Tuesday 28 August 2007

Flatmates

Yet another issue relating to the move to Oxford has been closed - I finally know who I am going to be living with for a year, while at Oxford. Varun Seksaria (that's him on the right) and I had already teamed up a few weeks ago and had jointly located and finalised a flat in Jericho. Varun is 24, single and from Bombay. (Previously I had written of our concern about finding a suitable third flatmate and of having to eat noodles for the whole year!). Our third flatmate, Sebastian Stoddart is 32 (I think), also single, from London, and is a designer (of what, I guess I will learn soon enough!). I'll post his photograph as soon as I have one.

Jericho is supposedly one of the better areas in Central Oxford, with many shops, bars and restaurants that students frequent. As I've mentioned in a previous post, the flat is a 10 min walk from the business school and more importantly, a 10 min walk from the city centre, and a 3-4 walk from the social hub! Great! The pics below were taken when I viewed the flat - hopefully the state of the flat (in which three business school students currently live) is not indicative of what it is going to be like when we live there!



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Trying my hand at masonry

Isn't it interesting how matters are viewed differently in different cultures?

Ever since I moved to the UK in the year 2000 I have heard various British friends and colleagues mention how they have been working on this major kitchen refurbishment project at home, or paving the garden, or even building a mini-extension single handedly. People find the time, mostly on weekends, to work on their homes and this could mean that one project might last several weeks or months. It used to fascinate me initially: the concept of people having the time, the inclination and the skill to undertake such major work at home, all alone. Gradually I began to realise that this was quite common. In fact, wallpapering the bedroom or repainting the interior was something most people did at some stage of their life, even if they did not undertake any major work. Ask me to cover one wall with wallpaper, and I am sure I will take days, and the result even then will be far from perfect!

This is probably because I was brought up in a different environment. A combination of the lack of time and skill, and the availability of cheap labour, means that one almost never indulges in such work in India. This is just not what one expects to have to do in one's entire lifetime. In fact some people might actually think it is beneath them to indulge in what is perceived to be menial work : "I've got better things to do...".

Further, with the emphasis on 'academic' learning in schools (I understand things are changing now, though gradually), children grow up without the basic skills required to undertake any such major work. At least I never saw a focus on the development of one's motor skills during my school years (and I studied in six different schools in four different Indian states). Of course there are exceptions, but I believe these are the people who either have a natural ability or a keen interest in this, or those that have studied in certain, rare, schools that actually give importance to these skills. Now since the retail requirement for building material does not exist, the market does not facilitate the availability of any such material for the consumer - nor do any guides exist to help laymen. One thus needs to know exactly what one needs, how much, and where to buy it from, if one is to even try their hand at any building work. As a result people with moderate interest find it nigh on impossible to try their hand at this. Vicious circle?

Well, coming to the point (finally!), my friend Ashish informed me on Sunday that he was working on modifying his garden. Without asking for any greater detail I volunteered to lend a hand (or two - or four, actually, since my nephew and friend - also Ashish, coincidentally - was visiting me from Birmingham and I asked him to come along), assuming I'll be either ripping off trees or bushes, or planting some (not that that is my forte). So we visited Ashish's house yesterday (it was a bank holiday), and ended up trying to lay a small brick wall (all of three bricks high) to support one end of a lawn he was planning to lay. Suffice it to say that the three of us worked for under two hours (that was the limit of the mental and physical effort we could put in, though a India-England cricket one-day match was also a major distraction), and finally succeeded in laying about one-third of the tiny wall - approx. 15 bricks in all! Not bad work, though.

However, I am sure I now know what to do (and how to do it), and on the next Saturday when I go and give Ashish a hand again, I will be able to lay at least 20 bricks in the same time it took me to lay 15 bricks yesterday...and who knows, if its my day, I may even go as high as 25 ;-)

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Monday 20 August 2007

Another step taken

Well, one more tick in the to-do list as regards preparation for the MBA and the move to Oxford. Classmate-to-be Varun and I have finalised a flat in Jericho, Oxford - 10 mins walk from the school and 10 mins from the city centre. Though the flat is going to blow a hole in my budget, the location and the quality of the flat are excellent - at least we will be able to live reasonably for the entire year.

