It's actually very interesting to see the way kids can understand what exactly they should not be doing! Same is true for Arya.

Generally we drink water direct from the bottle and do not usually use a glass. Couple of days back Mousumi & I decided to have a drink after dinner. Of course, vodka is not something you take direct from the bottle. Out came two glasses and we were sitting & chilling out.

Till now Arya was happily playing with his toys. Moment he saw the two glasses on the side table he was aroused. For him, glasses were a new thing and he decided that he wanted them. All the toys were forgotten and he crawled & tottered on his tiny feet upto the table.

We had kept the glasses well away from his reach but had not totally removed them just to see what he was going to do. To give him credit he tried his best. From one side of the table, then the other side he made an all out effort to get hold of them. He even caught hold of one of his nappies and tried to flap at the glasses with it.

Mousumi was extremely critical and said you have to see whose son he is. I guess the men are blamed no matter what. You say anything & you get branded as an MCP. But I'm digressing. Coming back to Arya....

Poor chap, ultimately, gave up. And like with all other things which do not go as per his wishes this also had one outcome. He started to cry. Ok....time for corrective measures. Picked him up in my lap and took him to the kitchen. He has this strange affinity to the kitchen. No matter how much he is crying or being grumpy, moment he enters the kitchen he is happy. All smiles. Can't say 32 all out because he still has only 4 teeth. That solved the problem for then. In the future I guess we can only have a drink once he goes off to sleep.

If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be travelling on, now,
'Cause there are too many places I've got to see.
But if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldn't be the same,
'Cause I'm free as a bird now,
And this bird you cannot change,
Lord knows I can't change.

One of my favourite songs, this gem from Lynyrd Skynyrd epitomises so many things that go on through our mind. The desire to break free, to see new things, to test yourself to the limits.

My interview for ISB was smooth for the most part. There were hardly any difficult questions and most of it was general conversation about the economy & the CA profession.

One of the panel members was a CA, though he did not tell me that initially. He had put forward the question "Do you think the CA profession is getting commoditized?" By commoditization what he meant was that is it only about the fees being quoted or is the quality of work also taken into account. This was a question where we had a healthy debate...almost 10 minutes went into this.

My take on the same was basically as follows:

1. The quality is definitely taken into account. I gave an illustration of a recent assignment which we won for a listed Company which is part of the Sensex. This was a prestigious assignment not only because of the brand name of the Client but because the scale & scope of the assignment was unprecented for the CA profession in India. It required about 50-60 people working full time on the assignment across different locations in India. Further, all the Big 4 had put in very aggressive proposals for the assignment.

2. In the end it came to us. I don't think this was solely because of the fees we had quoted which in any case was quite high. The team which we had put together for the delivery was of the highest quality. It involved specialists from respective fields and were headed by the Service Leader of the Practice for India as well as the Territory Senior Partner for India. Also we had planned to involve Senior Partners from overseas territories (one from US & one from Malaysia) who would be involved hands-on with the Project. Added to it was the deep experience PwC already possessed in this field. I believe it was the strength of the team which we brought across the table which ultimately clinched the assignment for us.

3. On a different note, I feel that fees quoted should in any case be a major issue. If all the Big 4 are bidding for a project, logically the team expertise & experience across them would be more or less similar in nature. So in a situation where there are 4 options, all equally good, for a Company to choose from, it is logical that it would choose the cheapest option. In the end, the Company has to look to its bottom line also. If you get equal quality of service from X for Rs. 1 million why would you select Y & pay him Rs. 2 million.

4. The problem would arise if you are just concentrating on the cost rather than the quality. In a situation where the Big 4 is quoting Rs. 10 Lacs & ABC Co. is quoting Rs. 2 Lacs and the assignment is awarded to ABC without regard to the fact that the Big 4 can give a much much better quality output then there is a problem. It would mean that the Client is just interested in getting the job done from a regulatory perspective and not from the point of value addition & possible improvements.

To summarize, I guess the problem is not with the profession but the mindsets of the Client Management. They alone can decide their perspective - are they interested in better quality or is it only about cost control. That I believe is the major differentiator and also an indicator to where the CA profession is heading on a long term.

One of the traditions at PwC is that all articles who complete their CA throw a party for the entire office. It is part celebration & part initiation to the CA profession. One progresses from a student to a professional. There are very few more satisfying feelings.

The last 3 pass out batches threw their combined bash on 15th Feb. It was a special evening for me. I have never been to a pass-out party before. Till the time I qualified, I had decided not to attend a single party. All parties after that, including my own party, I had to miss due to various reasons....most usually due to the fact that I was travelling for work. In a way, this was the first party I attended and also will be my last. After close to 5.5 yrs, this was going to be last time that I was going to share a drink with these wonderful guys as colleagues. It felt nostalgic and there was a feeling of sadness as the evening wore down.

