India. Some disguise the corruptness well, while others don't. In fact, I remember looking at a corruption ranking index in which India was not one of the bottom countries. Thirdly, the full time nature of these programs will take away too much of the opportunity cost for me, and financially makes the decision unattractive.", I said. Dr. Sahay seemed to have liked my response. However, Dr. Manikutty chimes in by saying, "This is also a full time program, so what do you mean you cannot afford to go to a full time program?". "This is only a one year full-time program contrary to the two year programs in US", I mentioned. I noticed that Dr. Sahay was also trying to make this point to Dr. Manikutty while I defended my stance.
Then, Dr. Gandhi, "How do you think India's economy has progressed?" In any major economic literature circulations, the state of the Indian economy is bound to be discussed as part of the global economic reforms. As such, I've had a heavy dose of reading on the state of the Indian economy. Therefore, this question I would say really played to my strengths. "How would you compare India's economic rise vs. China's?", Dr. Gandhi again. This topic has been a subject of a frequent debate on Mckinsey Quarterly, a circulation which I have followed to a detailed degree. So this question again was aligned to my preconceived knowledge. Then came a dagger from Dr. Manikutty, "So you think dictatorial government does a better job in expanding a country's economy?" He countered my response that eluded to the fact that China's economic reform has had a heavy input from the government whereas India's reform on the contrary has had no government role to speak of. My response to Dr. Manikutty was that the reason Chinese government played a major role primarily was because there were no industry leaders in China available to take the lead in reforms. The Chinese gov't did not choose to be active because it thought it could do a better job than anyone else. "So what if you don't get into PGPX, what next, will you reapply next year?". "No I won't. This is THE year for me.", I responded.
The discussion ended with me asking a couple of questions about the program.
The school appears to be completely non-flashy as top b-schools often are. I found the faculty to be down to earth for the most part, however, arrogant occasionally. The arrogance comes from having repeatedly been the best in the business. Their is no other school of the IIMA caliber in India, and in most of Asia. IIMA grads are treated almost like god in India, and IIMA profs, well, the point should be understood. They are not hung up on advertising their program very extensively. The IIMA brand equity alone will demand high volume of applicants in their opinion, which is really true as have been indicated by the applications received in the last three years.
The acceptance rate for their two year flagship PGP (Post Graduate Program) is about 0.16% (yes that's correct), with 150,000 applicants for only 250 seats. The acceptance rate for their newborn one year PGPX (Post Graduate Program for Executives) is a little more comprehendable standing at 7% (1350 applications for 85 seats).
As I checked into the hotel in NJ, I could see that the lobby was filled with PGPX aspirants. Some of them relieved that their interviews were done with, while some of them still biting their nails, awaiting to be dissected by the ever so intellectual interview panel. After all, the panel was composed of the faculty itself, the brain powers of the IIMA. After a cursory chat with a few of the fellow interviewees, It became apparent that the interview had no set pattern, with questions ranging from wide varities of topics such as current affairs, business affairs, why IIMA/PGPX, background and general knowledge, etc. The question I asked myself was, how is one to prepare for an interview with such a broad scope? I had planned to do some light interview preparations the night before. However, this plan was quickly put to rest once I realized that no preparation would be enough with questions coming at you from various different angles.
My interview started the next morning at approximately 9am. I walked in, greeted the panel, and started with my power point presentation. In the center of the panel, seated was the man himself. The man, the standing soul, of the PGPX program, Dr. Arvind Sahay, the chairperson of IIMA PGPX. Every word that comes out of this guy's mouth leaves you in an awe. The eloquency with which he speaks, the brilliance of his chosen words, are just too good to blurt out without a script in front. The flawlessness that he demonstrates in his communication ability is equally matched with his profile. A graduate of IIT Kanpur, he went on to get his Phd from University of Texas, Austin. He then taught at the London Business School for 8 years. After his stint at LBS, he came to IIMA as a faculty. It is often said that getting into IIMA as a faculty is ten times more difficult than getting in as a student. So, you do the math. The other two professors Dr. Manikutty and Dr. Shailesh Gandhi possesed equally impressive profiles with both of them Phd graduates from IIMA itself. The luminaries, the shining lights, without whom, the program would not be where it is today. Before I started my presentation, Dr. Sahay eased me in by verifying that I was born and raised in Nepal. "Very beautiful country, I was there for my honeymoon. We went to Pokhara, a lovely place", he said. What an ice breaker I thought. I couldn't have asked for anything better to ease into the moment.
