The Case of the Peacock Legs

Lots has been written about how it feels to have the privilege of graduating from ISB. To me, the best part of the one year was about getting to know a highly talented group of people. The first that I'd like to mention is the creative team of Reetu and Pruthvi and their brilliant cartoon series called The Cold Call.

I have gone on record multiple times that I am a "big fan" of this strip, and I hope to see the their brand grow in value. I vouch so much on their talent that I will treasure their autographed first-issue.

I knew I must be one of their biggest fans, but never knew that I am considered so big a fan that I get a special mention in their FAQ section, which brings me to this blog post.

Do you want to know why peacocks don't have legs? It's a long story... read it right here...

I don't remember the exact date, well it doesn't matter. It was a very fine day. On that particularly fine day, peacocks in the campus tried to imitate dance moves of a certain macro-economics professor, which resulted in irreparable damage to their legs (peacock anatomy is obviously quite different from that of professors') and so, rather unfortunately, their legs had to be amputated.

Just the way humans sell kidneys, peacocks ended up selling their legs, for cheap (read free). Peacock legs are considered a delicacy and the peacocks didn't know that. But Pruthvi and Reetu knew it and wanted to make money. They made an offer to the peacocks to dispose off their rotting legs for free and the poor peacocks were gullible enough to agree. But when so many peacock legs flooded the market (after all, the product was highly perishable), prices plummeted (just the way it happened for students at a premium b-school). Pruthvi and Reetu ended up in huge losses. Their idea of avoiding bankruptcy was to publish a book of their scribblings, which, because of smart marketing tactics, became a rage in the community.

People from the community were used to buying egg puffs for a whopping Rs. 18 each and so they didn't even blink an eyelid when buying the book for a premium. Goes without saying that the books sold like hot-cakes and the unscrupulous duo were back in business.

So, why is it written in the book that people should ask ME about the missing legs? Because I filed a 'peacock interest litigation' against Prithvi and Reetu for trying to make undue profits without any concern to the plight of the peacocks who were left handicapped. The fight was bitter and we settled out of court. Apart from the huge sum of money that I earned (because the peacocks didn't want any) and ended up donating (on the duo's behalf - see, I am ethical) to the wild-life fund, I was offered a special mention in their book, which I gladly accepted.

It's not enough if you read this tale and say "aah" and forget about it. Leave a note on the Cold Call's page. I love their work and I'm sure you do too. If you still do not know what their book is all about, God save your soul.

as RAW as it gets (shooting in RAW/NEF format)

After getting into ISB, I had the pleasure of meeting many good photographers. When I tried to steer the discussion into RAW format and image processing workflows, almost all of them had the opinion that RAW format isn't worth the pain - atleast when shooting at a party. I thought I'd take this example to illustrate how shooting in RAW helped me get a good shot.

Here's a picture of one of my friends downing a bottle of beer. I wanted to catch the silhouette for a creative shot. But the light source that was supposed to create the silhouette crept in and fooled the camera's spot metering and grossly underexposed the picture.

Nikon D90 - 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6G VR - 24mm - F/9 - 1/320s - 800 ISO - Cropped

If I had taken this photo in JPEG format, I would have had a tough time to recover the details without botching up. Mind you - asking my friend to pose for the shot again was not possible! The point is that the image sensor of my camera (Nikon D90) is actually sensitive enough to capture a lot more detail and it did. But it is not apparent on the JPEG because the JPEG processor used only part of the dynamic range of the data to render the image, thus sacrificing on the detail.

I toook the RAW image into Capture NX2, I pumped up the exposure compensation to +2 (This brings out the detail in the dark - just like 'pushing' ISO 100 film to behave like an ISO 400 film). I set shadow protection to 10 (brought out more detail and more noise with it) and then a noise-reduction to minimise the effect of noise. I then converted it to a Black-and-white image (for the feel) and this is what I got.

If I hadn't used the RAW option, this image would have been unusable.

I totally understand that shooting in RAW takes a lot of precious memory space, and the amount of work involved is a lot. I bought enough memory (memory is cheap) and I use the processing power of my laptop at night (many a times, my laptop runs overnight to convert my NEFs to JPEGs using my specific settings. 95% of the photos look good with batch-processing and then I dump the associated NEFs. The rest of the 5% can be vastly improved by manually developing the NEFs. Then there's the 1% of shots (like the one above) that have some creative potential in them and I love to spend a lot of time developing and re-developing them till I get the picture the way I want it.

Using RAW, you're using your expensive image sensor to the best capability. Shooting in RAW is not as painful as people portray it to be. You don't even need specialized software because the latest version of Picasa seems to handle RAW files from most of the popular cameras, so maybe you should give it a try. Believe me, it's worth it.

What an MBA can do to you

Looking back at my illustrious past, the 18 long years of education is projected in my mind's eye in black-and-white. There were days when home-work was heavy and there were days when nothing in the class made an iota of sense. There were days when I skipped lunch to read for an exam and there were days when crows took a dump in my lunch box.

