People say -Days before the last working day at office are the most enjoyable. Who said? I am spending almost 10-12 hours a day in office, working, working and working. I am trying to finish-off my tasks and wanted to make my exit very smooth. Today was the most hectic day. The To Do List on my white board looks like a 'BiG' mathematical derivation ;) When will I complete and when will I close this Chapter?

Just 4 days to go....... My association with my colleagues and friends I have is the most rememberable part. Well.. Life is a journey....Meet new people... Make friends.. Add to the buddy list......Travel along the path, which you had chosen and store the foot prints...

John denver is singing "All my bags are packed........I’m ready to go....... Leaving on a Jet Plane"..............
Count Down started...
Tick...Tick... Tick...
Bye Bye....

*MOM*(Minutes of Meeting Starts)........

Yesterday Evening at 6 PM we had a Hyderabad Admits get together at La Cafe*.* (a Coffee shop in Banjara Hills and the name is a Tongue Twister for me). The shop's interior was simply superb. Each and every piece that is decorated inside looked like a master piece. I understand how tough it is to arrange things in such a brilliant way. Good Music, Good lighting, all smiles and lot of energy filled in the room.

We were total 11. For most of us it was a first face-to-face meet. But still we all felt like we know from years. No formalities and formal discussions. Everything was chilling and friendly atmosphere surrounded throughout. Jokes were cracked on everybody, by everybody and enjoyed by everybody. Here are the intros of a few of us........

San, the ERP guy: He was the guy who 'was ragged' the most by everybody.

Sat, the Gossip guy: 'Gossip Guy' is not his nick but his hobby.

Kap, the Entrepreneur: If LN Mittal is to Steel, Kap is to Marble. The future of Marble industry is in his hands. :) and his business is in our hands(We promised that we will buy marbles from his industry only -when we construct houses).

Kris, the Energy Boy: His future interest to work on Energy sector was a topic of some interesting discussion. His mannerism of using the word 'like' appeared for every 5 seconds during his Intro.

San, the Hen head girl: She tried to convince us to the maximum that her surname's english conversion is NOT 'Hen Head'.... But We dint listen... She came directly from office, attended the party and went back to office. Great dedication. ;)

Kis, the Ship Builder: It is *ME* so no comments. Ha Ha Ha :)))

Ani, the Theaterist: He said that his future ambition is to work in this field. Very interesting. Holly/Bolly Wood is getting a new director. :)

Cha, the Ragger: He was the one who 'ragged' everybody. lol.... Jus kidding.

Man, the Photographer: His cliff hanger experience was interesting and his work experience was something that we couldn't understand except some words like UK, pipe line, domain, Energy.

Vit, the Moderator: He asked many questions and cornered most of us.

**Anu,Borax,Abhi & Vit didn't get a chance to give their intros and that session is postponed. By 7.10PM the meet was adjourned. It is because of some other private party that was about to start @ 7. So we all had a standing meeting of 5 min and then dispersed.

*MOM* Ends........

Today I received the Welcome Kit from ISB. I was amazed with the desk alarm sent as a gift. It is a sure indication of the upcoming challenges, stress and the tough nights we are going to face @ ISB. Ofcourse...I know how a roller coaster drive will be and I am going to fasten the seat belts now. The ISB Insights magazine that is sent in the welcome kit is just amazing. The articles are well composed and are very informative. Next Year I want to see myself in that magazine. ;) Yes... I need to achieve a lot......... Am I dreaming? No........ I am just breathing confidence into me and hoping for the best year in my life.

One current student posted the probable list of courses in our Pre-term. Below..

• Accounting
• Statistics
• Quantitative methods

Accounting: If I am the North Pole, Accounting can be comfortably placed near the South Pole. I have never studied this subject. But thanks to one of my budding classmate Sriram for providing some good info on this subject.. However, My night mares are already started.. :((

Statistics: Found a very good resource Here.

Quantitative methods: My most favourite subject among these three. I am lobhing it..:))))))))

Saw the below comment from the blog of one of our favourite current students of ISB.

