Why Indians come late to parties and Americans don’t!

(Note: Basic knowledge of game theory is required to understand this. )
I had one strange observation while I was going for my friend’s party yesterday. Everyone I asked thought of going 1 hour late to the party. This is how I thought that things are actually working in the background.

These are the typical observations in a party scenario.
1. Normal party time : 8 PM – 10 PM
2. If you come 1 hour late i.e. at 9PM you will leave by 10:30 PM
3. Since some people came in late so those who come at 8PM are forced to stay back till 10:30 PM
4. You don’t incur any penalty by coming late

Now if I apply convert this in terms of pay-off when Nitin (my friend) and I plan to leave for the party. This is what I will get.
Each cell indicates the loss in time. E.g. “-0.5” represents extra half and hour lost by Deepesh because Nitin came late to the party. Similarly "+0.5" represents and extra half and hour gained by Nitin as he came late to the party.

Now by using game theory we can see that (+0.5, +0.5) is equilibrium.

But then why do Americans come to party on time?
The reason is that observation#4 is not true for them. There is a penalty in terms of loss of face if they come late. If we attach some value e.g. “-2” to this loss and re-work our table the pay-offs look something like this.

Both the people “Ontime” is the dominant cell. So, now I think I understood why we are always late in parties ;-)

Bangalore - Hyderabad Drive

I am not one of those who love to drive but was forced to do that recently. I had to join my MBA School (ISB) in Hyderabad and so had to move with bag-n-baggage from Bangalore. I had the option of taking a driver but that meant compromise on space and privacy. So, I chose not to take a driver as there was a lot of stuff which I wanted to carry. Since I wasn’t too confident about my driving and the distance was around 600 kms we (my wife and I) planned for a night halt at Kurnool. Given my Maruti Swift’s collapsible rear seat I was able to stuff it with loads of luggage and household articles.

We started early morning 7 o’clock from Bangalore. The NH-7 is the highway which directly connects the two cities. So, all I had to do was to connect to NH-7 at Hebbal from my house at Marathalli. We took the 1st break at Chikbellapur, which is around 50 kms from Bangalore. Just before you enter Chikbellapur there is a nice restaurant for snacks and refreshment. We took a 15-20 mins break. The road from Bangalore till Chikbellapur is rather wide and you can enjoy speeds over 100 km/hr. Once you leave Chikbellapur, Anantpur (a district in AP) starts. Though the highway is ok but at that point in time most of NH-7 was in the widening mode. We took a break or two before we reached Anantpur at 12 noon after driving about 220kms from Bangalore. Anantpur is a small town and you’ll have to take a diversion from the highway to enter the town. We wanted to check-in an AC restaurant as it was pretty hot. The only restaurant we found was Spice something (can't recall the exact name). The food was good, especially the veg biriyani. We started at 1 PM. Now our destination for the day was Kurnool, another 150 kms. Between Anantpur and Kunool there are 2 Reliance A-1 Plazas. These are wide spacious restaurants. Please note that they are good and neat but not AC. We used to break for 15 mins to have some caffeine. There are other similar concept cafes from BP, called Dhaba. We finally reached Kurnool at 4 PM. We checked in Mourya Inn, the only star hotel in that town. The AC room on twin sharing basis was Rs 950 + 5% tax. Not the best hotel which we had seen but for a 1 night halt it was fine. We were very tired and so did not explore the town much and has food in one of the hotel's restaurant. Kurnool has the original Pulla Reddy sweets shop, in case you want to try some.

Next day we again started at 7 AM and Hyderabad was another 220 kms. There were very few decent restaurants for breakfast and it is very easy to miss them, so consciously look out for them. There was only 1 Relaince-A1 Plaza and it was around 40 kms before Hyderabad (and 1 BP Dhaba about 35 kms from Hyderabad). We took some short breaks and touched Hyderabad outskirts at 12 noon. As expected we lost our way in the city and it took around 1 hr to find our way.

Overall, we drove at an average speed of 40 km/hr including all the breaks; we covered the distance of 600 kms in 15 hrs. After Karnataka mostly the highway was single lane but driving during the day time was easy. The traffic on Friday between Bangalore and Kurnool was pretty low. It was on the higher side on Saturday between Kurnool and Hyderabad, which could be partly because of the upcoming Ugadi festival. But overall it was a comfortable and safe drive even for a beginner like me!

