A day with an old friend

Now that MBA is done, its time to look back at life, meet up with old friends or at least catch up with them over the phone, learn and be surprised about the relationships that have sprouted between a few well known people, sit at home and do nothing, eat, drive the bike that has been abandoned for two years, watch TV, go to the grocery store nearby, get snacks for mom & sis in the evening, go meet friends during the weekend, watch a movie if possible, go online for a while and not find anything interesting, ping a few people and get no response as they’re probably busy, wait for the offer letter that never seems to be coming, give suggestions to juniors about summer internship, visit old colleges, collect certificates, visit temples, pray to lord for a bright future and for the early arrival of the offer letter, call up people in the company to find out the reason for the delay and always end up getting the same reply – “we still haven’t finalized the location.  We’ll be sending u the offer letter in the coming week.  Be prepared to join at a short notice.”

Was that a good enough snapshot of whats been happening with me off lately?? I guess so.  Nothing really great to describe, nothing really adventurous except for the extensive sleeper class travel in the burning heat that I carried out during my visit to pune for the commencement ceremony, to shirdi and back. 

One incident I find worth writing about is probably the visit to my engg college.  The best part is that in the process, I met up with a very old school friend of mine.  Would you believe we were meeting up after 12 years?  Yes, it is true.  We were together in school for just one year.  Sixth standard.  Then both of us parted ways.  She left school and I stayed on.  Given the lack of advancement of technology during those days, we couldn’t stay in touch even if we wished to.  After so many years, a few months ago, I was searching for some of my old friends, including her, in the social networking sites like orkut and facebook expecting them to be registered in one of them.  I couldn’t find her.  This woman used to be too good at math during school.  So I had this belief that she would’ve landed up in one of the IITs and all.  Naturally, you’d expect IITians to be tech-savvy and well verse with the internet.  So I was kinda surprised to not find this woman registered anywhere on any site.  But I didn’t give up this search.  I accidentally happened to search for the same name a few months later and was extremely surprised and happy to find her.  I left her a message.  She got back to me after approximately 2 months with a one line reply.  Yes, just a one line reply.  I felt bad.  I was thinking “was this effort worth it?”  And guess what, the reason she gave for such a short reply when I later asked her – “She was bad with typing.”  How funny! 

A few more months later, I found her online and that was the first time we were talking after a long gap of 11 odd years.  The first thing I asked her was “Which IIT are you currently in or have passed out of?”  Surprisingly, she said she was doing MBBS!  I was completely stunned by this answer.  Later on I realised she had taken up this path purely because of pressure from her parents and that her passion for math still existed. 

Well, enough of the past.  Let me tell you what happened during my visit to Vizag.  Obviously, we met up and she hadn’t changed much.  Especially the height!  I think this happens with a lot of girls.  They simply stop growing at a very early age.  Both physically & mentally! ;)

It didn’t really feel like we were meeting up after a really long gap.  We were at ease with each other.  Well, don’t think it is just my feeling.  She told me the same thing too.  The next day she came to my college along with a friend of hers.  I showed her around.  Our college campus is really pretty.  Everybody would like it during the first visit.  And then I had to catch a train back home the very same evening so we bid adieu to each other not knowing when we would see each other again. 

This short visit to vizag was followed by a trip to Pune along with my parents for the commencement ceremony.  We set off to shirdi from there and then headed back home after the darshan.  The journey was pretty much uneventful but extremely uncomfortably and tiresome. 

And by the way, I voted this time.  Yes, this is the first time I voted.  It was a thrilling experience I must say.  All those of you who have a chance to vote and haven't done it yet, please do so.

am I on a long holiday??

This part of my life, I would like to believe, yet far, is probably the BEST!  What more could one ask for after going through the gruelling schedule during the first and second semesters at a B-Skool.  Those were times when I was fighting hard to build a recognition for myself among my batchmates, trying to find out what specialization suited me best, trying to prove a point or two, working all alone on group projects as my groupmates were expert social loafers etc etc.  I'm truly happy to be currently stationed at this corner of my journey called 'life'.  Its simply awesome in several respects.  It simply is.  You are free to 'Do Nothing!'.  No responsibilities to shoulder, no restrictions on anything you do or not do.  To add to this fun, I'm part of a group that calls itself CKB (Chaddi Ke Baahar!).  Now again, as is the case with solving group assignments, there are pros and cons associated with being a part of a group, a well diversified group.  Now let me explain this diversity part in a little detail.  The diversity would range from Geographical, Lingual, Aspirational to relationship status!  The group has got people originating from Kashmir to Kerala and from Maharashtra to West Bengal.  People who have varied interests in life - Finance, Marketing, HR, Operations.  People who are single, committed, were committed and broke-up, had multiple crushes and still unsuccessful, some ready for marriage and some not quite yet!  We are 13 different people in all but one as a group.  I hope I have been able to give you a clear picture of the composition of the group.  

After getting placed in November and then finishing off my CFA Level I exam in early December, I've been on a long vacation.  Since our college campus is located on the outskirts of Pune, it presents a perfect atmosphere for vacationing!  At times you wake up in the morning and look out of the window and wonder if you are at a hill station.  The campus is decently well-maintained and is buzzing with activity all through the day and sometimes well into the night.  Now that we don't have anymore classes to attend and with hardly one or two assignments or projects to submit, we have literally got nothing to do on campus.  I wake up late in the morning and the only motivation for waking up at that time too is breakfast - the best meal of the mess!  Being not the kind who craves to stay healthy and in good shape, I'm discounted of the trouble of waking up early in the morning and going for a jog or playing  a game of tennis. Breakfast done, what next?  This is a perennial question on the minds of the members of CKB.  So we decide to go out for lunch, snacks, dinner and again for lunch, snacks, dinner the very next day and this goes on.  Off late, I've been spending so much money on 'food' and the worst part is that no one would even believe this fact looking at my slender personality.  We've indulged ourselves into exploring new eating options and destinations in pune.  We keep keep trying various cuisines and each time some member or the other is left unhappy given the diversity of the group and their tastes.  

There is another group that I hang out with.  This is the group of people who hail from the same state as I do - Andhra Pradesh!  I'm lucky to be a part of multiple groups so when it gets boring at one place, I always have an alternate option! ;)  I'm sure CKB is going to kill me for this line.  So will the gulti-gang.  The advantage of a gulti-gang get-together is that I can speak in a language which I'm very comfortable speaking.  The kind of jokes I can crack in my mother-tongue, I cannot crack as effectively in any other language.  At least, this is what I feel and believe.  So we recall comedy scenes from telugu movies and burst out laughing for hours together whenever we meet.  This group also gave me the opportunity to host Pongal special lunch on our campus.  That was one experience on campus which gave me a lot of satisfaction in terms of work that I did. Thanks gulti-gang for the opportunity and support.  

