It comes from my own behavior when it comes to buying any item, be it something of daily use or a one off purchase. I look at the cheapest option first, for obvious reasons, and then somehow settle down on the next best in terms of price. Reasoning being that the cheapest item would definitely be prone to defects, and also because no good item of some considerable value can be priced so low, so the item must be dodgy. Of course, discounting the cases where its a regular purchase, and I know the product well.

Consider the Tata Nano. Do read the story – http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39215/?mod=related – suggesting that its not selling as a hot cake Ratan Tata hoped it would (70000 units a year against 250000 odd projected), atleast not yet.

Apart from the various reasons suggested for the for the failure (or limited success !) of the Nano, I would say it did not sell because of the fact that it was the cheapest. And if I know the psyche of the Indian consumer (atleast of them who can spend INR 100000 on a car), I know that one would think twenty times before buying a ‘cheap’ item from the market, especially when its not ‘imported’ and looks like an autorickshaw (tuk-tuk).

The Alto, best selling small car by Maruti Suzuki, which comes in a 800 cc, outsells the erstwhile Maruti Suzuki 800 and now the Nano, precisely because of the same reason. Although, the Alto is a far better car, and apart from being economical, is very agile and smart-looking for a small city car. However, it sells well not only because its cheap, but because its costlier than the earlier Maruti 800.

For many Indian families, a car purchase is a moment of pride for a family, especially when it is something which your neighbors can not match. Purchasing the cheapest Nano wont give you that satisfaction, but buying the next costlier item in the list (without disturbing your budget) might.

However, coming back to the ongoing series in India, we have won 3 out of 5 and have got – what cricket reporters love to say – unassailable lead of 3-0. Feels good !

What feels more good is to see the news coverage on print and other media. Just love it. Love the way English team is being hammered and the Indian team being glorified. However, fact being nothing much has changed between the last series in England, apart from the conditions. While, we can definitely win abroad, and the last series was lost because of injuries (and bad luck !), the English can not win in foreign conditions, especially in India.

A few news pieces which I loved , especially on the English wicketkeeper who I think jumps around more often than needed.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2011/content/story/537235.html

Cricinfo : “… The most culpable man was the wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter, who missed an early chance to remove Gambhir on 17, before dropping Virat Kohli off a Jade Dernbach bouncer at a crucial juncture. “

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/20/england-india-one-day

Guardian Reports – “The experiment with Kieswetter is not working and there is no real reason to continue with it now, given his keeping in this match. Both Gambhir and Kohli were dropped and there may have been a stumping chance as well.”

The Independent : “India sealed victory with four balls left when Dhoni imperiously smote the first and second balls of the final over for four. He has now scored 250 runs in his last four innings against England without being dismissed – 78no, 50no, 87no and last night 35no. The world supply of asterisks may be under threat. “ – http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/dhoni-wraps-up-series-then-sticks-knife-into-england-2373567.html

BBC : http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/15384514.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/15396104.stm

Cricketnext.in : http://cricketnext.in.com/news/india-win-revenge-series-against-england/60957-13.html

Well, before that I will have the find out what has changed in me in the last one year. Am I the same individual that I was before the MBA, or have I really changed ? If so, what ?

Is it really important ? Yes, to find out what my potentials are and what can I offer to my potential employer. What value add I can bring and what can I really provide as a differentiating factor.

Talking to an alumni forced me to go this way and I was forced to introspect. I do have gained some soft skills and some leadership and management skills. What are they, and how can I use them in my next job.

Looks like a lot to think and introspect!

First week of post MBA was amazing. After a lot of shifting and stuff, I tried to settle down.

Also it was time to say goodbye to dear friend Subhash who was returning back to India and we ended up partying the whole week, meeting someone or the other in Central London and returning back late night every day.

And then came the time to write resumes, rewrite them, numerous times, and trying to get hold of recruiters. And, before I could realise it was already October ! Swoosh…

Time has flown, really fast. Especially the last 8 weeks or so. Job hunting has been tough, and it is going to be even difficult, it seems so.

Ours was one of the 20+ boats that Cranfield had and we fared very badly, perhaps ranked 30 out of the total 37.

But it was pure fun, and a lot of work.

Sailing is fun !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_by_revenue

Walmart leads the chart with more than 400 billion in revenues. Quite astonishing. Some more personal observations and trite remarks:

1. None of them have yet reached 1 trillion USD. Why not a single of them, is it too huge ? Considering that GDP of India is 1.5 trillion (USD), it looks a big number, isn’t it.

2. Largest Indian company, IOCL is 139th in the list with 54 billion, and then Reliance at 180. Quite a lot of catching up to do for Indian companies to be somewhere in top 10. China is already there – with 2 companies in top 10.

