Day 439 - 27th March 2012

Woke up at 2 in the afternoon. Summer has set in - it was horribly hot throughout the day. Skipped lunch at the mess and had a late lunch from Chota. Had convocation rehearsal in the evening which went on for an hour. Dinner was at Chokhi Dhani - courtesy our dissertation guide who wanted to take all of us out for dinner. It was good fun. Got back to campus by 11 in the night. Had the Kachnar party after that. The party will go on into the wee hours of the morning but I am calling it a day early, am too old to pull off back to back nigh outs :P

Day 406 - 23rd February 2012

Didn't have any classes today on account of it being the last day for the dissertation submission. Had to submit Apu's dissertation. Spent a major part of the afternoon reading. Started watching Johnny English. Played tennis in the evening followed by half an hour at the gym. SAMAR, our annual sports fest starts tomorrow. MICA will be represented by four contingents, got to know today that I am contingent captain for MICA White. Had a meeting with the contingent in the night and appointed captain's for each sport. Our matches start tomorrow.

Got back to the room continued watching the movie for a while before calling it a day.

Day 405 - 22nd February 2012

Had 2 sessions of International Marketing in the morning. The prof. discussed various marketing strategies one can consider before entering a foreign market. He has given us an assignment which requires us to devise a launch plan for an Indian product in a foreign market. After class met my dissertation guide and got the final approval. Got the dissertation printed and got her signature on the final submission form. Spent the rest of the afternoon caught up with some MCSA work, had to meet the chairman of the disseration committee and the executive registrar. Had some work in the program office as well. Came back to the room and squeezed in a 2 hour siesta. Didnt have company to play tennis in the evening so had to make do with going to the gym. Spent most of the night reading the Winning Way. Finished it by midnight. Most of the learnings in there may seem like common sense but some of the examples from the world of sport are pretty interesting and insightful.

Went to Chota for a Chai in the afternoon. Its amazing how there is always someone out there whom you can strike up a conversation with that can go on for hours! Got a back to the room by 3 in the morning. Surfed the net a bit before calling it a day.

Day 404 - 21st February 2012

Had 3 sessions on International Marketing in the morning. The prof. was a visiting faculty from the industry. He had 20 odd years of experience in the 'adult beverages' industry as he like to call it. He explained the different factors that we needed to keep in mind while devising international marketing strategies. He shared his experiences while launching Fosters in India. The alcobev industry in India requires innovative marketing strategies for a brand to succeed in India and he took us through his work. After a 25 year stint in the industry he is now an entrepreneur, he has started a chain of beer cafe's, a relatively new concept in India which seemed pretty interesting.

Post lunch there was a company presentation to attend. Had some MCSA work after that, we have to slowly start handing over work to the newly elected MCSA. Introduced them to the senior management and some of the people in the administration. Met my dissertation guide to get some final changes made to my dissertation. Overall she has approved it, need to make one modification after which I can submit it.

Played tennis for about an hour and went to the gym after that. Post dinner made the final few changes to the dissertation report. Continued reading the Winning Way and called it a day early, have a class at 930 tomorrow morning. Hope to wake up in time for it!

Day 403 - 20th February 2012

Woke up at 1 in the afternoon today! Spent a very lazy afternoon watching some videos on youtube. Made changes to the dissertation report based on the feedback given by my guide. Played tennis for an hour which was followed by the gym.

Post dinner actually slept off for a couple of hours. Woke up at around 1 in the night. Started reading The Winning Way, a book which combines management principles and learnings from sport written by Harsha and Anita Bhogle. Some of the anecdotes in the book are quite interesting. Slept off by 4 in the morning. All in all a pretty lay day!

Day 402 - 19th February 2012

Woke up at noon today. Spent a major part of the day formatting the dissertation report. Realized that the indexing functionality in MS Word is not that easy to comprehend :P Played tennis in the evening with Anuja for an hour and a half. Samar is less than a week away, my tennis game isnt at the level I would have liked it to be, but it has improved compared to what it was earlier. Went to the gym after that.

The MCSA elections were scheduled in the night. It went of quite smoothly and got done within 3 hours. Got back to the room by 330. A lot of people have been asking me how it feels now that a new MCSA has been elected. I actually havent even thought about it! Its been work/life as usual :-) On that note will call it a day!

Day 401 - 18th February 2012

Had two hours of international marketing in the morning. The prof. is a visiting faculty from the industry. He was heading Mahindra's tractor business in the US before returning to India a few years back. The session dealt with how we need to understand different cultures while dealing with international counterparts/clients. Classes got done by 130. Post lunch comtinued working on the dissertation. Had to complete the part on data analysis and interpretations of the results.