So as part of this long holiday of mine called the "Final Semester of MBA post placement", I keep eating out, eating out and eating out and still remain slim, do nothing but spend money, learn swimming, sleep during the afternoons and also during the nights, surf the net, chat with friends, look constantly at the facebook and orkut homepages which hardly present anything new and interesting, try my hand at lawn tennis on a concrete court, read others' blogs and write my own at times.  Well, I've gotta go out now for dinner.  So catch up with you guys later.

travails of a fearful misadventure

On the morning of 3rd March '09, the 'chaddis' of the CKB2009 group were enjoying the beautiful morning weather with tea at the cottage in Munnar, Kerala.  The chaddis were on a trip to 'God's Own Country - Kerala' to celebrate the successful completion of their MBA programme.  I was busy as usual photographing 'Still Life' as my friends would call it, in different angles and by playing around with the settings in the camera.  Little did I know about the misadventure that I was going make in the later part of the day.

My enthusiastic fellow chaddis had made a plan to visit a water theme park on our way back to Cochin from Munnar.  I was fervently trying my best to avoid the plan by writing it off as a 'not the right option' to explore Kerala.  I was trying to convince them that having come to Kerala we should rather explore more of its natural beauty.  As expected, I fell in the minority and I had to give in to the pressure of visiting the water theme park - Veega Land.  Well, this is not the first time I was visiting a water theme park.  I'd done it before when I had gone on a Industrial Tour with my B.E college mates.  

I have my reasons for not liking a place which other people would love to visit or make it their home as the tagline of Mumbai's Water Kingdom/Essel World goes - "ghar nahi jaaoonga mein!".  The problem is that I feel I'm out of control when I'm taking a free-fall or going down a rapid slide.  I guess the problem started with my first air-travel.  It was a very small aircraft (a 2+2 seater) and I was on my way to Bangalore from Visakhapatnam to report for my Summer Internship.  The way the pilot was manoeuvering the plane left me jittering.  Since this experience, I've always felt a little concerned when it came to sitting in high speed vehicles or rides.  No no, don't get me wrong.  I don't mind riding vehicle at high speeds 'coz I know I'm the one in-charge and I can take control whenever required.  So thats the issue with me.

Come Veega Land and all my friends are excited about the various rides checking out the map to find out the locations of the rides and I'm sweating thinking about what would happen to me! :(  My friends were doing ride after ride and asking me in between to join-in but I would refuse!  Finally, I made-up some courage to go up the stairs and lie down on top of the slide.  Uplaksh deserves some credit for forcing me onto that slide.  Yes, I finally made it.  I grew in confidence.  Then I slowly started to resist the fear inside me and began to enjoy the rides one after the other.  I however chose to stay away from some death-defying rides like the 'Vertical Fall' etc. which scared me just by looking from outside the ride.  I must tell you, all my friends are really courageouos people! The girls especially.  Hats-off!  

I was really raring to hit the wave pool as that only involved lazing around in still water.  I forced a few of my mates to join in with me.  We hit the wave pool and I became  very active all of a sudden.  Here I was confident nothing big and dangerous could happen to me.  So I enjoyed myself in the wave pool till it was time to go!

I'm now CFA Level I qualified

Hi guys,

I'm very happy to inform you all that I am now International CFA Level I qualified!  Yes, its the same exam for which I had gone all the way to Nepal.  Finally, I feel the hard work has all paid off.  

Now, I'm in a sort of a dilemma as to whether I should register for Level II or take a break and enjoy.  I'll keep you guys informed of the development though.

Thanks all for your best wishes!

Its time to hedge the risk...

Its the end of the third semester exams out here at SCMHRD for the people of the 07-09 batch.  All those who are destined to be MBAs by 2009 must be cursing themselves for so many different reasons.  Some for being born at the wrong time of the business cycle (Poor souls, they never even knew of a bicycle by then.  How the hell would they have known of a B-Cycle?!!)  and some others for quitting work and joining a B-School at the wrong time.  All this because of the innate ability of the Harvard grads out there in the Wall Street who made sure such a thing never ever existed.  All those who were earlier proud of associating themselves with the WALL are now running away from it.  The world's largest economy is down and it has not just gone down alone but carried all the others along  with it.  

Coming to the scene out here at SCMHRD, its a little cheerful still for the final placement season hasn't yet begun.  Everybody is sitting out there thinking that the Placements Team will find an 'Ideal Match' for them.  Its only when the mela begins that the true standing is likely to be exposed.  All those who earlier were thinking of Options, will now be faced with a situation in which they'll be forced to take whatever comes their way first.  Definitely, this is not the time to wait and speculate.  Just like they say in Finance, whenever you have an exposure, go hedge it.  Dont just wait and speculate expecting the market to move in your favour!  Right now, I've set myself Stop/Loss & Stop/Greed levels and am still to enter into a hedging contract to anul my risk completely.  This I'm doing because of the bad experience that I had during my summers selection process.  At that time I was completely down and had given up so early into the fight that I simply took what others had left out.  The first semester results had not come out by then and the entire selection was happening on the basis of the same CV which was used by the college for giving admission into the college.  My CV had nothing good in it except for the decent academics, which most other CVs on campus had too.  I had made-up my mind that I was not one of those gifted souls who was made to be an Investment Banker or an Equity Research Analyst.  All this for sheer lack of confidence.  

This time though, I wish the scene to be different.  Though the market situation is a little glum, I have grown in confidence.  All this could be attributed to my better performance in college, plus the extra effort that I'm putting-in to prepare for the International CFA exam.  To add to the pain, I'm having to go to Kathmandu to give the exam.  Let me tell you, all this has left very deep and huge holes in my pockets.  

Hence, the moral of the story is that I expect to make atleast some positive NPV out of the whole exercise, irrespective of the cost of capital that I'm incurring.  I wont say I have used leverage to make more gains on my investment but the bottomline is to atleast preserve the Initial Investment from getting eroded because of the market downturn.  I'm no expert in managing hedge funds or mutual funds or any portfolios worth millions but I think I've learnt my bit of International Finance and hence am hedging my risks with whatever contracts that are available in the OTC markets!

Cheers!

Ragging Blues

Disclaimer: The following is a real-life story narrated with a little bit of spice & humour. Readers are advised not to look for any resemblances & draw conclusions. The author will not be responsible for any such conclusions & the repercussions arising out of them :).

