Kashmir, India - Part 2

Hey guys,

I guess i left the cliffhanger 'hanging' for too long. Anyways, i did make it on time. To the WRONG terminal. I didn't know that unlike in other places where domestic is one side and international is another side, delhi airport's domestic itself terminal has 2 buildings. Different buildings for different carriers.

I kept saying domestic and at one point i think i much have mentioned another airline name. The auto driver dropped me at the wrong building. Thank god the buildings weren't too far apart. Went to the correct terminal. It took me about 20 mins walking to get to the terminal and then i had to walk around looking for the entrance.

Then i got to the correct terminal and i didn't really know what to do since i still had close to about 60-80 minutes. Bought some food. Got myself the local newspaper. Looked at the people rushing to catch their flights. All in all, just a jolly time. Of course, i did think at that point i wouldn't be bored out of my mind if only i had some dragged some friends along. But, well i also realised that i had some stuff to do in Kashmir and i wouldn't be able to justify that to a bunch of people rationally.



Was admiring Lord Nadaraja at the airport. After all, i was going to the foothills of the Himalayas which is His abode.

Flight time came. Got checked-in and ready to start my holiday in proper. :) I have to admit that i was very excited at this point. Adding to my excitment were the stewardesses of Kingfisher airlines. I realised that the women who were hired at Kingfisher Airlines to handle customers in-flight and as part of the ground crew were all beautiful. Surprising that no Women's Right activist took this up as an agenda to fight for gender equality



This is where things started getting bad. The captain made an announcement that the plane was headed to Kabul, Afghanistan. I honestly, didn't know how else to capture this moment. So I took the photo of the screen. Of course i had to wonder. Either the plane got hijacked, or i got on the wrong damn plane since the pilot seemed to be talking with a very calm voice.

As you can see, the plane is very close to Lahore by this point. Thank god, he didn't want to go to Lahore and drop me in the middle of a damn political crisis. At the very least i could have had some place willing to accept HSBC credit cards in Lahore, and bought tickets out. I couldn't see that happening in Kabul. Either way, I was headed towards a war zone. Kabul...Kabul...sigh...

Kashmir, India - Part 1

Hey Guys & Gals,

In the usual tradition, the cab had arrived and i was still packing. Completely unsure of how the weather was going to be when i arrived up there, i took some t-shirts as well as long-sleeved sweaters, a jacket, 3-pairs of jeans (God. Please bless the man who invented the Jeans).

Got on the cab, and he dropped me off fairly early at the train station. I had decided early on, the LAST thing i ever wanted to do was to buy and eat something at an Indian Railway Station stall. I didn't want to fall sick even before my trip started. Checked out the First Class Compartments and i have to say that they're quite impressive! :). 4 people in a compartment and about 3 compartments in a coach. If you can't picture compartments in a train, picture Hogwarts Express.

Anyway, the guy opposite me was a Lt. Col. in the Indian Army. He was going to Jaipur. After awhile i striked up a conversation with this man and i realised that he was a treasure trove of information about the North-West. He had served at Kargill and had visited Srinagar and Pehalgam. So, that's about the point at which i really started gathering information about Srinagar and the current situation there. :) Yup, you're right. Otherwise, I would have went up into a former warzone completely oblivious. Ignorance is bliss i guess. Anyway, the more i heard about the place, the more i was interested to go there at that point.

The train ride itself was about 24 hours. At night, i couldn't resist the temptation when we stopped at a station. I joined the other 2 guys in the compartment and had a bread that was fried with egg all around it. Something like the "Roti John" that we get in pasar malam except that it was using a slice of bread instead of the long bread. Besides it was ONLY eggs, and none of the other condiments. Yummy stuff, and then i took some "puri" as well. Came back into the train to find more food. I had ordered for dinner and it arrvied only AFTER close to 1.5 hours. Oh what the hell, i had that vegetarian food as well.

Somewhere at this point, we found out that some Gujarat people living on the outskirts of Delhi were dismantling the railway tracks leading into Delhi in protest to an accident involving a Blueline (the state run bus company) bus and a bus-stop FULL of people (must have been predominantly Gujarati). One of the guys got this sms from a relative living in Delhi watching the news at that moment. I looked at him quizzically(?) He admitted he didn't know the connection between a bus accident and the Indian Railways either.

