Back to the future

I am back in Bangalore to build a future and this explains the corny title. Another contender was: B2B signifying Bombay to Bangalore (to study things like B2B). So, what have I been upto?
May 1 - June 4: Spent finishing off DDP...most taxing and productive (:P) month of my life...too busy to blog
June 5 - June 21: A well deserved break at home...too disinclined to blog
June 22 onwards: Too busy to even sleep! Four weeks in the hallowed portals of IIMB (yeah it's a cliche)...been quite an experience. Some recollection:

1. Had a SPIC-MACAY concert by some IIMB alumnus, Manasi Prasad, who left corporate life for her love towards Carnatic Music. Came back totally inspired. She gave an awesome quote --- Manasi (addressing the junta): You might as well think, "What am I doing here? Where is my Mettalica, Nirvana, RHCP." I would say, it is a part of your growing up. You learn to prefer classical to hard rock; wine to whiskey...so much for the fans of hard rock :D
2. Met Nandan Nilekeni and talked to him one on one. Fine, it was a seminar and I asked him some question which he answered. Nevertheless, it was too big a high. I think my heart pumped faster than it would have, had I ran a 100m sprint. The question and the answer really did not matter but I wanted to talk to him...repeated the question in my mind with the exact words some dozen times before I spurted it out.
3. Over here, life is hectic, food is good, DC sucks and net speed is pathetic and swimming pool is missing.

The IITB connection

1. Had an IITB meet (PGP1s and PGP2s) last weekend...it was fun...hostel clashes, freshies, H10, PAFs, DC, BB, DOSA, Shack...chamakna, scope, daya, daya max, pain, nabad, junta, fart, RG. Why everyone thinks H-3 had good food...it didn't, I am a testimony to that. 
2. RG is now much more prevalent (from what I have heard)
3. SAC is now Students' Affairs Council. I still miss Students' Activity Center.
4. During the first week, a fellow (and we had never met before) asked me if I am from IIT Bombay. He figured it out by my frequent usage of pain. He is from IITD.
5. Everytime I enter through the maingate, I have this inherent urge to scream out the password to the watchman. However, I constrain myself. Yesterday, when I was coming back, I was praying that he would stop me. Felt very happy on saying student...yippeee :)
6. The lingo here is very underdeveloped. I sense an opportunity here to IITBize this place :P

PS: I am very happy for my new cell number, 99-8-65-8-99-65..scavenged through some fifty numbers to spot it.

ABCL (IIM interviews)

ABCL was always 'Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited' to me before I started preparing for CAT. Posted below are my ABCL experiences, K was posted earlier.

Full-on A (not selected):
The day before:
Our 4:20 PM Spice Jet flight to Ahmedabad left at 10:20 PM...and that was enough to irritate somebody who is so particular about time. Anyway, I slept at around 1:45 and after a sub 5-hour sleep, woke up at 6:30. Contrary to what is prescribed, this sub 5-hour sleeping before all the major events has become a regular now...be it my CAT exam, or the job interviews or the IIM interviews. (Any comparison with Sachin who is unable to sleep properly before a big game would be deeply appreciated :P).

Da Di De (The D Day, 14th Feb, 2009):
With the inclusion of a writing assessment in the evaluation, I felt good owing to my (over) confidence over my writing skills and my general aversion towards GDs. The topic was, "Education system in India is quelling children's creativity." The given time of 10 minutes was grossly inappropriate to think and present your thoughts in a coherent fashion. I had screwed badly. The only saving grace, if any, was that I had put closure to my essay.
One person had not showed up and in the remaining group of 7, I was the 6th to be interviewed. Here it goes:

