OFF BALANCE ON THE EDGE OF SANITY

Caught in the Act!!

2006-07-16T19:17:00.000+05:30

I am re-starting this blog after about 5 months and the reason for this was quite interesting.. Today was a red letter day in my life... was just thinking smugly of how i have managed to hide most of my supposed illegal activities from my parents and WHAM! i receive that dreaded call from my mom sayin she read this very blog and found out that i eat non-veg.. dint really know whether i should feel happy about my conservative mother's sudden technological prowess or feel terrified at the easiness with which one can find "sensitive" information about just about anyone using the net. By the way, i extend a warm welcome to you Ma and Dad..

Why exactly do we hide things from our parents??.. Is it because :

we are scared that they would not understand and ask us to stop.
we are scared that they would join in and make it less fun.
we expect that they would put us in rehab (YES... even for eating non-veg).
we just dont feel like.

I really dont know.. what i do know (or expected) is that in the event of my parents finding out about my cullinary exploits, they would take me straight to haridwar and dump me in the Ganges (they may even think of not doing that for the fear of polluting the holy river further). things were so different on the call I received this evening.. they just laughed about it.. joked about being able to smell chicken all the way from thrissur.. I was really surprised at first and after a while got scared considering the amount of trust they have in me and the amount of freedom they have given me (Unwillingly or otherwise... ) But honestly Ma, at the risk of sounding hollow, I am really waiting to eat home food cooked by you (Pure Veg of course).. he he..

Trip!!

2005-12-26T12:26:00.000+05:30

Have had a wonderful week for a change… went for an amazing trip to this place called Murund Janjira… its about 200 Kms from Pune and is actually a fort inside the sea… There were 9 guys in all and because of this number, we decided to hire a Qualis for transport… we started at 12 midnight on the 23rd and drove continuously until we reached Kashid beach at around 4:30 in the morning… slept on the beach for barely 30 minutes and we decided that it was too damn cold to be doing that… herded all our asses back to the qualis and snored away to glory until about 8 in the morning… Then started playin football on the beach and got pooped in 20 mins flat… we were lyin on the sand for sumtime and finally decided to get into the water… what an amazing time that was… played water polo for quite a long time and then had a race from chest deep water to land… Drank tea on the beach itself and booked a room for ourselves to take a bath and keep our luggage… had a huge lunch in a hotel nearby and fell into a dreamless sleep on hammocks… it was around 4:30 when we decided to actually visit the fort and set out in the qualis to hire a boat… we took a boat for ourselves and it cost us nearly 325 to get to the fort and for a guide to tell us what the fort was all about… came back to the room at around 6 and played football on the beach for nearly an hour… packed and were on our way back by 7:15… reached hostel by 12 midnight and slept like logs…
The next day was quite eventful as I got to speak to balaji (I studied P.U.C with him) for sumtime… he is presently doing his Phd in chemical engineering in Wayne State University… Also chatted with an old friend, Anne, for a long time… she also called today (25th) and spoke for 30 mins… Buvana also called and said that she wasn’t well… was stuck in the room all day trying to learn linear programming… have to submit an assignment tmrw… Dad bought a metallic blue Santro… that’s it for now…

HR Bashing..

2005-12-12T13:32:00.000+05:30

Yesterday was the first time that I actually missed home after I came here… had a really bad day yesterday… had a really useless class (Financial Mgmt.) followed by a mind numbing Guest lecture… As if this were not enough, some of my friends decided to have a good laugh about the fact that I was doing HR and how insignificant and boring it was… Why am I so sensitive to this issue???... I know that this will be the scenario even in the workplace and have been told as much by my friends but my question to them is… Why the hell should I start practicing for the future now??... Even some of my “knowledgeable” lecturers seem to think that HR is redundant… I don’t think a company would come all the way to SCMHRD, pick up an HR student and pay him 8 lakhs p.a if they thought his function in the organization was zilch… Anyway, at the end of the day, HR placements are really good and that’s all I care about…The junior football team lost to the seniors 1-0… Was quite disappointing but the juniors did put up a good fight… Overall, a really forgettable day for me…

Post Intel era...

