MiFs: Dancing Away to Glory @ Diwali Party 2012

Diwali is an Indian festival of lights and is one that is celebrated across the nation with unwavering spirits. Last Saturday was the Diwali party hosted by the India club. It was grander than any that I’ve attended so far – mouth watering food, incredible crowd, non stop entertainment, packed dance floor, sweat drenched dancers and happy faces! A laude of applause to all the ladies and gentlemen out there who took the efforts to come dressed in Indian attire – you made the day very colorful and interesting. I must admit, LBS is full of gorgeous  women and reasonably good looking men  To those who are single and ready to mingle, there is a whole world out there, just keep your eyes wide open! The event was a spectacular success and can be summed up in two words INCREDIBLE FUN!

Mere presence at the party was enough to have fun. But I decided to participate in the cultural program for the evening to expand the horizon of my ‘fun’. This year MiFs had two teams giving a dance performance as part of the cultural program –  one performed on Bollywood numbers while the other danced to a medley on Kollywood (Tamil) and Bollywood numbers. The performance of course rocked. It was thrilling to witness the energy from a mesmerized audience, those four minutes on stage seemed like a few seconds, magical moments. There were 13 teams dancing and it lasted for an hour. In my opinion MiFs were the best, though the MiMs won. Following are the links to dance performances of the MiFs.

Group A: http://youtu.be/uB_Jat6ej64

Group B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=romJseT__hA&feature=g-upl

Following the cultural program, the dance floor was made open to all. I danced continuously for three hours till the end. Some of my classmates were surprised to see this side to me, so was I! The songs were doing rounds in my head long after and I woke up with a smile the next day. My mind, body and soul couldn’t get enough.

London Business School does not just promise cultural diversity, it delivers it with style. It makes you feel the spirit of every culture. Open your arms to embrace such mind blowing experiences!!!

MiFs & Financial Accounting - Whats so special?!

Accounting as a subject causes undue distress to mostly those without a background, while those with one know it’s more common sense than a carefully engineered complication!

We’d already had a prep course of 6 sessions prior to the commencement of our regular accounting class. We’d heard that our Prof was new to LBS and the anxiety of being the chosen ‘guinea pigs’ got to us! It was our first class; soon after the Prof walked in we were all mesmerized by the effort he took to go over each of our names individually, repeating it after us to check whether he’d got it right. The first few sessions were exciting & interactive with a judicious mix of concepts & its practical implications, neatly intertwined with his amazing sense of humor.  Then started the case studies, at which stage the class got progressively more interactive, with greater participation forthcoming from students. The myriad perspectives that kept cropping up took the class on an enjoyable roller coaster ride.

Students are encouraged to make presentations to showcase interesting observations and conclusions. This got the class intensely involved and is the one subject where most people stick to their streams and timings!

Oh yeah, those coming to class late after the break got locked out!!! I found myself locked out only once, though. Surprising, yet true; the number that got locked out has been significantly diminishing in the last few sessions. In Financial Accounting, there is constantly something to keep the mind occupied and as a result most of the class pays rapt attention to what’s being said. If the class seems silent even for a few minutes, it gets our Prof restless. He is immediately on the job cracking a joke or doing something to get our attention back – his efforts are a magnificent success. The class is LOUD and its difficult for the mind to wander off aimlessly! In accounting class with Ahmed Tahoun as the Prof, it’s either the class bursting into laughter or being deeply engrossed in discussions on a case/concept.

We have only 2 classes left and it’s sad that we are nearing the end of the course. We will surely miss him. While the MiFs are special to him being his first ever class at LBS, the MiFs have found his class most engaging. The instant bonding between the MiFs and Prof Ahmed Tahoun is here to stay!!!

A Study Group after my own heart

For all the core courses at LBS the class is split into groups of six (depending on the class/stream strength) and no two individuals are from the same nationality. The flavor of “diversity” that the school specializes in offering, permeates to such a micro level!

My study group consists of Turlan, Ben, Alexi, Alex and Daniel from Kazakhstan, Germany, UK and South Korea respectively. The first time I spotted Turlan ever in my life was when he was standing by himself beside the door at S1 lounge during the first MiF meet and greet session. Self-assured and totally relaxed, with a wine glass in his hand, he seemed very approachable. Little did I know the camaraderie built over that meeting was soon to bloom  into a long lasting friendship! When I was given the names of my study group members, I was glad to leave it to Turlan to get the rest of the team together. I hadn’t a clue about the others!

However, today, I know that each of them is an intellectual capital I look up to.  Alexi – plans his work well, Alex – starts early and keeps going till he is done, Ben – he is always in the library buried in books (well, doesn’t mean he is all work no play), Daniel – travels from far away and still makes it to all team meetings on time! For inspiration, I just look up to them, nowhere beyond! They have all become quite dear to me.

The team exhibits incredible levels of commitment and discipline, culminating into interesting perspectives time and again. We work in total sync. There wasn’t much time last couple of months to do anything fun as we were all busy finding our footing amidst the course and it’s demands. Since our first team dinner was at an Indian Restaurant at Brick Lane which everyone thoroughly enjoyed, my heart melted at the realization that I could invite the team over to my place for home cooked Indian food as a gesture of appreciation. However, to invite someone over, ‘cooking’ needs to be done. As critical as I’ve gotten in the past about food, I’ve only ever eaten, never cooked!!! I took it up as a challenge and decided on a fancy menu – paneer butter masala, channa & green peas masala and vegetable pulav with raitha! My initial attempt at mass fancy cooking proved to be a success – most of what I cooked soon vanished and I’m sure these guys weren’t trying to be nice to me! What makes me call my study group, one after my own heart is the fact that after dinner was done and we were generally chatting around, suddenly Turlan pops up and says can I have Indian masala tea?! While cooking is more like a new adventure sport for me, making masala tea is my forte. I’m addicted and can’t live without it! Soon after, the whole team wanted tea. Gladly, I served them my favorite!

Being in this team makes me feel at home. They let me be while they also push me beyond my boundaries to rediscover myself. Once the core courses are over, i will miss them loads but this team will always stay close to my heart!