2006 is coming to an end..In retrospect it turned out to be a very good year..9 months of sustained effort..and I am in at Tuck!
Lotsa people have often asked me over the years as to why I havent done my MBA yet..I just like to say that I have been waiting for the right moment...and that moment has arrived!
I also completed a very happening trip to India. Got to see Bihar for the 1st time :). Attended a kick-ass marriage ceremony..It was real fun.

Met Debu at the Dubai airport !! It was a pleasent surprise. He was on his way back to Mumbai from Hartford. Feels good to meet old friends at unexpected places.

I must thank my wife for being extremely supportive and for her proof reads of my essays..Yeah..it sounds odd thanking my wife in such a formal manner..but just felt like it :)

The trip to India was amazing. Spent a total of 3 weeks..Lotsa fun. Visited Patna for the 1st time in my life..and survived to tell the tale !! My sister-in-laws wedding went of very well;very good food to boot..

Have to resist the jet-lag for today..back to work from tomorrow..but now with the knowledge that I will be moving on in a few months!! YEAH!!

Got back to NYC this morning. Was a very long flight. Missed my connection in Dubai and had to spend my entire day there. I took a tour of the city.Found it amazing..very clean, well organized and you get just about everything under the sun inclusing some of the sexiest cars ever produced!!

The Tuck admit has finally sunk in :) . I got home to the admit pack from Tuck. Will start the loan/visa process soon..
I am forfeiting ISB. Have decided to pursue Tuck.

Got in at ISB and Tuck !!!!! Both news on the 15th of December....
Will post more details later.

Had another horrible experience at Cafe Spice in Newport.
The Mango Lassi comes in 10 min late. Then the waiter brings in Lamb coconut instead of the kovalam fish. Then turns out he did bring the correct dish, he just didnt know the name so he made one up.
Then 5 min after getting this entree, the waiter asks us why we arent eating yet. Are we waiting for something? Duh..the Naan we ordered 20 minutes back..Have lost interst in the dinner by then. Got it packed and came home... So much more enjoyable with Jay Leno on the tube !!

Saw The Man Who Knew Too Much.[the colored version].Nice Hitchcock one..and Sabrina..Another good Audrey Hepburn movie.
The packing project is in full swing..

Stern has been submitted. At 1AM on 1st Dec..
Handed in my supplementary materials directly to the Admissions office.
So I am finally all done with my MBA application saga for tihs year..YEAAA!!!
6 months of thinking about submission deadlines draws to a close. But the real relief will only be when I get an Admit somewhere..And that is not looking too promising right now.
Anyways..

Now looking at a weekend of packing for the India trip.Really looking forward to it!![The trip that is..not the packing :) ]

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..