J1: Referring to my grades, how come you scored so good in your last semesters (A li'l info for the non-IITians: getting good grades in the 5th year is almost granted and it acts as a CPI/CGPA booster)
Me: Rambled sth abt my DDP...
J1 enquires in detail about my DDP, Markov chains, memoryless functions, exponential and Poisson distribution etc. and I answer satisfactorily. J2 says 'short term memory los' and I smile obligingly. (Only after the interview I realized that was Ghajini style).
J2 was older, slightly plump and comparatively warmer and quieter (like a good room heater...couldn't help myself throwing in that :P). Btw, I was astonished to see the interviewers in T-shirts and Jeans...was kind of antithesis of the "corporate culture". J2 starts talking on his phone and I think the move might well be aimed at disturbing me but the brave remain undisplaced :P

J1 moves on to ask sth abt wheels and axles and automobiles and JEE physics. One question was, when an automobile is turning, the inner wheel would rotate at a lesser speed as compared to the outer wheel, what happens to the axles? Won't it get twisted? If I remember correctly, I could not answer any of them. I confessed that I have not done courses on automobiles. (If I get through, the key is maintaining your cool, and if I don't, well, that explains it). He moves on to gears (It seems that revising the gears was not a very bad idea). During the next few questions, I blurt out whatever I know of gears. Finally,
J1: How are gears made?
Me: Mathematically or manufacturing?
J2: Manufacturing, we know you are very good at maths.
I am stuck and suddenly in a moment of epiphany, I say milling. I feel like a winner. Even I am amazed how I remembered that. J1 asks me if I have heard of gear-hobbing. Negative, I say.
J1: Have you done a course on Strength of Materials?
Me: Yes, sir (had prepared this also).
They ask me something and again I am not able to answer, blaming it on my weak memory.
J2: (taking a pun at me) It seems like you are not only working on memorylessness, you also suffer from it and I just maintain my smile.

Now J2 takes command, moving on to Why MBA stuff? I answer with my dream of opening a chain of restaurants focused on healthy eating.
J2: So, where do you get your dose of healthy food apart from hostel mess?
Me: Sir, to start with, the mess food is not actually healthy (Its funny how your mind processes a zillion thoughts a second. I feel like I went over it a million of times, thinking about its appropriateness...to say or not to say; to have my share of humor or let them have all the fun). (continuing with my answer) And I get it from malls.
J2: So, what would you prescribe as a healthy breakfast for me?
Me: (It was crucial at this moment, not to hurt his pleasantly plumpness - a euphemism for obesity). I take muesli and yogurt. You could use the same.
J2: Would that be enough?
Me: I would also need proteins but at this age, you won't.
J2: You would not need them now. You have grown of age. What are your sources of protein? Are you a vegetarian?
Me: (Attempt at humour: take 2) Look at me (pointing to my 5'8" yet sub 60 kg structure), I still need lot of protein. Milk, pulses or lentils, nuts. Yes, am a vegetarian. Whey protein is also an option.
J2: You take that?
Me: I do not want to jump into sth before weighing its pros and cons.
J2: So, this fascination with healthy lifestyle, is it due to your father?
Me: Almost certainly, sir.
We talk a bit about family background, they go through my extracurrics certis enquiring about sports - swimming, water-polo, long distance running; the vocab-book I prepared etc.
J2: So, what next? The full marathon.
Me: No, sir, my father asked me not to do such long running. He asked me to rather focus on sports which would beef up my body, add bulk to it.
J1: So, you want to develop a physique like Michael Phelps...
Me: (Being a smartass: take 3) Off late, he has also developed fat around his waist. I just want to be lean and fit.
J1: Well, he was in news recently?
Me: He was criticized for taking marijuana (and I pronounce it correcly ma-ri-uha-na...that's cool :D)
J2: What's it called in common language?
Me: Grass.
J2: Do people in IIT take grass?
Me: Yes, they do.
J2: Do you take grass?
Me: No, sir (with assertion).
J2: Do people in Hanumangarh (my hometown) take grass? Where do they find it?
Me: Not that I know of but people who want to would always have their sources.
J2: I see that you do one work at a time. First you worked on JEE, then your vocabulary, then sports, now what...body building?
Me: Seems like it sir.
J1: Thank you, you may go.