3. How is Walmart at the top ? How can a retail company generate more revenues than oil and gas ? Difficult to imagine. But then the scale and geographies in which Walmart operates is bigger than any other company. Also it proves how much the Americans consume !

And yes, an amazing last term awaits. Here are a few things that are going to happen.

1. IBE – As part of the mandatory International Business Experience, am going to Mexico with 3 other people. Will be a fun filled week ahead.

2. Wimbledon (probably) – After I spent 3 hours seeing Federer lose in French Open (and I lost a lot of pounds on my beer at the social), I am so looking forward to the Wimbledon where I can possible watch him win the title. (At least get in and watch on the big screen, thats the plan)

3. Regatta – Cranfield Annual Regatta is during the last week of July, and we are sailing ! Has to be fun.

4. Lords – India VS Eng – 1st test – last week of July, must watch game. Tickets booked and we are definitely going.

This is just a list of planned things, and a lot of unplanned things will come up for sure.

During the last 2 months or so, I have been busy as well. Here is a list.

1. Visited Wales – 3 day trip to south Wales, Cardiff etc.

2. Visited Lake District – lovely place and a lot of good drives. Amazing.

And also visited a lot of places in London, like touring the Big Ben, London Eye, Greenwich et al.

Also went to a visit to the London Metal Exchange to see live trading. Awesome.

• Guided tour through the Red Light district (I will be the guide)
• Boat tour through the canals of Amsterdam, passing Anne Frank house, the Western tower and the houses of everybody that matters in today’s world of journalism, TV, media, art.
• Lunch Pick-nick in Vondelpark, the hippest place in summer
• Visit to Van Gogh museum, the world’s largest collection of his paintings
• Guided walking tour through the Jewish quarter, Rembrandt House, Amstel River area with famous bridges, theatre, John Lennon Bed-in Hotel, 17th century trading places and shipyards (17th century is Holland’s Golden Age); again I will gladly be the tour guide.
• And of course I will take you guys to a coffee shop for hashish or in my case space cake.
• Visit to Keukenhof, the large tulip exhibition that is open from end of march until the beginning of May. It is about 30 km away from Amsterdam and requires public transport or car

Then of course there are some special programme items for this weekend because of Queen’s day:

• On Friday night 29 April there is a large party with live music in many places in The Hague and in Utrecht (both are about 35 minutes by train from Amsterdam).
• On April 30 Amsterdam is the place to be with live music, free market and lots of drunken people.

Asia, more particularly India and China are going to be the most sought after destination for higher education in the coming decade (if not earlier).

China increasing its quality of education – China has been trying to attract foreign students since a long time and more importantly to retain its students who go abroad for studies in huge numbers. The quantity of schools and universities is not a problem for China, but the inherent quality of education to match with the Harvards and Oxfords of the world is a key challenge. However, with Capital in hand it can reform this and make itself the next best option after US and UK and may be exceed them in near future.

India – with reforms in the education sector which now provides permission to foreign universities to setup campuses and courses in India, we are already seeing foreign universities setup in India. We might soon see a Harvard and Cambridge in India, and coupled with the quality of facutly India has, it can be a very lucrative destination for foreign students.

UK set to reduce immigration levels – with UK set to curb immigration for non-EU citizens from April 2011, which might impact students coming for higher education (UK’s education export amounts to almost £40billion). We will definitely see more students choosing to study at home in Asia rather than going abroad.

We have already seen decline in number of student intakes in the last few years in Australia due to visa/work restrictions and other reasons. And with a fear of double dip recession still looming over USA, we might see a decline in people opting for the states as the destination for foreign education (however, I believe USA will still remain the hottest destination for near future).

Another factor to consider is the level of opportunities people are exposed to after they come out of universities with MS, MBA, PhD and other degrees in hand. Pay levels (which are higher in USA/UK) are definitely a factor and if we start seeing such levels in Asia (Singapore/HK already have such levels), this can be a defining factor in attracting people to study and work in Asia.

Also read – India- the next university Superpower?

Here are a few musings from my MBA so far:

Its fun : Those who think doing an MBA is tough, competitive and way too difficult after lots of work experience, I would say its not. Its quite a lot of fun actually. The work load is manageable, competitive and we do have lots of parties here (especially since we live far away from London).

There is always something happening here: We are always upto something. We had the VCIC competition recently, some people are doing Hult global challenge, a few are deep into preparing for Regatta, Ski Trip, Eastern european extravaganza etc. We had pancakes day last week, having a St Patricks day this week, an auction for supporting London Marathon this friday apart from Career’s fair tomorrow, and Venture capitalist’s briefing, Exam reviews, couple of assignment submissions, and job interviews for a few of us. Boy ! Its a lot to chew.

And if I add what all we had in the first term, I would be going on and on about it… People here have amazing levels of energy and are extremely supportive.