Student Suicide: The Last Option

Recently, my younger brother has appeared for his 12th class examination, after he had completed his papers, I had a word with him and he was very much worried about his Mathematics paper as many of his question were not correct, as per his analysis.


Few days back I was just watching a video describing "Student Suicides". Without watching the video, I recalled in my mind, how people can share such videos on such public sites but then I watched the video and found something very interesting in it.


Here is the video for you all, and a small write up regarding reasons for "Student suicides" and how we can help them to avoid.

Student Suicide: The Last Option

EDUCATORS in India are worried over an increasing figure - that of the rising suicide rate among adolescents. Its main cause? The pressure to do well in school, said a Times of India (TOI) report. And the pressure is not from teachers but from parents,the report added. 


India has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and recent studies suggest about 40 percent are adolescents. At least 125 people aged 29 years or below are committing suicide every day and 51 per cent of the total suicide victims are graduates, college students or younger.


In several cases, students commit suicide after failing exams, according to local newspaper reports. In Mumbai alone, 25 students have taken their lives since beginning of the year, leaving parents, teachers and officials struggling to understand the reason behind the deaths.


High marks, college admissions


Mr Mahesh Poddar is one such grieving parent as his daughter, Mini, committed suicide in 2001 when she was 15 years old. She was distraught about college admissions and had just missed out on getting into the college of her choice.


Union human resource minister Kapil Sibal said that the sudden spike in suicides among students is a result of the growing parental pressures on the child to beat his peers, said TOI.


In many cases, the trigger appears to be academic pressure, said a report in CNN.


India's education system is based on rote learning, or memorisation, with a strong emphasis on scoring high marks. Authorities are organising counselling sessions, said Mr. Sanjay Kumar, education secretary of Maharashtra state, in which Mumbai is located.


The suicides were a wake-up call for educators, said Mrs Sangeeta Srivastava, principal of Sardar Vallabhai Patel Vidyala, a government school in North Mumbai. Though none of the recent suicide cases in the city involved students from her school, she is worried.


Recently, a student from her school ran away from home before exams. She said: "As teachers, we have a lot of effect on the students, even more than parents have."

What we can do?

Improvement in studies 
Analyze the cause of student's failure in examination. Most of the students fail in the examination because they do not study effectively. If the rate of failure is reduced then automatically the rate of suicide also comes down. The students, parents and the teachers should induce a proper methodology of studying. The students also should be aware that if they do not study effectively, they fail in the examination. If they fail in the examination they are unable to bear such a failure in life because they become answerable to their parents and society. If the students are well-aware of the future consequences then they shall take an initiative step to study effectively. The board should take some initiative step at the same time to reduce the rate of failures.

Induce the right values and ethics 
The students today are not seriously taught the importance of ethics and values in life. The students become materialistic too early because they only view the splendors and riches of life and are lured. They should obviously know the techniques that is introduced in the market and should be updated with all the latest information from all sources. But they should not forget the values and ethics of life. Usually if the parents are not particular about the values then the children cannot realize the importance. The parents may only realize the importance when the children undertake a drastic step in life. Most of them are today not aware about the importance of human life. If you are not born with our own wish then how do we have the right to take away our own life? This concept should be inculcated in the minds of children. The children can learn such values only when they are taught the importance of spirituality.

Introduction of holy texts as a subject in school 
The scripts of holy texts teach the people about the wisdom of life. Many people misinterpret that the holy texts deviate the children from the real life but on the contrary the Geeta teaches the people the game of life. The children learn to solve life's problems when they are introduced with the subjects like Geeta. Although they may not understand the meaning at such a tender age but the parents become aware after viewing the books. The children can understand the language of the holy texts when they grow up. The teachers should properly explain how the holy texts play an important role in day-to-day life.

Conducting workshops about solving problems 
The school or the board should take special initiative to arrange programs in school to teach the lesson about solving problems. The workshops should demonstrate that how the students should tackle the life's problems easily and the tactics to solve life's problems. They should also explain how to deal with failures in life very easily. The students must be benefited by the workshops.