The verdict (written before the results):
Essay writing: Okiesh types
The interview: Very relaxed (only later did it turn out that everybody had a relaxed affair). Would have been happy if they were to ask me about current affairs and Indian politics (had worked really hard on it)
Technical: Screwed (Can hold me back)
HR portion: Cool
The above had been put in a crude form on the same day only. Now, as the results are out, it is easy to pinpoint faults and say what went wrong. Nevertheless, a CAT aspirant might actually gain sth like I used to from other blogs (payback time) :)


I planned to produce each interview in detail but the enthu waned off after the first two - K & A and as such they are the only ones that remain documented in detail. BCL are highly factual (alas! without any dramatization) and might not appeal to people except for CAT junta. Continue at your own risk :P

Highlights B (selected):
SOP: I guess I had done a very good job there.
References: I guess the professors had done a very good job there ;) ...In fact, one of the professors had even told me that he had given me the best possible reference :)
GD: Should there be an upper age limit for politicians? - Argued for both the sides - Discussed the nuances - Quoted Gandhiji 'Be the change you want to see in the world' in some context and everybody referred to that making me one of the more important members in the group.

Interview: After a good academic record since school, superb SOP, nice references and impressive GD, I knew I had to just perform average to secure an admission. However, I screwed the interview completely. The discussions were completely non technical - on Marwadi baniya (from SOP) - engineers moving to MBA - my interest in Maths - JEE maths like deriving the formula for summation of first n natural numbers, first n squares - life at IIT - why MBA - difference between pretentious and ostentatious. A snippet from the interview:
I say, "I am interested in finance, plan to join consultancy after MBA and finally want to become an entrepreneur." Interviewers say, "I think you are quite confused." (and select me :P)

Highlights C (not selected):
GD: Should there be something like International Men's day? - big group but less time for discussion - fish market due to one limelight hogging enthu punter (you can be pretty sure that the adjectives for him are not that plain deep inside) who believed he was improving his chances by saying every second sentence. Most of the time, discussion did not move away from International Women's day. The panelists stopped us in between saying we were circling around a few points :(
Interview: 3rd last to be interviewed in a group full of work-exed IITians - the 3 interviewers seemed least keen on me. A very boring affair. However, I was made to sing and I sang haar na maan na from our last year's PAF :)

Highlights L (selected):
Writing assessment followed by GD: Habits and routine have the power to waste and destroy - wrote a decent piece, even incorporating examples from Mahabharata - GD was also good - 8 people were not able to fill up 20 minutes and stopped after some time - The panelists forced us; we spoke for a minute and again fell silent.
Interview: Was a very short 10 minute affair for everybody - Was asked about President and PM of Russia; focus of 2nd five year plans; one more weird question which I can't recall - In the end, I asked about their reason for such a short interview.
For a change, the interviewers were confused about the top post holders of Russia and we had a disagreement about the same. Immediately afterwards, I checked and thankfully, google was on my side. :D

And so concludes the epic :)

So Be It :)

First the results:
I got through BLK; could not convert AC; ditched the I interview and was not even shortlisted for S.

After a decent CAT score, I was looking forward to converting ABC. I was pretty clear that if I am not able to convert any of them, I would work for 2 years and then reappear. However, after the interviews, I was reasonably sure that BC have slipped out of my hands and my best bet is A. And since I believed that I had done a fair job in A, I was a bit on the hopeful side. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I got through B and a little disappointed when I could not make it to A.

Infi people while congratulating, said - koi na, B bhi badhiya hai. Some have even pointed out that B has less acads load, a better work life balance, more diverse student-profile and the best babes across all the schools and I believe each of them :)

Circumstances have forced me to choose a side where I won't find much takers except for the B junta. I have unknowingly been inducted in the A vs. B war. The best I can get from people is that ABC are on equal footing or that AB are much much above the rest of the lot. No one would put B before A, not even the alphabet :P

Like any die hard Aamir Khan fan would refuse to believe that Shahrukh is better, like any Sony Ericsson user would refuse to believe that Nokia is better, like any BCGian would refuse to acknowledge that McKinsey is better, like any IITD student would refuse to acknowledge that IITB is better, I too, on record state that B hai to behtar hai; that B is the place to be. So, B it is and so be it :)

Thou shalt not drink!