The party was true to PwC form a success. There was ample booze. There is something about consultants and free booze. So accustomed are we to the fact that someone pays for our drinks that we don't think before downing more than one's usual quota.

Quite a few of the partners turned up also. It feels good to see the top guys turning up for a celebration which is essentially thrown by the juniormost guys in the firm.

In the end I believe it's all about personal relationships. As I left, there were quite a few juniors who walked up to me & said "We're going to miss you". That I believe is the greatest positive I am going to carry from PwC. Best wishes & love. Nothing can beat that. Nothing.

One of the pitfalls of having no work is having too much coffee. The amount of coffee you have is indirectly proportional to the amount of work you have (Note: if you are working after 9-10 at night, then again the two become directly proportional).

As mentioned in an earlier post, I hardly have any work these days. So, anybody I know who is going for a coffee break asks me to tag along. And I, having nothing better to do, oblige. The result is that I am having atleast 8-10 cups a day. At times, I have to pretend to be deep in work to refuse somebody. But they are quick to look through the charade...."Yaar, we know you are not doing anything....come on, na..." And there I go to the vending machine for the n-th time.

The sad thing is that I seem to be losing the taste of good coffee...the type my Mom or my Wife makes. So used have I become to the "Capuccino" I get at work....I am being forced to drink tea at home.

I hope to get back the taste again. Because, coffee is what is going to sustain me through the endless nights that's staring into my face. Just over a month to go before I land up at ISB. God, just thinking about it makes me want another cup of Capuccino again.....

I think what differentiates our generation from our predecessors is the fearlessness. We are not cowed down by any historical baggage and are willing to take up challenges. Everything is a challenge to be taken heads on. It is easy to let life take its own course and blame everything on destiny. But, no. We prefer to write our destinies and are willing to take a stand against accepted ideas & conventions. Most importantly, we dream. We dream of a better future and better world against all odds and all opposition.

I would like to share something which strengthened this fact more than any news report or stories I heard.

I had hailed an auto to go to a client (this was when I did not have a car). The driver asked me where in Okhla I wanted to go. I replied that I had to go to the Airtel office. After a brief pause, he asked which department did I work in. Harmless question. I replied that I actually do not work in Airtel but we do some work for them. I obviously thought that he will not understand the concept of audit.

Another brief pause and then he asks "Are you an auditor?" I was stunned and could think of no reply but say yes. Then he asks "Do you work for E&Y and work out of Qutab Institutional Area office?" I said no, my office is in Saket. "Ok, that means you work in PwC" By this time, I had lost it. I could just nod in the affirmative.

Then he looked at me in the rearview mirror, gave me a smile and asked "You must be puzzled?" Puzzled, at that moment, was the biggest understatement. I was stunned. Another thing I should mention is that this entire conversation was being carried out in English. Not halting English from somebody who is making an effort to learn the language but fluent English which can only be learnt at school and by regular reading.

Then he started explaining. Apparently he was from Gwalior where his father had a small business. He was a good student scoring about 86% in Class X and hoped to become a doctor. The business failed and they were out on the street. The whole family shifted to Delhi and with whatever savings they had managed to buy an Auto. Studies obviously took a back seat. For 2 years he drove the Auto and managed to complete Class XII by correspondence. Obviously the dream of becoming a doctor was over.

Now after 3-4 years, the family owned 3 autos and were limping back to normal exsistence. However, the fire still burnt. He said that he drove the Auto in the morning (after which a hired driver took over). In the afternoon he went to college where he was studying English. In the evening he studied French and volunteered in a local free primary school for the poor. Weekends were spent working with poor street children. He said "I have to build up my CV". His aspiration was to get in a Call Centre and hoped that additional language skills will put him on a faster track.

By now, we had reached my office. He asked me "Dada, will I succeed?" I said yes, there is no reason why you should not. But what I felt was that with courage like this, if you don't succeed, who will.

I normally do not pray. But as I got down from the Auto, all I could think was God, look after this boy. Whatever you do, don't destroy his spirit. Make him succeed. He, in so many ways, represents this country and this generation.

This was a question posed to me by the Managing Director of PwC yesterday. I had walked into his room to inform him that I would be leaving.

If you feel surprised that I could just walk into his room don't be. Our Partners/Directors are extremely accessible & you can literally knock & walk into their room. Though I have never worked with Mr Kapoor on any assignment he had taken my interview when I had joined in Dec 02. So I thought that I'll just let him know.

After congratulating me.....this was his question....are you going and coming or are you going and going.....basically the question meant that whether I'll be rejoining after my studies or whether I'll be leaving for good. But the way the question was put, I actually started laughing. He then asked me that why have I not been given the option of taking a long study leave & come back & what would I do if that option is given to me. Blabbered something in reply.