Special counseling for failed students 
The teachers or school counselors can specially call the students who have flunked in the examination and provide counseling individually with personal care. This session can be conducted after the unit tests or preliminary tests are conducted. These sessions cannot be conducted after final examination because the students are not available in schools. The counselors or the teachers can counsel the students in such a way that even if they fail later on they must be able to manage their failure.

Role of the parents 
The parents should be co-operative to their children after they fail in the examination. Some students commit suicide due to the fear of parents. The parents should never take any severe step after the child has already failed. They cannot change the destiny of the students after the child has already failed. The parents should be made aware that they should be stricter with their children before the period of examinations. Let the parents prevent the rate of failures instead of punishing them when they fail in the examination. If the parents can punish so severely after the children fail then let them question themselves that if they have taken any step to prevent failures? If the child is depressed due to failure in exam, then they should console them to relieve them out of depression. The child really needs you if he or she is depressed with the failure. You must teach the children to become bold and face the problems in a better way.

The students should be thoughtful 
The students should console themselves before feeling depressed. If they have already failed in the examination they have not failed the game of life. They shall come across several exams and several tests of life in the future. They should also realize that the door to opportunities are open in the future and make use of it. They should realize that failures are the stepping stones for success in life and believe themselves. 


Sources:
1. http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/138518-How-prevent-suicide-rates-students-who-fail.aspx
2. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100205-196894.html

Buffett should learn our ethos of giving

Reading about capitalism and NGO's and poverty in American context made me bored, while preparing for my "Business, Government and Indian Society" subject. I was just going though my mails, among which I found this mail very much interesting. 

Recently Mr. Warren Buffet, came to in India and had many programs in the name of his organization Berkshire Hathaway, highlighting the need of Indian business to donate to poor.

Below are some of the opinions of a Professor of Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, I would request you to just read it once

The rootless wonders are agog with ecstasy that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are visiting India. They will not only explore about investing in India but also urge the Indian business to allocate at least half of their wealth to charity and this year is called year of ‘giving’.

It is important that both of them are educated about our system and ethos of giving which exist from ancient times and do not need lectures through business channels which live and even die for TRPs.

Buffett should know that the greatest hero of all times in India in our puranas is Karna who gave all and his name is interchangeably used for the art of giving in many Indian languages.

Ratan Tata may be shy to point out to Bill Gates that ‘the Tata founders bequeathed most of their individual wealth to many trusts they created for the greater good of India and its people’. So is the case with G D Birla and Jamnalal Bajaj. This may not be trumpeted by Kumara Mangalam Birla and Rahul Bajaj. As a perceptive blogger Sandeep Singh says that as early as 1895 Dayal Singh Majithia bequeathed away three million rupees for noble causes including new ventures by Indians. Actually Majithia was an early ‘venture capitalist’ in India even though not many know about him.

We also find that Swami Vivekananda could not have gone to USA but for local business people funding him and the weightlifters and wrestlers could not have won gold medals at the recent Commonwealth Games but for local traders financing their clubs in remote parts of Orissa and Manipur. Many may not have heard about Ekal Vidyalayas which are one-teacher schools functioning in remote parts of India, particularly in tribal areas. They are in as many as 35,000 villages, educating more than one million children. Take the other example of Satya Sai initiative to bring water to Rayalseema using private donations. The Ninth Plan document of Planning Commission says, “The Sathya Sai Charity has set an unparalleled initiative of implementing on their own without any budgetary support a massive water supply project with an expenditure of Rs. 3 billion to benefit 731 villages, etc.”

Later this project was extended to Chennai costing more than Rs. 600 crore. Ramakrishna Mission runs around 200 hospitals serving nearly one crore people annually mostly in rural areas. It also runs around 1,200 educational institutions serving more than 3.5 lakh students of which more than 1.25 lakh are in rural areas.

Nadars engaged in business in Tamil Nadu have funded hundreds of educational institutions and hospitals and so the Marwaris/Chettiars/Katchis/Bhoras all over India.

