1 Year Full-Time MBA - Some Tips :-)

The last few years have seen a number of 1 year full-time MBA programs springing up in India, to cater to the demand from a growing breed of professionals facing what I call a "Pre-Midlife" crisis (and also do not have the patience to put in more than a year at college). I for one would know for sure, having "invested"(In quotes, since most people do not look at it that way) in such a program at ISB-Hyderabad. Let it be known, that I personally consider my MBA to be a worthwhile investment. Other than ISB, such MBA programs are offered by many other instistutions e.g. PGPX programs at IIM-A, IIM-C etc

Also for the sake of all the kind souls who are good enough to read this blog entry: This writeup is more relevant to India. However, even others could benefit from many aspects of it.

Point No.1 > Just like with any other MBA program, this is a major investment in terms of money and time (Even more in money terms, when it comes to the popular ones among 1 Year Full-Time MBA courses). So it is very prudent to do your research as far as your finances are concerned.
-->Remember that you would all of a sudden stop getting that "taken for granted credit to your bank account" called salary, at the beginning of every month - And more importantly, that would be the status for a full 1 year
-->The "non-earning" period would of course coincide with a period when the expenses would either stay the same (rarely!) or go up(mostly!). The expenses are categorised as:-
(a)One-Time Expense: What you pay as fees etc, in addition to the amount you get as student loan (The loan becomes a Post-MBA liability on your personal balance sheet)
(b)Day-to-day recurring expenses: Phone bills, food expenses, cost of buying books etc, monthly EMI payments for Pre-MBA House/Car loans etc
-->Somethings I suggest you should do:
(i)Before deciding to join anyone of these courses, talk to multiple alums and current students (especially those with a Pre-MBA academic/professional background similar to that of yours). Would help you get a "ball park" / approximate estimate of "worst" and "best" case scenarios of your probable Post-MBA remuneration. I don't think I need to tell you why it is important, from the point of view of your personal financial planning, before you join a 1 year full-time MBA course
(ii)See how best you can offset the monetary impact of not earning a steady income for 1 year. One suggestion in this regard (Purely depends on each person's own financial situation):- You could maybe take the entire fee amount as a student loan. Then smartly invest all your savings in such a manner that, the returns you earn over a 1 year period cover up for the voluntary loss of income when you are at B-school
-->If your Pre-MBA employer (e.g. Wipro) allows you to go on a sabbatical, please avail of the facility. Even if your Pre-MBA employer is a very poor paymaster, the thought at the back of your mind that there is something concrete to fall back on, proves to give you that much more of a psychological edge over "competition" during the all too important campus placements.
-->If your employer is willing to sponsor your MBA (you lucky @#$@%&*)...Come on folks, do I need to tell you what to do?:-). If I have to explicitly tell this to you, then your decision making process on whether to do an MBA or not, ends right here. Please do not bother to read any further
The above paragraph contains a Funny Sidenote - Kindly figure out for yourselves which part is "funny" (Why this "sidenote"? I just felt like putting this in here. After all, it is my blog! Also, I need to keep myself amused, while writing all these blogs. So treat this as a perk that I get for being a blogger..he he he)
-->Also definitely do try wholeheartedly and positive mindedly to participate in "lottery-like"(Read: Probability of Success <5%) activities like Business Case Study Competitions, Special Scholarships etc.
(a)"Special" Scholarships: You might not realise it, but there are people in this world who consider you to be very, very, very(3 times is enough I guess!) special. After all, when you were "largely at sea" on that merchant navy ship before that "eureka" moment when you decided to be on terra firma at B-school, did you ever imagine that someone had a "sailors only" scholarship worth Lakhs of Rupees for you (and only you)? (Note: This "sailor" example is from true life). Am I jealous?-Of course! After all the "Bacardi King of Good Times" moments the sailors had all over the world, now this too??!! he he he
(b)Business Case Study Competitions: Do attempt (If nothing else, it would help increase the gloss element of your resume). Most importantly, get into a good team whose winnability quotient is very high.
--> If you are going on a Foreign Exchange program to a top foreign B-school for a few Terms, it does not come free!!e.g. at ISB-Hyderabad it could easily cost an additional Rs 4-5 Lakhs. Heck!Then why do some folks still spend this money and go on these foreign exchange programs? 2 Possible reasons: (i)Get the name of an internationally recognized B-School on to your resume, (ii)Folks who do not have Pre-MBA experience in foreign countries, are trying to play catch up. Anyways, do your own cost/benefit analysis, and make the "To Get Exchanged/Not Get Exchanged" decision.