"Almost everyone is placed in the batch (Less than 10 waiting for their matching placements). The Average salary, highest domestic salary, highest international salary, number of consulting jobs…all the records are broken and new benchmark has been set for the next batch! ISB will be publishing the placement details only on April 1st week. Please hold on till then…"

Letz pray that 'those less than 10' will break the existing records again.

Afterall.....Records are for Breaking Only.

And.............We...The true followers of the current batch..........Will Break the Records again.

'Happy Record Breaking'

Excited!! Detailed news.........Straight from WhiteHouse.

Here it is!

Santa: I want to buy a Sony digital camera costing Rs.20,000, but I don’t have any cash right now.

Banta: Why don’t you use your ICICI Bank credit card? Never heard them say ? Hum Hain Na ??

Santa: I am quite skeptic about using these cards. I pay using the card, get a bill after 30 days and pay after another 20 days. This is a maximum of 50 days interest free loan. Why does any bank do it? If I borrow Rs.20,000 on personal loan at 11%. Interest to be paid for 50 days == Rs. 20,000 * 11% * (50/365) == Rs. 301.40. Here the bank is giving me a loan without interest when I use the credit card. Something is wrong somewhere!

Banta: Well? let me tell you how it works when you use your card to pay for the camera. You present your ICICI Bank credit card - a VISA card. Sony World swipes your card on a machine provided by Citibank. Lets call Citibank - the acquirer bank and the process of Sony World swiping the card on that machine ? requesting authorization . Citibank communicates with the card issuer - ICICI Bank through VISA Network to check if the card is valid and has the required credit limit. ICICI Bank reviews and approves / declines which is communicated back to Sony World. You sign a receipt called Sales Draft given by Citibank. This is the obligation on your part to pay the money to ICICI Bank. Data on this receipt can be captured electronically and transmitted. At the end of day or at the end of some period Sony World chooses: Sony World submits the receipt you signed to Citibank who pays Sony World the money. Sony World pays Citibank a fee called Merchant Discount . Let us say this is 6% of the sale value == 6% * 20,000 == Rs. 1200 Citibank sends the receipt electronically to a Visa data center which in turn sends it to ICICI Bank. ICICI Bank transfers the money to a settlement bank which in turn transfers the funds to Citibank. Citibank pays ICICI Bank an Interchange Fee of 4% of the sale value == 4% * 20,000 == Rs. 800 20 to 50 days later ICICI Bank gets the money from you ? and you don’t pay the interest!!

Santa: Interesting! So Sony World pays more than the interest that I should have paid for the loan that I take. I, as a cardholder have the following benefits 1. Convenience of not having to carry cash. 2. Credit availability at free of interest. However what benefits does Sony World get for paying so much money? Isn’t it more profitable for them to take cash. They can save as much as Rs.1200.

Banta: Certainly. Some retail outlets offer you discounts if you pay by cash, don’t they? However when you don’t count the money that you are spending, you tend to buy more! Cards encourage this is called impulse purchase . If you did not have access to credit, you would not have bought the camera this month ? or may be not any time soon either. By accepting cards, the merchant is actually extending you credit at the risk of the card issuer. He pays money to the banks to carry that risk.

Santa: So ICICI Bank uses this money to pay back to us when they announce 5% cash back. They insist that the Sales draft that I sign at the retailer should also be from ICICI Bank. This means they are saving on the Interchange Fee and also pay me a part of the Merchant Discount that they get.

Banta: Exactly! If you have noticed, ICICI Bank gives you the cash back in the next credit card statement. They keep the ‘cash back’ money for a maximum of 60 days before passing on a part to you. This accrues them interest too. Say if ICICI Bank earns an interest of 6% per annum for the cash they carry - they get Rs.1000 * 6% * (60/365) == Rs. 10 That is not huge, but money nevertheless. And when you consider that almost everyone in this city shops with a credit card these days, it is a big sum.

Santa: And that also explains why banks tie up with petrol pumps like ICICI Bank has tied up with HPCL and I could re-fuel there without having to pay the fuel surcharge of 2.5%. The card issuer and the acquiring bank is the same and that saves interchange fees.