Summing it up, he said that everybody who has gone to ISB from PwC has done exceedingly well, both during time at ISB & after that. He said that I should keep in touch & he would like to know how my year is progressing.

I don't know how my life will pan out during or post ISB. But the wishes I am carrying there from my workplace....partners, managers, peers, juniors.....will always probably give me the extra impetus in whatever I try to do.

To have a partner actually walk up, shake your hand & give you a pat in the back is not something I anticipated. I'll probably never forget this day. The Senior Partner of the office actually opened the door of his cabin & ushered me out. And oh....he's promised to take me out for lunch next week. I'll definitely write about that once that happens.

I finally sent the money today. 2 Lacs is a lot of money but hopefully the payback will be more than worth it.
Accepted the offer in the online system also. There is a strange kind of relief now. A new journey is about to start but today also signalled the end of the journey towards ISB started about 7 months back.
My decision to apply this year, like so many other decisions of my life, was based on impulse. But the good thing was that this time I made sure that I took this to its logical conclusion and did not give up midway thinking it's not worth the effort.
That I believe is my biggest learning from this entire episode.

And you run and you run
To catch up with the sun
But it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way
But you are older
Shorter of breath
And one day closer to death

One of the basic assumptions of life - you want more and more of everything. This is what keeps you going, this is your aspiration, your motivation
But in the end, where does it lead to....you came alone, you will go alone.
Probably the important thing is what you will leave behind....for your loved ones, for your children, for the world at large. Will they remember you? And what will they remember you as?
Somebody who was just another person in the whole cog or one who tried, in his own little way, to make a difference.

And then one day you find
Ten year's of clock behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

I believe I heard the "starting gun"......Looking forward to run to you....ISB!!!

I do not have any work. It's hard to while away the day especially if Orkut & G-Talk is blocked in office. Basically my routine these days is to have coffee, socialize, coffee, socialize.....
The good thing is that as people know that I have got through to ISB, everybody is friendly and has a grin on their face whenever they see me. Even people with whom I have not been on good terms (very very few, actually) have come & told me that let's forget all that's happened & part on a good note.

This blog has been delayed by 4 days but I will try to recapture the "moment"
Finally got the mail I have been waiting for since last Friday. All I was doing since morning was hit F5 on the admit page & on my mail. Between endless cups of coffee & cribbing to my manager - "I am not being able to work" I was at my seat and going "refresh, refresh, refresh"
Around 12.15 news started filtering on the pagalguy.com site that results were coming through. Only I (& fellow admits) know how those 5-10 minutes passed.
Finally after the n-th time of hitting F5 the status on the page changed.
I was through.
Being in office I could not shout, scream or generally jump around.
A deep breath later I took a screen shot and mailed my wife. Called her up & said I'm through. Immediately called up my Group in Charge & said it's done (she was already in the loop) and said that I am sending the resignation mail!!!
The whole day passed in a daze after that. Spoke to everybody I know in office. SMS-ed people who were at clients., sent mails......in the excitement forgot to have lunch :(
At 4 my manager said that enough...go home.....you are distracting other people :) And so I left, with new dreams & optimism. Also excited to have resigned and slightly sad....this was first resignation and my first job. 5.5 yrs at PwC....lot of nostalgia
But in the end, the biggest sensation was of relief. Relief from vindication of the decision to go back to studies and the efforts that I had put in.

I had started my blogging under a different link which can be accessed from below http://enjoyingmytravelsthroughthislife.blogspot.com/

Somehow, I never liked the name of this blog.....too long was what I felt.

So shifted to a new blog which I feel is more "me".....if you know what I mean ;)

I've been thinking of starting to playing tennis again for a long time now. Sadly, Delhi/Gurgaon did not give me any oppurtunity to pick up the game. I had promised to myself that should i get into ISB, I will definitely play again.
And voila, ISB happened. So yesterday I walked into the shop and started looking at the racquets. The sales guy was all over me....Sir, this is good, that is good....He was particularly enthusiastic about the Wilson K-Factor range....Sir, Roger Federer plays with them.....
So I asked....Do I look remotely like the great man??? So why do I need his racquets??? It's good for the ego, I admit, and also probably pretty impressive to show off....but at 10k way way out of my budget. I said show me something at less than 5k....his enthusiasm came down quite a few notches. But to his credit, he stuck on.....look a this, look at that....
I had to tell him quite firmly.....Dude 5k is my budget and I am interested only if you are interested. I guess he got the drift. Picked up the racquet....I always wanted to own a Wilson one :)
I just hope that I find somebody at school to play with....at this stage even 5k is a big investment for me.