Times they are toh changinng..

Its the last semester and man does it feel wierd. So many things have changed from the first semester.
Heres what my schedule looked like in 1st sem:

7.00 am:Get up

8.15 am:Leave home for college.

9.00am:Reach VJTI

9am-4pm:Attend lectures and lab.

5.30pm:Reach home.

7pm: Study.

And now...

7.45am: Get up

8.45: Leave for college.

9.30am:Reach VJTI.

9.30-11.15 am:Lect/Lab

11.15-1pm- Project work(basically downloading movies from goyal's LAN)

2-3pm:Chilling out

5.30pm:Reach home

6pm:watch recently downloaded movie

7pm:Still watching

8pm :Still watching

9pm:Start watching a new movie/Update blog.


As i said its a weird feeling. With the impending SP Jain results and Deloitte/Wipro VLSI jobs waiting at the end of the semester its tough to be in the present and not think of the future. But at the same time i cant help feeling nostalgic and delve into the past. Anyway life's going to change and its going to change in a BIG way.One way or the other.

I have lost the motivation to pick up a book and study. Got screwed in all papers but some how it doesnt matter. Thankfully mid-sems are now a thing of the past.

Watching movie has become an integral part of my life. I have watched

Jodha Akbar
Michael Clayton
Oceans 13
Bourne ultimatum
Bee's movie
American gangster
Borat
Thank you for Smoking
The usual suspects
The Good German
Swordfish
Good Will Hunting

in the last 10 days. And there are many more which i dont even remember.

Its 9pm. Time to watch the next movie.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Let me at the onset clarify i have never uttered the word.Never.Ever.Seriously never!!

Ok whom am i kidding. But it was way back in 8th grade.Yeah i still remember it becauuse it was the only time i uttered it.It was more of a reflex.So it doesnt count.

During the Iraq invasion "whiskey tango foxtrot" was a commonly heard phrase over the radio. It was the American soldier's code for "what the f@#k?"

Lately i have been quite fascinated by the word "f@#k". No other word in the English literature can convey so many emotions and be used in so many forms.

It can used as

1.Noun- what a f@#k?

2.Adjective-what a f@#king car?

3.Verb- Active: A f@#ks B.
Passive: B is f@#ked by A.
Transitive: Its good to f@#k!

4.Gerund- F@#king is a good exercise.

It can also convey a lot of emotions:

Aggression: F@#k you!

Curiosity: what the f@#k is this?

Fooled/Conned: He got f@#ked.

Violence: i will kill you with a f@#king hammer!!

Trouble: We are f@#ked up.

Shock:What the f@#k!!

Get lost:f@#k off!!

Greetings:How the f@#k are you?

Bad day: what a f@#king day!

Face the music: We are in for a good f@#king.

To mess with someone:Don't f@#k with him!!

Request:Get the f@#k out of here.

Apathy: Who gives a F@#k!

I will keep updating the list. You are free to make a contribution.

Simplicity And Humility: Signs Of Perfection

I had read this article while waiting for the 2nd round of interview at SP Jain.At that time i found this article so enlightening that i still remember it today and i thought to share it with you.

Here are two excerpts from the article which i found very enlightening as i could relate to it myself.

..to explain something in a simple way is not easy. It requires thorough understanding of the subject..

....We make ourselves complicated by splitting our personality. Inwardly we are something but outwardly we are different because we mistakenly feel that our outwardly pattern of behaviour should be different under different circumstances.....

How true!! Think of all the vivas and personal interviews.Think of all the grilling we endured and the utter bullshit we uttered. It was either because we didnt know the subject so well or we were trying to be someone else just to impress the panelists.

I hope you do not just read the article but contemplate on it.