Played tennis in the evening for about an hour after which I went to the gym (yes, sixth term does give you a lot time). Had to go to Bopal in the evening to pick up some stuff for the room. Converted into a dinner trip to Subway with Sania. Got back to campus by 10, spent some time surfing the net before getting back to working on the dissertation. Went to Chota at around 3 in the morning for some chai and ended up chatting with people for almost 2 hours! Got back to Kachnar at 5 in the morning, dont see myself attending tomorrow's classes.

Day 400 - 17th February 2012

400 days at MICA! :-) Started off the day by attending the last few sessions on Ad research which dealt with the pre and post testing of advertisements. This was followed by the group presentations that we had to make based on the reading material the professor had provided. The prof posed some tough questions for all the groups and has asked to make some modifications to them and resend them to her. In our defence we really werent in a postion to devote as much time as we could have on account of the dissertation submission. Post lunch met my guide and discussed how I would be doing the data analysis and proceeding with the presentation of my results, she is OK with it, which is a huge relief at this point of time. The rest of the afternoon was consumed by MCSA work which involved meetings with the executive registrar, chairman of the dissertation committee and the associate director. Got done with all the work by around 5 in the evening.

Went to the gym for a bit, after which I headed to the tennis courts where we played under floodlights. Played for a good hour and a half. Dinner was at Chota courtesy the third straight meal the mess with Aloo in it :P Post dinner gave an interview to a batchmate for his dissertation which was on Sachin Tendulkar. Felt good talking about him and cricket after so long! Also had a batch meet with pgp-1 to explain the process of the MCSA elections that would be taking place day after tomorrow. Came back to the room and continued working on the dissertation. A couple of juniors have been approaching me to get their speech and agenda in order for the MCSA election. Reminded me of the agenda I had prepared for my speech last year, it is still stored on my phone :-)

For tomorrow's class on International Marketing there is a pre read from Malcolm Gladwell's book called Outliers on the ethnic history of plane crashes. Started reading it and found it quite interesting. It dealt with how hierarchy in the cockpit had led to many crashes in Korean Airlines and more than anything the problem was rooted in their culture. The article elaborated how it was dealt with. Slept off halfway through the article (it is not an indicator of how interesting/boring it is, was just too sleepy :P )

Day 399 - 16th February 2012

Today was an unusually long and tiring day and reminded me of first year when we used have classes for the entire day :P Woke up at 11 and had brunch at Chota (Misal Pav). Had advertising research class from 12 to 8. Just before the class started we got to know that the presentations have to be presented tomorrow! The course as such is quite interesting. The first 2-3 hours dealt with topics that we had already learnt before but the visiting faculty for this course works in a market research agency so she was giving us the agency perspective for all the theory we had learnt in MR, got to learn some pretty interesting stuff. The part on ad testing brought in the concept of efficiency (media plan) and effectiveness (content) of an advertisement. She gave us various examples along the way as to how agencies actually do pre testing for ad effectiveness. Was sitting for a long stretch of lectures after quite some time and by the end of it was completely sapped out!

Went to the gym for some time pre dinner. Post dinner sat with Kore to take his inputs on how to proceed for the data analysis part for my dissertation. What I had thought of initally may not necessarily work out, so worked out an alternate plan. Will present it to my guide tomorrow and take her point of view, hope she approves it! Generally at this time of the year almost everyone from pgp-2 will be sending out surveys to be filled or conducting interviews/ focus group discussions on campus for their dissertations. Have come across some really interesting research tools this time around being used by my batchmates. One guy is conducting a poker championship to study hoe people react under stress :D Dua is doing his dissertation on facial coding and its marketing implications. I was a guinea pig for his research with Kore trying to sell me a phone and my facial expressions being recorded. After the first sales pitch Kore was told what my expressions meant and he was asked to make a pitch once again, this time modifying it spontaneously based on my facial expressions.

Had planned to finish a certain part of the dissertation report but I just realised that it is too much to finish for today, plus saturation is settting in. Also a lot  depends on what my guide says tomorrow! On that note, will call it a day and hopefully wake up in time for class tomorrow which is at 830!

Day 398 - 15th February 2012

Had planned to wake up at 730 and play tennis, but I guess it will take some time before I cn get back to my earlier routine. Woke up at 1130! Had lots of work lined up for the day. Called up my dissertation guide and briefed her on the status of the research. Sent out the survey links to be filled. There was a huge lot of laundry to be given to Paras Bhai. Post lunch met up with the advertising research group for our presentation which is due tomorrow. Divided the work and decided to send our parts in by night. After that the MCSA had a meeting with the head of estate and the executive registrar. The meeting was regarding deciding on a roadmap for next year for students activities based on the learnings from this year. Got back to the room and started work on the advt research assignment. There was this article that had to be read which dealt with various types of advertising models. It was quite lengthy but came across some pretty useful stuff. Prepared my part of the presentation and sent it across by evening. Went to the gym in the evening (in an attempt to make up for missing out on tennis).