As I finished my five minute presentation, the topic of which was managing the compliance of a European Union Environmental Regulation, Dr. Sahay threw a wrench at me, "Do you think it was ethical to solve the problem as you did?" to which I responded, "well most of the business laws are crafted with ethics in consideration." I further added, "The complaince to the EU regulation was an industry wide problem, and didn't affect just IBM. In addition, no other countries besides the EU members had such restrictions, so shipping to these countries those inventory that contained elements restricted by EU cannot be considered a violation of ethics. Dr. Sahay: "So you think the solution you found was just an abberation to the problem?" To which I answered, "Perhaps, if you would like to think so."
Dr. Sahay again, "So how would you define business ethics?" The room was getting warmer by the minute as we spoke. "Ethics is making a conscious effort to be inclusive of all factors in society while making a decision that impacts those factors", I responded. It appeared momentarily that he liked my response. "What about corruption, how would you define it?" he asked. "Corruption can be looked at as a person not finishing a job in the manner he is supposed to (aka without asking for illegal and unethical monetary compensation)" was my response.
"So why do you want to come to India? After all, India is a very corrupt country with dirty politicians leading the way. It appears you've done quite well in life. Your undegraduate GPA is quite high, you have a good career with IBM. Why not apply to Harvard or Stanford?", was Dr. Sahay's next bullet to be dodged. "First of all, I am not looking to limit myself to careers only in the US, and therefore, I am looking at schools outside of the US. Secondly, there are lots of other countries in the world that are corrupt besides India. Some disguise the corruptness well, while others don't. In fact, I remember looking at a corruption ranking index in which India was not one of the bottom countries. Thirdly, the full time nature of these programs will take away too much of the opportunity cost for me, and financially makes the decision unattractive.", I said. Dr. Sahay seemed to have liked my response. However, Dr. Manikutty chimes in by saying, "This is also a full time program, so what do you mean you cannot afford to go to a full time program?". "This is only a one year full-time program contrary to the two year programs in US", I mentioned. I noticed that Dr. Sahay was also trying to make this point to Dr. Manikutty while I defended my stance.
Then, Dr. Gandhi, "How do you think India's economy has progressed?" In any major economic literature circulations, the state of the Indian economy is bound to be discussed as part of the global economic reforms. As such, I've had a heavy dose of reading on the state of the Indian economy. Therefore, this question I would say really played to my strengths. "How would you compare India's economic rise vs. China's?", Dr. Gandhi again. This topic has been a subject of a frequent debate on Mckinsey Quarterly, a circulation which I have followed to a detailed degree. So this question again was aligned to my preconceived knowledge. Then came a dagger from Dr. Manikutty, "So you think dictatorial government does a better job in expanding a country's economy?" He countered my response that eluded to the fact that China's economic reform has had a heavy input from the government whereas India's reform on the contrary has had no government role to speak of. My response to Dr. Manikutty was that the reason Chinese government played a major role primarily was because there were no industry leaders in China available to take the lead in reforms. The Chinese gov't did not choose to be active because it thought it could do a better job than anyone else. "So what if you don't get into PGPX, what next, will you reapply next year?". "No I won't. This is THE year for me.", I responded.
The discussion ended with me asking a couple of questions about the program.
The school appears to be completely non-flashy as top b-schools often are. I found the faculty to be down to earth for the most part, however, arrogant occasionally. The arrogance comes from having repeatedly been the best in the business. Their is no other school of the IIMA caliber in India, and in most of Asia. IIMA grads are treated almost like god in India, and IIMA profs, well, the point should be understood. They are not hung up on advertising their program very extensively. The IIMA brand equity alone will demand high volume of applicants in their opinion, which is really true as have been indicated by the applications received in the last three years.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Nepali Ukhan Tukka
Below is a list of genuine Nepali ukhan tukkas that were spoken all around us as we grew up in Nepal. Perhaps, these ukhans which did make a LOT of common sense at one time will revive those senses yet once again.
