Poke. Pick. Plug.

this is my motto for proofreading.

this is my favorite process for proofreading, as i'm starting to notice: poke as many holes as possible into an essay so that when its done, if you poured water through the piece of writing, if it were a bucket, you could water plants.

and what i expect from the reader/writer is to go through these holes i have poked to pick the ones that are worth plugging, because in my mind the end goal is to actually water the plants, but not from holes all over the tool. from holes at the right parts where when you pour the water, it flows in a meaningful and desirable and planned manner.

so once you pick these holes i have poked, you go through the writing in a more cohesive manner, making edits to those specific parts. the other reason you have to pick is because once you make an edit to part 1 of the essay, the comments in part 2 may not be very valid at all. in fact they may not make any sense. so you really need to review the poked areas to pick and choose what makes sense.

at this point, as already discussed earlier, you then plug the right holes in a manner that is convincing and flows with who you are and what message you are trying to get across, whether its discussing the religious philosophies of kant, applying to business school, your first cover letter, or an email to a colleague (which actually does take a fair amount of editing when you first start working)...

and boom bada bing, i believe you have a better piece of work! and mind you - i'm not just saying i like to do this. i like it when people take the same approach with what i do. i appreciate the time & effort they put into it (maybe because i equate that with what i would've done and therefore feel a) that i should pay attn to their comments and b) that they have paid attn to my words).

and while we're on the topic... i find that for some reason i end up reading/reviewing a lot of essays, applications, and the like for friends and family. i will be honest about this - i love doing it. i constantly offer my help/guidance in areas where i may bring some sort of expertise. and i am very careful about this. if i dont know the subject then i'll be very honest and only proofread the english/grammar.

and to b honest... whether its knowing that your opinion matters (which is a very selfish feeling of satisfaction) or actually being happy when the applicant makes it through the round (which is a much less seemingly selfish satisfaction), it feels really good to help people. i have no qualms in admitting that i love helping others and that altruism in general is not so selfless. it gives me a high. and most of us do it because it drives a basic need. if we can accept that, then we're more honest with ourselves and will therefore invest even more energy in doing for others - so in turn we end up striving to help others and also, in the process, become better people. i would love to engage anyone on this topic (if you agree or disagree with me) because i really do believe that altruism is not as selfless as people make it sound. that is not to say its bad... no such dichotomy of good vs bad here. at least not insofar as i have experienced it.

So get in touch with me if you're interested in getting your application Poked… Picked at… And then Plugged into your overall story :)

And so starts 2012...

ecoute-moi

there's a song called aisha (i think) and the lyrics are pretty romantic. this is a bit of a less romantic tone, but to a person who has a similar name :P and to whom i would often ask for advice (hence the pun with ecoute moi :P)

one of a few shoutouts i have yet to write regarding the various people that made INSEAD the ride it ended up being.


as a 'senior' in the program (ie having started in july of the previous year), she was immensely helpful in dispelling any myths i might have about the INSEAD program. FOR EXAMPLE, when i was hardly able to breathe in the midst of P1 core courses, she reminded me that P2 will in fact be much worse, so i should just learn to relax. i won't forget that lesson. initially i thought i would just delete her number from my phone, but i'm glad i forgot to do that :)

other random tidbits i can remember (and some in her own words):

she referred to you as the "nameless, faceless and highly unlikely to skip class to take your wife grocery shopping in the middle of the day" when i informed her that i had to spend time updating the blog where she can read fun updates from throughout the year. i can understand she might've been slightly annoyed given that we were going back and forth on email nonstop during graduation day.

anyhow, this is just one of the ways in which INSEAD creates the kind of network that you keep for life. before even meeting her, we were friends (this is partially due to a previous connection by way of a friend from high school) - but the ease with which we embarked on the friendship is really reminiscent of so many relationships developed throughout the year.

we realize quickly that there's very little time to really fuss about too much about anything. so what we do, quite simply, is that we make the effort and if reciprocated, then we solidify friendships that seem to have lasted for years.

so to make a long story short: thank you! for the advice on purchasing a blackberry, even though i ended up needing an iphone, for reminding me that INSEAD just keeps getting busier and more intense when i thought i was drowning, and for taking my better half to a grocery store in the middle of the day (i didnt know you had to skip class)! good times ahead.

I figured it out!

so THIS is why the caged bird... oh no, not that.

I meant to say - THIS is why INSEAD breeds (such great) consultants!

Let me explain myself. I was at the airport today to check my dad into a flight to India (for a family function). He excused himself to the restroom and while standing there waiting, I (for a moment) just closed my eyes (early morning grab a moment of shut-eye kinda feeling) and suddenly I was transported back to the Camembert/Kheria...

Opening my eyes I realized why... I was in an airport. In the international terminal. Families together, speaking in their native tongue, wearing their most comfortable clothes, walking around in their most comfortable strides - just being themselves. After all - when you fly, you generally want to worry the least about anything apart from your passport...

