Bushra Hameduddin and more

The Homecoming at XL was great.Partying till 4:30am was even better. the XL band - Bodhi Tree played all the hits like XL ki Kudiyan, Sab Ka Katega and the freshly minted GMD (ask an XLer for the full for form).
Here's the letter of the week...

I'm not going to tell you how much I enjoyed your book, because I'm sure that's nothing new for you. But I want to share with you the part I loved best...it was the ending...Haathi's personalised letter to his students. It was so touching, I cried. I'm doing my MBA, and for the past few months, I've been feeling lost and that I've lost my way, and I don't know why I'm doing what I'm doing anymore. And Haathi's letter meant so much to me becuse that did away with some of the restlssness I've been feeling.
I'm a bookworm and have no human friends, only books. I'm looking for inspiration, and I find it very hard to be inspired.
One reason I love books is that they provide insight into the human character, and since I dont get along with real people, it gives me clues about them.
Thanks.

Bushra Hameduddin
bushra.hamed@gmail.com

See You in Jamshedpur on 19-20 Nov 2005

XLRI, my alma mater is having a Homecoming party. Got to be there. Here's an opportunity for me to relive my days there - complete with chai and adda at Dadu's Dhaba and VOLUNTARILY eat the Mess food served by Basanto.


Meanwhile here is a mail from Amartya Banerjee - not Sen

Read your book.And i think its grt. i could myself relate a lot with the book because of two reasons.Firstly because i am an ex hindu college hence memories of delhi uni, and north campus came back flooding. and secondly becoz i teach in a B school in kolkata so the potrayal is next to original.

i teach media and communication management at the International School of Business and media(ISB&M).lthough i have never been to a B school myself but have done a professional course in Media hence well acquainted with the life style.Its a grt book and infact its a grt book to be made in to a film.Have you thought about it?Hope to read more from you in the near future. How about one outlining your corporate experiences??

Regards
Amartya Banerjee

Prof Amartya Banerjee
Chairperson-Admissions Professor-
Media& Communication Management International School Of Business & Media (PUNE/KOLKATA/DELHI/BANGALORE)
IB-163 Sector 3 Salt Lake City
Kolkata, India

Go Ahead You Crazy FLICKr...

Vairamani Pandiyan, my buddy who is a great photographer and someone who is always at the forefront of what is new on the Net and also claims to have read every joke on the Net at least twice (why? does he not get it the first time?) He has got some amazing photos on his page http://www.flickr.com/photos/pandiyan/60315594/

He writes his review of MEDIOCRE BUT ARROGANT

Isn’t it great to have a celebrity as a close friend? It sure is. He tells me he signs girls' T shirts!The book shown here is waltzing in the bestseller lists along with Dan Brown and JK Rowling. Written by someone with whom I spent the best years of my corporate life, doing exactly what the characters in the story do. Wise-cracking, irreverent and carefree, making fun of everything, making puns at every turn and working once in a while. Mediocre But Arrogant; not exactly but something like that.

Want to know what really happens in the hallowed halls of a big-name business school? Don’t go for titles like ‘What they really teach you at Harvard’ and such. Truth is out here.

MBAs. These marauders, turned out by the dozens by business schools, invading the corporate corridors, stalking the boardrooms, weaving their web of mesmerizing magic and devilish deceptions, have effectively transformed the business organizations into powerful institutions with an 'A' in economic results and 'F-' for humaneness. Where do they come from and how are they made? Get an insider's view.

On a personal note, Abhijit is Anything But Mediocre. Jack of many trades and Master of caricaturing. Puns, limericks, silly skits, jokes, cartoons – he got me into many of those. When I torture some of my Flickr contacts with silly never ending puns, it is Abhijit who is to be blamed. But then I must admit that some his jokes are good. Otherwise serious publishing houses wouldn’t have bothered to publish his writing throwing good money. Then again, it may be bad money and may be his jokes are the kind people like and goodness has nothing to do with it.Meet Abhijit Bhaduri. Do read his blog for a flavour of the book. What next Abhijit? Syndicated columns, movies, Abbey dolls.... Sequels definitely, I reckon. Speculating in possible titles... Well, the protogonist is likely to graduate and step into the corporate world. So Married But Available, Mean Beast Always, Mayhem Bedlam And .... You are welcome to suggest. I'll get him to send you a free copy if he likes your title.

Thus spake Pandiyan and I loved some of the comments and suggestions his readers had to offer...
Someone who mysteriously signs as 42n81 said:

i love it that someone wants to stick it to the MBA's. it's a bad brotherhood of academix who couldn't make it in the real world from day one . . .i will buy this book, it's a promise :-)

i think an Abbey Action Figure would be nice as a next step . . . big money in those. Fun for kids of all ages. Abbey comes complete with a lot of Smoke & Mirrors, its own set of crocodiles they cry real tears !,

cute Super-Hero suit with the motto "Looks great in Theory" embroidered in real plastic, a full set of two gleaming hatchets to axe unsuspecting vested limbs of corporate entities, and gold velvet Commando Rope to pull cronies into cushy over-paid positions, or better yet, as Consultants!!!

Watch Abbey contribute chaos as he doles out money to same age-group peers that look strikingly like him! It's up to you to determine if Abbey's mission is actual corporate deconstruction or simply well-executed preservation of the peer species. Is Abbey doing it to create a loss-leading tax shelter or it is just because Abbey doesn't know how to really work?As if that weren't enough . . . wait, there's more!

If you buy the introductory Abbey Action Figure set today, you can get Abbey's Blood Red Corvette complete with special Personalized Parking Lot sign for half price.

Thanks dude!! Some of those suggestions certainly make sense. Will help fund the sequel - Abhijit