All of those days seem like sweet (or gross) memories of the past, but nothing compared to the feelings that went through my mind when I looked at the "blackboard" today. Profs have uploaded the course-outlines that describe what to expect from a class-room session. The course-outlines give a taste of how much work goes into each session. Every 2 hour class-room session seems to ask for about 10 hours of effort outside the class-room. There's tons of pre-read, assignments and projects attached to every class. I was expecting a lot of work, but nothing to this magnitude.

I then talked to a couple of people about what they think of the course, and I heard some interesting perspectives. I seem to like what they said and I pen it down here. I would like to visit this post after a year to see where I stand. Here's the jist of what I heard today.

"Attending class is probably one of the least labor-intensive aspects of the learning here. It is what I do before and after the class that really matters. I understand that I need neither an MBA degree nor association with a premium b-school to understand the basic concepts of business. I also understand that I do not earn recognition as an MBA student if I can spit out business jargon. What I get here is an opportunity to open up my mind, take a step back, and get a new perspective of life and the people that make up my society. This course will not teach me how to be successful as an individual. It will instead teach me how I can steer a team or a society to success in what they do, and that, in turn, will make me successful. I came here with a perspective of my own. I might end up unlearning all the concepts that the society has driven into my head. I emerge out of the crowd only when I can think ahead of them and the society. That's what thought-leadership is all about, and that's what I get to learn at ISB."

I will sleep over these thoughts tonight and see how I feel tomorrow. I wish all my classmates the very best for their first core-term.

Bus ride to Koti & Gokul Chat

It feels good to be back in good ol' Hyderabad. I did my engineering here, and it feels even better to be back here as a student. During my 4 years of engineering, going to Koti was a ritual that kick-starts a new semester.

I take a crowded bus 225 to Koti, get down the running bus while it turns right on the Andhra Bank HO junction, walk down to a book-stall, return books that I hated in the last semester, and buy new ones. Then head over to Gokul Chat, and savor a plate of bhel-puri. Walk down slowly back to the bus-stop, take 225 heading back home, reach home, drop the books, glug down 3-4 glasses of water to re-hydrate my system, and black-out.

Now that I am a student again and have a couple of pre-term books to buy, I really wanted to re-live the experience of going to Koti as a student. I could as well hire an auto or drive down to Koti in my car, but I really wanted to do it the good ol' way. So, here's how it went:

Bus 225 was crowded as always and I had to stand for about 10 minutes to find a seat. Then I got to squeeze into the last seat, sharing the long seat with 6 others. My thoughts drifted back to the bus I used to take in Williamsport. The bus there always had a seat for me, and I didn't have to share it with anyone. The temperature was controlled, and the driver would always wish me well when I get off the bus. Open my eyes and I am back in a sultry bus sweating heavily and breathing the exhaust of my neighbors.

I reminded myself that I have done this many times before and that this cannot be classified as suffering. I reached Koti and was prepared to see all the shops on the side of the road taken off. This was a move to ease traffic on the road. The book-stalls have been moved to a different location nearby. I walked past Gokul Chat with a smiling face, this is a place I sorely miss from my college days.

The guy at the book-stall over-quoted the price by Rs.200 and after I convinced him that I am ready to shove the book into his mouth if he doesn't quote the correct price, he relented and set his record straight. After finishing the book hunting, I walk down to Gokul Chat.

Gokul-chat, for the uninitiated, is a landmark fast-food joint in Koti, and almost every student has his dose of chat during his book-hunting trip. This place is so famous that terrorists targeted the place about 18 months ago. The place was reconstructed from the ashes and was re-opened to stand as a symbol condemning the thoughtless act. I felt that going back to this place and enjoying a savory dish is a way to remember the lives lost here, and a way to let the terrorists know that we, as citizens of Hyderabad, will live on. If you are reading this blog and have never visited the place, please do it once, for me.

I then took a 225 back home. I was very tired by the time I dragged my feet back home with the books. I needed several liters of water and two hours of solid sleep to start feeling normal again. The sultry day gave way to a thunderstorm in the evening, and I had some fun time walking in the rain, something I didn't get to do in the US, because the rains over there are not so inviting.

Looking back, the journey was worth it, especially because I could fulfill the dream of going back to Gokul chat. Living in the US is a league of its own, but doesn't compare to the experience of taking a bus to Koti.

I Hope I Know What I'll Do This Summer

The last 15 days have been life-changing for me. I can't say whether it made me any better or worse, but well, life has, you know, changed.

After a long and arduous wait, ISB has finally offered me admission into their 2009-'10 batch and I didn't spare an hour to give it any more thought. I was waiting for the results with bated breath (well, I did breathe just enough air to keep me alive) and when I finally got the news, I sort of cut loose. I quit my well-paying job, settled my lease, booked my tickets back to India, popped open a bottle of Chopin and what not. And now, I am here in India.

The weight of my decisions has yet to reach my brain, and I still can't believe it's happening. I've been hearing conflicting opinions from people - half of them are ecstatic about my achievement, and half of them are concerned about my future, unsure how the market will turn out to be when I graduate.