Anyway, we had been chit-chatting a lot at that point and were tired. I had a surprisingly deep sleep in a moving, clanking, whistling mechanical machine. Got to Delhi on time and realised the affected tracks were the ones western of Delhi coming from Bombay and not the southern tracks from Hyderabad. (Thank GOD for that, or my whole plan would have changed). The 2 guys were nice. They got me onto an auto and sent me to the airport at the best possible price. (This price bit i noticed on my trip back, as to how much the autos in Delhi cost especially if they know you're a foreigner)

Well, thus ends the rambling of the first 24 hours of my trip to Kashmir. We have just arrived at Delhi and i am speeding in a Auto to the airport where my flight leaves in about 2 hours!!

Will i make it? =O???

The Dragon has passed away...

Hey guys,

Today got an offline message from Jeevan saying that, Robert Jordan has passed away. Of course, he knows I love Robert Jordan's books a lot and it has always been a long standing joke of his, that this day might come to pass. The passing of the author before the completion of the Epic...

Of course, I hate myself for wishing he passed away "at least" after he completed this book. Just check the Wikipedia entry under his name to see the 'projects' he intended to do after this mammoth task. Just the same, it's a great loss to the realm of fantasy adventure to see the passing of one almost as talented as JRR Tolkien himself.

I couldn't help it, I checked out the website where his blog is. Left a comment.

Comment No. 2175 at his cousin Wilson's post after he passed away.

To the family of Mr. Jim Rigney,

I came to know the Wheel of Time book only in 1998,

The first day I left my home country (Malaysia) and reached a new place (Australia), a new beginning in my life. I marked it with the purchase of a book; The Eye of the World. Since that day, I grew up alongside Rand, Perrin and Mat throughout my 18th year and onwards.

The words of Mr.Jim Rigney reached me and the advices and worldviews that he imparted, moulded me as much as my new environment did. Probably more, since I prefered to sit inside and read that series book by book. I eagerly awaited the next twist in the story, slowly escaping whenever things were hard here, and then came back refreshed. Such was the power in those books.

It was always a dream of mine to 'tip my hat' to the man who created this marvelous epic and thank him for the important role it played in my life when I grew up from being just a "farmboy" to a Man. And now I guess, it shall always stay a dream...

Thank you, Jim for everything. In your own words, "There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of time..." Farewell, Mr. Jim Rigney.

My deepest condolences to the Rigney family and everybody here that has felt that Mr. Jim Rigney was "family" too in their lives.

-Mathan-

I'm not burning any bridges

Hey guys,

Heard this phrase recently. Got me thinking. How many bridges have we burned? How many beautiful relationships and friendships that we had in the past, that now has turned stale. We promise each other that we would keep in touch. Yet, it never happens.

More often than Absence makes the Heart grow Fonder, it becomes a case of Out of Sight Out of Mind! Sometimes when we really sit down and think about the past. Whole chunks of memories with certain people just disappear from the mind. Almost as if the person did not touch out lives. Yet, after a certain period of time we suddenly (luckily!) realise that there is something missing in the interpretation of our memories. Looking back at photos, the truth comes crashing down that "I had forgotten that person and the good times that we had!'

This of course happens to people like me who are very used to meeting lots of people, and making friends with a lot of people. Sometimes I have wondered if what i was doing was wrong in any way. But the truth is just that I cannot control, the need I have in making friends!! I cannot control the fact that I want to know as many people as possible!! And perhaps the worst of all is the fact that I want everybody to be happy!!

Then all of a sudden, things would have to end and then, people would move out of our lives. This cycle repeats so many times that eventually we would have to somehow remember everybody or forget some poor unfortunate soul. Sigh!! A bridge would have to be burned!!

Just some random thought in my mind. In fact there is something else that is plaguing my mind. I am writing this particular post to release the tension inside. Lol!~ Well until next time folks!! I am so proud that this post was fully written using QWERTY!!

Take care people!!

Confusion - Resolved

Hi people,

The title says it all. Been here for 3 terms now. Confusion is setting in. I really don't know what i am.

Oh yeah, you read right. My thoughts have gone that deep. I have no longer any interests in trying to figure out what job I want to get into post-ISB.

See, To know what job i want to do in future needs a lot of thinking. I need to know my interests. I have to know my needs and wants clearly; extrapolated into the future with a little bit of Monte Calro Simulation to take into account the randomness of fate and luck.

I have to put together my core competencies that i have built in life, for the last 26 years. Now, at first glance it looks like i have been doing nothing, learning nothing. But that certainly is not RIGHT! I actually have done something extraordinary with my life. I have done many things that most people have not had the time or chance or money to do yet. I am proud of it, when i actually sit down and list down the number of things I have done.

