• It appears as if the next eleven months are going to be tougher than I had imagined. This morning, the dean, his deputy and the Adcom director addressed us. The presentation of the deputy dean was good. Though there was nothing new in what he said, the format in which he presented was appealing. It made understanding quite simple and the impact quite effective. His speech set the tone for the coming year for all of us. He talked about taking charge. Obviously, of selves. Multi-tasking is an attribute one will need to have or one needs to develop to perform well. Professionalism and Ethics were the non-negotiable qualities that he would like to see in students.

It will all become easy when one starts enjoying what one learns and keeps relating the learning to past experience and potential future application. And one constant thought which would keep me going is the power that I would derive when I understand the intricacies of dynamic business situations and when I become equipped to make the toughest of business decisions. I am so eagerly waiting for the first term classes to start.

• Probability: I had always thought that Probability had to do with tossing coins or throwing a dice. And why on earth should I ever read this subject as I only see tossing coins on the cricket field when two teams go to play and want to decide who bats first. But after a few days at ISB, I realize that probability theories are central to decision making in business. Business decisions cannot be made and thereby business cannot be run, without help of the tools of probability. For instance, having how many waiters is an optimal number for a hotel – given that there are peak hours and lean hours. Statistics / Probability can provide answers.

• What does one do when one suddenly finds oneself having more time than one can manage? Till recently all of us were working. And many of us were working for about 10 hours. After work, perhaps go out to chill or hang oneself on couch for watching TV. Time used to fly away as most of us used to sleep for 7 to 8 hours. Now at ISB, all that we are actually occupied are for about 6 hours (only 4 hours starting today). Once the lectures are over, yeah, we could go back to the apartment and prepare. Since pre-term is a voluntary program and we are not evaluated, many of us tend to take it light. We could still watch TV and sleep for 7-8 hours. But most of us have come with the preset mind that sleep is something we have to do only for 5-6 hours. TV is something which we should not watch. What do you do when you are left with such huge amount of time at disposal? Send junk mails to all others. Chat (network?) till ad nauseam with other group members in the atrium. Accost (network?). Booze. Play pranks. Sit late into the night surfing the web and send mails again. Chat late into night with people whom we have not said hello to in many months. Overdo this to an extent that we miss the class the next day. We will keep doing this for a few days by when the work-fun balance is set. People who are here to learn will work more. People who are here for a degree will have more fun. Diversity in true sense.