You feel so happy when you cherish your dreams. The dream could be anything. It could simply be ragging your junior. This story is about Pappu, who is an Engineer & is now in the second year of MBA. All the years, even when Pappu was in Engineering, never ragged a single junior! Ask him why, he’ll say that he doesn’t want to pass-on the pain that he had expressed during his ragging sessions. Let Pappu go to hell. Arey, how can ragging sessions always be painful? Well, ragging sessions can be great fun too. But ever heard of heart-breaking ragging sessions?? You wouldn’t believe but it happened with Pappu – the poor soul who attempted to rag someone for the first time in his life :(
How long can you tie-up yourself to the bed & curb all your inner-most desires just for the tag of a ‘good boy’?? Well, I’ve noticed it can’t be done for a very long time. The same happened with Pappu. Now that Pappu is in PG, he realised that this was his last chance of enjoying life. He was a studious guy all through his life. Never dared to enjoy life for the fear of losing out on academics. Never dared to try his hand at any sport. Never looked to bunk a class. Never dared to copy in an exam. Never dared to sneak into a petty fight. In short, Pappu had never dared to challenge anything & anyone in his life till now. But there is always room for change.
One fine day, Pappu reached college after finishing his summers. The Juniors had already arrived. They were already running tight scheduled, cursing the college, the director, the CLO etc. etc. for all the pains that they were going through. Pappu wondered if there were any juniors who would come to him & recognize him as a senior?!!?? Hehe..true, Pappu was in 2nd yr of MBA & he’d cleared all his 1st yr subjects by quite a good margin but then the looks should also tell the opposite person that you are the one – that you are the senior! Unfortunately, Pappu wasn’t that kind. He always looked lost, morose, calm, deserted, friend-less, unpassionate, unenthusiastic, sick, tired, bored, dumbo-like etc. etc. Poor Pappu, what could he do about it except for cribbing. But Pappu knew that there was something lacking in him which was preventing him from hogging the limelight. Pappu soon found out that he needed to change his attitude towards life & that it was the last chance that probably God is throwing at him. This time around, Pappu was not on the back-foot. Pappu picked up the signs from the almighty & set out to find the ultimate happiness in life.
Pappu was early into the 2nd yr & had not much of classes. On the other hand, the juniors were being grilled like loaves of bread in a toaster :(! It was freshers time. Yes, you guessed it rite. It’s the same time when the Juniors have to ask the Seniors out for a date ;). Pappu smelled a chance in here. He thought that if he didn’t act now, he would never get a girl in his life ever again. This was the time when he had a weapon in his arms that he was a Senior & that the Juniors can’t refuse anything he does. Ideally, the Juniors would’ve to come to the Seniors & ask them out. But given the stature of Pappu, the ideology could’ve failed! Hence, with this in mind, Pappu sought the help of a few of his friends who are girls from his batch & worked out a cool plot to trap a nice-looking girl with his geeky brain.
After several eventful circumstances, the stage was set for the asking-out ceremony to begin. Pappu was in the best of his moods, all geared-up. Though Pappu hadn’t prepared himself for the session, no sooner than it began, all the enthusiasm which he had curbed over the years appeared to overflow him & came out in the form of the creative pranks which he was throwing at the poor junior girl. Pappu starts-off with asking the girl her complete details. Name – School – College – Work Experience – Hobbies & Interests etc. etc. People around him watching the show are amazed at the creativity of Pappu. They wonder what had happened to Pappu all of a sudden. Where had the creative genius been hiding all the while??? Pappu is even more excited by the response that he is getting from the crowd. The poor junior also has been obliging every order from Pappu without much resistance. However, there has been some level of arrogance in the way the girl was answering. Though this has been hitting on Pappu’s mind, he decided to carry on & work on it a little later. Pappu’s friends also had come up with funny suggestions about how the girl should propose to Pappu & ask him out for a date. Pappu was so happy. It felt like the best moments of Pappu’s life. When asked to sing a song for Pappu, the girl started off with ‘Pehli nazar mein (RACE)..’ Wah! Could a guy ask for a better song from a girl?? That too from the one who is about to bow before you, propose to you & ask you out for a date?? The song was amazing. Pappu was awe-struck. Now, truly the best moments of Pappu’s life.
BUT, there is always a twist in the tale :(! All was going on well until Pappu threw that dreaded question at the girl. No one knew why Pappu felt like asking her that question. Poor Pappu, couldn’t overcome his anxiety & curiosity and shot that dreadful question at the girl. Ideally, a girl would’ve found it difficult to answer that question. But this girl didn’t feel even a needle’s prick! That made the blow all the more painful for Pappu. Poor Pappu, he almost had a heart-attack. People beside him could hear the sound of shattered glass! Pappu didn’t move an inch. Neither could he open his mouth. He heard something which he never wanted to hear. Pappu never expected that his best moments would be closely followed by his worst L! The ragging session had ended. The girl walked away without any signs of worry or regret of having caused pain to someone. The blow was sudden & it was terribly bad. Pappu couldn’t recover immediately. Pappu’s first & last ragging session ended abruptly & terribly. This is Pappu’s sad story – the story of a heart-breaking ragging session.

End of first leg of the journey @ scmhrd

After a long break, of course! The happiest news is that we got to go home!! Haha and yeah, it’s true! It couldn’t get any happier than that for all of us here at scmhrd. The icing on the cake was that our biggest threat turned out to be the silliest lollipop – I’m talking about our last exam, Operations Research. The first semester exams ended on 31st of October. The initial declaration was that we’d be having holidays from 4th to 11th Nov. I had made travel arrangements for the night of 3rd. Oracle sessions were scheduled between 1st and 3rd Nov. However, after the exams got over, I discovered that the finance batch had nothing to with those lectures and immediately changed my plans. I went out to the city, contacted the travel agents to find if I could find any train for Vizag. Though I couldn’t get any direct train, I got a bus to Hyderabad. I grabbed the ticket, went to the railway station to cancel the ‘confirmed’ ticket. The reason why I put the word ‘confirmed’ in quotes is to emphasize the importance of ‘confirmed’ tickets in today’s scenario. If you read one of my previous posts, you’d understand how mush difficulty I had faced in getting to Pune to join this institute. The lady at the reservation counter asked me twice before she punched in the entries to cancel the ticket. It was quite a tiresome proposition for that I had to stand in the queue for about 2 and half hours.

Finally, the time had come for me to set out to home! Yes, it surely gets exciting when you are going back home after a break of 5 big months. Another part of the excitement was that I’d be landing in Hyderabad – a place I’ve been to only once that too to give my CAT exam last year and I hadn’t stayed there for any longer than just a day. I had heard a lot about it and it’s actually a kinda shame telling people that I had never been to my state capital. Now was the chance to silence all the critics out there (sounding as though I’m that renowned Sachin Tendulkar consistently getting out on a NOT, am I not?). So after some high-drama while boarding the bus in Pune I finally reached Hyderabad at 10.00 in the morning while the bus was actually supposed to reach at least 2 or 3 hours earlier. I didn’t waste any time and immediately set out to the imax theatre. Met some friends there and watched “Happy Days” there. It’s a really well made movie and an ideal match for guys like us who have just passed out from engineering. It made us feel really nostalgic and we only hoped that we could relive those wonderful and amazing experiences we had had in the four year period. Though I later found that the movie was not to the liking of many from the parent community, as a recent pass out from an engineering college, I cannot resist but appreciate the way the director Shekar Kammula has crafted the movie!! Some of the best scenes are the ‘campus placements time’, ‘class bunking moments’ and all the songs have been excellently shot. Then the same night I caught a bus for Vizag and reached there early in the morning. Back, after 5 months.