A lot of our education, healthcare, arts, literature and spirituality efforts/ventures have been fully financed by businessmen who are even shy to talk about it. Herein is the secret to the fundamental ethos of giving in India. It is done without advertisements and trumpets. Actually in our tradition the giver is reluctant to talk about it since it embarrasses the receiver. The fact that it could demean the receiver is reason enough for the giver to keep silent. Remember the way Nitish Kumar reacted when the donation from Gujarat for flood relief in Bihar was advertised? Nitish Kumar recalled our tradition of giving without revealing.

It is told in our ancient wisdom that one should give till the hand bleeds and one should not talk about it. The action will speak even centuries later. The upstarts of today write on every tubelight their names before donating it to a temple or call press conferences to declare their ‘intentions’. That is the US culture. Everything from lovemaking to charity should be advertised and shown on prime time television. Then only you prove that the spouses and receivers are happy.

But why this sudden wallowing in self pity and whining about giving? It all started with the Indira Gandhi Prize being given to Bill Gates on July 25, 2009, and wherein the chairman of National Advisory Council Sonia Gandhi read a speech on the need for Indian businessmen to give for charity (like Bill Gates) and it was published in full by Wall Street Journal and a columnist in that paper pontificated the “rich in India to open their wallets”. Leaders and media in India who are clueless about Indian ethos are setting the Gates and Buffett’s to further pontificate to our business people.

It is interesting that Bill Gates who has operations in Cayman islands and Reno of Nevada to minimise or evade taxes to be paid to the United States government is enthusiastic about “Giving by India Inc”. Warren Buffett is planning to give his dollar assets to the Gates foundation which will reduce estate taxes in the future. Interestingly both of them are some of the few US business barons supporting estate taxes. It is not clear who are their dinner guests in India. If it is Forbes billionaires from India we hope Shahid Balwa of the Spectrum fame is not going to be there!

Somebody should also tell Bill Gates and Warren Buffett that India Inc constitutes less than 15 per cent of our GDP and the real growth masters are small partnership and proprietorship firms which are deeply involved in giving. Actually India Inc in our economy is like an item number in a Bollywood movie. Good to talk about on TV but only has the glamour quotient. Also can we suggest to Gates and Buffett to stop investing in firms in tax havens since that sucks away billions of dollars of money from countries like India. If they really want to help India then they should start a campaign to close down all these tax havens rather than having expensive company-paid dinners at five star hotels of our country urging Balwas to give.

(The writer is professor, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore. The views are personal)

Bombay Blood Group...

How many us of know that other than A, B, AB, O + and - one more blood group exists???


Today, I was just sitting in my room, trying to study MIS ( Management Information System) as my end trimester examination are starting from tomorrow onwards, And suddenly my hostel guard came into my room, he's a Tamil guy so what ever he speaks goes 5ft above my head. 


Then suddenly he showed me a slip, on the slip it was written "Bombay Blood Group"... I was just amazed to read this and a thought stroked my head... I thought he had to write B+ or B- blood group but has written wrong.


I said my blood group is O+ and send him to my other room partners, one of my room partner read it and told no we don't have this blood group. I told my room partner that it might be B+ or B- blood group and he might have written it wrong. 


Then he told me, no its correct Bombay blood group do exist but is rare one. I was amazed and did a Google for my query and found this...




Bombay blood group:-

Bombay blood group is a type of blood group which is present in people who are of O+ve blood group. O+ve and Bombay O+ve blood groups are different. Bombay O+ve people are very less in population. There is no A, B, H antigen in the blood of these people. The H antigen present in O+ve group people is not there in the Bombay O+ve ‘s. Instead of H antigen they have H antibody, this is what doctors are saying. People, who are having Bombay O + ve blood group, can donate only to Bombay O+ve people and can only accept from Bombay O+ve blood group people.

It is very difficult to detect Bombay O+ve group people, when blood group test is conducting. There is a serum grouping also called as reverse grouping (accurate test of a person’s ABO group i.e. O group). If this test is conducting then only we can detect the presence of H antibody, which indicate Bombay O+ve blood group. This test is conducted with the help of a reagent called H – Lectin. We can find these people mostly in Maharashtra and some places of Karnataka which is the boarder of Maharashtra.

Dr. Bhende discovered Bombay O+ve blood group in 1952 at Mumbai. This is the reason why this blood group got the name Bombay O+ve blood group.

