Mini Olympics 2007

The sports and fun-filled event took place on Oct 21, 2007 at HKUST sports complex. Some dynamic pictures...







Thanks to Curtis Loo for some pics

Operation Full Throttle

My brethren across the world are working hard and smart, climbing the highest peaks, fighting the worst of climates, exploring the deepest oceans (planting flags), challenging the best brains and ultimately winning the toughest of competitions. On the other hand, I am relaxing …, photographing buildings, celebrating magazine results, visiting ports, chasing dragons that breathe fire, partying with lanterns, sleeping on trains, trying out new cuisines, praying to Chinese gods, jogging, touring places, blogging et al.

I need to tighten myself and sharpen responses. Just like this world, I need to find new source of energy or efficiently burn what is available. I feel ashamed about my exploits over the last 45days. I didn’t intend to do MBA for this. So, a little bit of peaceful music and a little bit of introspection, I must embark on an operation… Operation Full Throttle!

Thanks to President GWB and my erstwhile [and now defunct] web forum in TCS, it is 'Full Throttle'.

Important Buildings in Hong Kong

International Financial Centre & Bank of China Tower




HSBC & Standard Chartered Bank

Celebrations Galore !

When some great news is publicised, there wont be a dearth of celebrations and parties. UST, ready to party at the drop of a hat, had to uncork a Champagne for this occasion. The venue was HKUST Central Campus 15th floor with a view of the city bathed in neon lights.

All good things mostly come to an end like this....

HKUST is ranked World #20

Source: The Economist -> 2007 B-School Rankings
Link: http://mba.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=2007rankings

GLOBAL B-Schools:

School Rank (out of 100)
Chicago, University of - Graduate School of Business 1
Stanford Graduate School of Business 2
IESE Business School - University of Navarra 3
Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business 4
IMD - International Institute for Management Development 5
California at Berkeley, University of - Haas School of Business 6
Cambridge, University of - Judge Business School 7
New York University - Leonard N Stern School of Business 8
IE Business School 9
Henley Management College 10
Cranfield School of Management 11
Michigan, University of - Stephen M Ross School of Business 12
Harvard Business School 13
Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management 14
London Business School 15
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management 16
INSEAD 17
Columbia Business School 18
Ashridge 19
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology -- School of Business and Management 20
Pennsylvania, University of - Wharton School 21
Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School 22
Virginia, University of - Darden Graduate School of Business Administration 23
York University - Schulich School of Business 24
Yale School of Management 25
Washington, University of - Business School 26
Warwick Business School 27
Cornell University - Johnson Graduate School of Management 28
Duke University - Fuqua School of Business 29
Emory University - Goizueta Business School 30
Oxford, University of - Sa飀 Business School 31
Notre Dame, University of - Mendoza College of Business 32
Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business 33
.
.
.

ASIAN B-Schools:

School Rank (out of 100)
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology -- School of Business and Management 20
Hong Kong, University of ?School of Business 37
Monash University 43
Nanyang Technological University - Nanyang Business School 72
Curtin University Graduate School of Business 80
Macquarie Graduate School of Management 84
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) 90
Chinese University of Hong Kong 91
Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad 92
National University of Singapore - The NUS Business School 94

Port - Container Terminal

A snapshot of the Container Terminal of Hong Kong with major skyscrapers at the background including IFC and Bank of China. This picture does not do justice to the World's biggest container terminal's size. Infact, the picture captured only about 2% of the total size. My bus ride around the periphery of the Port took me about 20min. The passengers of the bus were awestruck by the size and the numerous Ships and Containers in the port. There were countless number of huge cranes operating around the clock and ensuring that all the containers reach the right corner on this planet for this port handles a major bulk of the Chinese exports. I learnt that a major load has been taken off Hong Kong by Shanghai port- another big one just a few hundred miles away.

Already, there is an ambitious project to link the container terminals in Shenzen and Hong Kong with a high speed railway line with a transit time of 15min! whoosh thats fast for a 40mile journey!

special thanks to Grace [and her Nikon DSLR] for the picture

Fire Dragon - Mid Autumn Festival

I went to Causeway Bay to witness firsthand the traditional Fire Dragon Dance. It is said that the Fire Dragon induces vigour and vitality. I wish it is true and look forward to successful year in MBA :)

Thanks to Chinese hospitality, my dinner was comprised of entirely moon-cakes!

A Lantern decoration in the Mid-Autumn Carnival ground.

Myself [in Mandarin]

Nin hao. Wo shi Prathap, Yindu ren. Wo, zai Xiang Gang Keji Daxue, xue xi. Wo shi MBA xuesheng. Wo xihuan motorcycling, photography and cartooning.

Zaijian

Parties and more parties

During my brief 50 day stay in Hong Kong, I ve attended more parties than the total number of parties in my entire life. Not to mention the fact that I ve met different types of people, from different professions and who are heading to different places. I am sure there is not going to be a dearth of parties during my MBA and after. The interesting metric is that my weight keeps falling...

Caught Napping

I ve mastered and perfected the art of power-napping that some of my colleagues have started following it. I position these powernaps strategically during a day to get rid of the tiredness and reinvigorate for the next activity. This helps me stay on the top of my game be it early morning, late afternoon or 'the afterhours of 2am...'