2005-11-24T04:10:00.000+05:30

Hi all,
I thought the Intel excitement would never die out but it has gradually faded away... So much has happened in college in the last few days... "Art of living" classes are going on… Really don’t know how to describe it though… my feelings towards the course have changed from revulsion to curiosity… It was quite a different experience today after the breathing exercises… all of us felt light headed and were in a trance for a brief period of time during the meditation and chanting itself… Felt that these techniques do have some meaning… The only problem though, is the fact that we have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and walk to college in the freezing cold for a 3 hour class… rush back as soon as class gets over and dress up n go to college for regular classes…
Went out for dinner last nite… had a great time… Bunked Prantosh’s class… Remembered 2 days back that I have to send all my Certificates to Intel… Planning to send it today… Will probably courier one package with both mine and Jayceeka’s documents… seems that I have to take PLC’s permission before contacting Intel… Will go and ask them about that today…
Six-sigma class is going on and is quite ironic that the lecturer is so inefficient… People are actually taking interest, answering questions, asking doubts etc… Immaturity has reached new levels in my class with people acting as matchmakers and hooking up friends (at least trying to…)… I found it so disgusting (I was at the receiving end of one of these attempts but managed to deflect it quite effectively)…
Have decided to become a little more frugal and austere with respect to my expenditure… Have been on a spending binge in the last one week… watched “Harry Potter – Goblet of fire” 3 days back… Quite a nice movie although it paled in comparison to the book… Blew up nearly 150 bucks on that outing… need to be more careful… that’s it from me for now…

Nirvana!!

2005-11-18T02:02:00.000+05:30

Hi people,
I finally got placed…. In Intel baby… Im sooooo happy…. It’s the first time they were on campus for summers and they picked up me and another girl called Jayceeka… It seems that they dint pick anyone from SIBM which is such a shot in the arm… The interview was supposed to be at 6:30 in the evening and I was in the loo at around 5:15 when Dhruv, from the opposite room, barges into my room and starts banging on the door…. He starts yelling that the Placement process has been advanced by an hour and starts in about 15-20 mins…. I got really tensed… Shaved in about 3 mins and cut myself pretty badly… Was looking like a war victim at the end of the shave… Wore my white shirt and got the blood on my collar… At that point of time, I thought that it would not matter coz my getting short-listed by a company like Intel was a distant possibility… Ran all the way to college and the process began at 5:45… We had only one round of interviews… I was scheduled to be 14th out of 18 people and had a long wait ahead of me… Started reading “The Negotiator “ by Frederick Forsyth… It was Sheo Sachin followed by Shruthi and then me… When Sachin went in, I started getting really tensed and was prancing about in the corridors… Sachin came out looking gloomy and before I could ask him as to what happened inside, Surya (Senior PLC team) called me to sit outside the interview room… He started giving me gyaan about being original and not faking anything and for once, it struck home and made sense… Decided to go in there and give it my best… Went in and was asked the usual question about family and place of stay etc... Then they asked me to give an example of a situation wherein I was put into a project that I dint enjoy but I struggled and succeeded eventually… I started talking about my engineering life… Girlfriends, failures, back papers etc. during my first 4 semesters and then told them about my struggle to rectify the grade curve during the last 4 semesters and the eventual overall first class… They found it quite amusing… Also spoke about my final year project and actually used the term “Jhak marofied” while describing the first 2 months of project work… They luckily found that amusing too... They asked me to describe myself in 3 words and I came up with Impulsive, Good sense of humor or funny (they said that it was evident… he he) and Honest… They said that I was one of the most refreshing people they met on the tour and I felt on top of the world… Finally they told me that I should get serious if I want to work for a company like Intel and this is when I got the first hint that I might just make it… Started praying after my interview and made a pact with God that I would not touch non-veg incase I made it… Surya came into class a few minutes later with a big smile and announced our name… I swear that I was on the verge of tears... Huge achievement for a middle class B.E (Barely Engineer) like me u see... he he... Went to the interview room again to get my offer letter… I started getting visions wherein I saw that lady saying that “Sunil, we have decided to reconsider the decision of selecting you… please return the form…” … filled up the form really fast and in such an awful handwriting… they gave me a thermos flask with Intel written on the side and an Intel t-shirt… looks awesome… called up mom n dad… thrice… they were not convinced the first two times… he he.. All my friends gave me such an embarrassing reception near the Cafetaria… Lifted me up amidst whistling and hooting… The SIIB and SCIT crowd were really astounded… Spent a long time in college basking in the glory and was reminded of the adage “Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan”… Felt that it was quite apt coz people I dint know were coming up to congratulate me… It was an awesome night… Lots of calls from people like Suchita (from Mumbai) and Karan (from Delhi), both junior PLC members… Didn’t expect that at all... Was really elated… Didn’t even have a proper dinner… My stomach felt full after all the fanfare… Am sitting in Employee relations class now… Asked Anish, Samir and Chiro to help me make PPTs of the companies coming in the future to help the other friends who have not been placed yet… Hope I can generate sufficient dedication to pull this thru… Going to Mumbai for the Banking conclave… That’s it for now…

2nd Sem begins...

