But once I start really shining over the next few months I’m pretty sure the associate position will be mine for the taking.

If you ask me I am definitely one of the top three contenders for that spot come March. Imagine, when I actually get promoted I’d have done it four months faster than Boris Nguyen in Vietnam. I will be featured on the ‘Fast Growth for Smart People’ slide in the recruitment presentation Dufresne takes to campuses all over the world.

I don’t think the question is if I will be able to make associate in record time. It is when will I make associate. And the answer is March.

After that, there are really no questions left.

Okay, enough of frank soul-searching. Need to think of some ideas for the corp. comm. brainstorming session tomorrow after lunch. Santanam is away for a while. This is a good chance to work on some of my extra-curricular development areas.

Sachin, the worst roommate in the world, has been raving for the last two days about some book that makes fun of management consulting. I think he is being very petty nowadays. BTW haven’t seen Gouri at all.

Maybe I should give her a call sometime.

Which reminds me. Must find out if that Preeti in corp. comm. is single. She is a little hot. Not as much as Gouri though.

4 September 2006

8.07 p.m.

Robin Varghese is not only a premier management consultant, excellent amateur drummer and critically acclaimed poet, but also, now, a budding film actor!

You won’t believe how this one happened, Diary.

So we had our brainstorming session and everyone was quite taken with my idea about the online knowledge management repository, and the official Dufresne anthem whose lyrics will be changed every quarter, but the music will be the same. This so that people can use the same instrumental version as ringtones and answering machine music. But everyone decided that we must start with small achievable targets before moving on to larger projects. I agreed, but only after making it clear to them that we should always set goals based on what we must do and not on what we can do. But then most of them aren’t consultants, just admin types. So their reluctance for complicated projects is quite understandable.

We’ve decided to do two things. One will be a Dufresne video film shot with as many employees from the Indian office as possible where each person will talk about why they love working for the firm. We are going to call the film Dufresne—We’re Rocking it Up!

The name is my idea.

Secondly, we’re going to have a two-day workshop, in association with the HR team, on internal communications and team spirit. We haven’t decided anything yet but I might do a small presentation on teamwork.

We were all very kicked about both ideas and Preeti said that we must immediately start scripting the film and perhaps even shoot a few scenes to see if it looks okay.