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Chinese Cuisine Tour

As a part of the Putonghua program, the entire class goes out weekly on a regional-cuisine tour. Just like most Asian cultures, the cuisine offer a window into the Chinese culture. Despite my culinary restrictions, I have tried some of the following: Dim sums, Dumplings, Beef Broth, Pork Spring Rolls, Jelly Fish, Drunk Chicken, Suckling Pig Barbeque, Peking Duck, Pork Noodles, Egg whites, a variety of 'unknown' desserts and of course, Chinese Green Tea. The noteworthy point is that I practised and used Chop Sticks for the complete Chinese Traditional dining experience.

The group, eagerly awaiting the food on the table, is nibbling its Chop Sticks.

Wong Tai Sin Temple

As a part of my Putonghua [Mandarin] course in my University, the class is taken on a tour of Chinese cultural places. Wong Tai Sin Temple is one such place.



Students,curious about their future in all the credit turmoil the global markets are undergoing, try to find a way out by consulting a Fortune Teller.



A well carved pillar

Early morning jog

Despite all the rain, humidity and late night activity, I somehow manage to complete a good 45min of jog every day. I jog upto this point and relax myself by enjoying this panaromic view.

HKUST - The Hong Kong Univ of Science and Technology

The main entrance to the univ

Click HERE to view more pics of the campus

Shenzen, China

My first trip to the much awaited place- China. The first landing is so special even though I just did some shopping and had lunch. The place felt so different from Hong Kong and was less cosmopolitan. The city seemed very clean despite the continuous rainfall and there was some much crowd in all the shopping complexes.

An electronics marketplace


Shenzen has many high-rise buildings

Hong Kong!

Change of location...

East and Easter...

My last few days in The Wild West or so I expected USA to be, were spent trying to cram all my wishes. I tried doing everything for one last time, cherished the experience and hoped to retain memories. Just like the same way I do everytime. The last jog in Skokie Park, the last lunch in Office Cafeteria, the last drive in my car, the last time I cross the railway gate, and the list is endless...

Everytime I make a 'move', I leave behind a group of wonderful and interesting people, but that is the life I chose to live and I cant have everything.

So Chicago, thanks for my favorite motorcycle, my first car, my ... thanks for everything.

Colours

Ever since I began with crayons, I was intrigued by my inability to count the number of colours in my collection [then 12 of them]. As I grew older [and mature, if I may add], my palette grew bigger and denser. Inadvertently, the colours just spilled over from my drawing paper onto my toys, clothes, shoes, bags, pens, stationery, cycle, cricket bat, tennis balls, watches, computer, motorcycles, laptop, cell phones, car, camera and bedroom. I became finicky about colour.

The mental perception of colour dramatically changes based on geography, culture, age group and time. I don’t like the stigmas associated with each of them- like black is evil, white is pure, red is vigor, blue is loyal. If the rules are so simple, can I commit a crime, wear a white suit to court and manipulate the judgement? By wearing black to a wedding will the marriage end in a doom? No, it is just the apparent feeling and not the feeling itself. Probably such profiling of colour choice happened in a period when people had nothing to do outdoors [like Chicago, in winter] and probably indulged in idle talk that transpired into such baseless notions of colour choice.

On thinking deeper, such colour profiling didn’t develop in one part of the world, it has happened in several parts of the world and has developed in complete isolation. Western women wear all white in their wedding, but Indian women don’t wear white at all. So this means, people in different hemispheres had nothing to do at several points in time. This didn’t stop with one colour, but also spread to colour combinations. Infact, the spelling of colour varies within the same language on the two sides of the Atlantic.

According to me, do what YOU like best! No sticking to conventions like buying a grey car because my boss has a white one and that I cant outdo him in brightness- I bought one in blazing red! Not wearing a light shirt- dark trousers because they are formal and the other way round is considered callous- I prefer to wear what I look formal in. I never cared about matching my belt, with watch strap and shoe leather colour. My ties always were the ones that help me stand out- rather than go with the crowd. My motorcycles were always blue and my cars red. I am not being ignorant of such rules, I merely know them inorder to break them. Trust me, I know my colours though I cant count them!

The festival of colour, Holi, when Indians celebrate with joy [mischief mongers apart], and get colourfully dirty without a care. A person who wears well-ironed pale coloured clothes can be seen in ‘once white’ clothes dabbed with pinks, reds, blues and greens and a face lit with a wide smile. What transforms this otherwise dull-looking persona into a vivacious being?- colour and lots of it.

So, next time you see that yellow tshirt, blue watch, fluorescent green back pack, bloody red tie, tan leather shoe, funky belt don’t worry about convention, just defy it. Don’t mind about what the world thinks about you, care about what you feel about the world. Today we don’t worry about 12-colour crayons, but have 2billion colour formats. Go on chase your ‘bright’ dreams, take risks with colour choice, draw inspiration from nature, make that boardroom more exciting, design that corporate logo in non-blue, think outside that ‘light’ box, paint your bedroom orange, draw inspiration and creative energy,

Make your life COLOUR-FULL…

Click HERE to view all my PICS OF COLOUR and revitalize your senses.

(Real) Bird Watching