For all of you out there who are going all "C'mon!money is not important. Why talk about financial planning etc?!", please go through the following points:-
(a)Firstly, let me know how I can send you the details of my bank account and the procedure to wire all of your salary to the same.:-)
(b)I will make it easier for you: Please, please, please(always tend to do it 3 times!) do not enter the business world! The business world needs creators of wealth, and not those who shun it. Legally and ethically earned money, is the engine of human life.
(c)Wake up! Communism is long dead, Capitalism is in (and in, to stay put firmly)! Mr.Narayana Murthy (Infosys) who is one of the pioneers of wealth creation in India, obtained all his success when he realized the futility of communism on a chance visit to Eastern Europe
Phew! That ends "Point No.1". This was one reaaaly long "point".

Point No.2>If you have many years of Pre-MBA work experience, you might need to do your research to arrive at which B-School will be best for you in terms of getting placed in a job Post-MBA, commensurate with the number of years of work you put in prior to doing an MBA.
-->There are schools like ISB-Hyderabad, where each batch size is 400-500. So the class has folks spread across the spectrum in terms of number of years of Pre-MBA work experience. Of course the school cannot focus only on the needs of folks in one particular band/category, when it comes to the number of years of Pre-MBA experience (Although to their credit, they do try hard in their own ways and succeed in the same to a large extent)
-->Then there are programs like the IIM-A PGPX one, which caters to folks with a minimum of 7 years or so of Pre-MBA experience (Not sure if my information about this program is outdated). Pros: Focus on placement needs of 7+years work exp. crowd. Possible Cons: The institute might expect these "seniors" to handle the entire placement process on their own.


Point No.3> All MBA programs, ask all the prospective candidates to have a crystal clear view on what they want to do Post-MBA. This does not stop at being a definite topic for one of the essays that you would have to write, during the selection process of all MBA courses. Specifically in 1 Year MBA programs, the importance of your answer to this question attains humongous proportions.
-->You simply do not have time to "change directions" as far as chasing your Post-MBA job is concerned, in the middle of the course. You have only 1 year (and not 2 years) in which the entire course is crunched into

Point No.4> In a 1 Year program, changing your "line of work" i.e. Pre-MBA Vs Post-MBA, is difficult (Note: Very difficult, but not totally impossible). Some reasons:-
(a)Recruiters are attracted to folks in these MBA programs, due to the mix of solid Pre-MBA work experience and an MBA that they get to choose form. And, they would get a lot to choose from, in the form of students with Pre-MBA exp. in the same industry. Whether you like it or not, 8/9 times out of 10 in such MBA programs, your past(Read: Pre-MBA work exp.) does shape your future (Read: Post-MBA job)
(b)Unlike in a 2 year MBA program, 1 year MBA program does not give you the chance to do a full-time Summer(or winter/autumn/spring)internship in an industry to which you want to switch to. Some B-Schools do allow you to do projects in parallel to doing your course(The course in itself is so strenuous, that this is practically infeasible and ineffective)

Point No.5> If you are married (with or without kids)then consider all the following (Some points also apply to "engaged" folks):-
(i)Is your spouse really in favour of you doing the MBA course? Is he/she willing to put up with the grind that the course would put you through?
(ii)Does the School provide suitable family quarters for married students?
(iii)If you spouse is working, does he/she have job prospects in the place where the B-School is located? Do both you and your spouse want to live separately for this 1 year?
(iv)What about your kids?
(v)In case of a long distance relationship, prepare yourself for some serious time management and huge phone bills (This is one, which definitely applies to "engaged" folks).