I was in some kind of a jail at Pune, having not gone out more than just twice or thrice. I was actually expecting Vizag to have undergone a drastic change but all was normal and same as before. One day later, Mr. Puvvadi landed in Vizag for collecting his certificates and I had the pleasure of meeting him, accompanying him to the college and all. (For those of you who don’t know Mr. Puvvadi, he’s my best friend and he’s working for Mindtree Consulting at Bangalore). That Mr. Puvvadi was a little too busy to spend any quality time with me except for a few hours that we spent sitting at the beach road discussing life on the night before he was leaving for his house. After he left, it was quite boring for me. I had a good time with my bike which I got to ride after a long gap. It still felt the same way as it used to before I had left Vizag for Pune. I wish I could have the bike with me out here. I seriously miss it a lot! I had a wonderful time with my bike in the final year of engineering. Then on the 8th day of November, I bought a new mobile for myself, THE SONY ERICSSON K550i. It was amazing to have a camera phone for myself. It had all the features to satisfy all my needs and make my sister jealous. Took so many snaps, videos, transferred them onto the lappie and had a great time. Finally, the time came for me to leave. The vacation was over. Time to get back to the prison. Took the same route to come back to pune (Vizag – Hyd – Pune). Landed here on the morning of 12th. You know what, as I was walking into the hostel, I saw people running to the college saying “Subbu Sir’s batch meet!!”

Ciao!

in the pursuit of being an MBA...

Don’t you get carried away from what was written in my last post…that was just the beginning and as I had mentioned there, those two were the only days where we had our ‘last laughs’ @ scmhrd!! I’m not kidding for the fact that we’re studying 18 subjects this semester says it all!! The day actually starts at 6.00 A.M with compulsory attendance for the non-acads forcing us out of our beds after a late night sleep. However, God has showered his grace upon us and Subbu (our director) has come up with some kinda option for us guys. We’re supposed to clock-in 5 hrs of non-acads in a week. Be it Gym, Yoga, Aerobics or Swimming…it’s entirely our choice. It’s an idea our seniors are envying upon.. So, that has brought about a bit of slack in our attitude and working hours. After been used to sleeping early at home (by early I mean 11 P.M), it’s hard to stay awake for any longer after that period. No matter how hard you try, it simply doesn’t seem to work! Putting the non-acads aside, the classes usually begin at 9.00 A.M. and run till 8.30 P.M in the worst case. It’s been a rough journey so far and we’re assured that it’s only gonna get worse as we progress…

That’s the general view of life @ scmhrd. There is buzzing activity at Sweety Stores (the only departmental stores in campus which caters to the needs of all the students on campus) once the classes get over. People are seen sitting with their laptops open and their heads buried under the screens giving an impression of working on a very important presentation or something but a slight peep reveals the truth which everyone knows, gtalk!! I happened to ask a few of my batchmates if we really needed to have the laptop and what people always keep doing with their laptops open and sitting in every nook and corner of the campus. I got a very amusing answer with the local touch of words. One of the guys replied it’s just for the sake of ‘tashan’ (something like a showoff!!). To give people a feeling that you’re an MBA, a laptop was a basic requirement in their view.

I guess I’m still talking only about the little bit of fun that exists at this place. Let me tell you, it’s not such a nice place to be for those who are quite a bit lazy like me. This place demands a lot from you. You need to be really strong both physically and mentally to take the torture and pressure which they put on you. Let me tell you an example. We have an exam scheduled on the 24th of this month which is at 6.00 A.M. Yes, you heard it right, 6.00 A.M. And did you notice that it’s a Sunday?? Yeah, we have the bulk of our classes on Sundays!! Incidentally, once you’re at scmhrd, you tend to not realise what day of the week it is. Like our marketing professor Mr. Prantosh Banerjee says, it’s a Sunday everyday for us out here at scmhrd!! I forgot to mention, some of our profs are quite good. Two are IIM-A pass outs and the marketing one I just mentioned is just awesome. Would you believe if I tell you that the tagline of bajaj pulsar ‘definitely male’ is his brainchild?? And we’ve got a course called ‘Written Analysis and Communication’ which is offered only by IIM-A and scmhrd in the entirety of India!! Now that’s something great, isn’t it?? Well, whatever, how much ever great it is, its hard when it comes bundled with a package of 17 other hard nuts to crack. I had never imagined that I’d be facing 18 subjects in a single semester in my life!! Just to give you an idea of how tough a task it is, it’s hard to even remember the names of all the subjects. In the first week I had a really tough time recollecting just the face of the prof who had taught us in the first class, put aside remembering what he had taught!! That’s enough of exposure I guess…

Now there are selections going on for various committees in our college. The likes of Placement Committee, Guest Lecture Committee and Alumni Committee have been conducting interviews to shortlist people. Considering the workload and my capabilities, I had applied to none of them. However there are a lot more Committees lined up for recruitment and once I feel like managing my stuff, I’ll try to sneak into one of these! I had actually wanted to get into the admissions committee, selections for which are still to take place but then when I had expressed this idea to one of the seniors whom I knew, she simply said ‘are u crazy??’ Now what the hell was that supposed to mean? Whatever it meant, but it really drained off the little bit of interest I had in joining these committees.

Hmm..feel like sharing more with you guys but don’t have much time for all that now. Will sneak in as and when I find time and feel like writing. There are actually a lot more things to share but I don’t have my own laptop as yet. Well, I’m planning to take a Dell Latitude D630. Once I get that, I’ll probably have more flexibility about my posts! By the way, I’m learning Spanish as well!

Adios Amigo!!

a new halt in the course of my journey...

Hi People,

First of all, the latest news for you all! I'm at SCMHRD (Symbiosis Center for Management and Human Resource Development), Pune right now and will be for the coming two years!! Now for those of you who must be thinking that this guy has grabbed a once in a lifetime opportunity and all, let me tell you, I'm in a sort of an exile in an abandoned island. Life @ SCMHRD is not so bad as I'll be telling you but for a guy like me who is quite reserved and one who takes some time to settle down, its a bit tough to enjoy life out here. However, the college is quite good. It has got a very good reputation and the campus is excellent. It has got all the facilities that a good MBA college would need to have and its definitely on the journey to reaching much greater heights in the near future!!!

Now, let me tell you what all happened on my journey to SCMHRD. I managed to get my train ticket confirmed at the very last moment after lots of struggle before the day of journey which made sure that there was little time left for me to finish my assignments and presentation which I was supposed to submit upon joinin the college. The journey was rather uneventful but a bit tiry. I had a tough time keeping myself awake at a late hour or else I would miss the station (the train that I was travelling by would arrive at Pune at 12:00 in the night). Luckily for me my cousin had come to the station to pick me up and I stayed at his place for the night. Getting sleep was tough because I was wondering how the college would be, what kind of roomies would I be getting and about the life @ SCMHRD!! Putting an end to all the speculations and doubts, we set out to Hinjawadi, a place about 20 kms away from Pune city. After travelling for about half an hour on the Bangalore-Mumbai expressway, we reached Hinjawadi and made our way to the 'Symbiosis Infotech Campus'. I felt really good upon looking at the college building for I had always wanted to study in a college which had all the qualities of a good college, good campus, good infrastructure, good facilities etc etc. And with the very first sight, I could realise that this college had it all and I was being very lucky!! Registration done and then went to the hostel and found the room to be quite good. In the later part of the day, both of my roomies arrived and was very much happy with them as well.