# केटाकेटी आए गुलेली खेलाए मट्यङ्ग्राको सत्यानास्?
# Naachna Na Jaanne Aagan Tedo
# Khai Na Pai Chhaalaa ko Topi Lai?
# Hing Nabhaye Pani Hing Bandheko Taalo chha?
# Hissa Budi, Khissa Daant?
# Kaam Paayenas Buhari Paadaako kundo kanya?
# Ghaanti Herera Haad Nilnu?
# Najaane Gauko Baatai Nasodhnu?
# Dui Joiko Poi Kunaa pasi roi?
# Lhasama Sun Chha, Mero Kaan Buchchai?
# Artha Na Bartha Govinda Gai
# Jun Goruko sing chaina uskai nam Tikhe?
# Khane Mukh Lai Junga Le Chhek Daina
# Kina chauris Mareech afnai piro le?
# Mukha ma RAM RAM bagali ma chura?
# Choro paune kaile kaile bhoto siune aile?
# Andho ko des ma kano Raja?
# Ama bhanda chori janne: khukuri bhanda kardha lagne?
# Nepal janda, kapal sangai?
# Joo Jogi aaye pani kan chereko?
# Aakash ko phal aankha tari mal?
# Handi ma kanika rahungel randi lai nindra lagdaina?
# Kashi jane Kutti ko bato?
# Bujne lai Shrikhanda Nabujne lai khurpa ko bid?
# Jo chor uskai danko thulo?
# Raat bhari karayo Dachina harayo?
# Na khaun bhane din vary ko sikar khaun bhane Kancha bau ko anuhar?
# Kaam kuro eka teera kumlo boki Thimi tira?
# Alchi Tigro Swadee Jibro?
# Ghyu Na Tel Paka Budi Sel?
# आँखालाइ ख्यास् ख्यास्, जिब्रो लाई झ्याइ?
# Napaune le kera payo bokrai sita khayo
# Chokta khaana gayeki budhi jhol ma dubera mori?
# Na khauo bhane dir bhari ko sikar Khauo bhane Kancha Bauo ko anuhar?
# Naya naya byahuli bhaie doli chadi hagna gaie?
# Gaandi le khayo rayoo ko saag?
# Nani bhanda aachi thulo?
# Ek jana radi ko das wata poi marne bela koi na koi?
# Raat vari karayo dachina harayo?
# Ke khojchas kano; kankho?
# Kina chauris marich; affnai piro le?
# Bujne lai SriKhanda; na-bujne lai khurpa ko bid?
# Saoon ma ankha futya Goru le sadhaei hariyo dekhcha?
# Kaaga lai bel pakyo; harsh na bismat?
# Booka ko mukh ma kubindo?
# Kukur lai masu paencho?
# Sap lai dudha na khuwaonu?
# Baandar ko hath ma nariwal?
# Kaag ko phul chorne?
# Baar chora; teera naati; budha ko kumlo kandha mathi?
# Baar barsa kukur ko puchchar dhungro ma rakheni; jasta ko testae?
# Choori kuti; buhari tarsaune?
# Vagya ma cha bhandi ma DOKO ma dudha rahadaina?
# Baar barsa RAMAYAN padhayo; SITA kaski joeee?
# Vagyamaani ko bhutaie kamaro?
# Saap lai dhudha khwaera palna hundaina?
# Baakhraa ko puchchar khaeko jasto?
# Cheparoo ko katha jasto?
# Baato na ghaato; daudincha lato?
# Joo aguwa; uee baato haguwa?
# Aarr ka le hatti chadyo bhandai ma; dhuri chdnu hudaina?
# Ghar ko baagh: baahira ko syaal?
# Boolnee ko chaamal bikcha: nabolnee ko pitho ni bikdaina?
# Gaira ko ghar lai paira ko dar; danda ko ghar lai landaaa dar?
# Baisa ma syaal pani ghorlee huncha?
# Aarr ka jioo ko jumra dekhne; aafno jioo ko bhaisi pani nadekhne?
# Haluwa ma baluwa?
# Jasle maha kaadchha usle haat chatchha?
# Jun jogi ayeni kaan nai chireko?
# Affai ta Mahadev uttano tang kasle dela baar?
# Baahun le chyao khawosna swad pawos?
# Agulto le polya biralo; bijuli chamkida tarsincha?
# Bolae na tolae; lule puchchar dolae?
# Shivaji ko tesro netra jasto?
# Kashi jane; Kutti ko baato?
# Lahsa ma sun cha; mero kaan buchchae?
# Baandar ko puchchar lauro na hatiyar?
# Raat bhari karayo dachina harayo?
# केटाकेटी आए गुलेली खेलाए मट्यङ्ग्राको सत्यानास्?
# Naachna Na Jaanne Aagan Tedo
# Khai Na Pai Chhaalaa ko Topi Lai?
# Hing Nabhaye Pani Hing Bandheko Taalo chha?
# Hissa Budi, Khissa Daant?
# Kaam Paayenas Buhari Paadaako kundo kanya?
# Ghaanti Herera Haad Nilnu?
# Najaane Gauko Baatai Nasodhnu?
# Dui Joiko Poi Kunaa pasi roi?
# Lhasama Sun Chha, Mero Kaan Buchchai?
# Artha Na Bartha Govinda Gai
# Jun Goruko sing chaina uskai nam Tikhe?
# Khane Mukh Lai Junga Le Chhek Daina
# Kina chauris Mareech afnai piro le?
# Mukha ma RAM RAM bagali ma chura?
# Choro paune kaile kaile bhoto siune aile?