Simplicity And Humility: Signs Of Perfection

R K Langar

Where there is greatness, you are bound to find simplicity. Simplicity is a characteristic of greatness. It is the perfect alignment of one’s thoughts, words and deeds.
Great truths are simple but we make them difficult. When you are simple your outer and inner lives coincide. When you are simple, there is no trace of crookedness. We make ourselves complicated by splitting our personality. Inwardly we are something but outwardly we are different because we mistakenly feel that our outwardly pattern of behaviour should be different under different circumstances.
We present ourselves as what we are really not. Such a person may or may not fool others but he is certainly fooling himself. He equates simplicity with being unimpressive and backward. He feels that a simple person cannot be successful in life. But simple persons have done great things in life. They are not only successful but are also perfect in all aspects of life.
A simple person sees things as they are and presents them without adding to or subtracting from them. So there is no scope for untruth. Their conscience is clear, free of any ambiguity. They create plenty of space in their mind to allow noble thoughts to enter. Simple people earn through fair means and are at ease with themselves and with others.
A materialistic man presents truth in a complicated way. He may distort facts to impress others. He is used to making mountains out of mole hills. If you present things in a complicated manner, it covers up your lack of knowledge of the subject. But to explain something in a simple way is not easy. It requires thorough understanding of the subject. It requires talent. The more knowledge a person has of a subject, the more he would be inclined to put it across in a simple way.
When something is presented in a simple manner, it is well received and understood. The same goes for simple writing. There are writers who show their scholarship in their writings, even if what they write is not accessible (comprehensible) to the vast majority of readers.
Simplicity means doing what is necessary and remaining balanced. It means your life is an open book. Simple living means living in moderation. The thought process evolves corresponding to simple living and high thinking. Simplicity comes by living a regulated and organised life. Simplicity can be applied in all spheres of life, dress, food, talk, behaviour and in our interaction with others. For being simple one has to be oneself. A simple person leads a stress-free life since he is pure and truthful. Sri Aurobindo says that to express harmony, of all things simplicity is the best.
Simplicity is a prerequisite for spiritual advancement for it is those who are child-like who get divine illumination. There was one common factor in the lives of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Maharshi Ramana and Mahatma Gandhi: Every one of them led a simple life. Whatever they wanted to convey was free from any kind of multiplicity. They were men of character with deep concern for the welfare and well-being of others. Mahatma Gandhi demonstrated how simple living generates high thinking. Simplicity is also one of the divine qualities as enumerated in the Bhagavad Gita.

Bhaiyya to the rescue..

Last Sunday i happened to be at Kandivali station on my to Thakur polythenic college,thakur complex(which is different from thakur village). I reached station by 1 pm half an hour before the reporting time.
However i soon found out that reaching thakur college wasn't going to be so easy. All the autorickshaws(f^*$@ing ppl) simply refused to go to thakur college. I despearetly tried to convince them but to no avail.
Soon it became 1.20 and the place outside the station got swarmed by students all desparetly trying to get an auto. Finally i decided to walk all the way to highway hoping to catch an auto. But alas my pleadings fell on deaf ears.
It was 1.30 and i still hadnt found the auto. That plus no one knew for sure whether thakur complex and thakur village were the same place or different!!
I thought God was testing me. I thought may be i wasnt meant to appear for CET.
Fortunately i dont know how but out of nowhere came this knight in shining armour or should i say a bhaiyya in khaki. I asked him"Bhaiyya thakur complex chaloge?? Exam ke liye ho raha hoon" and with the gentle flick of his neck he said"Chalo baytoh". Thank God. A bhaiyya helping a marathi manoos.
At that moment i didnt think it this way.Neither did he. He could have easily said NO. But he didn't. In retrospect all that talk by Raj Thackarey seems utter nonsense.
I can tell you one thing for sure. Mumbai's social fabric will always remain intact. Nothing or nobody can undermine the important contributions that migrants have made to this city.
God bless the bhaiyya!!

P.S: CET was fine.

hE HEE

WHO'S IN CHARGE?

Visit the following site and it's pretty amazing as to how accurately we can guess who is the band leader just by seeing the publicity photo. Some weird science maybe....

http://wichone.blogspot.com/

My SP JAIN INTERVIEW....

Interviewer: So tell me what are derivatives?
Me:Sir i have no idea...
Interviewer Ok tell me what are futures?
Me: sir i have applied for marketing not finance....
Interviewer so you think you know about marketing
Me: Yes sir
Interviewer:Which FMCG manufactures Axe deo?
Me:i think its HUL.
Interviewer:u think?
Me:im not so sure
Interviewer: ok what are the 4Ps?
Me: they are price position promotion and...and... i cant remember what is the 4th.
Interviewer: ok thank you. nice meeting you.

Luckily this was just a dream. A dream which thankfully never came true. After what i heard from my friends and senoirs i was sure im in for a stress interview. but things turned out to be quite different.

I coulnt sleep properly that day. Questions kept popping inside my head even while dreaming. But that morning i wasnt a bit tensed. Maybe it had to do with the cold weather. Or maybe it had to do with my new Lee cooper shoes.maybe....

