Spring is coming. I realized that today in the morning, when the sun woke me up. For a moment I thought that I overslept and was late for the classes. But fortunately that was not the case. Believe me, sometimes you would like to avoid being late by any means. Good example is our Finance class: whoever is late needs to sing a song in front of all classmates and the professor. We have already had a pleasure to listen to Russian and Chinese songs, which by the way were great! I should also think about a song to sing just in case…

Today I noticed so many things, to which I have never paid attention before. Berlin is waking up after the long winter and with a stretch and yawn opens his previously hidden heart. The streets look wider, the houses lighter, coffee shops start to appear here and there. The only thing which remains the same is friendly and smiling people around.

I keep on being excited both about the studies and my new life outside the school. Today we had a last session of Managerial Accounting. If someone told me that it could be useful for the marketing manager, I would never believe him. But surprisingly some findings were extremely insightful for me, a pure marketing person.

Now, I think, everyone is looking forward to our spring break. It’s one week. That seems to be a lot for those of us, who tend to spend days and sometimes nights at school. But we still have a couple of the most challenging weeks in Module 2 before that. So I wish good luck to all of us!

Start of another module brings its own challenge with new study-group and courses. But in the beginning it gives you more time as there are no immediate deadlines to meet and also we have got used to the system after the first module. But since I made the policy to use these 2 weeks to explore Berlin outside ESMT, these weeks become busier than any other time of first term. City of Berlin offers so much to enjoy the life that you can always find things to match your taste if you can find time for that. Last weeks, I visited theatres, museums, jazz-clubs, various eating joints and ofcourse some pubs&clubs to get maximum out of these 2 weeks. Well one might wonder howcome I got so much time out of my program, but it can always be possible, if you plan well ahead in time.

Paragamon Museum

So after visiting all these places, I finally feel like living in Berlin. I can now even offer some good advices to the visitors to this city. Paragamon museum is a must watch for anyone coming to Berlin. Wide babylon gates and islamic arts section is so different from any other museum you have ever visited in Europe that only that par gives enough reason to visit this museum. For eating, though I have become expert on turkish places around the alexandar platz, as I eat in those places every alternate day, I would highly recommend to visit burritos on rosa-luxemburg str to anyone looking for a perfect mexican burrito under 5 Euro. Yes in 5 euro you get amazing burritos, filled with black beans, guacamole and the hottest chillies, you can eat. For clubbing I haven’t explored much, but Rodeo on augustusstr was really nice, with its music of all kinds. They even played an Indian lead at some point of time that night and that made my night. Then there is a wonderful jazz-bar near Hackeshermarkt, that is worth the visit for anyone looking to spend a relaxed evening with some live jazz music. I go there only on wednesdays as that day they have jam session and it is absolutely free that day. So I hope this gives some info to start with for anyone planning to visit Berlin, there are more places that I can already recommend, but may be I would write about those in coming weeks…

Though it doesn’t have the reputation of New York, London or Hong Kong, Berlin is a fascinating place to study business. What happens here makes waves across global political and financial spectrums (look no further than Germany’s role today in helping to craft a bailout for Greece). But where Berlin is unmatchable is its history and how irony has, in the span of 20 short years, transformed the city from the seat of government for the model East German communist state into the vibrant capital of one of the most powerful democratic economies in the world.

Sunday is the perfect day to watch this irony in action, as Flohmärkte (German for flea markets) sprout up all across Berlin. Here you can buy all sorts of hand-made trinkets and wares imported from exotic lands – in this regard, no different than the stores open on other days of the week. However, where these flea markets really stand out is that it is a huge outlet for products produced in the former East Germany. Now, a shallow capitalist might wonder about how something produced under a command economy could even come close in value and quality to a product of efficient and competitive free markets. But the communist product is free of one significant limitation: cost. Central planners acted as the “invisible hands” of their economies, pushing around resources and goods. In some areas, their decisions resulted in sub-optimal products – case in point: compare an old East German Trabant to a West German Mercedes. But in areas such as optics for photography and ceramic tablewares, which somehow were treated very generously by economic decision makers, they were given whatever resources they wanted to make the best product possible, regardless of cost, efficiency, or consumer requirements. It is thanks to this economic backwardness that these communist East German products have far outlasted their Western counterparts and, again due to irony, have become among the most sought after jewels of the capitalist Flohmärkte.