(For detailed driving direction we used the following map from MapMyIndia: http://mapmyindia.com/online/?cx=-1324684&cy=4689631&cz=3&from=Martahalli%20Underpass,Marattahalli,Bangalore,Karnataka&to=ISB%20Executive%20Housing,Serilingampally,Hyderabad,Andhra%20Pradesh&via=&type=best&q=dir)

My journey to ISB (Indian School of Business)

The Start

Actually my journey to ISB (http://www.isb.edu/) started from ISB itself. We, my wife and I, went to meet our friends (Akash and his wife Richa who was a student there) at ISB on Holi. I never thought that just a weekend at the campus would bring so much change to my life. During my stay I got a chance to interact with the ISB students and saw the difference in their thought process (I smartly assumed that difference has been inclucated due to the education and wasn't innate to them ;-). The same evening we also met some enterprenurues from other world class B-schools who were starting a venture in Hyderabad. I and my wife also saw that the whole concept of leaving job and studying for 1 year combined with the ISB's great support system (in terms of housing, spouse activities, etc which makes it possible even for poeple with kids) overall looked do-able. I had this long drawn ambition of doing an MBA and after having failed at a venture earlier, a 1 year MBA from ISB even after a work-ex of 9 years very looked promising and a great value add.

GMAT Prep

I came back to Bangalore and chalked out a plan. It had to start with GMAT (there is no other option). So I bought only 1 book: OG-11 (must have). I started my preps with this book and realised that my english (espically Sentence Correction) is too weak. I got hold of "Manhattan's Sentence Correction", another great book. Once I learned the basic SC warfare techniques I did lot of excercises on internet websites. I prepared (mostly english) for 2 months, with an input of around 2 hours per day. So, with 3 - 3.5 months of prep I wrote GMAT and scored a good 740. This was the shortcut route which I followed given work schedule and my decent hold on maths because of my engineering background.

NOTE: A good GMAT score in no way garuntees an admit but a bad score surely increases the proability of rejection of your application. So, a score of 700+ will make sure that the schools will atleast read your application.

School Choice

Now comes the tough part because if you thought that with GMAT everything is done, let me tell you that it has just started.

I wanted to do an MBA prefreably from India, because of my plans to work in India (so far) and the budgetary constraints. With this I had the following options:

1. ISB

2. PGPX (IIM-A)

3. PGPEX (IIM-C)

4. IPMX (IIM-L)

Now you should note that IIM-C runs the session from Jan - Dec, so the applying cycle is different. For the remaning 3 schools the cycle is mostly the same, from Apr - Mar. So, finish off your GMAT in July as PGPX forms have to submitted by 10-Aug. The program costs also varies with ISB being the most expensive at ~19 lacs, PGPX at ~14 lacs and PGPEX at 8 lacs. Most of these programs have a minimum experience criteria which is 5 years except ISB, where it is 2 years. But these facts you can check from their respective website.

My Gyan

Disclaimer: These are my thoughts when I applied in various schools and can be totally incorrect.

I applied to only 2 schools: ISB and IIM-A. I missed IIM-C deadline and I did not want to explore IIM-L because it was a totally new program (2008 they will start thier 1st batch). But then there are advantages of joining the 1st batch as well, so I leave that decision up to you. There are some good european (mostly for 1 year) and US schools (for 2 year) as well.

General: Since all these schools really value the diversity factor so Indian IT Male (IIM) is the most common profile. So, if you are one of those better prepare yourself to show what is diverse in your profile. Women candidates, non IT profile, something outstanding in terms of starting something new at work or outside work would be a great value add.

Also, you have to write essay (a new concept for me). I spent ample time with my wife and friends trying to weave my life happenings in a coherent story. I bet this is the most difficult part of application. Best is to get the essays reviewed by an alum, if possible. You can also use certain professional services but personally I didn't find them very useful. Also don't get too many reviewers else you'll be left totally confused.

IIM-A: The best part of the PGPX application is that you don't have to write the essay when you submit the application form on 10-Aug. Only if your application is shortlisted then you have to submit the essays but they give a very short time: 7-10 days for 5 essays. The minimum work-ex is 5 years and the average is ~10 years. This makes it difficult for people with 5-6 years experince. I have observed that IIM-A is very keen on international experince. So, if you have stayed a couple of years in different countires that will be a great value add. I have seen a lot of Indian students in IIM-A who were settled abroad and joined IIM-A. Generally the intake is 70 fresh students per year with ~10 students who take deferral from the previous year. The placements of the last 2 batches have been very good.

ISB: The minimum required experience is 2 years and the average work-ex is 5 years. This makes it difficult for people (like me) who have more than 8 years experince. But then the good news is the class size is 400+ so there is ample scope for everyone. I would also suggest to apply in the 1st dealine if you are serious. The BIG plus from this year that ISB is ranked in the Top 2o Business schools of the world (check Financial Times ratings) !

Once you have applied to the B-schools of your choice you can meet the prospective students and share your anxities and experiences on http://www.pagalguy.com/.

Conclusion

For me, the prep for the journey succeded when I received an admit from ISB (PGPX resulted in a wait-list). The bug to do something 'different' has bitten me and I have been able to convince the adcom as well. I hope that my journey continues well even in ISB and gives me some blogging time as well :-)

My spiritual trip - Rameswaram and Madurai

This is my 1st post and i'll try my best to post it in a way that you understand !