Dinner in the mess was quite sad. Guess it had to even out after the valentine's day special dinner yesterday which even included chocolate pudding! Got back to the room and surfed the net. Have been doing general tp. Class begins at 1215 tomorrow so I can afford to sleep in and that is a good thought to go to sleep with :P

Day 397 - 14th February 2012

Got back to campus at 3 in the morning after a 10 day break. Woke up at noon and had chai at Chota. It was an extremely lazy day, I hadn't even unpacked. Had to send out my dissertation surveys to be filled. Slept off int the afternoon again for a couple of hours. Finally stated my day at 7 in the evening! Caught up with Buds, Kore and Kalkar. Culcom had arranged some games today for valentine's day. The mess was decorated and everybody had a candlelight dinner :P The food was also good and mess comm took it a step further by crowd sourcing the menu. Post dinner, there was prom night in the Parjat courtyard. Got back to the room by midnight and have been working on the dissertation. Have less than 10 days to complete it and also have classes lined up!

Day 394 - 1st Februrary 2012

Woke up with great difficulty in the morning to play tennis. Post breakfast shifted base to the library. Its become a kind of routine now - tennis, breakfast, library, post lunch siesta, back to library, dinner, post dinner in Kachar North West. Today was no different. Also met my dissertation guide during the day to discuss the research methodology. She had suggested some modifications which I made and sent back for her approval. The discussion then veered towards placements, the direction in which the institute is headed. The debate is never ending and from a student's perspective there are many changes which we feel are necessary. Some of these changes will be recommended by the MCSA and we hope to see some action taken.

Spent most of the evening working on a presentation which I have to send to CD Mitra. The presentation is based on a case study I have prepared for my dissertation on Sahara Force India Speed Nights - the race screenings conducted at pubs across the country. It deals with how a non cricketing sport is promoted in India. Prepared the presentation and mailed it to the FIF1 marketing team for their approval before sending it across to CD Mitra, who plans to present it at sports marketing courses he will be conducting in other institutes. Post dinner Kore, Buds, Sania and I saw an episode of Roadies in Kalkar's room. This is something we used to last year as well, sit and have a good laugh at people's stupidity! Dinner at the mess wasn't that great which meant a midnight snack was on the cards at Chota. So chicken parathas it was, the parathas at Chota never seem to disappoint. Got back to the room by 130, read a bit of Ambani and Sons before calling it a day.

Day 393 - 31st January 2012

Another day of no classes today, in fact I dont have any classes till the 11th of February. Played tennis with Anuja in the morning. Post breakfast shifted base to the library. Had to send out e-mailers requesting people to fill up my dissertation survey. Unlike most surveys this one cant be floated in the student community at MICA since they aren't in the target audience. Also started working on the first draft of the dissertation. Worked on the research methodology section today. Managed to have an hour long siesta before coming back to the library.

Kalkar and I decided to go out for dinner (dum aloo in the mess = EONI). We went to Masty and had a very surprisingly good food to bill ratio, considering the fact that we both have similar (large) appetites. There is this place we have discovered in Bopal which serves cold Paan which has become a huge hit. the shop's name is Umiya Pan Center but it has been rechristened 'Ooima' Pan Center :P It has become pretty much routine to stop there on our way back from any dinner outing. Topped it off with ice cream at Havmor. Got back to campus by 11 and came back to the library. Have finished the part on research methodology and mailed the first draft to my dissertation guide. Posting this one from the library, will go head back to Kachnar in a bit after the daily dose of videos/articles from facebook!

Day 390 - 28th January 2012

Winter isn't over as yet out here. Realised that in the morning when I went to play tennis with Anuja. Was shivering throughout the walk from Kachnar to the tennis court. Post breakfast shifted base to the library and continued work on the dissertation. Got the go ahead from my guide for the survey questionnaires. Took a while to find the right site to make the survey, the free versions available online have a lot of limitations. Have floated the questionnaires, will have to now start begging people to fill them :P Managed to finish reading The Elusive Fan today, the part I really liked about the book was the case study on successful sports brands. The US has come a long way in building a sporting culture so it was no surprise that all examples from there. Wrapped up work in the library by 8 in the night.

Kore gave his birthday treat today which was dinner at Honey9 followed by Agneepath at City Gold Bopal. I find the movie quite stupid, too much violence and the story was already known. Came back to campus by 2 and decided to watch the original version of the movie. Saw about half the movie till 4 in the morning before deciding to call it a day.