Day 2. Induction. The chief guest of the day was Mr. Jagadish Khattar, M.D of Maruthi Udyog Ltd. The chancellor of the Symbiosis International University, S.B.Majumdar and the Director of SCMHRD, Subbu were also present. The event took off sharp on time and everything was going as plan. This was probably the first time in my life that I was watching an event go on as per schedule!! Truly, SCMHRD was really good at that. There were so many presentations and as we were nearing the end of day, the incharge of the SIC had to speak a few words. Col C.V.Mohan, tore apart the parda and disclosed the life @ SCMHRD in a subtle and user-friendly manner. His description of the director and his rather dictatorly activities was much fun. We were also told that that would be the last day for us to be laughing on campus as the Diro was supposed to make sure he took away all the fun from our lives!! The way he called the diro 'D' and 'Don' etc was really funny. The induction ceremony concluded sometime after his speech.

The next day we had somehthing called Out Bound Learning where we were taken to a nearby farm and we had to play some games involving stategy building and all but it was all quite fun. Got to interact with a lot of people and the whole day was quite fun but with disclaimers that this was probably going to be the only day @ SCMHRD where we would have no work and all play!!

Ok guyz, I think I've already shared all the interesting things with you and I got to stop it now because I already have exams coming my way!! Yes, I have exams from this Wednesday so got to go now. But I'll surely keep all you guys informed about all the happenings out here...

Keep visiting!!

SAMSKARAM '07

The mobile lying in a dark corner of my bed sounded the arrival of a 'good morning' message and put an end to the bliss of my soul! I know it won't be so good on my part to curse the poor soul that cares to remember me every morning and most importantly, wake me up (thro the sms). And just as I open my eyes I see the entire house buzzing with activity and I realize that I was really very late in getting up. Then I suddenly remember why all this has happened. What had made me sleep so late into the morning?? I coolly snuggle in my bed recollecting what all had happened and for all those who want to know, read on!

On a day when the whole of Andhra Pradesh was observing a bandh in protest against the 'stay' ordered by the apex court against the implementation of reservation for OBC in educational institutions, and at a time when the srilankans were firing on all cylinders to overwhelm the Englishmen in the Caribbean islands, the final year students of Electronics and Communications Engineering of GITAM were busy honouring their faculty and the support staff at Hotel Green Park, Visakhapatnam!! The important thing about this get-together was that it was the first time the two sections of the final year ECE had come together to host an event. There were initial speculations, as usual, about whether we'd be able to strike a good rapport with each other and make the event a success. But everything had to begin at some point of time and so did our event.

It all started off one fine afternoon when we heard rumours of our juniors not hosting a farewell for our batch. We felt dejected but we thought that we should not be waiting for such a let down to strike us. We wanted to host a party ourselves and felicitate our teachers. Initially it all appeared like a prank to a few of our classmates but it was only later that they realized we meant serious business. Then we heard some good news. One was that our juniors were hosting a farewell for us. It went on quite well as can be inferred from my previous post. And the other good news was that we were going to carry on with our idea of felicitating our teachers.

In a few days time, after a lot of math and inquiries at the venues, we came up with a figure to be collected from the class. Our section was at an advantage in finance terms in that we had some 'reserve cash' which was the remnant of our previous hostings and tours. I had taken up the job of pooling the money and it was the first time for me. I enjoyed the job, going up to all people and reminding them of getting the money on time, getting onto the stage, announcing events and that sort of things. It was a great feeling holding so much cash, making note of contributions and planning expenses. We had a great time in deciding what gift to be presented to the faculty! Also, the rounds we made to the hotels in town for the right date and food and most importantly, the price, were amazing!

It was time for SAMSKARAM '07 (brainchild of Mr.Bharat Jhurani) to be flagged off! The event was scheduled to start at 6 P.M. Well, the time was decided keeping the 'Indian Punctuality' factor in mind and we were not wrong in doing so - the first guest arrived at 7.30 P.M. Sticking to the 'xtreme casual' dress code that we had mentioned in our invitation, our Head Of the Department arrived. Then others slowly followed. The event started off with a song by one of my classmates. Then there were felicitations as usual and some rocking dance performances by Pavan & Vamsi Murthy from my class and Kiran & Ravikanth from the other class. My classmate Shrikant was the host and Spandana from the other class was the hostess for the evening. I did not really have much to do except when the hotel guy called me in between to decide upon the time for starting the dinner, to check the number of plates and finally to pay the bill!! I had actually wanted to make my presence felt by donning the role of an anchor but because of the lack of enthusiasm or whatever, I couldn't do it. Wait a minute, I did get onto the stage, not for speaking or anything but to present the memento to Mr.G.V.K.Sharma, the youthful faculty member of our department. The event went on and finally it was dinner time. The hotel guy had already called me twice by that time to warn us about the shortage of time as the dinner was to be served only till 11 P.M. I ran back to the hosts and made sure that they'd wind up the event in a short span of time. After the Vote of Thanks was proposed, it was dinner. There were cameras all over the place. The students were so very enthusiastic and ecstatic that they even did not let the faculty have the dinner peacefully. Every time the HOD puts a spoonful of pulao into his mouth, a new batch of students would be ready with a camera. And since I was on the organizing side this time, I had to eat at the end and make sure that the dinner was served properly. I went round asking people about how the food tasted and all. After making sure that everybody had dined or had started to dine, it was my turn to hold the plate and enjoy the delicacies. The food was excellent and I was quite sure we had struck a great deal with the hotel with regards to the price. I was quite happy about this especially because I was involved in finalizing the deal. Then we had some last moment group snaps. I felt I had missed out on the photographs front this time. May be because I was busy ensuring that everyone was eating or because of anything else, I missed out so many photo sessions. That's the only drawback I had felt. After all that, the bill was cleared and the gathering had dispersed for the night.

the cricket mania

Just a few days ago, it was all well. India had landed in the Carribean islands with a positive outlook and a lot of confidence backing them up in the form of their victory against Srilanka at home. It had even done quite well in the warm-up matches. It appeared as though there would be no stopping India this time from grabbing the very much wanted "World Cup"! The cricket carnival was kicked off with the series opener in which the host had won and a team from the sub-continent, Pakistan had lost. The result was not of much bother for the Indians at this stage. Then came our turn. We were on a high and a bit of complacency having crept in. We were facing the minnows of One Day Cricket, Bangladesh. No one would ever have thought in the wildest of their dreams what had occurred on 17th of March 2007!

All Indians were awaiting the series opener for the Indians and were glued to their TV sets and had prepared themselves for a long night-out despite the opponent being a weakling. Needless to say, a match is always interesting as long as India is involved! People always like to see Virender Sehwag throw his bat at every delivery that comes his way and send the ball sailing over the ropes. They take immense pleasure in savoring the extravagant batting display of the little master Sachin Tendulkar. Its a fact that thousands of people stop watching the match once the little master gets out! They feel that the match is almost over and there is no chance of a come-back. These are the levels of expectations our Indian cricketers carry on their backs. Its understandable why Sachin often suffers from a back problem!!

