3 days left for Stern. Havent even begun the essays!!
I am hoping I havent lost my touch and will be able to thump out the essays and also mail the supplemental forms in the required time.
So this Friday will mark then end of the application submission saga for this year [and forever hopefully].

Applied to 8 schools:
Rejected by 1 without Interview
Denied by 1 After Interview
Awaiting results for 2; Interviewed at both
No news [which is not necessarily a bad or a good thing] for the other 4 yet.

I am totally sapped of all strength at this point. Hopefully the 3 week India trip will be the start of better things for me. And hopefully I will not have to go into any stupid backup plan mode..

Saw Dhoom 2. Some one needs to ride a bike up the directors backside. What a load of crock. Even for the usually crappy Hindi film genre, this one takes the cake. For some reason the director thinks that the Indian population will still believe stupid stunts like blocking bullets with a skateboard, while balancing yourself on top of a train!!! Techno music maketh not a great movie my friend.

Trying to keep my mind off the not-too-good ISB interview. I was kind of depressed in the morning. But then thought over it rationally. If a good interview at Columbia was not good enough, maybe a crappy one at ISB might be :)..Seriously.. I dont care anymore..I am just giving my best at this point..

ISB interview done..
Just 3 questions:
1. Indian History
2. Define leadership
3. How do you manage team dynamics

20 mins. Went just like my other MBA interviews. Absolutely neutral. So will find out only on 15th Dec...And no false hopes this time..A good interview means zilch in this process.
Oh and by the way..its the only interview I have given in my skivvies :D..Unless you get the wrong idea..It was a telephonic interview.

Got an interview call from ISB today. Scheduled for next week. So will start going through my application and the other usual steps to make sure that I am ready and prepared.

Gotta start on my Stern essays tonight. So 10 more days.. 4/8 schools will be 100% done from my end. Nothing to do but wait for results from Tuck and ISB [mid-december] and interview calls, hopefully, from Harvard [yeah right], Yale, Ross and Stern..

Oh and did see Casino Royale..WOW!! what an amazing movie..specially the foot chase scene in Madagascar is just off the charts..

And saw Chashme Buddoor [excellent], Pyaar ke Side Effect [nice], Clerks [great].

Hmm...brushed off by London Business School too..So now thats 2 rejections out of 8 schools..I get the feeling that I may have wasted 1600$ on this process. or maybe not..I really dont know now..Ah well..life goes on..

Got my dad a new Toshiba M115-S3094.. I am being so precise about the version as there seem to be a lot of M115s floating around :) Not a bad deal for the cost..
Saw Sooraj ka Satvan Ghoda. Loved the movie. Its very offbeat but kind of the ones I like..

Had my NYU Stern visit last night. They make good use of their limited campus space. Everything is very compactly arranged. There seemed to a very positive energy around all students. I sat in on the Advertising Management class. What a great class. There was a lot of interaction and free exchange of ideas. The tour itself was rather stretched out. I guess there is not much to tour around in a small building like that :). So Stern Essays for the next few weeks..Gotta get the focus back to essays for hopefully the last time.

Babel..What a good movie. A simple storyline but very well acted by everyone. Was a very engrossing movie.
Also saw Ferris Beuller's day off. This is a classis anyways :)

Went to view the NY Marathon a week back..At the usual 8 mile mark in fron of BAM in Brooklyn. Then headed over to Bedouin Tent for my assorted salad plate. This has become an annual ritual. 6th Marathon for me..

Saw Don. I liked it. Just dont compare it to any other movie and watch it like a govinda movie:)

And saw Caddyshack. Now I had high expectations from this but was disappointed. It was just OK.

Was reading an article in NYTimes today. It compared the life spans of monkeys under observation based on their diets. The monkey eating a normal diet [not overfed, just normal] had a slight paunch, looked slow and older. The monkey on the regulated diet [upto 40% less than a normal diet] looked alert, was aging gracefully..Hmm...Now would you like to eat good food everyday and die when you are 70 or eat a restricted diet, living in self-denial and live to be 80. The way I see it, you can choose to prolong your misery by 10 years :)).... Anyways a very personal choice always..

Saw a hilarious episode on Comedy Central last night. About an Indian Storekeeper running a 7-11 store. Its the turn of the Desi storekeeper to parody other cultures [It was just in fun. I dont believe in stereotypes..]. He used a standard format: 1) Ask forgiveness from a Hindu god for what he is about to do 2) Insult the customer 3) Say out aloud what he would like to be reborn as , so that he would not meet the customer in the next life.