And it hit me. This is why INSEAD breeds consultants. It is our withdrawal program. Some take a year to get over it. Some 2+... others, well that's why we have partners ;)

After spending a year in a climate so diverse that you wonder if you can ever replicate it, you are attracted to the simpler methods of your addiction. For us, it is the consultant's lifestyle. The hours at the airport in transit. The reminiscence not just of our travels with our friends, but also of our classrooms. If I could pass everyone a laminated green card (no, not a work permit although that would be nice too): BUT the nametags we (and our dear professors) oh so dearly came to love for P1 & P2, I would be in a hallway on the way to class. That is Fontainebleau. That is Singapore. That is the INSEAD campus. A terminal in an airport, guiding souls from various destinations during their transit time to find the right exit gate... some of us are still in the transit area, hopefully upgraded to sit in one of those business class lounges, sipping on cappuccino or eating the cakes they provide, wondering if we should board the next flight or head back to the check-in gate to purchase a ticket for a "better" destination.

Now back at the airport... we are at the point in our lives where we can actually choose where we want to go. Our credit cards have just enough of a limit to afford us a one way ticket to pretty much any destination. How we decide to use those funds (be it on a new flight or on duty free shopping) is completely up to us.

For some, it is more travel (yes, the consultants in case i have not driven that point home deeply enough). We are happy to be in the terminal and not ready to leave these familiar moments.

For others, it is the management office within the airport - we travel quite a bit, but we're not necessarily jumping between flights as much...

Others are exiting the airport directly to go to the head office to speak to CFOs on why almost every airline has been bankrupt at some point. Yes, I'm talking about the bankers...

Some might even go the route of betting where the heck others will travel and accordingly hedging their risks (and their clients') to switch up their credit card limits in anticipation of purchasing the BEST possible flight out of the airport at some point. Yes iBankers, that's my short analogy for you.

And of course there's those of us that will fly directly into the eye of several different storms to pursue the non profit route, the startups, the new ventures... supporting those low cost airlines (but remember never to run out of ca$h fools! :)

OK so now the analogy is starting to get really drawn out but I'm trying hard not to miss one of your decisions - I think however, you already know where you fall in this airport/terminal analogy so I invite you to comment (should you choose to) on where/how you would land. Janitorial staff? Check-in? Security? Taxis? All viable options :)

Either way, I guess I want to say I miss you guys... oh 11D. I have spent more time on Facebook & Google+ keeping up with your status updates in the past week than I'd normally like to admit. But today's run-in with the airport made me feel just a little better. I guess that's why they say that the best way to deal with an addiction (at times) is with the hair of the dog that killed you? or bit you? something. Not sure why you'd want the hair of any dog (speaking from experience with a shih-tzu sitting next to me as I type this).

Safe Travels. In the case of emergencies, remain calm and proceed to the nearest exit. Although knowing you crazies, we'd probably take charge and get creative with some new exits into.... the Blue Ocean! HAHA! Sorry, I just absolutely had to take that inadvertent shout out. Cheap shot? I don't think so. Maybe slightly. Yes, pun intended.

See you around!

11D boarding flight to Sri Lanka for Grad Trip on Dec 14, 2011. Thai, Japanese. Canadian, Honduran, Chinese, American. Indian. Taiwanese. Swiss. Brazilian. Colombian. German. African. British. Lebanese... ok you get it.

Oh - and Happy Holidays - Xmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, etc... :)

A Message of Congrats...

While I ruminate in preparation for the next post which will probably be a series of posts scattered throughout the timeline of the blog (as you are allowed to schedule updates), I wanted to share something my parents presented me with on my Graduation day... this is a series of excerpts from the letter that I think speaks to all of us...

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Title: The World has become your Playground...

In a mad world of restless minds and empty hearts, success has become a mere concept that is measured by the number of letters following your name or a list of degrees frozen in lifeless certificates... ambition to scale unprecedented heights of performance has replaced the yearning to seek knowledge that uplifts and enlightens... competition to get ahead of others at any expense has resulted in wounded egos and bleeding hearts, reducing our coveted birth as humans to a curse of survival of the fittest.

Success is not just achieving and accumulating, or climbing and crossing. It is rather that state of performance that fulfills while elevating, that imparts happiness while infusing a sense of well being to the one who succeeds as well as to all around him. It is the lack of sympathetic happiness, or being happy for other people's sucess, that is responsible for most of the negativity encounted in professional life...

Though the length of the course was only a year, the content crystallized into it was so vast and boundless that it defies definition as it challenges delineation. INSEAD has made of you a new person...it has scorched you with its uncompromising schedules and breathless deadlines, it washed away the last vestiges of immaturity in your personality, it has passed you through its crushing grinding mill of timelines and missions..in short INSEAD has molded and polished the rough contours of your Self into a complete Professional, ready to tackle the killing fields of competition and comparison, prepared to fuse into the multifaceted realms of assugnments and projects without being restricted by borders or barriers of race, country, or language. You have truly become a Citizen of the World...

As you prepare to embark on a new phase of life on both fonts, professionl and personal, remember always: what you earned during the course of the year that went by, is education of the elite & training of the highest order, but what you will be putting into practice in the arena of duty hereafter, to derive and deserve true success will have to be a winning fusion of the knowledge you acquired at INSEAD with the values of Life you grew up with... for it is only when Knowledge is fortified with Character that Education succeeds in manifesting the Perfection in You...