Some parting shots (These are solely my personal views):-
(i)If you have <4Years of work exp.: Try to get into the IIMs or other Indian B-Schools like XLRI, SP Jain, Symbiosis etc. If your family is willing to sponsor your MBA, then the world is literally at your door(Read: You can do any MBA, irrespective of the location and fee amount)

(ii)If you are in the 4 to 7 years work exp. bracket: My personal suggestion is to not do any MBA. Wait till you cross the 7 Years+ work exp. mark, to do an MBA. Again, if you have good financial backing, the world is at your door

(iii)If you are in the 7-10 Years work exp. range: Go in for any of the 1 Year Full Time MBA program in India which suits you. I think your Return-On-Investment, everything else remaining the same, should be good (7/8 times out of 10). With proper planning on all fronts, gunning for Top Notch B-Schools abroad is also a good idea.

(iv)If you have 10+Years of exp.: Unless your Full-Time MBA is sponsored by your Company, with a solid promise of some resultant growth in your career, do not do an MBA from India. In my personal view, there could be a gap in terms of the job you get Post-MBA from campus and what your expected. I would suggest a well-planned attempt at getting into a top-notch MBA program abroad.


Please feel free to send in your comments, as usual :-).

Catch you later, with a blog on something else. Next one would be about an interesting nightspot in Bangalore (Enough of MBA/Business Related stuff)

Post-MBA Job Options in IT Industry

Have been wanting to post this information for a while now. This was information, which I unashamedly admit, I did not have fully have with me, before going to do my MBA from ISB-Hyderabad. Note that, your Pre-MBA experience does play a big role, in what kind of job you get.

I have listed below the job descriptions of some of the typical roles on offer in the IT industry, post-MBA(Especially applicable in the Indian context. Moreso, holds true for the folks with 7-10 years Pre-MBA work experience. However, even the others can benefit from the same):-

(i)IT Frontline Sales/Business Development Roles, for Indian IT Services companies like Infosys, Wipro, iGate etc (Hunting, Farming, and Mining Roles) - Please refer to my previous blog specifically dedicated to these job types, for more details.
--> Roles would 90% of the times be foreign based, or sometimes need you to be posted in India to cater to the local markets
--> Note that some Tier-1 companies offer a "Business Development Manager" role. From what I have seen that, these are Pre-Sales roles with a different name which offer an average salary. Some of the offshore roles provided by Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies are actual frontline sales roles, and pay decently well.
--> Expected Salary ranges: For foreign based roles, please refer to my earlier blog. For India based roles (mostly in Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies), it could be anywhere in the Rs 15-25 Lakh per annum range (Depends a lot on your Pre-MBA experience, your B-School etc)

(ii)IT Pre-Sales / Back-End support for Frontline Sales teams, in Indian IT Services companies:- Very minimal benefits for the folks in the 7-10 years work experience bracket, as far as Pre-MBA experience is concerned. Works best for folks with <5 years of work experience, and also maybe having been part of the 2 Year Full-Time MBA course from the IIMs etc
--> Expected Salary ranges: Mostly offshore based roles (very few are foreign based roles). Range is Rs 4-14 Lakhs per annum (Again, depends a lot on your Pre-MBA experience, your B-School etc)

(iii)IT Business Development Jobs for Product Companies like Microsoft etc, targetting sales for these companies'products in the Indian market:-
--> Expected Salary ranges: Range is Rs 12-18 Lakhs per annum

(iv) Product Manager Roles with companies like Cisco, Yahoo!, Computer Associates(CA), Google etc:- You are accountable for the performance of the particular product in the market (You act as a glue between the Sales and Production units of the company). High-paying jobs. Very few vacancies. Pretty difficult to crack the interviews (Google interview process is one, which is really tough)
--> Expected Salary ranges: Ranging from Rs 16 Lakhs per annum (Cisco) to Rs 30 Lakhs per annum (Google)

(v)Leading role with the IT Outsourcing/Procurement division of companies like British Petroleum(BP) etc:- Leverage all that you studied in most of your MBA courses, to help chalk out IT outsourcing strategy of the company. Play a key role in contract negotiations etc.
-->Expected Salary ranges:- GBP 50-60K per annum, US Dollar 100K-140K per annum