Day 389 - 27th January 2012

Didn't have any classes today. Woke up at 930 and decided to shift base to the library with the hope of starting work on the dissertation. Got a call from my guide to meet her regarding the questionnaires that I had sent to her. Had to make some modifications to them. Have resent them and am awaiting for her approval. Continued reading The Elusive Fan, I find it very similar to our marketing textbook, the theory sounds very obvious or pfaffy but the examples and case studies are very useful in understanding how marketing actually functions. Some MCSA work kept me busy post lunch. Played tennis in the evening for almost 2 hours. Had to leave the game half way for about half an hour because of a meeting with the chairman of the dissertation committee. The date of submission has now been pushed to 23rd February, giving us some breathing space. Continued my day long stint in the library pre and post dinner. Have plans to call it a day soon, want to watch movie before sleeping though, dont know if that will materialise.

Day 388 - 26th January 2012

Didn't have any classes today on account of Republic Day. As is the norm, Republic Day celebrations were held on campus by inviting schoolchildren from the nearby villages. Had a meeting with the Executive Registrar which went on for almost an hour. Had a nice 2 hour long siesta. Have started reading Kotler's book on sports marketing called The Elusive Fan (under the pretence of doing literature review for my dissertation). Spent most of the evening reading the book. Dinner was at KFC with Kalkar. This is the first KFC that has opened up in Ahmedabad and it was my first visit to the place. It did take some effort to reach the place though since the bike ran out of petrol along the way. It was worth all the effort though. Got back to campus by 11. Continued reading and along the way saw some videos on youtube. Will read for a bit before calling it a day. Have no classes till the 30th, hopefully can get some work started on the dissertation!

Day 387 - 25th January 2012

Breakfast was at Chota. Decided to spend some time in the library and read up a bit for the dissertation. Some MCSA work came up pre and post lunch which meant we had to miss the first hour of Indian Cinema. Made it in time for the second half which was a case study of Manoj Kumar's Shaheed. The movie is based on the life of Bhagat Singh, however the facts were conveniently tweaked to conform with popular belief at that point of time. It was an in depth analysis of the movie and went on for more than an hour. There was a movie screening with Satyjit Ray's Charulata - a critically acclaimed movie and Satyajit Ray's favourite creation. It is based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore. Got done with the screening by 9. It is Kore's birthday tomorrow so there were the usual birthday celebrtions in Kachnar. Boys arent as kind as girls and inspite of the cild weather Kore was dunked with cold water. Food was packed from Honey9 for the ocassion and we all pounced on it like hungry wolves :P On that note, with a satisfied tummy, will call it a day.

Day 386 - 24th January 2012

Surprisingly woke up in time for breakfast at the mess. Played tennis post breakfast with Anuja. There was another MCL game today, this time between MP and Vineeth's team. It turned out to be a high scoring thriller with  MP's team chasing down 150 in the last over. One of the best matches I have seen in the MCL till date. Post lunch had a 2 hour long siesta. Finished watching Groundhog day in the evening. Have been wanting to formulate my dissertation questionnaire for the past couple of weeks, decided that it had to be done at any cost today. However post dinner procrastination took over. Saw some of the baddy matches couurtesy coxic smash then went to Chota with Kalkar and Buds. Came back to Kachnar and MCSA work took over.That went on for about an hour. The MCSA elections will be held in February, had to work out how to go about the entire process. Finally started working on the questionnaires at 1 a.m. Have completed them now and sent them to my guide. Also need to read up on some material for the literature review. Need to break the shackles from this lethargy that has set in and get cracking with the dissertation work!

Day 369 -7th January 2012

Had the advanced excel training workshop today. The workshop on excel basics was done in the previous term. The session dealt with recording macros and the basics of coding in macros.The session got done by 4 in the evening after which I had to meet my dissertation guide. During the vacations I had conducted a couple of interviews based on which we discussed the findings and the way forward. So that just adds up to the long list of submissions/work. But that didn't mean that evening time was not used for procrastination :P. Dinner was at Honey9 with Sania, the first Shikari Chicken of the new year!
Got back to campus by 930 and did general tp. Watched some videos on youtube and terminated Buds on facebook, whenever people in Kachnar are bored he is our go to guy! Dont have any classes tomorrow but have assignment deadlines approaching with the first one due day after. Hope to start working on them from tomorrow at least! :P

Day 368 - 6th January 2012

Another rest day today. But woke up in the morning to play tennis for about an hour. Post breakfast went back to sleep and woke up in time for lunch. There is a lot of work lined up for this month with an assignment submission every 3 days till the 18th and the dissertation submission on the 1st of Feb. Having said that there is this state of inertia that has set in, with yesterday and today being free days, I have been on a movie marathon! Saw kick-ass in the afternoon, its a movie which takes a dig at super heroes. This was followed by Our Idiot Brother, a family comedy. So I guess starting with the assignments will have to wait until tomorrow! :P