The objective of spending a year at ISB should not be the "post-MBA salary". That's probably the narrowest of perspectives you could talk yourself into. From the interactions I've had over email, I seem to have hit a group with a wavelength that matches mine, and I look forward to make many friends. The infrastructure and faculty at ISB is the best money can buy, and more. I am fine as long as I make good use of what ISB has to offer, and sooner than later, I'll get where I always wanted to be.

But the money involved does make it tough for us to step back and take the broader perspective. I guess some of us will always carry our apprehensions within us until we find ourselves on terra firma after completing the course.

For now, I'm all set to take off into outer-space. I hope I come back home with a smile on my face, and a little more than a couple of moon-rocks.

Spending

With so many blogs buzzing about the economy, I didn't find anything to which I could add value. But I did find something I can talk about today. Here's the video.



So, according to the video, the money you spend on a luxury haircut could instead be spent on buying textbooks for a poor boy. And based on this logic, it questions your spending habits.

"Spending" is now a controversial issue because of the US Government bailouts. Let me argue in the Government's favor for a minute. If I had Rs.500, what kind of an effect would it have on a society if I spent it on a deluxe haircut? I'd probably pay Rs.450 to the saloon and Rs.50 in tip to my barber. The saloon would probably give Rs.100 out of the Rs.450 I paid to the barber as part of his salary. The barber gets Rs.150. He probably spends 80% of his income in the same month, which would mean that about Rs.120 is going back into the market, for probably his daily needs - groceries, house rent etc. The grocer on the street gets some business, and the landlord gets to have his rent, which he would spend on something else. The saloon owner gets his pie, and he probably spends 10% on the saloon maintenance / renovation which again is a business for someone else. He spends 50% of it to run his family, which again goes into the market - he probably goes to the same grocer. The grocer gets more business, and he spends the profit on maintaining his own family.

Get the drift? The more you spend, the more you spread your "prosperity" around. So, it's not true that you're "wasting" money when you splurge.

Is that the whole story? Hell no. It's alright as long as you spend what you legitimately earn, on something that has potential value, as long the money you're earning comes from a controlled source, and after you are done feeding your piggy. If you don't follow this, you're doing more harm than good to society. Hmm... what did I say? Read on...

Spend what you legitimately earn. Don't spend what you don't have. Take a loan if that's an utmost necessity. Don't borrow because there's someone ready to lend it to you at throw-away prices. Don't borrow what's beyond your means of repayment. Follow your dreams when it comes to your ambitions, but check back with reality when you need a loan. And when you take a loan, use the money wisely. Don't take a home-equity and go on a vacation. Oh well, there's nothing wrong in taking a vacation - you're helping the economy of the small resort-town you might be visiting, but what material value did it add to you, other than probably delaying your wife's divorce plans? And remember, you gotta pay it back some day.

The money you earn should come from a controlled source. Do you earn Zimbabwian dollars? Then I am sure you don't have enough money to look at this blog, so you're not reading this. Do you earn US Dollars? You probably are doing OK now, but you are sitting on a ticking time-bomb. The US Government is not following this rule now and neither are you, if you're spending your big US Dollars today. Uncle Sam wants you to spend, but you should now how "controlled" the source is if you look at the trade deficit charts and how well the USD is holding against gold prices. And looks like US now wants to tighten the bond (aka treasury bonds) with China. What's this new-found-love for?

Feed your piggy first. Save your money and know where your savings are going. If you're about to retire and had your valuable 401k fully invested in the stock market, don't cry foul. And whenever you think of the Government, think of this song...

You say you're looking for someone
Never week but always strong
To protect you and defend you
Whether you're right or wrong
Somone to open each and every door,
But it ain't me babe...

Bob Dylan

So, now how much money do you really have, and what do you want to "spend" it on? And are you ready to lend it to someone? Oh really?

BTW... so many thoughts couldn't have come out of me if my good friend hadn't introduced me to Ron Paul and Peter Schiff.

BTW2... Looks like AR Rahman won two Oscars. How about that! Wonder what Rahman's doing with his money tonight.

BTW3... Is Barack Obama better than George W. Bush? Obama can speak coherently, so he definitely is better. But can he scoop the US out of the "deep shit"? Let's hope he does - unlike some of the republicans who just want to "see him fail".

A big "Thank you" to Pandit Ravi Shankar

Pt. Ravi Shankar was here in Hyderabad on January 11 for a concert after 20 long years. Me and my dad have been fortunate enough to be there. I cannot write a review of the concert as I did for several other concerts in my blog. I can't even find words to describe my experience. Over the past few days I have been writing blog entries to describe my experience, but I just don't seem to like anything I wrote.

So, I finally decided to just record the moment as an instance where I was blessed. The concert was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and truly extra-ordinary. Pt.Ravi Shankar is 89 years old and when he plays his Sitar, you are transformed to a new world. His physical aging body doesn't make an iota of a difference. His Sitar is as sonorous as it ever sounded.

His daughter Anoushka Shankar is a promising heir to his kingdom. I am sure she is capable of taking her father's Sitar tradition forward for the next generation.

I thank Pundit Ravi Shankar for coming down to Hyderabad to bless us and I extend thanks to APTDC and HICC for ensuring that the concert was organized well.