(vi)Program Manager with any IT company:- Some Product companies use this as another name for the role described earlier as "Product Manager". However, 9 times out of 10, this designation describes a role in the Indian IT Services Cos, where the person (a)does the day-to-day interfacing with the technical managers in the client org, on behalf of the project delivery teams in his/her own company, (b)provides critical help to the frontlines sales teams. Role could be offshore or onsite.
-->Expected Salary ranges: Do not Know

(vii)Project Management Office (PMO) Roles:- Work to ensure that the different projects/programs in a business division adhere to processes, do not overrun allocated budgets, and are in line with the division's business goals.
-->Expected Salary range in India:- Rs 17-20 Lakhs per annum

(viii)High-End IT Strategy Consultancy:- Very few roles, with companies like Booz, Allen, & Hamilton(BAH). Advisory to companies on how to structure their IT strategies.
-->Expected Salary range: Good salaries. Do not know, actual numeric values.


(IX) Managerial Roles in BPO/KPO industry
--> Expected Salary Ranges: Rs 15-19 lakhs per annum.

(x) Roles in Finance/Investment industry, where primary job is to track IT stocks. Do not have much information.

Hope this note, helps folks who are planning to do an MBA or are doing an MBA currently.

Invite readers of the blog with relevant experience, to add their valuable comments, to bolster the strength and usefulness of the information in this blog entry.

South Indies - Bangalore: Fabulous S. Indian Food Joint)

It is been a while since I wanted to blog about this fabulous South Indian eating joint in posh Indiranagar(Bangalore), called "South Indies" . I was brought up in N.India (despite being a South Indian "basically"), and was not such a big fan of South Indian cuisine. However, this place has resulted in my taste buds craving for South Indian food. I make a dash for the place, everytime I get a chance.

The place can be easily categorized as an upscale restaurant. The place can be defined as a whole by the simple phrase "Great South Indian food served in an ambience befitting a good restaurant abroad".

The restaurant serves vegetarian dishes from all the four South Indian states (Please note that there is no meat served here. Also as a sidenote, the place does not serve any alcoholic beverages). You have both buffet and ala carte options. There is a ever active counter readily making and serving fresh hot "dosas" and "appams". The starters and main course, both have a variety of mouth watering options. The place serves an array of tasty desserts too.

What differentiates the place from other South Indian restaurants is the upscale ambience. They have a valet parking service for their customers. The staff is smart, efficient, friendly, and polished in their approach. As soon as you sit at the table, they bring you a warm & wet towel to cleanse your face. You have a spacious seating area, with options to have your meal both outdoors and indoors. The place is frequented by foreign tourists - those that come on their own, and those brought their by their Indian hosts. The place is also very highly frequented by North Indian families living in Bangalore.

The only issue (and a very slight one) - You have to put up with the narrowness of the stretch of road available for driving, in the area very close to the restaurant (on account of the ongoing construction work for the Bangalore Metro). However, I have found this to be an non-issue.

High Level directions to the place: Drive on the Indiranagar 100 Ft road, towards Old Madras Road. Once you cross the 100 Ft Road - CMH Road junction, you will have the Bangalore Metro pillars covering the middle of the road, all the way up to Old Madras Road. Take a U-turn through the last gap (just before hitting the Old Madras Road) in the stretch of Bangalore Metro construction structures. The restaurant would be to your left, a few metres after you take the U-turn.

I very, very highly recommend this place. Do not miss this out on any account.

Co-Ordinates and other details of the place@Indiranagar:-
100 Ft Road, Indiranagar (Opposite Dominos, 100Ft Road, Indiranagar),
Bangalore
Ph: 080 4163 6363.
E-mail: contact@thesouthindies.com
Website: http://www.thesouthindies.com/
Please Note: They also have restaurants in Hyderabad and Pune. They also have another restaurant on Infantry Road, Bangalore. However, I have been only to their Indiranagar-Bangalore place, and this article is based on the same.