Next morning, I saw this written on our wing-board 'Pukesters suck'. Am not sure if pukester is a proper word but I had got the intent. I was a pukester the previous night. My jeans bore testimony to the fact :(

The night before:
Wing treat at Tian's pub - drink a lot (all bottoms up, and almost all neat) - some puffs of cigar - intentional head banging to the songs - unintentional head banging to the walls - keep falling to the ground - no dinner, no desserts - puke - puke - puke - 4th puke - go to SMS's flat - taken to SMS's flat - sleep - wake up next morning - feel uneasy, uncomfortable, guilty, ashamed, humiliated.

I had made a fool of myself on 1st April. I decided to renounce alcohol. Many would be surprised to know that I could drink as I have always been thought of as a prude. Some would even find this farcical considering I rarely drink and hence there is not an issue. Nevertheless, here is a flashback:

When it all started:
The motives can be discussed and debated - to loosen me up; to be more adaptable, more flexible; the inherent human tendency to chart into the forbidden waters and to explore the unknown; and of course peer pressure. I am almost certain that SMS played a huge role in upping my intake. I was competing but more importantly trying to be in the same group as his. I aped him in our race towards foolishness.

During our wing treats, there was always this division between the sober 5 and the high 5. But then we succumbed: first Gharde, then Manpreet and finally I. It’s good that Gangal and Simit are still holding strong. My first few sips were always from PB's vodka-sprite. And for the next few occasions, I was this curious newcomer who wanted to say: been there, done that. To ease my entry into this new club and yet remain aloof from its pitfalls, I made a certain number of rules:

1. Alcohol should not be a means to celebrate happiness. You don't need alcohol to stay happy.
2. Alcohol should not be a means to overcome your griefs. This is escapism but you can't escape life.
3. I would always tell Papa whenever I drink.

And as time progressed, I found it real hard to keep up with the third one. Before I started drinking, I always asked myself - why should I not drink? What you do/achieve depends on what you seek. Now, I merely changed the question to why should I drink. I have been looking for reasons to continue drinking but can't find any.
Though getting a high might be a good enough reason for most; it does not work for me as I like to be in full control of my mind. Besides, I don't like the taste of alcohol. Neither is it healthy. Thus, I don't like it when I am drinking; what happens afterwards is certainly not pleasant; talking about it at home makes me feel guilty and it even sets a bad precedence for Sharad. Hence, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to drink. I tried my best to like it and adopt it but (un)fortunately the match was not made.

It’s not that I would be out of sync with the whole world. Rather, I have chosen to be in sync with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Muhammad Ali, David Beckham and of course Warren Buffett. These are just some of the names I knew beforehand. The wikipedia list of teetotalers springs many surprises (must be visited).

My tryst with alcohol is finally over. At last, I would be able to drink Death by Chocolate at NH1 :)

Xperia K (IIMK GD-PI experience)

Held on Feb 12, 2009, the IIM Kozhikode GD-PI was my first one (final result: selected). Here I go...

Group Discussion:
With LTTE creating havoc in Sri Lanka; Government of India is forcing Tamil Nadu Government to take action. Would it set a bad precedent for India to poke its nose? We were given 2 minutes to organize our thoughts and 10 minutes thereafter to discuss.
I wanted to start and provide a framework as to why the LTTE was formed; what the status quo in SL is; what exactly it is that GOI is asking TN govt to do; and in international community, what do we mean by setting a bad precedence. But neither I knew the answer to any of these questions nor had I any faith in the capabilities of my fellow members (and yes, I was correct!). I did not raise these questions lest it falls on me.
The group had a mediocre (unstructured in coaching parlance) beginning and I remained clueless for the first 10-15 conversations. But then...do or die...I jumped in and made some average points. Overall, the GD was not very effective mostly due to my lack of command over the subject.

