Terminator 4: Rise of the MISRA

There has not been much improvement in my health as I am still amidst a full fledged war with the microscopic battalion of inconquerably resilient viruses of a self-styled dictator named Cold the devil who has found a conspiring ally in Cough the wizard, both of whom seem to have taken a special interest in trying to confine me within the forlorn precincts of Room # 21 in Block A. But, I haven't yet forsaken all hopes as I raise my steely, curvaceous Excalibur , for this spoon incarnate holds the elixir to freedom, the yellowish syrup that will, for once and all, annihilate the existence of my perennial enemies. I attach a sample of human domination, in the form of what we plebeian mortals refer to as Tab(ul)lets with the syrups before gulping it down the channel of control as opposed to LoC (Line of Control). Then, ensues what will ultimately go down the annals of history as one of the fiercest battles ever fought, the result of which will eventually determine the survival of one of the species, i.e., Kamal Misra or the Virus...

Of Fahrenheits and Stock Market...

I have not been able to write much in the last couple of days, the reason being an unexpected bout of high fever. Today, somehow I managed to muster enough determination to be able to type a few lines. I missed a few classes and have to make amends in a very short time frame. Especially, the Financial Accounting class will require the larger chunk of pending ground work, since I'm still facing a supposed lack of confidence in being able to catch up with the fundamentals.

Now a days, X-FIN, the Finance Association of XIMB is all agog with the innovatively experimental stock market simulation game aptly titled DALAL STREET, which as a matter of fact was designed to hone the trading skills of the would-be managers passing out of XIMB. It's all fun seeing the stocks of the top-notch companies negotiating the seemingly turbulent market in their respective styles. My team "SILVER BLAZE" (remember the famous Sherlock Holmes novel about the invincible derby stallion) suffered a minor setback as all shares bought by us plunged abysmally due to the ruckus in the finance ministry as of this morning.

Race against Time

Today it was an engaging ordeal for me on the personal front. Apart from the daily recipe of infantile salvation from an otherwise turbulent schedule, the institute had more to offer, a typically managerial ploy. Only two classes and adding to the exhileration was a cancelled marketing quiz. I believe, the system of management education leans excessively towards an offshoot of time management, that is time deployment. It's left to the candidates to decide how they plan to distribute the precious microseconds and nanoseconds, even if it means the installation of an atomic clock in the premises of their cerebral faculties.

Since TIME happens to be the crux of my Blogger musings today, I deem it relevant to devise an infallible mechanism wherein we can control the sanctity of the so-called Boundless entity which leaves no stones unturned to ravage the possiblities of any substantial permanence. But more of it later...

Trailing zeroes

Today had been very hectic in the sense that I was zombie incarnate in as many as 5 classes in succession. It's a liberal toss-up between the Cat & Dogs and the melancholic drizzle variety when it comes to rainfall in Bhubaneswar, but so far we have seen a phenomenal domination by the former in the last few days. Some guys handled a presentation session in the Human Resources class pertaining to the rise and rise of Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL). I was kinda' taken aback to be presented with the fact that the immediate equivalent of IOCL in China is benevolence personified to around 7 Lakh employees while IOCL cuts it sharp at 30,000. What about the never-ending hogwash proclaiming China to be a genetically competent socialist entity when in reality Indians are far more effective albeit with a lower headcount to sustain the $25 billion powerhouse that has found its way into FORTUNE.

I'm not very satisfied with my performance in Financial Accounting although It's no mean task to morph myself into a mechanized number cruncher to improve upon my interpretation of the Balance sheets, Profit & Loss A/c, Cash flow statements in such a shorter time span as compared to the days I had taken to master the art of writing software. Well, then I have never studied Finance. Apt as it may sound, I'm certainly not trying to endorse the Fox & Grapes story in any manner. On the other hand, I believe in the fable "Slow and steady (read: Study) wins the race".:) I'd certainly try to pick up pace once I find myself thoroughly percolated into the elusive crevices of earnings per share, DER, P/E ratio and things of that clan. Of course, When going gets tough, the Tough get going. How true !!

India won a silver in the Olympics and adding to the joy, the Indian hockey team defeated South Africa 4-2. Just this morning I was going through an article by Rajdeep Sardesai on the NDTVwhere the author had expressed acute contempt at the prevailing attitude of the sportsmen in our country. According to him, cricket in the singular act of vainglory (We still express pride & happiness to the "Kapil dev's 1983 Prudential world cup" folklore whereas the the aussies are on the verge of becoming Quadrupeds) has wiped out the existence of the other sports events where in cricketers bask in the intermittent glories of having defeated Pakistan in some charity match and endorsements, glamour galore. Contrary to this the atheletes have to share a single lodge in multiples while still carrying the pride of the Tricolour on their shoulders. I'm forced to cogitate as to whether CRICKET SHOULD BE BANNED. Smart alecks, what d'ya think ??

The full moon night

I have been thinking about setting up a blog to share my experiences as I gradually undergo transformation into an inviolate entity of flesh and blood in the flux of time. Well, philosophy aside, I finally succeed today at this very point of incarnation, which I'd like to call "The Full Moon Night" and voila, I'm able to pronounce Cogito ergo Sum (I think therefore I am). Hmm, too much of verbosity in any kind of writing spoils the mood of the writer and the reader as well, I know. But, to be very honest, nothing sells without a pinch of sophistication and I perceive it sacrosanct as a Management student to apply theories into practicalities in all aspects. OK then, am I trying to preach management in the lines of all the KOTLER diehards who swear by the 4 Ps, namely, Product, Price, Promotion, Place in my blogsite ?? No way, I find it hard to digest the Kotlerian principles, let alone apply them to something as banal as my blogsite.

I'm pursuing my MBA degree in Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), one of the elite B-schools of India which also happens to have a fully wired e-campus, one of its kind in India and plan to specialize in Finance.

This morning it rained heavily in the campus forcing me to take refuge in the cosy precincts of the library. Retreating into my comfort zone, I snapped up the latest edition of the Newsweek to freeze my glare on a section which incidentally dealt with the latest technological advancements in the field of Mind reading. In California Institute of Technology abbrv. Caltech, a fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device has been deployed to analyze the cerebral activity concerning financial decisions undertaken by individuals from all walks of life. Cool, Uhh ?? The researchers have zeroed on the Ventral Striatum, Pre frontal cortex and Ventral medio cortex regions of the brain to understand how the electromagnetic stimuli emanates from these places to influence us. They have strategized an investment game called "The Ultimatum game" that lets two people decide how to split $10 between them so as to maximize the returns for either of them. The game implicitly brings into picture personality traits like Expectation, Inter-personal Trust, Risk-taking abilities along with economic/financial entities like payoff, expected utility etc. While playing the game under the apt surveillance of the fMRI device, a set of HMD (Head Mounted Displays), DataGloves connects the players to the device which subsequently lights up the cerebral areas mentioned earlier to provide rationale for the theory that it's the subtle complexity of the neural matrix that governs and regulates the way we decide and pass the judgement to our environment.