Things to be taken care of:-

The thing is, people having this blood group are very less in population. It doesn’t mean that these people are having any disease or it’s the symptom of any disease. This thought is absolutely wrong. If you come to know your blood group is Bombay O+ve then you should report to the nearest blood bank. If someone needed Bombay O+ve blood then show a good heart by giving your blood, because Bombay O+ve people are rare. Don’t give your blood in blood donation program because it is not necessary that these Bombay O+ve blood will be used within 45 days. Relatives can have Bombay O+ve blood group, so find out who all have the Bombay O+ve blood group. It is good for each other to know their blood group especially who are having Bombay O+ve blood group. 


Source: http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/55738-Bombay-blood-group.aspx

The pros & cons of the Common Admission Test

The Ivy League of the Indian MBA – the Indian Institutes of Managementand the Indian School of Business – have for long stood the test of time, and with great success, as shown by the number of Indians as the chief executives of several big firms. Also, a chain of close tie-ups & student exchange programs between various Indian and foreign universities and the breakthrough of big Indian MBA players such as SP Jain Institute of Management & Research and Institute of Management Technology into regions such as Singapore and Dubai, providing  evidence of the emerging global footprint that India offers in terms of higher education & its wide acceptability.

 

Admission to these coveted colleges has been based on the Common Admission Test, the CAT. This is an all-India test conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) as an entrance exam for the management programs of its seven business schools. According to Wikipedia, bout 250,000 students took CAT in 2008 for about 1,500 seats in the IIMs. 

With more than a thousand affiliated & privately funded colleges accepting the scores of the CAT alone, the pressure is bound to be immense on the proper and fair conduct of the exam.

Of late, with the recent proliferation of business schools, students are often left in a fix to apply to the school of their choice. With the skyscraping rates of applications to individual institutions and their corresponding exams, often in the price band of Rs.1000 to Rs.1600 each, I seriously doubt the capability of a typical aspirant in the developing Indian subcontinent, with a per capita income of a meager Rs.38,084 to be able to fill the forms and successfully attempt a shot at his choice of school amongst a cut-throat competition. What I would suggest is a centralized system of testing at the Master’s level on the example of the GMAT, relieving the candidate of the monetary limitations imposed by individual application and thus providing a wider pool of colleges to choose from.

Another pressure is to keep up with the paperwork involved in testing the aptitude of an increasingly greater number of students every year. To tackle this, the CAT governing body decided to twist things a bit from this year. The plan to conduct the CAT in its online format was justified enough to deal with such progressive hiccups and also ensure a swift & fair testing procedure. Things seemed all set for a metamorphosis when IIM authorities tied up with Prometric (of GRE fame) in a $40m deal for 5 years, starting from November 28th 2009.

But, things started to go wrong right from day one of the testing procedure. With a series of reports of server crashes, unidentified virus attacks on the server, confusion over slot bookings, the testing stations behaving erratically, answers not being submitted at all for a few candidates on almost every testing day, the most awaited test in the country suddenly became the most dreaded exam to deal with. With the authorities failing to take immediate control of the situation and even the Ministry of Human Resource and Development leaving the onus on the CAT organizers’ to take charge of things, it seems hard to be able to call this year’s CAT a success.

But as they say in cricket, you never lose till you face the last ball. The same is the case here. The CAT can still have the scope of getting the same respect it used to have until this downturn happened. I would suggest the following three-point approach for immediate reprise.

1.    Scrap this year’s CAT, whatever the implication may be, for the good of both the students and the legacy of the famous institutions to admit only the best brains in the country. Support in this regard is quite widespread both amongst students and their teachers alike. Charters of signed petitions for a ‘fair’ and ‘hassle-free’ test are already making news on almost every big web portal. So making the students agree for the same will not be a problem.

2.    With the data that has been accumulated, setup an inquiry to probe into concrete causes of failure for this year’s CAT along with supporting proof of inadequacies in the system setup by Prometric.

3.    Conduct CAT online from next year again, but this time with ample number of dry runs and load testing over a substantial period of time. Also, extending the window of testing will do a bit of good.