I was dressd, what should i say, a bit unconventionally. Half sleeve white shirt,quadras and no tie(yes no tie!). one thing i learnt at college interviews that one's formal attire doesnt make any difference(you may disagree). My friend Ketan's innocuous query "tu udhar ja ke change karega?" made me realise that i may have dressed a bit too casually. hell with it.i dont give a tiny rat's ass.

After reaching SP Jain we had to verify our documents and soon the batch for the 1st interview was announced. Ketan and i were in the same group along with 4 other candidates. The 1st interview had 2 panelists-Renuka kamath(marketing) and one more lady prof(i guess from systems). They were quite friendly,always smiling but always evaluating. We were asked to introduce ourselves. i gave 3 liner intro short and simple. others narrated their whole life story.

Coincidently the other prof turned out to be from vjti and she quickly turned her attention towards us. for the next 5 mins the conversation revolved around vjti. finally renuka kamath boke our conversation and went to the 1st guy.the questions were mostly factual. He made only one blunder. when asked which company he loved to work with , he said ITC(big mistake..poor guy he paid for it , he was the only who didnt get selected). and with the ever smiling face the panelist (here comes the knocker) asked him "if itc doesnt come to sp jain then what will you do?" . His answer was rather unconvincing.

15 mins into the interview everyone was asked something or the other one candidate was also asked to play the the tabla. but not a single question was directed towards me. finally the panelist asked "Has anyone read 'the world is flat'? can anyone tell me who is the author" i was the only one who knew the answer. Finally all that reading came to my rescue. Mr thomas friedman thank you very much. and i spoke abt the book for the next 2 mins unaware that i was swinging side to side in the revolving chair. she looked impressed. and i was content.

After the 1st interview we took a behaviour test and within an hour we had our 2nd interview. This too turned out to be an easy going one. tell told said us to introduce ourselves tell us something which is not given in your CV and the guys did the exact opposite. During the intos another candiddate and i mentione the word "creative" (hot topic for interviews), so he asked each one what do they think "creativity" is and can it be learnt. After that they asked to give a creative solution for reducing India's poverty. while the 1st candidate was having a go at it the panelist said"mankar tejas ..tejas that's your first name? yes sir ...so tejas do you agree with what he said?" A nice way to check whether i was listening luckily i had kept a track of what he was trying to say. i was able to successfully refute what he was trying to propose. he was basically saying the government should distribute money to the poor. creative but infeasible. To be fair a creative answer is not always a feasible answer just like lateral thinking you have to combine lateral and vertical thinking to come out with a feasible answer. And you cant control creativity how can one come up with a creative answer [and feasible] within 30 seconds and in such a tensed environment.
Then the panelist trained their guns on me. so tejas recently the union health minister urged SRK and AB not to smoke was it rit to do so? i went on creative liberty...right to express..blah blah.. ok so if you were given 10 lakhs to model a cigarette would you do it? If im an upcoming model not so popular as SRK well then yeah i will do it. No apprehensions.No moral dilemma.
They asked the next guy "what about you?". He says no sir i wont do it(yeah right!!) the panelist says"but you are not SRK".Still i wont do it,he said. The panelist then asked another candidate "Tejas just mentioned the word 'integral'. You think actors can avoid smoking on screen.You think in GODFATHER he could have used a chewing gum instead of a cigar." The candidate its possible that they can avoid smoking on screen but since she had not seen GODFATHER she cant comment on it.He then moved to the third guy. he too hadnt seen GODFATHER. I was getting desperate. Come on ask me ask me!!. Someone up there must really like me. So tejas what you have to say. "Sir...Don Corleone ....the Italian Gangster...if you look back at that movie every part was played to perfection.People remember the way he spoke,the italian accent(maunday,tuesday..),the dialogues(i will make you an offer you cant refuse),the way he scratched his chin ....everything was perfect,bang on. So if actors smoke on screen its because they need to develop a character... ".First thomas friedman and now Godfather. im starting to get goosebumps.BTW the room was damned cold.
The guys having work experience were grilled on their company's operations.who are their clients and so on. One piece of advice BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WITH WORDS. Never use strong words like "passionate". Use the correct words(wazz the difference between sentimental and emotional??). Know the difference between values and strengths. Yeah by the way they asked us whether value systems are relative.
To answer such questions you need to be well read and this is exactly what they are trying to gauge. how in depth can you think can you provide an insight with whatever knowledge you possess right now.
So preparing for interviews is a constant process.

Thats about it. no question on marketing no question on profile sheet All in all i was satisfied with the way i conducted myself.