With the expectation levels high as usual given the good form the team had displayed in the warm-ups and considering the low experience of the opposition, one would have thought that the opening match would be a cake walk for the Indians. But, it turned out to be a lot different!! Virender Sehwag continued his poor form and got out in a 'dirty' fashion. The rest of the team too did not seem to show much resolve and the fighting passion. It appeared that the cricketers were a lot relaxed as though the outcome of the match wasn't going to matter at all. The fact was that the result of the match was going to pose serious threats to India's chances of continuing further in the contest! People were left in a deep shock watching the batting collapse of the Indians. One after another followed suit exposing the complacency within each one of them. One was left to wonder whether there was something wrong with the pitch or the Bangladeshis were at their thrashing best! People were waiting for India's turn to bowl so that their questions will be answered. Everybody expected that the Indians would come-back well and would restrict the Bangladesh team to a low total. But things came out differently. The Bangladeshi batsmen looked in excellent touch and were stroking the ball quite confidently. The people had then got the answer for their question. It wasn't the nature of the pitch that led to the Indian collapse. It was solely because of the excellent bowling of the Bangladeshis. People watched in silence as they made the chase look so easy. At no point did India seem to put a block to the Bangladeshi chase. It all went off quite smoothly for them and they finished it off in style. The Indians had got a 'wake-up' call!! They now had to recover from their deep slumber and pull-up their socks for the rest of the games to stay in the competition. They faced criticism from every side. Everyone wanted Sehwag to be sacked and sent back home. Dravid was greatly criticized for including him in the team. Dravid had no answer!

On March 19th, India were playing another minnow of International cricket, Bermuda. This time around, the Indians were very much awake and had their own calculations about the kind of performance they had to put up so as to stay in the tournament. Things started off slowly and tentatively. The batsmen were playing defensively and just as Robin Uthappa got dismissed, one would have thought that may be Bermuda also wanted to upset India, just the way Bangladesh had done two days before. Sehwag came in at one-down and his feet appeared to be moving. He was stroking the ball confidently, right from the word 'GO'. This was the last chance for him to prove himself and to stay in the team. Good God, he delivered at the right time! This was the perfect setting for Sehwag to come back into form and he did. He ended up scoring a century in a blitzkrieg innings. He provided the necessary platform for India to take off and achieve a huge total which was necessary for them to stay in the competition. They needed to win the match by a really huge margin. Thanks to the timely contributions by Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar India went on to make the highest team total by any team in World Cup history, 413/5. There were a total of 18 sixes in the innings which again was another world record. It was a triumph for the Indian batsmen. Now the bowlers had their task cut out. They needed to strike early and dismiss Bermuda for a meagre total to win by a huge margin and accumulate a decent Net Run Rate(NRR). They did, and India won by a mammoth 257 run margin! This again is another world record, the biggest margin of victory!! Thus, the Indians not just came back, but they did it in style!!

All I have to say is that its not good to criticize anybody just for one single poor performance. I agree that its very much this criticism that has helped the Indian team make a come-back but the degree was too high! We need to have patience and confidence in our players and not put too much pressure on them. The death of the Pakistani Coach Bob Woolmer is an indication of the levels of stress the sub-continent coaches face. The passion for the game drives the people crazy once their team fails to put up a good performance. Cricket is a game in which the outcome of any match cannot be predicted before-hand. The game is to be taken in its spirit and not be treated as a means to display a nation's strength or passions! Its high time the people realize their mistakes and stop putting excess pressure on their players!

AU REVOIR

Its farewell time. It still feels as though college had begun just a few days ago, but we're at the tail end of it already! It happened so quickly that we never realized we were about to finish our course and head off into the future. Time flies, doesn't it??
Now, when I start thinking as to what have I achieved in all these four years, I take a pause and wonder. Not that I hadn't done anything but that I hadn't done anything great!! Let me elucidate. The first year was quite dull. It was the first time I was staying in a hostel and so I took time to adjust myself to the conditions and people around me. Initially I felt my hostel mates had some weird ways of behaving themselves, but later on I found myself doing the same things and felt my initial doubts have been addressed. It just went on without much activity and fun. I wasn't in the thick of things. I was sitting with the books most of the time, still hadn't come out of the effects of my 'Inter' study! I had a good roomie to compete with. So, that kept me busy most of the time and I was quite relieved to have got rid of the ragging menace once the first year was over.
Then in the second year, life was a little on the easier side. Now I wasn't stressed by the ragging menace as I now was on the giving side. However I didn't resort to much of ragging but I simply enjoyed the feeling of living my life on my own. Being in a hostel with friends around was fun. But there are advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes, we all felt cut away from the outside world. We used to go to the city on during weekends and that too for a movie or something. Those were the times when I strongly wished I was staying with my parents so that I had more means of timepass(TV etc.). The thing is that the 'computers' hadn't landed in our hostel till then. There was no specific means of timepass except sports and games and a common TV that rarely worked! Then mid way, my roomie left the hostel and went on to stay with his parents and so I got a new roomie. Adjusting with him wasn't very difficult because he too was my classmate. And coming to the point of my studies, like I told you before, had taken a dip. I don't mean to say that I completely stopped studying but because the competitor wasn't by my side, I was a little lazy and almost removed myself out of the competition. There weren't many quotable incidents in this year either. Not many achievements. But I should say it was much better than the first year!
May be because I had had enough taste of hostel life or may be because I wanted to get coached for CAT(Common Admission Test for admission into MBA institutes), I decided to move out of the hostel and stay in a room in the city. Then I started my hunt for a good room and a better roomie. I couldn't get to stay in a place where most of my classmates had been staying but got to stay with another classmate of mine who had a house in the city and was staying alone. So I put up at his house as a paying guest and got going. I had to take a long commute in a bus every morning and repeat the same in the evening. It started appearing quite tiresome but then I got used to it. I used to feel quite bored at the place for my friend rarely used to stay at home and I for lack of a vehicle never went out. Slowly I realized I had to interact with the outside world to be called a human being and then I too started visiting friends leaving the house alone. I started interacting with my classmates and friends in a much better manner than before. I understood that this was the time to bring about the right change in my personality. I had to move out into the public so that I get rid of stage fear and learn to interact with people well. All this was necessary to face the campus interviews that'll be up at the beginning of the final year. So I was all geared up and even gave a few paper presentations and stuff and I regard third year was very eventful and active!
Then at the beginning of the final year, I got placed(you can read the interview experience from my previous post). Then college began and classes went on. We used to have very minimal number of classes. Then we had to do some project. We don't know how we did but we did. Then we had a hardware exhibition in our department. And after all that, we're now at the fag end of the semester. I cannot understand how it all happened so fast. I still have the picture of the day on which I had joined the college. Yesterday we had our farewell party. It was great fun. The whole class gathering in colourful dresses. We partied late into the night!! Now, I am wondering how it all happened and am writing this!!
See you soon.

