MuSiNgS oF a Maverick

What is irony of life? The irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive :)

It is the same with every being on this earth….my situation is like tht…I took a decision that I would go for LSE but at the same time landed in big mess of decision making. I got another admit from Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. So wht is this??? It is a programme started by the European Union to encourage top international students to come from other countries and study in top universities in Europe. Infact a consortium of universities namely University of Edinburgh, University of Trento and RWTH Aachen University came together and instituted a Programme in Informatics. This is called the prestigious European Masters in Informatics. I was selected as one of the 23 persons from applicants from all over the world to the European Union Consortium. Bells ringin….I am on the top of the world. I don’t believe it myself. To speak of the programme it is too sexy and tempting to reject. I got to spend one year at the beautiful abode of angels on this earth at Scotland. Nope, I have to study at this place, University of Edinburgh. This is fine living right. Then after one year I got to go to another breathtaking place called University of Trento(a top technical university in Europe). Guys!!, here the college is itself at the feet of Alps mountains. Its, another damn good place. I got to spend nearly one year here. By chance I might spend some time in Aachen University- Germany (world war stuff). The prg is too cool right…. experiencing three different cultures and stayin in different countries. And you know all this is for free free free. I got this with a scholarship of 42000euros( I will have to work for 10 years in TCS to get that amnt of money :)).

This pic is view from my seniors balcony …

I approached many people and most them gave me one advice to take up this programme.

Vijay Kalavakonda a friend of my dad in World bank sent a mail to me appreciating me…

Dear Ravi,

FIRST, my congratulations on your achievements - I envy you for riches. It's quite tricky on what to advice. Let me start-off by saying that LSE has a good "brand" value BUT so does University of Edinburgh. LSE is know internationally more for it's Economics (incl. health), International Relations, Environment
programs, hence I am not sure how much one will lose by going to an other good and reputable University to do something other than economics. Let me put it this way - I were you I would go to Univ of Edinburgh for THREE reasons: a) Very Good University; b) FULL Scholarship; and c) since it's a NON-ECONOMICS course.

In terms of engaging with The World Bank the best way would be to start doing some ICT (Info Communications and Technology) projects while a) you are still at School i.e., Summer Assignment; and b) short-term consulting opportunity. Given your experience with TCS I don't foresee any problem and I am pretty confident you would do much better. FINAL piece of advise PLEASE DO NOT BOTHER TO KEEP World Bank as your objective since you could do much better and bigger stuff with other technology
organizations i.e., meaning DON'T WASTE YOUR TALENT. If you want to talk to me give me your cell number and I will give you a call.

Hope this helps.
Regards
Vijay Kalavakonda
Financial Markets for Social Safety Net
Finance and Private Sector Development
The World Bank ,Washington DC

And Mr Hanumanth Rao garu, professor at Ohio’s Fisher Business school has adviced me like this.

I looked through the information on the web for the EUMI course. It sounds interesting, and appears to be well rated. Your specialization in life science informatics will position you well for research in the area of biomedical engineering. Companies like GE Medical will be the best places to work, with this kind of background. World Bank is not an option with this training. They are looking more for economists and finance people. IT is not an important function there, although it serves a supportive role.

LSE is well known and has international reputation. Both of those would position you well for a job in the World Bank. I think you should spend some time thinking of what your passion is. Don’t think of World Bank. Think of what it is that you like to do, and what makes you happy. Your background tells me that achieving excellence in your field of option is not difficult for you. You have done well so far, and you will continue to do well. The key is to find what you like, because life becomes more enjoyable then. If I had to pick between the two right now, given the specialization that you have been admitted to, I would pick the EUMI offer. Let me know if I can help you further. I will be glad to.

Rao Unnava

Its choosing between good and bad tht is the easiest one. You are always sure of making a right decision. But in my case, one option is to go for the London School of Economics and Political Science(LSE) and other is to go for the European Union Masters in Informatics. But here I have to choose between two excellent options which is the most impossible situation I am facing now…

Well I got another great idea which was long implemented by Tenali Rama Krishna.I was thinking why I should not do both I will do the EUMI programme and will stay in Edinburgh(Scotland), Trento(Italy) and London(UK). If possible Aachen(Germany). This is the exposure which will make any person better in all respects. I will then join London School of Economics and pursue ADMIS. I guess then World Bank should be a cake walk too

As of now I still have to wait for the scholarships from LSE to really decide on anything. Well working in TCS I am experiencing UNCERTAINITY. Recently the punch line of TCS is changed to EXPERIENCE CERTAINITY. And of course, this is the irony of life

# posted by Ravi Shankar @ 3:02 PM