Placement season

It is placement season and I can sense the pressure on all the faces. Fortunately for me, I am out of the process since I will be going back to my previous company. One way this can seem to be a fortunate one, but I am also not sure whether this really means loss of my competitive spirit. Only time will tell the correctness of the decision.

Coming back to others, I am sure everyone will get placed at the earliest time since the kinds of companies that come are excellent and numbers seem to more than add up. At an individual level, what matters is maintaining one's cool irrespective of the results of a few processes. After all, not every one can be picked up by the first company on campus. Students will face the real test of their perseverance and confidence in these couple of days.

The week ahead is poised to be more interesting as I will find my friends getting placed in various companies and be prepared for a corporate life in few months down the line.

One thing is clear, placement is not an end to an MBA education, it is part of the MBA programme, since it tests all the characteristics of a good manager. It is after all handling pressures, tensions, surprises, disappointments at one go.

India Russia

It is really apt that Mr.Putin has been invited as chief guest for republic day parade. Despite having been so close for so many decades with the erstwhile Soviet Union, we have really lost some of such closeness in the 1990s when Soviet Union was in political shambles and we were in economic shambles. I read a few articles in rediff.com yesterday about the Indo-Russian partnerships and relationships for years. For so many years, the country has been a staunch supporter of India in various forums and it is sad that the relationship was at its low for almost a decade after USSR collapse, thanks mainly to Boris Yeltsin.

Thankfully, under Putin, the relationship was renewed and looks all set to blossom. There might be a lot of differences between the Russian political system and ours, but all said and done, it has been one of our closest allies and we have done the right thing by taking steps to go closer to them. This is not to say that we should keep away from US, but it is always better to play an equitable game rather than ally with one or the other of the major powers. It is time we increase our trade relationship with Russia since it seems to be a concerning factor. It is also said that getting a Russian Visa is very difficult. The Governments have to sort out these issues so that we can have a relationship that can be mutually beneficial and progressive.

This Republic day invite is a step in the right direction.