Interview:
I was the first one to be interviewed. Two people who presided over the GDs were also the interviewers. I would refer to them as J's, separating by a numerical suffix if the need arises. However, in this case, both were kinda warm and happy go lucky persons, laughing along the way (hopefully with me and not on me).
Why this notation has a story to it: In the GD-PI blogs that I have read, people have used between I, P and J. I wanted an I for an interviewer but it could have created confusion between the 'me I' and the 'interviewer I'. Would have taken a P for a panelist but P might be misconstrued for Piyush. Hence, J.
I wanted an I for me but... Hence, I am just Me. Here, it goes:

J: How did you come here?
Me: By taxi.
J: (interrupting me) Are you a Mumbaikar?
Me: No, I belong to Rajasthan but have been studying in Mumbai at IIT for the past 5 years.
J: (probably stemming from my mentioning geographical directions as a weakness in interview form) How far is Dadar from Powai?
Me: (after thinking for a while) 50 km (God knows what I was thinking).
J: (laughing) 15 or 50?
Me: 50.
J: 50, you sure? How much did you pay and what was the meter reading?
Me: 139 and I paid 195. Let me make some estimation…autos charge 9 Rs/km (unfortunately, this is also 6 Rs/km), my meter reading was 139, so, that makes it around 15-20 km.
J: Why is the meter reading different?
Me: Talked sth about inflation, oil prices go up, people want to earn more, hence upward adjustment...
J: But oil prices have been reduced na?
Me: Reduced in recent times only, over a longer period they have been increasing...
J: What’s the price of oil now?
Me: Last time I knew, it was $47 (an estimated guess :D).
J: Any idea about the global oil prices in the past 1 yr?
Me: Oil crossed $100 a barrel in Jan, topped at $147.sth in June-July and now has tanked.
J: What effect does it have on India?
Me: (major time stupidity while answering this) Started off with ATF and prices change in airline industry...
J: (cutting me short) What does ATF have to do with this, is it also oil?
Me: Yes sir, a part of crude oil...
J: What difference?
Me: It is more refined.
J: So, where does it lie in the distillation chamber?
Me: Babbled sth indecisively...
J: Is it not kerosene?
Me: No.
J: Is kerosene more refined...what order for the following...petrol, diesel, kerosene?
Me: Petrol is majorly C9H20 while diesel is C14H30. Aviation fuel would be more complex hydrocarbons. So, diesel is more refined than petrol.
J: (cutting me short and repeating) Diesel is more refined, then why is petrol costlier?
Me: Sir, I also think petrol is more refined but my analysis gave me the opposite results :(
The J's laugh uncontrollably.

J: So, what kind of taxi it was?
Me: Ambassador.
J: Ambassador or Fiat?
Me: (embarrassed) Perhaps Fiat Premier Padmini...an ambassador is more spacious and more big and curvy.
J: Suppose you loose your certificates in the taxi, how would you look for it, you don’t even know the type of taxi u sat in?
Me: I will go to the taxi stand from where I took the taxi as the taxis have more or less fixed stands and ask the people there (after this answer, I felt like a winner).
J: What did it have, a hand gear or otherwise?
Me: (after stumbling) A hand gear.
J: Advantages/disadvantages of both the types of gears?
Me: Sorry sir, I have not done a course on Automotive Engineering, my specialization is manufacturing.
J: What is your final year project? (handing me a pad to write upon).
Me: Explained My DDP (Dual Degree Project) to them.
They ask me about its applications, some old concepts of stochastic processes, pure birth processes, sojourn times (I was surprised that they knew these questions. They were not that I could not answer :P).
Me: Sir, my DDP has digressed from it quite a bit...of this, only basics is involved.
J: (grinning) But I have asked you only the basics, (grinning even more) you have quite a weak memory (alluding to another weakness mentioned in the interview form).