IT Frontline Sales / BDM Jobs - What to look out for

Giving a dump of what any person (MBA or Non-MBA) should be looking at before taking up a Frontline Sales role with an Indian IT Services firm. These are my personal views, based on my own experience and that of my friends across companies.

Job/Role Types:-
(i)Hunting - You have to go out and get totally new accounts/customers for your company.
Pros: Since sales person is taking higher risk on his commissions, payments could be very highly handsome.
Cons: As would be obvious, very tough to get new business, what with having to build contacts out of nowhere etc.

(ii)Farming and Mining, Account Management etc - Handle an existing customer account. Ensure that you farm/sustain existing business. Also mine the existing account, to grow it further.
Pros: Probability of actually earning the commissions is higher. Can leverage existing contacts in account, to get further business.
Cons: Since risk involved is slightly lesser, remuneration could be slightly smaller than that for a hunter role.



Job Location:-
(i)Check how soon the hiring company is willing to post you in the Geo/territory (in case of foreign postings), after you join them. Ensure that this is asap, since many a times due to various factors, you end up being stuck offshore only.

(ii)How easy is it to get a required work permit/visa to operate out of the target sales territory? - If the process for obtaining visa is highly unpredictable, have a suitable back-up plan. Try also to negotiate a good offshore salary, in case you end up not being able to go abroad due to visa issues

(iii)Check with folks, how easy is it to close the sale in the target Geo. Could local language prove to be a failing for you as a sales person? After all, you need to earn your commissions.

(iv)If you have a spouse, check out how your move to a new country would effect his/her career.

(v)Check out how your travel schedule would be, in the new Geo. Ensure that the company shall adequately reimburse all your official travel and official expenses.

(vi)Check out the living expenses in the place you would be based out of - Ensure that all your expenses and liabilities are covered even with just the fixed component of your salary (Understandably sales commissions are "variable")

(vii)Ensure that the company picks up the tab for your relocation expenses, in some form or the other.

Of course, the one that you all were waiting for :-), Salary/Remuneration:-

(i)Do not go just by the gross salary. Look at how much is the Fixed Vs Variable split in the salary. Also, research on your possibility of being able to earn the commission/variable pay (Analyse prevailing market conditions, talk to folks currently in those roles etc)
-->The fixed:variable norm in the Tier-1 companies (Wipro, Infosys, CTS etc) is 70:30, 80:20, or sometimes even 90:10.
-->The fixed:variable norm in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies (Covansys, Tavant etc) is 60:40, or 50:50

(ii)The annual salary norm for the US Geo(I have experience of only this Geo. Others can add their comments about other Geos...) is as follows, for folks with approx 7-11 Years of work experience:-
--> US Dollars 100K to 120K: For Tier-1 companies
--> US DOllars 150K to 180K: For Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies
Note: A US Citizen could in all probability be paid higher than a foreign national

(iii)Try to get a view of the kind of annual revenue targets you would be carrying. Needless to say, your commissions are directly linked to your achieving/not achieving the targets.
-->Check with people currently holding similar positions in that company, whether the target values are usually achievable.
-->Depending on your company, type of account you handle etc, your first year target in US could range anywhere from as low as US Dollar 1 Million to US Dollar 30 Million!
--> Note that a numerically higher revenue target value does not automatically mean it is difficult to achieve (If it is an established account with already existing revenue streams, it could be relatively easy to achieve). Similarily, a numerically lower revenue target does not automatically mean that it is easy to achieve (If you are handling a tough account as say a hunter, it could prove to be a mountaineous task)

