Everything is normal in the world again. Roger Federer retained Wimbledon, Micheal Shumacher won again, Greece are European Champions of Football and the great Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon Womens Singles. Wait a minute… wait a doggone minute… GREECE!!!

“One cup, one team, eleven players… all named after diseases…”

How many things in life truly truly surprise you? I mean really knock the stuffing out of you when you hear about them? I dont mean the things that make you go: “Oh!!! Thats a surprise…” No I mean the ones that make you go: “Whadayya mean they have no WMDs???”

If there are those among you who dont make too much of Greece winning Euro 2004, sit up and read this. In world football this is as big a surprise as say a plate of kancheepuram idlis winning the Oscar for Best Soundtrack. Greece did pretty well for a country that exists only in documentaries didnt it? I mean thay came up with a flag and an anthem and even hired fans to cheer for them. I am so happy for them. And what a wonderful display by Peritonitis and Gastroenteritis, world class players…

Maria Sharapova. Finally a russian tennis player who looks smashing and can win stuff too. That Anna Kournikova was a farce I say. But what a farce. Even when she was being beaten by a one-eyed Papua New Guinean with an ATP rank of a shade below the velocity of light, she exuded so much grace, poise and smackable booty.

One of the juniors asked me a doubt in Finance today. With a straight face. Those who are aquainted with my academic prowess will know that I am a supremely mathematically challenged person. While I could do the basic stuff decently well, the moment they start using those squiggly symbols or start writing smaller numbers on top of regular sized ones AND use brackets I am as lost as a Hustler issue in the Vatican.

When I came to IIMA I thought I was done with Math. Boy was I wrong. They have tons of math, and accounting and finance and all sorts of stuff. They have squiggly things in Operations, and brackets in Economics. I got over these things by the Kate Mossest of margins. But there was one thing I could never ever understand. Say those three words in front of me and I would be struck dumb. “Provision for taxation”. Ugh… I lose my breath and I break into a cold sweat just typing them down.

And coming from an engineering college I was zapped by the absurdity of it all… for example the doubts you cleared…

Engineering Student: So what blah blah Frankel defect blah blah electron cloud blah blah diffraction blah blah rutile ore blah blah…

Professor: Electrostatic Dissipation… blah blah… monochromatic blah blah… intertemporal blah blah…

Sounds cool yeah. All geeky and all… But what does B School do to you?

Student: Sir, so the asset allocation blah blah provision for taxation blah blah year end accounts blah blah…

Accounting Professor: On the left side

Drives me up the wall really. If there are people who have never ever had to deal with accounting or finance before, praise the lord. And if your an MBA student like I am, hold on, after night comes day and HR and Strategy and all is well again.

And expect daily updates from today. I am back to a normal schedule and have much time on my hands. Jupe your prayers will be answered.

By the way since I did start off all gung-ho about England winning Euro 2004, a word is in order. They played well, did the english. They were unlucky and deserve a pat on their back. With a speeding truck.

They should have learnt a lesson or two from the greeks, especially that defender Takealoadofdis.