J: Why management?
Me: Explained...some general things and that I want to own a chain of restaurants focused on healthy eating.
J: But that is not related to your core competency, engineering?
Me: Agreed (by this time, the conversation had become very casual), but this is what I want to do.
J: Anyway, you want to own, just go and buy...what is the problem?
Me: I would need money for that besides managerial skills...I mean I want to start a chain...
J: How do you start a chain...you always start one restaurant first :)
Me: (looking at them unbelievably, kya fart maar rahe hain...and then starting with a smile) I will open one first and then develop them into a chain.
J: Any Indian chain?
Me: (by mistake) Pizza Hut...
J: But that’s foreign...
Me: Sankalp...it is focused on south Indian food (did not say CCD as it is not a restaurant but should have said...please ask me about CCD...plz plz plz)
J: So, how many chains Sankalp has?
Me: (CCD has 700, is owned by Amalgamated Coffee Beans Ltd, JP Morgan Chase bought a stake in it for who cares how many millions of dollars) I don’t know...it is located down south only.
J: How much deep in south?
Me: It is in Bangalore (and somewhat sheepishly,), also in Gujarat (have screwed up).
J: What are the two southern most states in India?
Me: TN and Kerala.
J: Southernmost point of India?
Me: (bachpan mein padha tha...trying to remember) Indira Gandhi Point (yipppeeeeee, crack maara :D).
J: In which state?
Me: (flummoxed and asking them) TN?? (I knew it is in Andaman’s but the pressure got me out).
J: (laughing) You are really poor at geography.
They ask me sth about Shillong and eastern India, which I answer satisfactorily, perhaps to their astonishment. They ask me to leave and I do so, thanking both of them. And a minute later, I knock, "Should I send the next guy in?" --- We will call him ourselves. And five minutes later, I knock again, enter the room and return to them the pad (given to me to explain my DDP) I had slipped effortlessly in my bag. They are amazed.

On my way back, I treat myself at Huma CCD for not buckling under pressure; open up the day's Mint and browse through the news. Two articles especially catch my attention - one about some Sri Lankan singer Mia expressing her views for LTTE and another about the decision of Maharashtra Government to replace the Premier Padmini cabs by Tata Indica. If only, I had read the news!

Deo Gratias

Deo Gratias: Heard this Latin phrase for the first time in a certain Korean movie and it has stayed with me ever since. A part of the reason might be its pronunciation with the 'sh' and my fixation for the same. But there was this bigger reason at work - what it stands for - Thanks be to God (for the graces received).

A simple 'Thank you, God' would have sufficed. But it is used so matter of factly that it fails to elicit such awe. The commonplaceness detracts from the focus. Things loose their meaning when weighed down by the everydayness. A case in point being the customary chorus of 'Good Morning, Sir' in school. What adds to the charm of Deo Gratias is its alienism…makes it perfect to be my idiosyncrasy :)

I am not religious but am no atheist either. Whether God exists and how many of them are there, if they do, is beyond my capacity. But what I believe in is that there is this bigger force at work - which drives this world. Deo Gratias is my plea to Him to guide me, to keep me humble and to prosper me (why else is humility always associated with the achievers :P). Deo Gratias is my gratitude towards him. Deo Gratias is my mantra.

About the blog: This blog, I hope, would be my mirror to reflect back on my life - my actions and observations; my thoughts and emotions. Having said that, I won't always choose to be the Sad Socrates as opposed to the Happy Pig. I won't let the fun and spontaneity of my life to be lost in heavy analyses and deep ruminations. I would rather let life flow. Hence, this blog would also be a chronicle of the good, bad and ugly facets of my life. This would be my Life! The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Finally, how come the motivation for the blog? Well, this blog is powered by my love for writing. It is powered by the idea of making me appear more intelligent/ thoughtful/ humorous than I actually am. And last but not the least, it is powered by blogger :D