Below are some pictures of the flea markets at Arkonaplatz and its larger cousin at Mauerpark.

Sometime ago, I came across this website called BusinessBecause (www.businessbecause.com), a business schools and business students networking site. At that time, this website was still at its infancy. Today, more schools and students are joining and networking.

As ESMT MBA blog just started, I thought it is also timely that I promote the school to the world via parallel blogging on BusinessBecause site. I published two of my articles from ESMT MBA blog there. I think it is a good opportunity for ESMT MBA students to join the site and start promoting the school. Being the largest class today, with 40 students, 21 nationalities and 240 years of cumulative experience, we have a lot more to share. Furthermore, we should actively promote and sell the school to the world through our one-year experience here. The question I often get asked is “Why Germany/Berlin?”. After 2 months here, I knew I made the right decision. Now, we should bring the ESMT choice to the rest of the world.

Those who have not registered, please do so. Let the world know ESMT.

Finally the grass is visible on campus. The white layers have disappeared and the temperatures have risen to more pleasant levels. It is a bit windy today accompanied by occasional droplets of rain. Unlike a lot of people I like the rains. I love the smell of the earth when it rains and adore how everything suddenly feels so fresh. The downside is I feel like sitting at the window with an ipod and staring at it continuously. But with the second module steadily gaining momentum once again my life seems full of care and I have no time to stand and stare.

This weekend was great though. No pressing concerns with no immediate readings planned. I spent it accumulating some furniture for my appartment and generally wandering around the streets of this beautiful city. As with whatever free time I get I am programmed by default to head to Alexanderplatz and have an extra long chilli dog at Burger King and figure out the rest of the day from there. But with the snow melted it was a different Alexanderplatz I saw this weekend. So I just wandered around there and had a few coffees sitting at the tables outside the cafes. This simple pleasure was impossible a week ago when the weather was not so forgiving. So it felt nice and was the perfect remedy for the exhaustion blues I was facing.

So far today has been good. We had a Managerial Accounting class and the course seems quite interesting and very applicable. The rearranged seating arrangement means that I now sit in the first row, something I have never done before in my life. I might be tiny by European standards but was considered tall in India. So I always had to sit in the last rows to avoid blocking the view for my classmates. Its good in a way since it makes me focus more. Its a version of the Hawthorne effect which we studied in Decision Making. This means that human beings act differently when they are aware that they are being observed. In the first row I feel like I am right under the Professor’s nose so I automatically focus more which should definitely help my cause.

So thats that and I am looking forward to the remaining courses in this module which I am sure will be challenging but will also help me to learn more about different perspectives of business administration. I also feel that I am finally finding my feet in the course now and am thus more motivated to learn than ever before. Its a welcome feeling.

Hello everyone !!!

Hope you all gain back your energy for Module 2. And thank my second best friend, Murat, for the wonderful movie “Hangover.” It is definitely one of the most original movie of Hollywood these days. I abandoned by hobby of watching movie a long time ago due to my perception that Hollywood ran out of ideas. But now I will consider changing my mind.

I am ready for the Module 2 and I figure out what I am looking for during the MBA experience. I hope to learn the hard skills, i.e. business knowledge from professors and industry knowledge from classmates. I also hope to learn soft skills from group problem solving during classroom case discussion, and group work during team projects. So the combination of hard skills and soft skills will practically be a great learning experience. And I am thrilled to imagine myself in December knowing that I will be much more matured technically and professionally.

I hope, like me, you all have a framework of what you are actively looking for from the MBA program. And I hope it is not GPA Though it is definitely a measurement of how much we learn, focusing on it is a totally different thing. I hate to end the program in December when the only thing that I gain is three letters: GPA while the rest is blurry knowledge and skills.

Wish everyone a great and successful second module !!!

Kenny

It has been almost two months since ESMT Endurance Expedition started. Last night or should I say early morning, some of us were still around to complete our presentation materials for the Integrated Leadership Exercise. Overall, it turned out well for my team. We expected “harsher” treatment but I guess if you have come this far in the Expedition, why make us suffer more.