The hunt is now on for a third person to share with us, so that, in Varun's words, we do not end up eating instant noodles for the entire year.

In my two visits to Oxford for the purpose of viewing rooms and flats, I hadn't realised just how difficult it was to find parking spots (even of the pay & display kind). Almost all street parking is for residents only, and one has to display the parking permit in the car. One could use the Park & Ride, which allows you to park in car parks just outside the city and to use free buses into the city. Very convenient, if one wasn't going around the city visiting multiple locations. But for my purpose, it was a no go. So I drove into the city on both occasions - and boy, did I struggle!

I was due to meet the property agent at Venneit Close, and drove there, thinking I should be okay parking for a few minutes. The agent, however, warned me against doing so - it would be risking a £100 fine and perhaps even another fee to remove any clamps. Just as I was wondering how to get around the problem a solution turned up in the guise of a future classmate at SBS. Mark was at Venneit to view the same property, and he very kindly offered to stand and guard the car while I was in the property, viewing it. Many thanks, Mark! I owe you a drink.

I was luckier at the other properties when one landlord gave me a temporary parking permit or when I could park at the agency's office and walk to the flat. At a third I was lucky to find a slot where I could park for 30 mins. The only other option was to park in one of the city centre's car parks and to leg it from there.

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Wednesday 15 August 2007

Tragic

I have just heard of the tragedy that has befallen an old engineering school friend who is currently in the US: over the last weekend his wife and two children (aged 4 yrs and 18 months) perished in a house fire. The news is shocking, and I can only imagine how devastated he himself must be.

The incident just brings into sharp focus the transient nature, and the inherent and utter unpredictability, of life. One wonders, in moments like these, whether it makes any real sense to live for the future. How many of us do exactly that and fail to live in the present. And before we know it, life's gone...poof...just like that. Every thing that you had looked forward to, everything that you had planned for, all dreams and aspirations, and for some, all reason to live - all gone.

I myself am guilty of living for the future far too often. While it is important that we keep the future in mind and to make all necessary investments in our family, our health, our financial well being, our social security, and our planet and environs, this should not be done at the cost of the present. We must remember that tomorrow never comes. Living only for tomorrow is not really living at all - it is existing in the vain hope that one will live tomorrow.

Unfortunately many people fail to draw a balance between living for the moment and living for the future - they either live too much in the present with the result that their future (and that of their near and dear ones) is devastated. Some others live too much for the future, and as a result they are never fully satisfied, and perhaps depart this earth still longing for more. Those who can find the optimal balance between the two often live the most fulfilling lives.

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Monday 13 August 2007

Mansfield College

I've finally received the offer for membership from Mansfield College today. It is accompanied by quite a few documents. There are more than a few formailities to be completed, not just for the formal registration of my membership, but for other welfare issues like the MCR (Middle Common Room), registration at a nearby surgery, academic tutoring, etc.

I am not sure yet how much involvement I am going to have at the college, since I am going to be spending almost all my time at the business school. However it is reassuring to know that the facilities are available, should I need them. I guess the involvement will depend on a number of factors, not least on how much I wish to get involved, the amount of time I have on hand, the activities at college and how relevant they are to me, the friends I make at college (as opposed to at the business school), and distance of the college from where I live and from the business school.

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Cricket and the quality of service

An observation on the quality of service we expect and see in our dealings every day:
Saw day-3 of the current India-England cricket test match at the Brit Oval in London on Saturday. Excellent weather, great atmosphere, and lots of beer.

