2012 at a glance

This is my year – I was one of those partners who could travel to Laussane frequently as I lived and worked in UK.  I think it was a great experience for me to be away for 10 months and think how life has changed over last 4 years.  The day I received my citizenship and OCI status for India I flew to Lausanne.  Here is a snapshot of my 12 months.

January - Begin of new life where your partner is not around you and the auto pilot of your life is missing.

February – Begin to make new friends and realise I need to add value to myself while he is studying.  Started with my salsa classes and got enrolled for CIMA master’s gateway course. 

March – Looking forward to see hubby after a long gap of 2 months and you find hubby pressed with loads of assignments – you think I am here for few days and he doesn’t have time to spend with m L

April – 1^st holiday for Easter.  You want to do things but he wants to relax and chill.  You want to have conversation with him but it seems very difficult with circumstances … u think why????

May – the month of ICP and travel.  But thankfully I get to see him for a day.  You want to plan and do things that one day but excitement missing at the other end as for him he is home and wants to chill out on his sofa watching tele.

June – A week of holiday booked to spend time with him.  He is physically around me but mentally mind is occupied with school.  I am given a book to read to keep myself busy.  Hostage at the table – a leadership book.  Book which makes you think if you choose to.

July – Summer holiday.  Hey ho – finally he is at home.  You just want to catch up with as much as you can.  Go for long walks, cook yum dishes (we are lacto vegetarian) and most importantly have conversations.  Few things happen and few don’t. Again expectations not realised.  You finally confront and express yourself. 

August – I receive my UK passport and time to apply for my OCI.  Students busy under pressure for applying jobs.  But communication improves marginally as classes’ pressure decreases.

September – Another week holiday in Lausanne from work. This time I was prepared to be busy and was constantly studying for my CIMA.  As I had no expectations I would say it was my best holiday.  I had few good days with him going for long vineyard walks, montreux and rochers-de-naye. 

October – Receive my OCI, resign the job and join him in Lausanne for few days.  Proud of him doing the Lausanne 10K marathon in snow.  I realised the importance of not having any expectations and kept myself busy with CIMA preparations.

November – Option to do the electives – thanks to Martha (Program Director).  Doing electives was an eye-opener. Not only personally it made me think of what I want in my life but also made me realise how much work load they have with class preparation, case study, group discussions, presentations and assignments. 

December - The final month and here comes graduation.  Everybody passing out in flying colours and embarking on a new journey of life.

All I can say is 2012 has been eventful and challenging.  As I sit and look from my window at the snow I am thinking as to what kept us going?  I feel its communication and a strong desire to understand and be understood.

And this needs to continue as the new phase of life begins….

Congratulations Marta & Hugo!

For the first-ever "Best MBA partner" award from IMD!!!

Jasmine's Maternity Photoshoot

Last week, Aswini and I did a "Maternity Photoshoot" with Jasmine and Tony... Here is a collage of the photos :)

Good luck with the delivery Jasmine! You can find the entire photostream here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCt5zD9

Exactly one year ago Diego has received the news that he was accepted at IMD.
Finally another big dream came true.
And them we started the countdown ...
Suddenly we had only three months to prepare everything for the year : many things at work, antecipate my final paper in my post graduation, professional decisions to make, goodbye parties,  and ... nothing.
My personal decision was that I wasn't "getting ready" to my life in Lausanne. I decided that the best thing for me was not expect anything for this year. Just come to Lausanne with my cloths , my computer, camera and of course with Diego.
It was a big decision for me. But  it was the right one for me. It's very easy for people to high the expectations and this way highly likely get disappointed.
I've came to this experience with open heart, open mind and open soul hoping that I had the extra patience that is required to be a partner of an IMD student and to be as supportive as I could be for Diego.
I don't regret at all.
I confess that the first weeks I had butterflies in my stomach mainly because I was "afraid" of the other partners.Would I like them ? Would we do things together ? Would we became friends ? What if I don't like one of them and I will have to live with this person for one entire yeatr?
After 9 months this and other questions seems crazy.
Not only I knew incredible people but also knew their cultures and little by little we became friends.
And now we are in countdown again to come back home ....

These next days we will start saying goodbyes to our friends, to people that are part of our lives now...
It's a mix of sadness and happiness altogether at the same time.
At the same time that I'm very happy to come back to my country, to my old friends, to my family and to my work I'm sad because I will leave this new friends behind ...
...
But we still have 2,5 months together =)
Life is short. So let's enjoy life and have a great time together.

Geneva Festival Fireworks

Summer Vacation Collages- Part 1

This series of posts will use picture collages tell the story of the vacations taken by the partners along with the MBAs in July 2012...

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First, its Anne & Patrick on their vacation in Lisbon

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Next, its Sminesh, Julia with Noah on his first trip to India and getting to know his subcontinental roots!

clockwise from topleft: Sminesh & Julia on a nightout without Noah :( , Noah meets children at Julia's NGO, Noah meets his grandpa, Noah rides an auto-rickshaw, Noah answers fan mail

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Then we come to Arvind(me) & Aswini and Vinita & Mahipal during our road trip in the UK from London to Edinburgh with a two-day layover at Vinita's place in Derby

First row- Panda scratches its butt in the Edinburgh zoo, Holmes and Watson discuss a case in 221 B Baker Street, Aswini makes the devil sign in front of Adam Smith, the double date under a tree near Chatsworth mansion
Second row- Aswini tries picking up a lotus, Mahipal looks at the tea Vinita made with suspicion, Aswini doesn't have any with her tea
Third row- Officer Lestrade lights up Holme's cigar, I am back in Pondicherry, Aswini near Tower bridge, The moor lands near Dave's parents' house in Pondicherry
Fourth row- me near Tower bridge, drive through the moors of northern England, Edinburgh view from the caste, Mahipal and Vinita share one of their cute/crazy moments :)

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Next, we meet Marta and Diego on their boat trip across the Mediterranean

more collages soon... 

A passion for smiles

If some one had asked me back in April to organize a party for 100-120 people, this is what I would do:

1. Take a pen and a piece of paper
2. Think of what needs to be done
3. Draw a blank
4. Give up and go home

I wouldn't know the head from tail of what goes into making a successful party. What needs to be cooked, what needs to be purchased, how to go about decorating- what it takes to create an ambiance where people can laugh, play, enjoy and have a great time. And that is why it is impossible for me to describe in words what Marta and Hugo pulled off last week. I am still dazed from the grandeur they infused into the most amazing event that we have seen at IMD so far this year. And this coming in the heels of a bar already set too high by the St Patrick's party that Marta organized last month.



It takes creativity, hard work, patience and most important of all, a passion for perfection and a passion to bring smiles to others to create something as amazing as this. And Marta and Hugo did it without a frown! Not to mention the entire team of partners who have been at work for over a month for this event, who took the time and the enormous efforts to do the painstaking task of buying, building, decorating, cooking, cleaning... and finally, assembling the extravaganza that was our Brazil-Portugal party at IMD.

At the end of the party, I was telling Hugo and Marta how amazed I was. Hugo responded, "Actually, you did not see everything. We could not do a lot of things we planned because there is simply no time!". I was afraid to ask what those things were. I was already floored in awe and there is only so much I can handle in one day.

I will say this- MBAs, you are lucky to be in IMD in 2012.