Today marks the end of Module 1. After 6 gruelling weeks in the bitter Berlin winter, late nights, doner kebaps and pizzas as your regular meals, it is refreshing to take a breather, for 2 days. Not much of a time. Then again, the Endurance ship is still sailing as there is more to do. As they say, the first month is always the hardest. Having to adjust to the weather and new sleeping environment. Tons of materials to read and working with people from 4 other countries in your team as well as 20 other nationalities in the class. We made pass the first marker on our route to the final destination across our “Antarctic”. Another 10 weeks to go with new team members. I am sure I will miss my team mates. And, all of us will miss our team mates. New teams will be formed and the whole adventure starts again. But, the good thing is in spite of the internal movements, we are still in the same ship. We have grown stronger in the past two months, learning to adjust to the workload and the midnight oils and working as a team. The support and encouragement for each other to success has been warmth and satisfying. This is what I called “Friends Helping Friends Succeed”. At the end of this journey, we will collect our promised bounty and go our way. But, the memories of the year together will be priceless. 10 months is not a long time. Before we knew it, we will see the safe harbour.

Till then, let’s us embrace and keep each other warmth and safe as we did in the last two months. The long, winter nights are not over yet though the signs of spring are emerging. Let us not lose our concentration and stay focus to why we are here – why 40 brave men and women decided to take this Expedition. I can see clearly now, but I still need the support of my other 39 crew members. Thank you for being there, friends.

Just when you think the weather is getting better…it starts snowing! From a warm sunny day to a -2 the next, you just cannot settle. The first module has ended (or almost), and we have received our new study groups. So, just when I thought I was starting to find my comfort zone in Room 00 29.1, time comes for migration…migration to the new pigeon hole! A whole new process of forming, storming, norming and importantly performing. The last six weeks had been a thorough experience of group work…a combination of fun, coordination, achievement, discomfort, learning and fun (yet again!). As a pack of five, referred to as the ‘Helsinki family’, on an endurance expedition (rightly put by Jimmy), we just had one rule: “we dont do rules”. And today, as the race of Integrated Leadership Exercises begins, in a last attempt together, we wish to drive the Ducatti to victory!

The study experience so far has been very rewarding, and I have enjoyed and learnt from each moment of it. The one to follow is expected to be even more demanding, but I hope to make the most of it and come out shining. But, most importantly, I am looking forward to the very first relaxing weekend of the course yet and a start of another expedition next week with four new comrades!

This morning we had the Judgement and Decision making class, where we explored an important case about a Mount Everest climbing expedition gone horribly wrong. It was an eye opener to see how us rational human beings can make life threatening decisions under various pressures. Just the feverish excitement with which we approach a target sometimes makes all our thinking go haywire when we see the target within our reach. Sometimes it also happens that we are so used to doing something effectively that we ignore all the recommended precautions and take our safety for granted. In some extreme cases this could lead to an untimely death and in another extreme scenario, an unexpected bundle of ‘joy’. This may be the circle of life but I believe that most of us don’t want to be in either shoes, so better safe than worry!

Now we have the integrated leadership exercise to complete for Friday, which will be the last exercise of this module and then we would be done with Milestone Eins. This will also be the last group exercise for the current study groups and from Monday onwards the groups change. So I am looking forward to continue extending this learning curve with a little help from four new individuals with four different perspectives starting next week. But before that I look forward to a relaxing weekend after a long time. The course has been great and demanding so far, but I like it. Hope this continues!

Feeling kinda lost today. For the last month, all of us have been spending more than 10 hours in school. Yes, study is important. But, in the race to the finishing line, did we forget to see the world? Endurance Expedition is a journey. For some of us, it would be a soul-searching mission, a mission to rediscover our inner feelings and thoughts. For me, it is. That’s why I am here.

Feeling so cramped in the four walls, I took a break and walked to the back of the school and sat on the bench at the snow-covered garden. Winter is coming to an end. It’s so peaceful. I looked out and up. The Berlin Fernsehturm (Berlin TV Tower) majestically reaching for the blue, winter sky from where I sat.

A flock of birds on leafless tree, looking at me. Or, I am looking at them. It doesn’t matter who is looking at who. We are looking at the world around us.

Take time, my friends, to see the world. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing now. Stop to smell the world.