# Andho ko des ma kano Raja?
# Ama bhanda chori janne: khukuri bhanda kardha lagne?
# Nepal janda, kapal sangai?
# Joo Jogi aaye pani kan chereko?
# Aakash ko phal aankha tari mal?
# Handi ma kanika rahungel randi lai nindra lagdaina?
# Kashi jane Kutti ko bato?
# Bujne lai Shrikhanda Nabujne lai khurpa ko bid?
# Jo chor uskai danko thulo?
# Raat bhari karayo Dachina harayo?
# Na khaun bhane din vary ko sikar khaun bhane Kancha bau ko anuhar?
# Kaam kuro eka teera kumlo boki Thimi tira?
# Alchi Tigro Swadee Jibro?
# Ghyu Na Tel Paka Budi Sel?
# आँखालाइ ख्यास् ख्यास्, जिब्रो लाई झ्याइ?
# Napaune le kera payo bokrai sita khayo
# Chokta khaana gayeki budhi jhol ma dubera mori?
# Na khauo bhane dir bhari ko sikar Khauo bhane Kancha Bauo ko anuhar?
# Naya naya byahuli bhaie doli chadi hagna gaie?
# Gaandi le khayo rayoo ko saag?
# Nani bhanda aachi thulo?
# Ek jana radi ko das wata poi marne bela koi na koi?
# Raat vari karayo dachina harayo?
# Ke khojchas kano; kankho?
# Kina chauris marich; affnai piro le?
# Bujne lai SriKhanda; na-bujne lai khurpa ko bid?
# Saoon ma ankha futya Goru le sadhaei hariyo dekhcha?
# Kaaga lai bel pakyo; harsh na bismat?
# Booka ko mukh ma kubindo?
# Kukur lai masu paencho?
# Sap lai dudha na khuwaonu?
# Baandar ko hath ma nariwal?
# Kaag ko phul chorne?
# Baar chora; teera naati; budha ko kumlo kandha mathi?
# Baar barsa kukur ko puchchar dhungro ma rakheni; jasta ko testae?
# Choori kuti; buhari tarsaune?
# Vagya ma cha bhandi ma DOKO ma dudha rahadaina?
# Baar barsa RAMAYAN padhayo; SITA kaski joeee?
# Vagyamaani ko bhutaie kamaro?
# Saap lai dhudha khwaera palna hundaina?
# Baakhraa ko puchchar khaeko jasto?
# Cheparoo ko katha jasto?
# Baato na ghaato; daudincha lato?
# Joo aguwa; uee baato haguwa?
# Aarr ka le hatti chadyo bhandai ma; dhuri chdnu hudaina?
# Ghar ko baagh: baahira ko syaal?
# Boolnee ko chaamal bikcha: nabolnee ko pitho ni bikdaina?
# Gaira ko ghar lai paira ko dar; danda ko ghar lai landaaa dar?
# Baisa ma syaal pani ghorlee huncha?
# Aarr ka jioo ko jumra dekhne; aafno jioo ko bhaisi pani nadekhne?
# Haluwa ma baluwa?
# Jasle maha kaadchha usle haat chatchha?
# Jun jogi ayeni kaan nai chireko?
# Affai ta Mahadev uttano tang kasle dela baar?
# Baahun le chyao khawosna swad pawos?
# Agulto le polya biralo; bijuli chamkida tarsincha?
# Bolae na tolae; lule puchchar dolae?
# Shivaji ko tesro netra jasto?
# Kashi jane; Kutti ko baato?
# Lahsa ma sun cha; mero kaan buchchae?
# Baandar ko puchchar lauro na hatiyar?
# Raat bhari karayo dachina harayo?
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
To commit or to not?
A dilemma I put an end to today deals with paying a sum of $5000 to ISB as a commitment to join their program. After contemplating on it for a week or so, I remained with no other alternative. With IIM's admission decision not due to be announced until Oct 31, I simply couldn't risk not paying ISB until then, as doing so would take me well beyond the given deadline of 2 weeks to pay.
A bigger dilemma to be dealt with will be on Oct 31, if I am able to get an admission offer from IIM. For sure, the $5000 that I just graciously paid to ISB is going to be difficult to retract. After all, the word 'non-refundable' associated to the fee appears what seems like a thousand times when cursorily looking at ISB's website.
A bigger dilemma to be dealt with will be on Oct 31, if I am able to get an admission offer from IIM. For sure, the $5000 that I just graciously paid to ISB is going to be difficult to retract. After all, the word 'non-refundable' associated to the fee appears what seems like a thousand times when cursorily looking at ISB's website.
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