...and the journey never ends

hi people,
well, seems like I've posted my last article an year ago! Quite a big gap, isn't it?? But I also know there aren't many people who are on a look out for my posts anymore! Its been quite an 'engaging' month or two. Managed my semester end exams, and then an even bigger battle called 'CAT'. I know I don't have to mention specifically how I had stood up against all odds and finally ended up losing the battle. People have wrong notions of being popular and being intelligent etc. but not all are true! Its only when they enter the 'real' world that they realize the sad 'truth'. People often get carried away by mere words of praise and end up making the biggest fools of themselves. Graduation is the time when people mould lives and careers! The biggest changes in a person's life take place during graduation. Some even take a cute 180 degree turn! Some get along the same way as before, and some see improvement. Challenges keep coming and people keep getting tested by life! Its all in the way in which one deals with them that determines who's great and who's not. Its funny how people can be on a high for a major part of their life but suddenly sink into the abysmal!! Its not that one cannot recover from it, but it does mean a set-back. And its only when one learns to bail himself/herself out of these odd circumstances that one can expect to emerge successful in life.

Huh, what have I been speaking man?!??!! Well, its probably the affect of what I have been going through. Not that I'm stressing myself a lot but just that the outcome isn't fruitful anymore. Success seems to be a story of the past. But I guess its high time I realize that success never comes without the seed of a good 'effort'. All these days I was waiting for the right inspiration to put in my thoughts into a form and present it to you. I'm happy I've written out my feelings after a long break and wish to keep this going. See you again in a short while!

adieu schumacher !!!

Yesterday was a day of lots of happenings. Till now, we’ve been used to remembering only 9/11, but now, may be one might also want to remember 9/10. The day saw the retirement of two legendaries, each belonging to a different field and victories of some famous people. Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from formula one, and Martina Navratilova from tennis. The latter might not be a matter of great concern for many but to me, the retirement decision of Schumi comes as a grave shock! I loved his racing! Truly, I have never seen the level of competence that he exhibits in any other formula one driver. He has carved a niche for himself in formula one and this is for sure. His career records say it all! He has a stunning 90 formula one victories to his credit. He has been a 7-time world champion and he is in the race for the 8th one. Every time I watch the race, I look for Schumi’s position and feel disappointed if he isn’t doing well or if he gets out of the race for any reason. But now, formula one will surely look a lot different without the great Schumacher! I know, many people now-a-days favour Alonso more than they do Schumacher, I agree, Alonso is a good driver but just close your eyes for a moment and think of the great legend. What a great personality he is! May be the figure ‘90’ is a small one, but when it gets the weightage of a formula one victory, it’s a biggie!! The journey hasn’t been so easy and most importantly, no body has ever achieved this feat before! So, one would have to agree when I say that Michael Schumacher will be the “all time great driver” of formula one. Well, it’s a good decision to retire at this juncture that schumi has taken, its always good to bid adieu at a stage when you are performing good and feel that you no longer can maintain the same level of competence as you are doing now. The decision also gets weight because of the fact that Schumi has considered the future of his team-mate Felipe Massa in making his decision. Now, all that I hope is that he finishes it off in style. I want him to win the 8th championship as well. Hats-Off Michael !!!

The other famous victories of the day included Sharapova’s in women’s singles of the US open and Leander Paes’ in the Men’s Doubles event. It was paes’ fourth carrer title. By the way, have you seen the day’s newspaper?? Do see, it looks amazingly colourful and interesting. One would surely not want to miss out on reading it after one sees that there are so many interesting things. So, are these things worthy enough of making 9/10 a date to be remembered?? What do you have to say about it?? Please post your comments and let me know..

Thanks for visiting!!

an admirer of left-hand writers !!!

hi people,
thank you very much for visiting my blog. My apologies for being too lengthy in my last post. I shall see to it that i be brief from now on. I'm still a newbie in the field of blogging and am learning the nuances of blogging!!
well frens, i've just come back after my mid exams. I probably should say that they went quite well this time considering my previous performances both this semester and the previous ones; i've felt confident after such a long long time.
Have u jumped to the conclusion that the title is inappropriate?? dont do it as yet!
The inspiration for this post comes from my mid exams, yes, my mid exams. Wondering how this is possible?? let me explain...
Have u ever observed a person write with his/her left hand?? well, i dont need to tell that most of the people are right-handers and its a rarity to find a left hander. During the mid exams, a left hander was sitting beside me and this fascinated me a lot. half the time i was trying to turn my head and observe the way he was scribbling in his answer sheet...now u probably understand the level of fascination i have for left-handers!! its not that i'm fascinated about all the activities of left-handers but i love the way they write..there's something very attractive about it..a left-hander at work would always make me turn my head!!
and its not an exaggeration when i say that more than half the most successful people in the world are left-handers!! isn't the ratio tooo good?? yes it is..
so, what are u thinking? of practising to write with your left hand??
hahaha..its upto you..if u are a left hander, you would've liked my post..
keep visiting my blog and comments are more than just welcome!!
they are a source of inspiration for me to write better everytime and also help me know my mistakes..
take care!!

the first interview of my life !!!

hi hello and welcome back..i know it was a long break, but i believe that one should write only when one feels inspired..
and today is the ocassion when i feel like writing again, about an experience about 2 months old..the campus interview..
well..we were all tensed as we were about to participate in the first ever recruitment drive in our lives..lots of hopes and lots of tensions prevailed in everyone's minds..and the first company coming to our campus was none other than the leading software giant TCS...the very name made us feel like getting into it and working for it...thanks to the semester break, we had a good long two months to prepare for our campus interviews..well, the industrial training took up most of our time though..and you probably know how well it went (from my previous post)..and the day had finally arrived..many of my classmates had practised all the previous test papers of the company and were very much geared up for the test..and me..took a chance once again..believed in my strengths and didn't prepare..i was very much confident until the day of the written test but after i saw all my friends fully prepared, i felt a little tensed..but then i calmed myself down saying, "its good if i get into TCS, and if i dont, even better"..coz there were so many other companies coming after that and they too were good..the beginning was tense as the server caused some problems causing the first batch to take the online test to come out and go in once again after a long delay..we were sure the process was going to go into the night....and we were preparing ourselves for a long day..i was in the fourth batch..and finally my turn to go inside came..a sort of tension grew up in my mind..i was a little nervous..i had the feeling "what if i fail in this test?? i stand in a good position in my class and how would it feel if i failed now?? what would people think of me??" But then i made up my mind not to worry much and get on with the things..the test started..all the while i wasn't very confident..the main reason behind this is that the first section of the test was "verbal"-something i was really unprepared for, something that always scared the hell out of me..something i really feard would get me out of the process of selection..and the test went on..i was comfortable in quant..answered as many questions as i could..and then came the questions on critical reasoning..here again i felt as though i was losing it out..i could do one set confidently, but the other two caused some sort of problems for me..i was getting nervous..well i forgot to tell u one thing, even before we stepped into the exam hall, there were talks of over-qualifications and there were people who even warned me of this..now i thought where the hell did the thought of over-qualification come up in my case?? i now stand a chance of being under-qualified..thats it..the time ran out..and i just had to click one link to get my result..my best friend was sitting beside me..and the other one also was a good friend of mine and both of them were toppers..infact they had a better CGPA than me..they clicked the link in anticipation and to their and my surprised, both of them got "disqualified"....huh..aren't u feeling tensed?? well..i know this incident took place some good two months back but i still am sweating as i remember the situation writing this...!!! huh..then finally i made up my mind not to worry about the result and having taken this resolution, i clickeddddddddddddddddddddddd the link....and to my surprise, can u guess what happened??