With these steps, and a robust administration, resurrecting the golden image of CAT, and thereby of the distinguished colleges of the Indian MBA sphere, should not seem a distant dream. Till then, it’s in the hands of the governing bodies to decide the fate of whether a compromise on the talent pool seems justified enough or not.

Source:http://www.topmba.com/articles/student-voices/pros-cons-common-admission-test

Is my age right for an MBA?

There is no right or wrong age for education and the same applies to an MBA as well.

What matters more is what your objective is? 

What are you seeking from an MBA?

Should you be pursuing a PhD instead?

These are often questions that crop up in the minds of students who have seen their batch-mates from bachelor’s degree programs undertake an MBA program in Asia or abroad right after finishing their undergraduate degree. The applicant on the other hand has spent the same time working in the corporate world and may feel over-aged for an MBA program.

Firstly, unlike in Indian business schools where the average age of students is close to 22-23 and almost zero work experience, the average age in US B-Schools ranges from 25 to 30 with 3-4 years of work experience on an average. Most MBA students overseas already possess a masters’ degree in some discipline before they embark on an MBA.

Secondly, you will just not be able to contribute to an MBA class in overseas B-schools, if you have not spent a sufficient amount of time understanding the nuances of corporate life by spending some years working in an organized environment.

But one needs to also keep in mind that there is no point being in a class of students where the average age is 28 while you are 35 years old already. As you move up the age scale, you can consider various alternatives-a part-time MBA, an executive development program or even an intensive specialized program in your chosen field. Of course the selection criteria and the profile of students changes drastically.

It is therefore important to identify what you are seeking from an MBA and then weigh what kind of program you should chose at a particular age.

Love Story of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy…….from Sudha Murthy's Autobiography!!!

It was in Pune that I met Narayan Murty through my friend Prasanna who is now the Wipro chief, who was also training in Telco (TataMotors). Most of the books that Prasanna lent me had Murty's name on them which meant that I had a preconceived image of the man. Contrary to expectation, Murty was shy, bespectacled and an introvert. When he invited us for dinner, I was
a bit taken aback as I thought the young man was making a very fast move.

I refused since I was the only girl in the group. But Murty was relentless and we all decided to meet for dinner the next day at 7.30 p.m at Green Fields Hotel on the Main Road, Pune.

The next day I went there at 7o'clock since I had to go to the tailor near the hotel. And what do I see? Mr. Murty waiting in front of the hotel and it was only seven. Till today, Murty maintains that I had mentioned (consciously!) that I would be going to the tailor at 7 so that I could meet him…And I maintain that I did not say any such thing consciously or unconsciously because I did not think of Murty as anything other than a friend at that stage. We have agreed to disagree on this matter.

Soon, we became friends. Our conversations were filled with Murty's experiences abroad and the books that he has read. My friends insisted that Murty was trying to impress me because he was interested in me. I kept denying it till one fine day, after dinner Murty said, I want to tell you something. I knew this as it. It was coming.

He said, I am 5′4″ tall.

I come from a lower middle class family.

I can never become rich in my life and I can never give you any riches.

You are beautiful, bright, and intelligent and you can get anyone you want.

But will you marry me?

I asked Murty to give me some time for an answer. My father didn't want me to marry a wannabe politician (a communist at that) who didn't have a steady job and wanted to build an orphanage…

When I went to Hubli I told my parents about Murty and his proposal. My mother was positive since Murty was also from Karnataka, seemed intelligent and comes from a good family. But my father asked: What's his job, his salary, his qualifications etc? Murty was working as a research assistant and was earning less than me. He was willing to go dutch with me on our outings. My parents agreed to meet Murty in Pune on a particular day at 10 a.m sharp. Murty did not turn up. How can I trust a man to take care of my daughter if he cannot keep an appointment? asked my father.

At 12 noon Murty turned up in a bright red shirt! He had gone on work to Bombay, was stuck in a traffic jam on the ghats, so he hired a taxi (though it was very expensive for him) to meet his would-be father-in-law.

Father was unimpressed. My father asked him what he wanted to become in life.