(iv)"Higher" Salaries from Tier 2 / Tier 3 Companies Vs "Lower" Salaries from Tier 1 Companies Theory (Very, Very Important to keep in mind):-
--> As you would have seen from some of the points above, Tier 1 companies give a lower gross salary but also have a relatively less aggressive fixed:variable pay ratio. Reasons are simple: (a)They have a strong enough brand name to attract prospective employees (without having to use a high gross salary), (b)Huge Company Size etc, ensures that they do not need to goad/drive their sales folks in a "pure hunter" mode that much using very aggressive fixed:variable pay ratios.
--> On the other hand, as you would have also seen from some of the points above, Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies give higher gross salaries but are much more aggressive when it comes to the fixed:variable pay ratio. Reasons once again are simple: (a)They can lure talented sales people only via a higher gross salary package, (b)Since they need to grow faster and need to fight harder for survival, they have to goad their sales teams using more aggressive fixed:variable pay ratios.
--> Please keep in mind that there is a very high possibility that (a)9 times out of 10, you earn the entire US Dollar 100K (In a 70:30 ratio) in a year when with a Tier-1 company, but (b)Earn only US DOllar 80K in a year (From a Gross Annual Salary of 160K, with a 50:50 fixed/variable pay split). The Simple Reason?:- In a Tier-1 company, the better company brand name and support systems (established Pre-Sales / Back-End Sales Support Teams, huge repository of case studies/proposals etc), highly increases the probability of closing deals successfully

(v)Ensure that the company gives you all aspects about your salary, clearly in writing. A friend of mine who was promised a gross annual salary of US Dollars 160K (With a 50:50 fixed/variable pay split), was not paid his commissions ($80K), despite achieving his revenue targets!!. His company claimed that he would not be given the same, since (surprise, surprise!), his boss had not met his targets!! The company had not clearly stated the commission payout terms in his official offer letter.

(vi)Ensure that the company had a clear and fair mapping of job bands/designations between (a)When you are abroad as part of their Sales Force), and (b)When you are back offshore in a non-sales role. Even though many of the folks wish that there stints abroad continue for ever, due to myriad reasons (good or bad), you might have to return offshore one day.

(vii)Understand the variable pay/commission calculation stipulations / formulae clearly. Usually the formulae is a combination of your revenue target achievement, price increases/decreases that you are able to negotiate, your timely collections of payments from client etc.

(viii)Understand how frequently your commissions are paid out(quarterly, half-yearly, or annually). As is obvious, you need to have a good liquid cash position on a monthly basis, to meet your expenses and pay your monthly loan EMIs etc

(ix)Mostly (I would say more than 50% of the time): - Your incentive payout is linked to the actual payment from the customer coming into your company's account. So even if you sign a $1 Million deal, you would not get your incentives being paid out, until the money actually starts getting paid to your company.


Last, but definitely not the least:-
(i)These roles are not for everyone. Definitely not for the faint hearted. You need to be thick-skinned. It is defintely not the cushy, high paying "long-term onsite stint", that many folks in the technical/project delivery roles wrongly think it to be.
(ii)Please, please, please do not even think of taking up such a role, if you have one or more of the below traits as part of your personality:-
-->You are an introvert, who cannot easily build relationships and friendships
-->You are too much of a technical person, who believes that sales is equal to lying/cheating(which it most definitely is not).
-->You have this queer notion that activities like fishing for competitor information, is wrong and unethical.
-->You love a predictable professional life and believe that hard work always results in success. From this blog, you can guess how many things could go wrong in the normal course of things, despite putting in long hours of work
-->You believe that you can sell something, only if you understand it indepth technically or even worse worked in the domain in your technical life
-->You believe that you can make the entire sale yourself
-->If you have qualms about talking to senior management folks
-->You cannot multi-task and work long hours
-->You hate to travel, to be a remote/mobile worker who might have to work out of home or while on the road
-->You get put off easily by failures
-->You cannot act tough with people, when the business warrants it
-->You cannot work with different teams spread across company functions and Geos
-->You cannot control your ego, for the sake of winning your business
-->You hesitate a lot in asking questions, or trying to get information
-->You hate working with "tough" folks, be it customers/internal folks
-->You are averse to extremely honest and instantaneous appraisals by your supervisors (which is necessary in sales)
-->You are averse to working in an environment, where performance is only seen in the light of numbers/revenues achieved(irrespetive of the luck - good or bad, that has befallen you)

Hope this helps!! :-). Take care, till I am back next time with more on some interesting topic.

Folks - Please, please do send in your views, comments

Athena Discotheque - Bangalore

I am in a general information disbursement mood today :-). So just throwing some information about the "Athena" club / discotheque@Bangalore, in the way of those who are not in the know.