After a lot of re-scheduling I decided to take my parents to Rameswaram and Madurai for short religious tour. We booked Tuticorin Exp. from Bangalore and reached Madurai early morning. Now we were in two minds, to visit Madurai or to head for Rameswaram and checkout Madurai on our way back. Now, Mr. Pandi, an official railway taxi driver, solved our problem. Infact we were disappointed that TTDC (Tamilnadu tourism dept) office at the station could not be of much help. Mr. Pandi offered us a taxi package for Rs 2,200 for 9 AM to 3PM (next day) drive to Rameswaram with a drop back at Madurai. It worked fine for our pocket and our journey started.

Drive in Mr. Pandi's 1970s ambassdor was fast (for an ambi) but peaceful. He stopped at a local hotel in Madurai for breakfast and we had some good idly-vadas. The sambhar in Madurai was different from the one I have in Bangalore, though as a northy I'm not an expert. The best part of our drive was the break at the Indra Gandhi Bridge. Every visitor ought to stay and see the scenic view, the narrow rail bridge and the vast ocean on either side.

We reached Rameswaram in the afternoon and check-in at Sarvana hotel. The rate was Rs 815 per day for an AC room, which was on the higher side for Rameswaram. The town has many economical lodges and dharm-shalas, but for comfortable stay my best pick is 'Goswami Guest House (also know as Goswami Madam)', a beautiful hotel which has all possible room combinations. Evening we spend some time in 'Goswami' and listened to some bhajans. The right atmosphere for a religious visit. I assure you that I won't get a commission from them ;-) For food, there are hordes of Rajasthani and Gujrati food joints. They serve home made food for Rs 35 - 50 per meal. My best pick is the Gujrati Bhojnayala (restaurant) in Gujrat Bhawan midway from the east gopuram of the temple and the sea shore.

Now back to my trip; the 1st day we checked a few temples in the vicinity. With all due respect to other places, I liked the Hanuman mandir. It has floating stones which are claimed to be used for the Ram Sethu. People can also buy them for puja, ranging from Rs 5 for a small one to Rs 1000 for a bigger one. It's bargaining everywhere ! Towards the evening, around 6 PM, we went to the main Rameswaram temple (Timings: 4AM-1PM and 4PM - 8:30PM). The massive temple is 865 ft long and 657 ft wide. The temple has 1200 pillars ! Total walkable distance is in temple's 3 corridors is greater than 1 km !To study the complete architecture it is worth buying a guide book. (My numbers also from a book :-) After visiting the main shirne, Ramlingam - The lingam done by Sita, we visited Viswalingam - The lingam brought by Hanuman. Friday evening had a special puja and we sat for the Aarti in the Parvathi's shrine. The next day we re-visited the temple early morning, 5 AM, for Mani darshan. Mani, is a glass like lingam given by Adi Shankrachrya as per a local guide. This darshan, ironically is done without taking a bath between 5AM - 6 AM. after the mani darshan came the most interesting part, the snan (bath). As per the belief all visitors are 1st supposed to take a dip in ocean and then in the 22 famous theerthams (the holy well). Taking a bath in all these theerthams purify the body as well as mind. I still need to attest this ! Now again comes the bargaining part: Rs 7 is the official entry rate per person for theerthams but you know it doesn't work that way ;-) So, we finally settled for Rs 2 per theertham per person which made it Rs 51 per person. Now, I think we got a good deal, atleast feeling so makes me happy :-) I believe you can't escape this 'pay' option else you need to carry your own bucket ! After the bath we finally went for another round of darshan. You can offer abhishek and do other pujas for various prices (Rs 250 onwards) but we choose against it. We entered at 5:30 AM and finally left at 8:00 AM. After all this we had some good Gujrati theplas at our favourite Gujrati Bhojnayal.

Now Mr. Pandi drove us back to Madurai. Even in the month of Dec Madurai was scorching hot. Due to the temperature we limited our Madurai sight seeing to Thirumalya Nayak palace and the famous Meenakshi Temple (Timing: 6AM - 12:30PM and 4PM-9PM). The palace visit was a fiasco, when we compared this to the Mysore palace. May be, it would look better during the light-and-sound program which is temperorily discontinued. We thanked and parted way with Mr. Pandi. We deposited our luggage in the cloak room and walked to the Meenakashi temple when it opened at 4 PM and had a nice darshan and aarti of the Meenkshi and the Shiva deity. Again, I would suggest buying a guide book from the market in the temple corridors. It is worth a read to assimlate the history of the 1000 year old temple. You can also check out the sari emporiums for the traditional sarees, but I could somehow divert my wife's attention. ( I won't disclose the tricks for those ;-)

I also tried the famous Madurai 'halwa' just opposite the Madurai railway staion. While at the station I could see the happiness on my mother's face when we were discussing about the temples. I felt very satisfied and finally dozzed off after boarding the 7:45 PM Mysore express to Bangalore.