What makes me unhappy is this problem with my memory. I forget things. I even forget things that I said I have learned and that I will make sure to remember, to never repeat my past mistakes. Problem is I forget and sooner than not I would be repeating the same mistakes. It happened again here at ISB. I just forgot who I am and why I came here during the last term. the way I approached the assignments and exams were pitiful. Nothing at all compared to the focus and composure I had during the first 2 terms. I just got carried away trying to deal with friendships, inter-study group relationships, inter-section relationships, etc.

I went back to Malaysia thankfully. Back there for a few days, seeing all my 'nakama' was a serious dose of reality. It reminded me of how much my family and friends love me. It reminded me that I am not alone. It reminded me that I did not have to worry about anything other than achieving something at ISB.

So, now i am back. Screwed one sem up a little bit. But, there are 5 more to go. I'll just have to find out what can be done in those. So, now back to the earlier point. My core competencies are what I need to learn about. The LDP sessions have been a great revealing experience. Now, I need to work on them. More importantly figure out what kind of job am I willing to FIGHT for!

Oh yeah, another few terms and the Placement season will come up. I know for sure, I want to be in an International placement. The resume building exercises are starting up. I need to know how to approach all these things to market myself as the best candidate for the position that they're offering even though my credentials aren't as flashy as the next guy.

But to fight for it at that level, I need to be clear of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats that I would be facing at each job. Could I handle them? Would I remain motivated and interested in the offers? Would they actually give me what I want in terms of salary and job scope?

There is also the current thoughts of moving into the media industry. I have been in one part of the logistics industry. Should I just stay in this industry or bring the knowledge to apply elsewhere? =)

Well, I know that I need to spend a little bit more time. But, in the meantime thank you guys!! All of you in Malaysia that helped me so much to become who I am today, where I am today!

Luv,
-Mathan-

A Flight to Adventure...

21 and a half hours to go....

I'll be stepping on a flight. Connecting at Madras and ultimately arriving at Hyderabad. I gotta say. I have a lot of unfinished business here in Malaysia. Sigh. Too many people to meet. Too many words left unsaid.

I am not who i was in 1999 when i left the country for the first time. I have grown since then. I have realised the sorrows around me and the hardships around me. Yet, I've also seen the love that surrounds my life protecting me, nurturing me; and i am excited to take this step in my life now.

I want that love to reach all others around me. I want to be able to GIVE. These were resolutions that I did not have the first time. The first time it was all for ME. =) I left a boy; and i returned a man.

This time it is for everybody that i partake in this Great Adventure. I leave a man, to return a LEADER.

The Divine Move in Mysterious Ways

Hey guys,

Tuesday, April 26, 2005. Now if you guys look back in my posts, at that date there was a post called "The Divine Move in Mysterious Ways".

I ended that post with these 2 lines (Plus whether or not she realised it, she actually gave me an outline of what i should be doing in the next 2 years. Interestingly, this was my question during my prayers!!~ "What path should i choose now?").

Well, i totally forgot about that post until i was revisiting some of my earlier writings yesterday. The advice that i got from that lady, i had been following and my path was quite well-defined in Westports for the last 2 years.

And then suddenly, the whole ISB saga began. I mean i didn't think about it beforehand. But, now I realise exactly 2 years from that post I am entering the next phase in my life. I have about 2 years work experience, and now I am doing my Post-Graduate in Management. And I guess, this is where i will be getting guidance how to conduct my life professionally and socially in future. =)

The Divine move in Mysterious Ways indeed !~ (and it took me 2 years to realise this..)

Have a nice day guys!

Strange Palms....

Hmnn... I wonder if anyone realises how I am feeling at the moment?

I guess I am feeling just like how another 400+ Great Individuals out there are feeling. Yet, I feel there is a spring to my step. A bounce when I crash on the bed....(err, bad example), a croak to my voice that comes from knowing that soon I am not gonna be in this country anymore.

I am gonna take a flight from Gate 13 and a half, and then have horseless carriages take me to Hog-....(err.. ISB?) where I would be spending the rest of my year cramming up on studies. There would be points when I am told how to cast magic effectively(marketing), how to keep track of what i cast(finances), how to make others cast spells for me(human resources), how to be a good spellcaster(ethics), how to cast faster and spend no energy to lift the damn sword out of the rock when Arthur isn't around.

I know currently I just feel tempted to use the One Ring. I know at many points in the coming year I would feel the temptation of using it. Knowing full well it is wrong to do so and that it would corrupt not only myself but also everyone around me into using their own One Rings. It lets us become invisible and draw away from the world around us. We say it is to gather our thoughts and keep our sanity, but who are we kidding? In loneliness shall madness creep ever faster to claim its prize; the mind.