2005-11-14T00:01:00.000+05:30

hi fellas..
been a long time since i graced these pages... 2nd sem began on the 7th of Nov and predictably was late for the first class... had to go and beg deepali(attendance coordinator or superbitch in layman parlance) for attendance and fortunately got it... presently in OR class... Dr. Neil Chinmulgund handles the subject and does it pretty well too.. came late today too.. lost attendance... hope im able to convince deepali today also ( as long as i'm hoping, i would like a BMW too..he he)...
Was my cousin Ashwin's wedding yesterday... Missed it... felt really really bad when people called up n said that they missed me there... spoke to one of my friends from b'lore called Buvana... felt really good... been a long time since i spoke to her (almost 2 years...)... Spoke to mom n dads also.... they were alll having a great time at the wedding it seems...
"Heyyy ashwin, incase u are reading this, i need all the videos and pics asap"...
1st day of college was sooooo blooody dull... felt sleepy in all classes including Prantosh's class... that was quite surprising... got kicked out of the previous Prantosh class along with nearly 90% of the class for not having completed some homework... yet to do it... dunno when his next class is... I thought maturity comes with age(to an extent atleast...)... mine seems to be declining.. really kicked about having a married cousin... he he... waiting to tease him.. hopin that we get some off days so i can go home and have a blast... been a long time sice i went there....
Expenses are skyrocketing here... bought a lot of stuff in the last few days... waiting for dad to send the DD.. Have to pay the fees too..
nearly forgot... deepali teaches us Yoga early on Tuesday mornings... that is beyond agonising... thats it for now... class is over... have to beg for attendance now...

FCQ results...

2005-10-17T01:38:00.000+05:30

Its been a while since i posted.... was really busy all these days...
FCQ results were out 2 days back and found out that i can read all my marks pout like a frigging phone number.... 9...8...9...7... what the hell???... i thot stats went welll n i get 9 and totally screwed up in govt influences only to get 14... anyway... not impressed at all with my perfprmance... hope i do well in the sem exams.... only a miracle will help...

companies are trickling in for HR nowadays and i reached the interview of the previous company... was given 3 situations and asked to decide on the next course of action... did ok and felt that it went pretty well... the last situation was about being the HR head of an organization and having to deal with a brilliant sales mgr who brings in nearly 50 % of the sales but is extremely unethical.... it looked like an open and shut case to me until the HR dude told me that the CEO of that organization knew about these unethical practices and backed it to the hilt... now i was in a quandary and the fuses in my brain were threatening to blow as a result of overheating... gave a poetic bhashan saying that ethics are primary to me and when it comes down to money or people's lives, everything else becomes peripheral... i dont see any shades of gray, everythin is black or white... i will fire the guy... now.. the HR dude tells me that the CEO gets pissed off with me and tells me that either he gets the boot or i do... i valiantly told them that i would quit the damn job if it came down to that.. i dint make it... they called 4 of the people inside later and told us that v all were equally capable ( some were less equal i guess...) and gave some gyaan about perseverance... told us that there was only one position available and offered it to another girl.. actually felt quite happy that i reached the interview coz i was quite low on confidence after a string of companies rejected my CV... this was like a shot in the arm..

An interesting incident took place in class 2 days back... Supply chain class was going on and my classmate sriram asks me wat "FUBAR" is... then goes on to tell me that it means 'F***** Up Beyond All Recognition' according to the movie 'Saving private Ryan'..... then he decides to suggest it to sir as a part of the brainstorming exercise that was being conducted at that time... he gets up n yells "FUBAAAARRRR...".... i immediately went under the bench and laughed and laughed and laughed... this guy somehow kept a straight face and repeated FUBAR..... then, sir asks him... what it means??... he says... For Upgradation Beyond Analytical Requirements".... sir seems really impressed and keeps mumbling fubar atleast 4 times to himself while going to write it on the board.... then he turns around and does the worst thing possible... he tells sriram... "This is an IT term is'nt it??"... sriram replies in the affirmative and sir nods to himself contentedly and all this while he keeps repeating that word to himself... i pity our juniors who will get this acronym as a one-mark question in their FCQs thanx to the astounding quality of our professors...

Barely managed to submit my Research methodology project in time... made quite a few mistakes but its done... OVER... Had to sit and explain half my questions to all the respondents partly because they were so esoteric and partly because most of my respondents were just plain stupid... hope to a better job in the 2nd sem project... thats it from me for now....

Vicarious satisfaction...

