An Evening to Remember - PBC

Coffee holds a special place in my heart and all thanks to my wife my fondness for coffee has only grown over time. After a week full of hectic work, back to back meeting, reviews and presentations nothing is better than a nice cuppa coffee to lift one's spirits.

So there we were one fine evening at JW Marriot to try out the famous Pune Baking Company or PBC. The decor is at par with the hotel: unobtrusive, unpretentious and yet soothing. There are two seating areas: indoors and alfresco right behind the restaurant where wooden chairs and tables in midst of flora sooth your nerves. However, the traffic sounds from the nearby roads are a big turn off with their constant honking and screeching and that makes you go back indoors no matter how pleasant the breeze or soothing the zephyr. So we got a nice little table at one corner just besides the large LED TV on a giant stand with wonderful decorative pieces.

At first before ordering anything we decided to have a nice calm look at the place. The seating space is fairly big and decent and the decorations are nice in their own way. There are numerous baked goods on display like customized cakes in different shapes, different muffins, cupcakes in a glass jar, seasonal pastries and so on. We were also politely told by the host that they even have counters to make one's own salad and/ or a sandwich. After much deliberation, we finally ordered a Mango Passion Whoopie along with Red Velvet Mascarpone (Red Velvet Cake). We verbally told one of the attendants behind the display for our order and came back to our seats. We then told another attendant for a couple of coffees: Cafe Mocha and Pbccino which is PBC's signature coffee (what flavor? What size is a complete mystery as it doesn't say anything in the menu). Of course I am sure the attendants would be happy to oblige you with the details of the contents of the coffee in case you asked for it.
Any way by the time our order arrived I walked around looking at different things on display, inquired about the cakes (which btw they take orders for. They can make exquisite custom cakes when an advance order is placed with them: minimum time, a week).
When the order arrived the really polite attendant gave us a smile and we started on the pastry. The mango whoopie was an absolute delight and the small chunks of mango were like sweet nectar. The Red Velvet cake was actually like a velvet piece. Plus it tasted yummy.
Mocha was good and about medium in size while the signature coffee was in a comparatively larger glass and sprinkled with cinnamon. I loved the coffee but wish PBC has served them either in glass or China crockery and not fiber glass. Nothing beats the class, touch and feel of a glass crockery.

Never mind. The entire experience was pretty great and the best part was a quiet cal evening with your better half. Nothing beats this experience.
My different experiences at JW here have been certain of one thing: an assured great service, amazing food and a serenity in the entire experience.

Things to keep in mind for an MBA Student

 For all those who have successfully passed all the exams, cleared all the GD PI interviews and arranged all the finances and secured the admissions below is a simple 10 point guide for your life at a B-School. Of course this is not set in stone but a general idea what you should do.

1. Live every moment (don't waste too much time sleeping): You'll get ample time in life to waste sleeping and being half-dead. Live these 2 years, every second.. every moment.
2. Network: Connect with everyone-Those who are like you and esp. those who aren't like you. The best part about a b-school is the plethora of varied backgrounds people come from. Absorb it. Cherish it.
3. Read up but don't be a geek: While your cgpa is important and an important parameter, being a geek won't help you (unless you are a PhD student mind you).
4. Don't bunk classes: In most B-schools it becomes fashionable to bunk lectures (as if done by the cool kids) after a few months but don't. You are paying a fortune and are here by choice! Utilize this opportunity. Remember you are giving your life's two important years.
5. Participate in competitions: Lots of competitions of different kind hone your skills. Participate in article writing, business cases, marketing competitions, essay writing etc. At the end of your MBA you should have won at least one international trip through a competition.
6. Learn from others: Each one of the students brings something to the cauldron of the MBA class. Learn from it, learn from others' struggles so that you don't have to face many.
7. Don't be afraid to ask for help: Don't be stiffed up if you don't understand something. Feel free to ask anyone (of course after you've given it all). People, generally, will help you out with a smile on their face.
8. Don't act as a know-it-all: You'll find many people in your class who know everything and anything and will have an opinion on everything from Ethnic cleansing in Darfur to the quantum leap. Don't be such a person.Even if you know it all. Tell when asked. Help but don't lord over it.
9. Grow Up: Never ever think twice before approaching anyone (the opposite sex, a professor, a TA, your rival, etc.) for help or for partnering in a competition/ research paper. Don't keep thinking "Log kya kahenge (What will others say)"? Or think people will link me with so and so, or people will call me a profs chamcha etc. You are here for yourself, not to make your best buds. Milk this opportunity to its last bit.
10. Don't blow you own trumpet: Generally when a class starts, initially there are always few who'll be in the news and discussions, who talk the most, ask the most questions, are talking about themselves, etc. Don't be this. Let your achievements talk.

The two years at B-School are your best ever. You might not exactly find your best buds here but you'll live life to the fullest in these two years. Live.Each.Moment.
Study hard.
Party harder.
Remember a B-School is not a placement agency; it’s a platform that sets you for life.
Have a great time.

Of confusions, dilemmas and vacillations!

Has it ever been that there you are: at the cusp of a decision, confused and dazed, thinking your brains out and yet unable to decide!! And no, this isn't for some world changing, earth shattering, mind numbing, geopolitical and cosmological reasons! Its just for a freaking burger!

Welcome to a different set of people. These people do not, for one second, believe that food should be treated any less than anything else that matters in your life. They say You are what you eat. Hmm.. In that case I might very well be a burger... but which one? Big Mac? The Zinger? or the Whopper? Or will I be some weird combo of all those?