If only I could find my Fellowship that supports and nurtures me and encourages me to cast away my One Ring. My mind shall be whole. It happened once when I was not looking during my undergraduate years. One blink and there was my Fellowship standing by me. =) No matter Muggles or Ents, everyone was in it to make the other shine his / her best!!~

Let it happen once again!~
-from the disjointed memoirs of Frodo Potter-

An Ancient Riddle...

The lone wanderer creeped stealthily in the catacombs. Alert. He took great pains to step on cobblestones with the thickest layers of dust. Everything about this man was sharp edged from the broadsword on his back, to the look in his eyes that glowed blue. A look that betrayed an ancient intelligence, incongruent with his youthful form.

"This ancient labyrinth is empty. Nothing is alive here anymore. The SunMen wiped themselves out aeons ago...."

These were among the last thoughts of some of the still rotting corpses at his feet. He knew. Having been so close to Death himself numerous times, he could sense their last thoughts. The horrific realisation.

He made his way to the central chamber. By no means where he wanted to go. The Point of Origins. Yet, he needed to deal with this Threat first. The central chamber with its ambient lighting and tall, wide pillars all around could provide him with the cover he needed to fight IT. Reaching, he realised how big the Central Chamber actually was. You could have placed a small city in it. It could have hosted a large army. It still did. He was finally at the site of Arthur's Folly.

The entire human army was dead. Curiously, their heads were all stones. Some had been smashed as the bodies fell. In some, you could still see the petrified visage as the bones had turned to dust over the last 500 years.

The wanderer turned to glimpse slightly to his left. He half noticed a crowned stone. Turning back to the middle of the Central Chamber suddenly, IT was already in front of him. No warning. No movement. No magical residue. IT asked straight into his mind....

"How far has come thee, wanderer? Perhaps a certain treasure is what you need? Perhaps my friendship you have come to seek? Any is possible, for an Answer. An Answer that I seek. One that was asked of me and I did not answer wrongly. None of your forefathers could Answer me as you can see. I hope the Aeons have given your race the wisdom to Answer me..."

The wanderer couldn't think of an escape. He knew now there was only one way. Answering. Yet, something seemed strange with this whole situation. Something in the words uttered by the SunMen's Final Creation. Yet it had already started reciting the Riddle.

"Each of my sons have twice as many sisters as they have brothers. Yet, each of my daughters have as many brothers as they have sisters. Tell me now, o' wise wanderer. How many sons and daughters do I have?"

The wanderer's mind raced at the possibilities. The contempt in ITS tone was unmistakable. ITS glowing red eyes made him focus totally on the riddle at hand. He could not think of anything else outside the riddle. He looked for tricks. He looked for loops in the riddle. In the end, he realised. He just had to Answer it. With a smile, he realised there is only ONE right answer. Finally, he could breathe...

"You can ask me ONE question. After you have Answered me. "

Again, straight into his mind. The wanderer realised things are getting better after all. He could almost catch a sense gloating from IT, quickly hidden..

Step 3: The Interview

Hey guys,

Well, the interview was short and sweet. This is what I would like to say. But, we know that is hardly the reality with Interviews especially when it concerns admissions to a particular gaining-in-popularity Post-Graduate Programme. =)

I go the e-mail asking me to make the call at so-and-so time. I did call right on the dot. Unfortunately, my dear house phone that has consistently served any type of calls suddenly decided to give trouble. I could not Intn'l Direct Dial out to India. Sigh.

So, I ended up calling in 10 minutes late. I apologised to Mr. Sanjay Singh and then continued on to the gruelling bits. In fact, I would say I did have a very easy session as compared to what the other guys have been writing up in the Yahoogroups. In fact, I was in such a daze after the interview that I really cannot remember the questions that were asked of me now.

Maybe it was tough, but I did not feel it due to my utter and complete confidence at my success level. I have been blessed by Dato' Seri Guruji. Nothing else would be able to withstand or negate the power of a SUN now can it? Blessed Souls are like that. Nothing negative would be able to withstand their intent.

Of course, I won't be able to forget the last question. "Why didn't you get your immediate superiors to write you a testimonial? They have the time and position to see your current leadership skills. Your previous professors aren't able to do that. Can you get us your superior's comments?" I stammered badly as I had not expected a question about my application. I apologised and I promised I'll get it to them the following Monday. The reply i got was, "Send it in and we will give our answer in 2 weeks."

Asked them back a few quesitons, emphasising on the scholarships...and after that hung up! =)

Step 3: completed....

Step 2: Submitting the Application

Hey guys,

Now this was done last minute as the truest of Mathan's traditions. Honest to say, I really cannot remember what the Hell i was doing during August. But, I know I wasted my time a lot and took the whole application exercise lightly since the submission was by 3rd of October for the first round of Intakes.