2005-10-05T04:35:00.000+05:30

Its been 13 days since the placements in my college began.... i have
not gotten placed yet...:-)... The results were officially out
yesterday amidst much fanfare as more than a third of the batch were
placed... I sat there watching their eager and happy faces as their
names were being read out and felt an acidic burp rising from the pit
of my stomach... this is when i realized that the phrase "Vicarious
satisfaction" is a myth... I did feel happy at some level for all of
them but the discussion about compensation and PPOs were quite
difficult to digest... The seniors ruined this already ruined day with
some merciless junior bashing (both specific and general).. They said
that we dint deserve what they gave us and called our batch a "selfish
set of individuals"... That comment really hurt... Then came the
decision of going for a dinner party... that was a little too much...
Told my people that im not up for it and walked away ( rudely
actually)... I guess i was entitled to a rotten mood considering my
dream run of rejections ... As i was walkin back to the hostel, i
started thinkin about the day i would make it into some company and

visualized all the dull and desperate faces around me waitin for their

purple patch... I decided that i would not go for an "I got into 'this' company party"
until my entire batch makes it to some company and will also help them
by finding out info about the companies coming in the future and
prepare PPTs and present it to them... I may be ridiculed by a lot of
people but i sincerely hope that my friends help me do this... Thats it
from me...

Comfortably dumb!!

2005-09-30T04:35:00.000+05:30

Today was one of the wierdest days of my life... I had a company presentation to attend at 8:30 in the morning today... was awake till nearly 4:45 in the morning watching "National Treasure", "Black Hawk Down" and "Behind Enemy Lines"... Also played Table tennis with Samir( my other roomie).... kept the alarm for 7:30 but got up only at 8:20... Anish came to the room all dressed up in blazer and tie and i was lying on my bed squinting at him and trying to get myself into a sitting position... Got ready by 8:27 and was off running to the college... reached by 8:35... i had not bathed, shaved or visited the loo and was sitting in the college auditorium till around 10:30.. the process finally started and after a sinfully boring 45 minutes, they started announcing the shortlist for the GD process... Lo Behold!!... the lady announces my name and im left speechless for a few seconds... not because i expect them to consider me unfit but becoz i dint bloody apply to their company( the form was too long... i was too lazy)... Tried talkin to my placement team members but they also were wonderstruck... Ran to vignesh's( my senior) room and shaved... was just about to empty my bowels when i was called for the GD... attended the GD process and had an absolute fish-market... took me a lot of mental toughness and will power to stop myself from pulling out the entrails of a few of my group members.... they seem to think of volume as a potent weapon to be heard... found out later that i had not been shortlisted for the interview... the people who behaved like they had not reached mental puberty had actually cleared the process... makes me kinda glad that i dint get thru.... planning to go back to my room now and have a nice, long nap... hav to start preparin for my semester exams also... hav started running out of reasons to procrastinate my preparation.... thats it from me for now....

Triumph unparalleled...

2005-09-28T06:42:00.000+05:30

Hi all...
It was a near perfect day today... Our E-learning results came out... Surprisingly managed to clear all the subjects except computers ( sumthin an engineer is generally good at...). scored decently in all other subjects... actually made it to 64 in accounting... It is quite obvious that marks have been thrown at the students but what perplexes me is the fact that i made it to 64 with barely 2 pages of written stuff on my paper... Dint have any Gd or interview process today so had a blast... was Anish's bday... was with him till around 1 last nite... had an absolutely wild time giving bday bums to anish, chiro( my roomie) and nilesh.. had a huge water fight( boiling water... ). fell down and hurt my hip and shoulder quite badly... was a memorable day nevertheless.... watched a part of "DUS" till around 3 in the morning... disgusting movie... added anish and sriram to my orkut list.... May have a process tomorrow... hope i convert it... There is a dinner party being hosted by anish today in Tamanna.... decided not to do my marketing assignment and find out how severe the consequences could be... he he... Have not attended non-acads for nearly a week... Have to find out my attendance position before i decide to miss any more classes... Thats it for now... looking forward to dinner...

Martyrdom of a mediocre soul!!

2005-09-26T05:40:00.000+05:30

I begin my journey into blogworld with a solemn pledge that i wont talk sense. I have decided that this is going to be the window to freedom that i so fervently desire as i sit in my jail like room hoping for this MBA to do wonders to my otherwise uneventful existence. SCMHRD, i'm sure will have a lasting impact on my mind and body ( thanks to the weird exercises we do at ungodly hours). I hav been here (correction... survived here) for 3 months but it feels like eternity already. My placements are going on (supposedly... no one seems to be interested in my CV anyway) since the 21st... The wonder called a Vipassana camp that i attended (and cribbed about endlessly) seems to be helping me cope with all the latent tension in the campus... Surpringly, during Vipassana, i derived all the strength to survive in that shithole for 10 days purely because of the knowledge that i would rejoin civilization eventually... one of life's sweet paradoxes i guess... No companies came today and i got the much needed rest from rejection.. Planning to watch "The Ring" tonite and psyche myself for tomorrow.. Thats it from me for today...