This is a cool nightspot in Bangalore. This is in the Hotel Leela Palace, on Airport Road. The place is not really that heavy on the pocket / purse (Relatively speaking). Cover charge is Rs 1000.

The crowd is pretty decent and cool looking too. The DJs and the music they play, is pretty cool. You would run into celebrities frequently. I once saw Yuvraj Singh (the famous cricketer - for the rare few Indians who are not fans of the game). The place also curries favour with the Western tourists who stay at the Hotel Leela Palace (I am sure it works out well for them, as it saves them the pain of finding their way back home after a night out on the town).

The dance floor gets pretty crowded despite it being spacious - A sign that the discotheque is good :-). Despite the huge crowd, I found the place to be pretty safe. There is also a pretty decent number of seating places beside the dance floor.

The bartenders are swift, efficient, and friendly. They even throw in a few of the "fire on the bar" tricks :-). I have not tasted the food there, but the fare dished out to those who go for it sure looks very pleasing to the eye :-).

The place provides you the benefit of valet parking (However, be ready to wait your turn in a long queue of cars while finding you way out of the place).

All in all, a really cool place to hangout(As is obvious - Especially on Friday and Saturday nights. The place has promo nights on weekdays, if you are interested). They have a smart way of keeping their guests appraised of all the happenings, by SMSing them about all the events.

Some details of the place (Of course copy/pasted from the Internet):-

"Athena", Hotel Leela Palace,
23 Old Airport Rd
Bangalore, Karnataka 560008
Ph: 080 4126 5417-8
Open All Days of Week: 8pm-11:30pm
Ladies Night: On Wednesday of Every week...Why this day of the week? Pls ask the Mgmt of the place:-)
No Pool or Terrace (Positive result: Weather cannot play spoilsport)

Catch you later...Happy Partying!!

The Music Has Gone Out!!

I so very miss those days in the late 1990s or early 2000s, when Channel V and MTV used to be what they are supposed to be - Pure and entertaining music channels!! The fact that I have seen Amrita Arora as a VJ, is proof to all of you Doubting Thomases, as to how long I have been watching these channels. Ah! Those days!! You switch on these channels, and you used to get to hear non-stop pure, unadulterated music....Be it Hindi Movie songs, Hindi Pop Songs, Western Rock songs, Hip-Hop..Old or New!!! The music used to be the main course on the menu, with the well-made comedy spoofs played out by the likes of the oh-so-talented Cyrus Broacha being the accompanying dessert. Come home tired from work, and switch on to either one of these channels to listen to all of your favourite music! Use these channels as a backdrop to any booze parties that you throw at your bachelor pad!!

However, to my horror, nowadays whenever I switch on to these channels - I rarely ever get to hear any music/songs. All I get to see is some bleary-eyed, foul mouthed guy or girl in some "reality" show. There has been a 180 degree shift in the way things are - Now the "reality" shows are the main course, and the music is the dessert! :-) I know that now we have Youtube etc which are more accesible and cheaper(in fact free!) means to deliver music to the viewers, and hence these channels like MTV etc have to try using these "reality" shows as a differentiator. Since these music channels seem to be doing pretty fine business wise, I guess viewership has not got adversely impacted. Hence, I said to myself "What the heck! Maybe there is some amount of a generation gap issue here! Accept it! Age with grace!" :-). So, I surfed channels and came across "Vhr" channel. With the channel belting out number after number of my favvvvvourite Western Rock, Pop, and Hip-hop songs, I sighed " Ok! Things are not so bad!" I am sure most of us would have had this queer feeling of "It cannot be so good! The bad news is hiding around the corner, to pounce on me like a rabid dog!" And lo!, there came along "South Park" on the "Vhr" channel...Grrr! Don't they already have "Cartoon Network"!!

Anyways, I have given up and have taken things in my stride. At least I have "Vhr". My friends!,I do not have any grouse against you for loving these "reality" shows. But pray!, don't we get enough of the "reality" dose in our day to day life?! I for one, pine for those "pure musical" days of MTV and Channel V!!!

I would love to see all of you send in your comments, on this interesting topic :-). Signing off for now - Catch you later!!!