I qualified !!!
'thank god!!' is what i said to myself as i came out of the hall..and then we were made to assemble in a room upstairs and were given some forms to be filled and were asked to leave for that day and were asked to report at shart 9 the next day..
there ends day1....



Day 2....

well..we were in full josh as we were going to face the first ever interview of my life..i had not much preparation for the interview..just for the sake of anxiety i turned the pages the previous night....and was very much excited about wearing my brand new interview dress..i had bought a formal pair newly for the sake of the interview..and it was raining very heavily that morning..so we went to the college by our friend's car..huh...i'm getting tensed man..such was the situation..we were expecting to be called for the interview pretty soon..and we were sitting and waiting in a room..the previous night, interviews for CSE department were over and the results of the technical round arrived....we were all waiting in stunning silence..and the person read out ten names..about 40 people were interviewed..well..are these the names of the people who didn't qualify?? we all wondered..but to our stunning surprise, these were the only ones who had qualified for the HR round....my goodness..there was tension in the air..really, believe me..then, the interviews for the day started..MCA people were being interviewed first and our dept was the next..there were about 6 to 7 panels conducting the interviews..each one was different from the other is a special way..some were asking very funny questions, some were testing the technical knowledge very thoroughly, some were letting off people very soon and some were spending lots and lots of time with the candidate..and unfortunately, my panel was of the last kind..i was allotted a slot at 11.00 in the morning and i was waiting since then..there were also people waiting who were supposed to go in even before me..and we were waiting and waiting and then---lunch break!!! people dispersed..i didn't know what to eat, how much to eat, will i be able to speak well in the interview if i eat anything?? these were the questions in my mind..but still i stuffed something into my mouth and was back again in the waiting hall..the interviews resumed..but my turn never came..even the people belonging to the next batch were being called in, and were coming out but i wasn't being called..finally finally finally finally........at 5 pm, i was called in..huh..was a really long wait, wasn't it?? i had lost all the energy by that time..and was not at all confident of doing well..i was completely exhausted..but i had to attend the interview..so i did..i stepped in......

i opened the glass door to find the interview panel sitting in the right hand corner of our computer lab...the air-conditioning in the room seemed to have eased off all the pressure off me..'relax', i said to myself..then the interview started..i was asked to sit and two blank papers were put before me..well, sorry i forgot to introduce my panel to you..there were two people..a male and a female..the guy was wearing a black shirt and the lady was in shirt and trousers..they smiled and i smiled back..they enquired as to how the day went..i said it was fine..then, the first question he asked me was, "whats your strength??"..may be i looked so weak to him that he wanted to confirm if i really was strong in anything..i knew i had so many things worth of being told as my strengths, but at that moment, nothing really came to my mind..i mumbled something..i actually started giving him some wierd examples..told him that i only study before the exams..and that i rely on my hardwork and intelligence as well..not a perfect answer, is it?? i know..but then..as we were speaking, the english began to flow smoothly from my mouth..and i seemed to be enjoying the interview process..then they came to my area of strength and questioned me..i answered most of the questions very confidently..my confidence kept growing with every question posed to me and every answer i gave..and i somehow had an impression i was answering quite intelligently as well..they were using my resume to question me..and finally, they came to the point of my interests..this bit was amazing and i liked it the most..i had written in "interests" column that i watch formula one...that guy started asking me questions about f1, i was very much at ease answering these questions..i was very very prompt in answering..i just loved that moment..my confidence was flowing by that time..then they started asking about philately..(stamp collection)..i loved the way they tested my knowledge about those activities..dont have words to describe the process..but just loved it..superb..and finally, they asked me if i had any questions for them...i asked something about the training and he replied..then finally, he said "it was very nice meeting u"...i was really surprised at this..i had rehearsed this phrase in my mind and i wanted to use this while leaving..i was really taken aback when this actually came out of the interviewer's mouth..i thanked my stars and left the interview hall in joy..!!!!
i was very much confident of qualifying for the HR round unlike my written test..


are u waiting for my result?? dont..i qualified !!! hurrah..i made it to the final stage of the selection process..and again after a long wait, we were asked to come again the next day...guess what i did that night....i slept peacefully unlike the previous night when i was turning pages...got up in the morning and set off to college and this time on my bike !!! (coz it wasn't raining this time)..i was very cool and not at all worried about the HR interview..my friends whose HR interviews were over told me that there was nothing serious about them..so i was very much relaxed..my interview got over in time..and now, we had to wait for the results..i waited..sorry, we waited waited waited and just waited for the entire process to be over..we were just sitting idle and chit chatting...having fun..it was a sunday and there weren't many people in the college campus..so we were feeling very very bored..but we had to wait..and the time finally came ! we were asked to assemble in the seminar hall where the results were to be announced..the guy started announcing the results department wise..what do you think would happen?? you think i'll get selected?? we i did get selected !!! hurrah...i had made it in my very first attempt..!!! people were hugging each other and congratulating...there were smiles all round..all of us were very happy..and then, in that happy mood, i set back to home on my bike along the coooooooool beach road !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a journey to the Steel Plant

well frens..
as part of our curriculum,
we're on a six week industrial training programme..
six of us, bharath, srikanth, shrikanth, prasanth, buddha and me
are in the group..
it all started on 17th of this month..
its summer and the heatwave is usually on a high..
but, the day our training was to start, it rained all of a sudden..
no one knew where it came up from..it rained overnight...
may be it was such a joke that we were going to get trained..
i got drenched on my way to the steel plant and was shivering from head to toe...
we met a person in the training dept. who recommended us to get the training and then
we went and filled in some forms..later we headed to the steel plant main gate,
then we went to the pass section where our photos were taken and we were asked to come
and collect our entry passes the next day..day ended.

new day, new place..only classes today also and no enty into the obscure steel plant yet..
classes over and went to collect the entry passes which we were supposedly to be given today..
like i'm lucky as ever...there was some problem wid only my photograph and it had to be retaken..
i had to go there a second time to collect my entry pass..

finalllllly..we made an entry into the mighty steel plant..days passed by..
we learnt nothing but the route to the steel plant and the list of buses that took us there..
we're in the fifth week of the programme and there's nothing at all that we have gained..
all we get is crushed papers being thrown at us for our patience..
great India !!!

we hope to finish off our bloody training stint as soon as possible

signing off..

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