Murty said he wanted to become a politician in the communist party and

wanted to open an orphanage. My father gave his verdict. NO. I don't want my daughter to marry somebody who wants to become a communist and then open an orphanage when he himself didn't have money to support his family.

Ironically, today, I have opened many orphanages something, which Murty wanted to do 25 years ago. By this time I realized I had developed a liking towards Murty which could only be termed as love. I wanted to marry Murty because he is an honest man. He proposed to me highlighting the negatives in his life. I promised my father that I will not marry Murty without his blessings though at the same time, I cannot marry anybody else. My father said he would agree if Murty promised to take up a steady job. But Murty refused saying he will not do things in life because somebody wanted him to. So, I was caught between the two most important persons in my life.

The stalemate continued for three years during which our courtship took us to every restaurant and cinema hall in Pune. In those days, Murty was always broke. Moreover, he didn't earn much to manage. Ironically today, he manages Infosys Technologies Ltd., one of the world's most reputed companies. He always owed me money. We used to go for dinner and he would say, I don't have money with me, you pay my share, I will return it to you later. For three years I maintained a book on Murty's debt to me.. No, he never returned the money and I finally tore it up after my wedding. The amount was a little over Rs 4000. During this interim period Murty quit his job as research assistant and started his own software business. Now, I had to pay his salary too! Towards the late 70s computers were entering India in a big way.

During the fag end of 1977 Murty decided to take up a job as General Manager at Patni Computers in Bombay .. But before he joined the company he wanted to marry me since he was to go on training to the US after joining. My father gave in as he was happy Murty had a decent job, now.

WE WERE MARRIED IN MURTY'S HOUSE IN BANGALORE ON FEBRUARY 10, 1978 WITH ONLY OUR TWO FAMILIES PRESENT. I GOT MY FIRST SILK SARI. THE WEDDING EXPENSES CAME TO ONLY RS 800 (US $17) WITH MURTY AND I PULLING IN RS. 400 EACH.

I went to the US with Murty after marriage. Murty encouraged me to see

America on my own because I loved travelling. I toured America for three months on backpack and had interesting experiences which will remain fresh in my mind forever. Like the time when the New York police took me into custody because they thought I was an Italian trafficking drugs in Harlem. Or the time when I spent the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with an old couple. Murty panicked because he couldn't get a response from my hotel room even at midnight. He thought I was either killed or kidnapped.

IN 1981 MURTY WANTED TO START INFOSYS. HE HAD A VISION AND ZERO

CAPITAL…initially I was very apprehensive about Murty getting into business. We did not have any business background .. Moreover we were living a comfortable life in Bombay with a regular pay check and I didn't want to rock the boat. But Murty was passionate about creating good quality software. I decided to support him. Typical of Murty, he just had a dream and no money. So I gave him Rs 10,000 which I had saved for a rainy day, without his knowledge and told him, this is all I have. Take it. I give you three years sabbatical leave. I will take care of the financial needs of our house. You go and chase your dreams without any worry. But you have only three years!

Murty and his six colleagues started Infosys in 1981,with enormous interest and hard work. In 1982 I left Telco and moved to Pune with Murty. We bought a small house on loan which also became the Infosys office. I was a clerk-cum-cook-cum-programmer. I also took up a job as Senior Systems Analyst with Walchand group of Industries to support the house. In 1983, Infosys got their first client, MICO, in Bangalore .. Murty moved to Bangalore and stayed with his mother while I went to Hubli to deliver my second child, Rohan. Ten days after my son was born, Murty left for the US on project work. I saw him only after a year, as I was unable to join Murty in the US because my son had infantile eczema, an allergy to vaccinations. So for more than a year I did not step outside our home for fear of my son contracting an infection. It was only after Rohan got all his

vaccinations that I came to Bangalore where we rented a small house in Jayanagar and rented another house as Infosys headquarters. My father presented Murty a scooter to commute. I once again became a cook, programmer, clerk, secretary, office assistant et al. Nandan Nilekani (MD of Infosys) and

his wife Rohini stayed with us. While Rohini babysat my son, I wrote programs for Infosys. There was no car, no phone, and just two kids and a bunch of us working hard, juggling our lives and having fun while Infosys was taking shape. It was not only me but also the wives of other partners too who gave their unstinted support. We all knew that our men were trying to build something good.

