Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Its going real fast

I wrote my term 3 final exams yesterday. Yes, term 3 is over. Welcome to term 4@ISB. It’s going real fast man. May be, a bit too fast for comfort. It feels like I landed here just a couple of days ago. However, I guess that’s how it always is. In this case particularly, one gets trapped (is discombobulated the right word?) in the maze of activities one gets to (is made to) indulge in. Besides the normal scheduled class lectures, there are guest talks, there are assignments, there are group meetings and then there are exams, and more exams. I believe that shows up in my bloging patterns as well. However, I guess I have decided to be regular with my blogs from now on, which in no way means that I expect to have spare time now. Infact, my kitty is fuller now than it ever was. I am doing an ELP with HSBC. I have enrolled for the ‘Planning an Entrepreneurial Venture’ course. And lo! As if this is not enough, term 4 is actually a 4 week term.
Let me also take some time out to reflect on the courses I studied in the previous term. These are in the order of my liking towards the subject:
1. Corporate Finance (Rating 10/10): Did I not absolutely love the subject. I attribute this to two factors.
• One, the instructor was Prof. Bhagwan Chowdhary. Trust me folks, even fin guys can have a sense of humour.
• Braley Myers: Principles of Corporate finance. I just loved reading this book. Would like to quote something from their chapter on Financing and Valuation summary.
This chapter is almost 100% theory. The theory is difficult. If you think u understand all formulas, assumptions, and relationships on the first reading, we suggest psychiatric assistance.” – Braley Myers: Principles of Corporate Finance, 7th edition, Chapter 19, Page 552
2. Operations Management (Rating 8/10): Nice course. I quite liked Prof. Sudhakar Deshmukh from Kellogg. I believe that operations is a fairly useful subject in terms of its applications to the industry. Even the BCG consultants have to find Economic Order Quantities 
3. Entrepreneurship (Rating 7/10): The 40% class participation component of the grade ensured that the classes were fairly interesting. The course was very insightful.
4. Managerial Accounting (Rating: You don’t want to know): I think I am not the right person to comment on this course. All I’ll say is that the course tests your patience more than any thing else.