We had a 'big' man sitting next to us and that made things quite cramped. We couldn't imagine sitting like that for the whole day, and so we decided to go and talk to the ticketing authorities, though we were not expecting much. Lo and behold, they gave us complimentary seats that were a lot better - not just in terms of comfort, but in terms of the view we had. Meanwhile, the girl at the ticket counter knocked down one of our beer glasses accidentally, but immediately trumped up cash for a replacement glass of beer! We would have been very pleased with just the better seats, but the gesture with the beer was the icing on the cake.

Having lived the most of my life in India but having spent the last few years in the UK, I have heard many a comparison about the quality of service available in both countries. Usually I agree that the service industry in India is more responsive. However, I am equally sure that examples such as this are rarely to be seen in India, if ever. In fact, I think there are some very distinct differences in the levels and kinds of service available. At the basic level service in India is much superior. You visit a shop and the shop attendants fawn upon you; you can visit a garage and more or less dictate when you want your work done; doctors are available when you want them, even where you want them - and so are plumbers and electricians (the quality of the work they do is questionable, though). These cannot even be imagined in the UK.

However, at a different level, the service one receives in the UK cannot be expected in India. One example, of course, is the one above. A few years ago when we were in a large store my 3 year old daughter accidentally knocked down a display of crystal glasses. Now I imagine that the broken glasses would have cost a small fortune, but the shop manager would not hear of my offer to pay for the damage. In the UK, bus drivers wait for you, and politely give you any directions you may need; shops take back unwanted goods, no questions asked; you move home to a less risky area and the insurer will make a refund of part of the premium, without your having to ask for it. In the UK plumbers and electricians can take weeks to just turn up, but when they do turn up they usually do justice to the work.

Of course there are exceptions, just like there are in India. However the mindsets and social psyches are very different in the two countries, and this is reflected in the level and quality of service. It certainly makes for very interesting study. It is also extremely relevant, in this era of globalisation, to people in business, whether or not they are in the service industry. And certainly very relevant to anyone going in for an MBA!

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Thursday 9 August 2007

College membership (part 2)

Interestingly, all four seats at Mansfield still appear as vacant on the College list...it seems I may be the first one at Mansfield! Unless the list has not been updated for a while...we'll see.

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College membership


I've just heard from SBS that Mansfield will be offering me membership, and that I should be hearing from them soon.

Gotta start identifying others with Mansfield membership now...

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The Simpsons

I'm not a big Simpsons fan, but recently took my daughter to see the movie. I must say I was pleasantly surprised, and can easily say I enjoyed the movie much more than Ayushi did. I've always thought that The Simpsons is designed for adults, with adult themes being common. It was no different in the movie, and there were a couple of occasions (at least) wherein I was conscious of a seven yr old (well, she's nearly eight) sitting beside me and watching!

Eminently enjoyable, though. The wit we are used to in the TV series is still there to see - in fact those like me who only watch the TV version of The Simpsons occasionally will enjoy and appreciate it more.

Recommended!

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College membership, accommodation

Not long to go now, yet two important components of the coming year are still unresolved: my college membership and a place to stay.

Its now 4 weeks since a request would have been made for college membership to Mansfield, so I am expecting something real soon. Unfortunately by the time I could formally request for college membership, most colleges offering accommodation were full. Private rented accommodation it is, then. Things are moving along on this front too, so its only a matter of time before this is sorted. Am probably going to be making another visit to Oxford soon, to view a few properties.

I have already been to Oxford three times now (not counting the one visit I made a couple of years ago), and the city already feels like home. I have become quite familiar with the area around the business school and with the city center. During my last visit I drove and so could spend time driving around the other parts of the city. It certainly helps with the house hunting. The one negative is that the novelty is wearing out, fast!

Off peak it takes under an hour to drive from Coventry to Oxford, which is really great news - it will be really easy making impulsive visits home. Rush hours may prove different, but I don't expect to driving home then. Except, maybe, for the odd Friday afternoon.


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