It was like a big joint family,taking care and looking out for one another. I still remember Sudha Gopalakrishna looking after my daughter Akshata with all care and love while Kumari Shibulal cooked for all of us. Murty made it very clear that it would either be me or him working at Infosys. Never the two of us together… I was involved with Infosys initially.

Nandan Nilekani suggested I should be on the Board but Murty said he did not want a husband and wife team at Infosys. I was shocked since I had the relevant experience and technical qualifications. He said, Sudha if you want to work with Infosys, I will withdraw, happily. I was pained to know that I will not be involved in the company my husband was building and that I would have to give up a job that I am qualified to do and love doing.

It took me a couple of days to grasp the reason behind Murty's request.. I realized that to make Infosys a success one had to give one's 100 percent. One had to be focussed on it alone with no other distractions. If the two of us had to give 100 percent to Infosys then what would happen to our home and our children? One of us had to take care of our home while the other took care of Infosys.

I opted to be a homemaker, after all Infosys was Murty's dream. It was a big sacrifice but it was one that had to be made. Even today, Murty says, Sudha, I stepped on your career to make mine.

Awesome Conversation

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.
He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: 
So you believe in God? 
Student: 
Absolutely, sir. 
Prof 
: Is God good? 
Student: 
Sure. 
Prof: 
Is God all-powerful? 
Student 
: Yes. 
Prof: 
My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.) 
Prof: 
You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good? 
Student: 
Yes. 
Prof: 
Is Satan good? 
Student 
: No. 
Prof: 
Where does Satan come from? 
Student: 
From...God.... 
Prof: 
That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world? 
Student: 
Yes. 
Prof: 
Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct? 
Student: 
Yes. 
Prof: 
So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.) 
Prof: 
Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they? 
Student: 
Yes, sir. 
Prof: 
So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.) 
Prof: 
Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.
Tell me, son...Have you ever
seen God? 
Student: 
No, sir. 
Prof: 
Tell us if you have ever heard your God? 
Student: 
No, sir. 
Prof: 
Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter? 
Student: 
No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't. 
Prof: 
Yet you still believe in Him? 
Student: 
Yes. 
Prof: 
According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist.
What do you say to that, son? 
Student: 
Nothing. I only have my faith. 
Prof: 
Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has. 
Student: 
Professor, is there such a thing as heat? 
Prof: 
Yes. 
Student: 
And is there such a thing as cold? 
Prof: 
Yes. 
Student: 
No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.) 
Student 
: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat.
But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. 
There is no such thing as cold . Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat . We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy . Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it .(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.) 
Student: 
What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness? 
Prof: 
Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness? 
Student : 
You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright
light, flashing light....But if
you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In
reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make
darkness darker, wouldn't you? 
Prof: 
So what is the point you are making, young man? 
Student: 
Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed. 
Prof: 
Flawed? Can you explain how? 
Student: 
Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor.Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey? 
Prof: 
If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do. 
Student: 
Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.) 
Student: 
Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.) 
Student: 
Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.) 
Student 
: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain,sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.) 
Prof: 
I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son. 
Student: 
That is it sir.... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

NB: I believe you have enjoyed the conversation...and if so...you'll probably want your friends/colleagues to enjoy the same...won't you?....
this is a true story, and the 

student was none other than......... 
..
.
.
..
.
.
.
.
..
. 
APJ Abdul Kalam , the former president of India .

The ROI of an MBA

In the last couple of weeks I've met with students at ISB, Great Lakes, ICFAI Business School Hyderabad and IIM Indore. And the one concern which unites students across one year and two year programs is the burden of the EMI.

The average ISB student will be paying an EMI of 25k over 7 years, an IIM student 25k over 5 years (going for the exchange program could jack that up by another 4-5k per month). So the concern students have is: "What will be my ROI?"

The way in which a bschooler calculates ROI is very direct: compare what I spent on the course, with the placement salary at the time of exit. In case you have significant work experience, also factor in one year of 'lost income'.

OK. By this method of calculation, the ROI - for a majority of students - will be negative. 