E.g: To a spanish lady with 12 kids. I wish I were born a condom so I never see you again. To an African-American lady. I wish I were your feet so I have to never see you again. and so on..Just simply funny seeing the tables turned for once :))

Funny Incident..I am talking to Vikas and Manish near the elevators. Guy walks up to us. Shakes Vikas's hand : "Hi Milind!". Then turns to Manish :"Hi Manoj!".. Talks details and moves on. These 2 guys are still trying to process whether the guy wanted to talk to them or someone else..

Saw "Socha Na Tha"..Maine bhi socha na tha ke mai itni ghatiya movie dekhoonga.Saw Dor...Now this is an excellent movie..

I still cant believe I just submitted 3 apps in 3 weeks..Strange buzz in the head :)

Ross application has been submitted !! It was for some reason the most painful to submit. I am just bored of the process. Luckily, just 1 more school to go..and I have 1 month for it !!!

Saw Casablanca, Just my Luck and Angrez... Now Angrez is really hilarious. See it if you can.
Got myself a new printer :)

Listening to some old tracks on Mezzanine by Massive Attack..

Experienced The Motorcycle Diaries.... moving..

Yale is done! Short and sweet application..Extremely simple to fill in..

Watched What's Eating Gilbert Grape...for the 10th time maybe..Excellent..

London Business School is also submitted ! Onto Yale..

Am I crazy to be applying to so many schools? Or do I know the strength of my candidacy :)

Saw O Brother, Where Art Thou?.. What a great movie..

Had a fight with a lady in the PATH train this morning. She was sitting in the corner seat and was kinda spread out with her arm dangling over the edge of the seat. She asked my wife to move away as her personal space was being intruded upon.. WTF!! I launched into her..She gets to sit in a crowded train and then has the balls to ask the people standing to give her space !!
Laughable really :)

Anyways.. I feel you get to see such behaviour in the western countries..Let het travel in the Mumbai local train..She'll know what its like to travel for an hour with your face in someone elses armpits :).. Getting a seat is like a blessing..

Oh..by the way...found a Sukhadias near this office..Yum...Lunches are going to be so much fun now :) [Note to self: Buy stretchable pants...]

Harvard was submitted last weekend. Its just too much of a long shot to be even thinking about.
Now what I really am thinking about, is whether I answered the Tuck interview questions intelligently or not..I know its a waste of time to be thinking of all that..
I'll try to get in LBS this weekend. Saturday will be spent finalizing the essays.

Nothing musch else happening. Work is super hectic as usual. Leading a team of 12 is lotsa work..but its fun. Feels wierd to actually not programming anything and moving onto the management side..not a complete move..but still..

Why am I stressing out so much over the MBA results. My life is great as it is..I am doing this to get a serious leg up. But its not like its the be-all end-all..I know it ..Yet I cant ignore it..Damn this process :)

I am just so tired of these MBA applications. Given the fact that I am not a very strong candidate, I am applying to 8 schools...I am getting sick of answering the same stupid mind numbing questions over and over again.. Just take my money and let me in..Why torture me so :)

Watched the Guardian...passable.. usual father figure dies to save hero bullshit..

Hahahahahha....Nice one

Kicked in the b*** by Columbia..
Well...I have to keep on submitting and hoping for a positive one..
I truly believe that all that happens, happens for a reason..a good reason..
Or is it my way of justifying this disappointment?? A bit of both I guess..
Who knows..it was the only way to be rid of the early decision ethical dilemma ;)

The month ahead will be a very tight one. 4 schools to go. Will be free by Oct 25..
Then 1 more in November..

Went to IndoWok last night. Its an “Indian-Chinese” joint on Lex. Ave. Horrible. We ordered a chicken lollipop. It looked like they reused old eaten up chicken thighs, coated them in batter and refried them…Seriously..it was like eating bones coated with batter… Yuck!! Just lost my appetite for anything after that.

Anyways, later in the night ended up watching Das Boot. What an amazing movie. I saw the 3.5 hour remastered version. It was worth every minute.

Come on Columbia..Show me some love !!

Columbia Interview is done..Met with an alum at the University Club of New York..Amazing building..
I reached the club 10 min nefore my 6:30 PM interview. Got the chance to relax a bit.
The alum was a super nice guy. It was very conversational and lasted around 35 minutes. The interview format was general with resume based and personal interest based questions.
The interviewer did indicate that he liked my approach to the Why MBA part of it and was positive about my candidacy..I just hope the adcom thinks likewise :)

So that means 2 colleges are done from my end..Tuck and Columbia..Nothing to do but wait on these...

Till then the journey continues with my other target schools..Essays to write and Recos to collect :)