First post

I have been visiting this blog on and off, but never finding anything to write on. I kept watch over anything that' was added, very much like an eagle hovers over a prey from above. Even now I have nothing on my mind as I type. Maybe its the music, Tommy Emmanuel- he should be heard, or its the sleeplessness that drove me into it at this hour. I really have no clue about companies and shares and markets and whatnot, so anyone who intends to read my posts, please do not look for anything monetary. Its for people who like to keep it simple, though I'll have to warn you, sometimes you will find absolutely no connection between the things I write. But then that's the fun, you should try it. Write what you want, without pausing to give it the literary comprehensiveness.

That was some sort of an introduction I would say.

And I think that's all for now.

I will leave you with a thought that i have.

War is the true nature of man.

Life AA (After ASB)

It’s been a little more than six months since we ventured out to the wild in search of wealth and happiness, and if I were to comment on the status of our quest, I would have to say that the beasts are really trying us. For most of us, it turned out to be a bit different of an experience than what we had imagined it to be like sitting in the classrooms and canteens at Ettimadai. I have been on a self-initiated project since last month to gather and put together information about the experiences of my batch after having worked for six months. From the responses that I have got so far, I can say that most of us are doing well and learning a lot though the world seems to be a tougher place, and there is a lot in these responses for the School and my juniors.

I would like to, in this post talk about my journey so far, outside the Planet, particularly in my career. I will try restraining from bringing out greener memories from inside the planet as that had been the regular plot of my posts here. Before I start off, I start with an empathetic note. A year before as the member of the Student Council handling the Placements, I was in constant interaction with those in my batch who were yet to be placed. It was not that they were less smart than others; the companies that had visited us until then had failed to offer them what they wanted, or had just failed to see the worth in them. I empathized with their feelings. And today that feeling is six or seven times higher. Companies are still more blind and poor today. It will take time for them to stand back on their feet and see clearly. I say turn inward and hone yourself until then. And when they start to see, let them see an ocean of jewels ready to be taken away at Amrita.

I went on AA to a shipping company’s back office. The profile was completely managerial. I was put, after an initial training, to a role where I had a team of seven doing shipping export documentation for VIP customers in the US. The team makes a document called the Bill of Lading, which becomes a critical part of the shipping cycle. It requires knowledge of customs requirements, customer requirements and adherence to the time that Hapag Lloyd commits to the customers. The process was newly transitioned to our center in Chennai. The role began as a challenge, and went on to become a bigger challenge. Regular systemic issues and people issues kept us from accuracy and TAT requirements most of the time. On the bright side, I had the help and support of an able and understanding manager. And in the process, what I gained was an on-the-floor experience and understanding of how to manage a team, their feelings, and their potential. The VIP team was and still is the best team in the US documentation team. But somewhere, I started to realize that what I was doing was not quiet what I wanted, the common symptom of dissatisfaction and what I would like to call the first symptom of self awareness. It started as a feeling of emptiness. Its then that I came to know from a good friend, about a research vacancy at UBS, Hyderabad. Everything followed the other after that and in a month, I was in Hyderabad in the Strategic Research and Intelligence team catering to the HR research needs of the Senior HR leadership in the Wealth Management division of the bank. The work here is much different that the one in Hapag. I am part of a specialist team that acts in a consulting capacity and therefore is flat and flexible. Most of the time in a typical day, I keep reading books and articles by thought leaders, and reports and survey analysis by large consulting organizations to be able to help the top HR management with HR trends and best practices. To have attended your first exit interview in the first six months of your career can have two different meanings; One that you have no idea of where you are headed or what you want, and two that you somehow took a while to realize what you want. In my case, I like to believe that it’s the latter. But we never know until we know when my next exit interview is… do we. ;)

To my Juniors (batchmates and seniors) in ASB who are passionate about HR, I would like to extend an interest of mine to have a network among us in which we can take HR research seriously. This network , in my imagination will help the alumni research contribution at ASB stronger and this can help us, future students, faculty and ASB. If you share this interest, do write to me sometime. (karunakarantk@gmail.com)

The Year 2008

I guess am a wee bit late in coming out with this blog about the year gone by but, as they say better late than never. So here are some reflections on the past year that has been quite remarkable in more ways than one. Well to be utterly honest, what triggered this blog was a visit to good old Planet Etti and a chat with the inimitable Deepak sir who insisted on seeing a post from me very soon. But I should say that work on this post had begun a few days before the visit to ASB, after a reading of The Hindu’s Sunday Magazine. So here I go without further ado…
I have seen people use quite a few terms to describe the past year but I guess every word falls flat when you take into account the plethora of events that have taken place. It was truly a year which had its share of happiness and grief in equal measure. It was a year that saw the stock markets tumble and crash, a year that found global financial giants like Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers in murky waters. It was a year when the US had to pour billions of dollars into its sinking economy to save a number of big names like General Motors, AIG & Citigroup. It was also a year when an Illinois Senator with a Muslim middle name and a multi- racial background took the world by storm by becoming the first black president of the USA.
2008 also saw the word terrorism take on a much more dangerous and sinister meaning. A year that saw a bunch of guys with a few AK-47’s and hand grenades bring the great city of Mumbai to its knees. It proved yet again how unsafe our cities are and how ill- prepared our nation is to tackle such situations. Indian’s have been known to be a very resilient lot but this time around Mumbai was truly enraged with the way the entire incident was handled by the politicians and the media. The year saw a blatant disregard for something that the Indian media seems to have almost forgotten - media ethics. While the entire hostage drama was played out, the only thing the media seemed to be interested in was getting the juiciest stories with an almost inhuman disregard for the people held hostage. The year also saw a series of bomb blasts rock the nation starting with Rajasthan moving onto Bangalore and the Gujarat. Religious violence reared its ugly head yet again this year in the nation that prides itself on its secular nature. The Kandhamal violence was a silent testimony to this.
On a positive side the year saw India’s moon mission turning a spectacular success. A quite chap with a trigger happy finger bagged the billion strong nation’s first ever individual Olympic gold and took the focus off the gentleman’s game for a little while. Yet another man made history in black and white in Bonn by being crowned the king of chess. Yet another Indian bagged a Man Booker with a rambling but thoroughly distorted (according to critics) account of India. CERN, the European research organization made famous by Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons” unveiled the biggest experiment in the history of physics- the Large Hadron Collider.
Quite a year isn’t it? And before I sign off on a personal note this year saw batch 2006-08 of ASB “officially” becoming MBA graduates although I must say the times are not rosy for a management grad. Anyways, all the very best to everyone, especially to my juniors. Don’t be bogged down by the bleak sentiment in my post or the depressing market conditions. Trust me landing a job is not a measure of your true worth. And like someone once said “You are not what you are in times of hardship, you are better than that”. Good luck and a happy new year.