The published figure for average domestic salary at ISB last year is Rs 16.47 lakhs p.a. (CTC).

The fees for this batch were approximately Rs 19 lakhs, while the average incoming salary was Rs 8 lakhs p.a.

Do the math and you can see that there is much heartburn. Especially for the 50% of the batch which must - necessarily - bag a job lower than the 'average'. 

The same holds true for an ICFAI Business School graduates, where fees + living expenses for the course would works out to Rs 9-10 lakhs.

The average placement salary would be in the range of Rs 5-6 lakhs. A large % of candidates are freshers or with 1-2 years of work ex so we can discount the income loss component.

Now let us examine the case at IIM Indore. The average salary for the class of 2010 was Rs 10.29 lakhs. 

The cost of the 2 year course for this batch was approximately Rs 8 lakhs.

Of course, 50% of the batch would have bagged jobs in the Rs 6-10 lakhs range but prima facie IIM seems to provide maximum chances of a high ROI.

However. As they say with mutual fund investments, past performance may not be indicative of future returns. So students who are considering the MBA today - be warned.

The class of 2010 at IIM Indore consisted of 175 students. That number went up to 235for the batch of 2011. The class of 2012 is a record 450 students.

No doubt this will affect the average salary figure. (In fact the larger the batch, the more focus the institute puts on 'quantity' over quality). 

Moreover from this year, the cost of attending IIM Indore has also gone up to Rs 10 lakhs. Making the 'equation' far less favourable.

I can bore you with several more examples but you get the drift. 

The origin of this entire mess go back to 2008, when the market was booming. It appeared that the MBA was a Golden Degree which, like the yellow metal, could only go up, up and up.

Record placement salaries, record number of jobs - and a relatively low fee structure - made the MBA a most exciting qualification. The better the bschool brand, the more excitement, of course.

At this stage two things happened:

1) In April 2008, IIM Ahmedabad more than doubled its fees (from Rs 4.3 lakhs to Rs 11.5 lakhs). Other IIMs followed.

2) At the same time, year on year, IIMs began admitting more students (seats increased btw 40-100%)

Let me be honest, when IIMA first hiked its fee, I thought it was a good thing. The course was highly subsidised, there seemed to be no reason for taxpayers to underwrite the careers of bright students bagging excellent jobs. 

What's more, IIMs promised that no one would be denied a seat due to lack of funds. Education loans were made available to all and also merit scholarships, based on family income. 

But. The consequences of these actions were not limited to IIM students.

In the world of finance the Reserve Bank of India signals changes in rates. Similarly, IIMs hiking their fees sent a clear signal to the entire bschool industry. Practically every bschool in India increased its fees by 50-100%.

In a strange and convoluted way, the low fees charged by IIMs kept fees of all bschools low. Because no one - apart from ISB, with its own unique brand - dared to charge more than the market leader.

To compound the problem, the market crashed. Jobs disappeared. The class of 2009 saw the worst of it - higher fees and lower placement salaries. The number of students appearing for CAT in 2009 also declined - for the first time in years. 

So, what does this all boil down to? MBA karna chahiye - ya nahin??

Well, I think the 'Gold Rush' era is over. If you are looking for quick and safe returns, you will be disappointed.

I do think an MBA will add a lot of value to your career over the long term. By long term I mean a 10-15 year horizon. But you will begin to see the difference in as little as 3-5 years.

Certain avenues in the corporate world do open up for you, if you have the right 'branding'.

And if you are not from the best known schools you still have the chance to work your way up the ladder through performance and personality.

40 years of working life lie ahead of most of us, a one or two year program is an investment whose returns cannot and should not be calculated merely at the end of the course.

And yes, demand and supply is the inexorable law of Nature. Bschools may well have to go back to smaller batches and lower fees - to make themselves more attractive.

The other - and tougher way - is to provide such value addition that recruiters are happy to shell out more to snap up students. A scenario so implausible... the more practical method would be to hire Leonardo di Caprio. 

And let the 'Inception' team loose at one of those CXO Summits where delegates struggle to stay awake :)


from http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2010/07/roi-of-mba.html#links