September came and 2 weeks went by. It was about then I started everything. I realised at about that point that I had a LOT more to do than I realised. I was running around frantically. (My hair caught fire.Lol!~) There were 2 documents that I needed to get other people to write and submit. I chose Dr. Alan and Dr. Sagathevan to be my references. Took sometime for them to get the stuff written down and passed back. Had to get some copies and some documents verified.

Of course, the online site was a little difficult to navigate especially in trying to submit my educational background. I don't think ISB has had any students from Malaysia, therefore I could only submit best approximations to what I have scored. Sigh!~ I just prayed that my application would not be rejected due to the admissions team misunderstanding me based on the approximated results.

During this time, I would say Mr. Sanjay Singh of admissions was very, very supportive and cooperative. He took his time to explain in detail what I need and need not do through his emails. Honestly, his guidance helped a lot. Thank you very much, Mr. Sanjay Singh!

Submitted my applications online and couriered the hardcopies through DHL at end of September. Luckily, admissions team recieved my application package and updated the website promptly. Very happy at that time realising I've done the easy part and now the hard part was coming up. I was up to the challenge...Lol!~

I almost forgot the important part. I almost couldn't send the application on time due to being unable to find the bloody DHL office near my place. I found the area. It's just that the office was further in and I mistakenly thought, they being a prominent courier service would definitely set up their offices as close as possible to the main road. Oh BOY, was i WRONG!! It was so deep in I found it just as I was about to give up searching. Of course once I reached there, the guy there told me, they do document pick-ups at a little extra cost. Note to self: Definitely gonna use that service in future!! But, I did see a RPT Centre member working there. I was so happy to see her there. She briefly guided me on what I should do. Filled up the forms, put in the package for processing and left...

Step 2: completed...

Step 1: The GMAT

Hey guys,

This is the where the interesting part starts. Henceforth, the blog will cater to the general knowledge of all that come in to this site. Be it my family that supported me throughout these years, my darling best buddies, my dear Westportians or my new ISB batchmates.

I will be posting regularly to update everybody about my progress in life. Let's start with the GMAT. Paying for my GMAT was my very first HSBC Visa transaction. Not even 5 minutes had passed when a representative from HSBC called me to make sure I'm still holding the Card in my hand. Yup, it costs a lot in MYR. Close to 1k.

Following this, I got my follow-up materials a few weeks down the line just before my exam appointment. I got to complete one mock test after installing a specialised software on the day before the test. At that point, I was beginning to get a little befuddled due to the total new approach this exam was using to hammer at my mind. I've never tried for any MBA courses before this. I don't have anybody in my family who tried out the GMAT to attempt a Masters overseas. Nope, No cousins, no uncles nor brilliant aunts who stepped away from the shores of Malaysia. The friends who attempted are all already years out of contact after they made it overseas. (Sorry William, I know you're an exception ;P ). Effectively, no guide. I tried the second mock-test in between waking up and going to the exam in the afternoon. I have to admit I didn't complete the second mock test.

Arrived at the exam venue at KL Sentral. Saw a cute chinese girl that was holding a book and I surmised she would be the candidate before me. Took a quick glance at the wierd text book she was cradling. "GMAT" . I maintained an air of calm confidence, yet inside I was feeling the edge of an icy cold knife twisting. "GOD DAMN IT!! This exam has a TEXT BOOK??? And it's THAT thick?? These were some of the milder questions with the louder incessant background hum of " I'm so dead....I'm so dead...MY RM900+"

Well, I took the 15 minute time in between her going in and my time to go in by praying. HARD! Cleared my mind. Prayed that I won't panic and I would be able to attempt all questions at full concentration. Went in and attempted the GMAT. Of course I was quite confident I would be able to score along the mid-regions of 700 until before I saw that text book the gal was holding. After that, I left it to God and Dato' Seri Guruji.

End score 620/800. Requirements at ISB is 600+ (Whew!) I did score 5.5/6.0 for the Written part. It must have helped. I cannot remember the topic now but I do remember it being something that I could analyse well and provide strong viewpoints. I was still disappointed with my scores since my dad told me to score 700+ for the GMAT. The only consolation for that was when Duke University sent me a prospectus encouraging me to apply to their course. Coincidentally, my dad had just read a weekend newspaper report on the top business schools worldwide. Duke University was rated No.4 there.

I was focused though. ISB was my only choice and I sat for my GMAT only because ISB required the scores for an admission. So, at the screen right after my GMAT was completed I entered only ISB as the direct recipient of my GMAT scores....

Step 1: completed...