What did I know, What did I learned

                                                
14th June , 2013
Friday

As I write this post , today is the day exactly an year after I entered the hallowed gates of my college. I had always admired my college for the awe it generated among the aspirers and being different from run-of-the-mill Business Schools in India.

Having worked in the Information Technology industry for more than two years and attending numerous meetings over conference tables , one thing that I vividly remember my team lead always saying during those meetings was "What do we know , What have we learned ". I think that this must be a common gap analysis slang for I.T. employees because the latest I heard this line was in a Bollywood movie from an actor playing the character of an I.T. employee.

My post here is no reference to the industry or its culture but only the significance this particular quote in my life an year after I joined my graduation college . As the time has passed , I certainly have shaped as an individual very different from what I was when I became a part of this "We are here to solve your problems" fraternity of people in short known as M.B.A. and today. As a person , I have been very aggressive and used to fight with people over small issues that I perceived  to be going against my will. But after coming to this college I have mellowed down because I see exactly two twenty people like me who are ready to fight just to have things their way . The competition for prominence has also made me understand things from a better perspective.

Over the last year , participating in a lot of competitions and managing to get into finals of a couple of them,  One thing that I would like to thanks my peers and the level of competition and skills that they bring to the table is understanding business of very diverse companies and learning nuances of what different companies have to offer to us as consumers. These multinationals are a mix of persuasion , innovation and perseverance cause they strive each second as I write to reach out to the customers.

Even though , in this one year I met a lot many interesting people , whom I would like to say professionals , yet I made a few genuine friends , who though extremely talented ,yet are humble enough to accept each other strengths and weaknesses and covering for each other at times.

With this I would like to complete my post , for I learned a lot over the last one year and look forward to the next one with greater eagerness and enthusiasm.

We were born Leaders but trained to be servants

Saturday,15th December 2012

A long six months into a premium B-School and after attending a series of Guest Lectures ; A few good one and most of them outright boring , finally I attended a Guest Lecture that was worth saying the best one I have attended till date. This lecture was nowhere related to academics or placements, but it was a push that many of us need as of today.

The first sentence by the speaker was "Jo Kisi aur ke yaahan Kaam Karne ka sochte hai Wo Fattu Hote Hai " .The lecture by Mr. Sunil Handa, A professor  at IIM Ahmedabad, has left a lurking question in those 70 souls present in that interaction, that what are we doing with our lives. We are all so consumed by those seven salary figures that the essence of True Leadership has just faded away from our thinking. As of Today, Most of the Elite Junta that is studying in B-Schools wants to be "Employed" in the Big Three or a Global I.T. Giant but noone ever thinks of actually opening a company  of his/her own.

Even in this life, if we reach the top and earn a eight or nine salary figures, we would always be known as "someone who worked for someone else". As Mr. Handa, rightly, said that the learning you will have in an year of opening your own venture would be equivalent to a ten year experience of working somewhere as an employee.

A very nice example he gave to the audience was that even if we work in a  McKinsey and in our most coveted profile, even then in a span of ten years,all we can save is a mere sum of Rs. 5-6 crores but if we have our own business then even 500 crore is a possibility."  The citations he gave left the Junta spellbound and for the first time I never looked at my watch in a lecture and these three hours passed away like a whisker.

In the end, All I would like to say is "Jo Nasha Apna Dhanda Karne mein hai Wo Kisi Aur Cheez Mein Nahi hai ". 

Journey of a Spartan : What it takes to be an MBA

300 -  Battle of the Millenium

This movie is admired and revered by not just 300 fans like me but by a million ones because this movie is an epitome of valor,bravery,leadership and reverence. It depicts that the will of one man can be the strength of others and demise of lacs of oppressors.The picture in this post is of Gerard Butler a.k.a. King Leonidas,The man who stood between anarchy and freedom;oppression and harmony. But here in this place it is more about the will of the man that made him stand tall and face the most ardous situations in life.
It is Leonidas who has inspired me to rise from the ashes for these string of failures year after year,I had suffered in the MBA Exams. It was a debacle altogether since even after managing to fetch calls from the most revered institutions such as FMS,IIFT,MDI I always royally failed to make through any of these institutions. My friends,My colleagues and My relatives started to doubt my capabilty for I was only a choker to them who would falter at the last leg of the race.
But I knew that it was more a matter of destiny than capabiltity since perseverance and aptitude is something I have preached and practised for years and my capabilty is my strength.I always knew my weaknesses and my strengths.I never was a hotshot who would just give a random exam and come out with flying colors.I was just one of those common people who can achieve success by not just sheer talent but with dedication and a never say die attitude.
It is after four long tiresome, debilitating years that I have finally managed to enroll myself into one of those revered institutions from where I can kick start my career  and reach the zenith of success and achievement in life. The Inspiration from King Leonidas has finally been moulded into a fruit of success.

Long Live Leonidas..... Long Live Sparta

Delhi : Does it need its own Dark Knight ?

Its been a few years that I vividly remember that a question was popped up in one of those school quizzes  that who is the creator of the fictional hero Batman? At that moment of time I was unaware of this character called Batman for I thought this guy must be looking like a Bat.Though in due course of time I thoroughly understood what this name signified for, this person represented more than a display of valor and charisma. The superhero was no more some flying immortal with laser popping out of his eyes but a Mortal just like any one of us . A man fighting to restore order and justice in the fictional city of Gotham that had fallen into the hands of anarchy.

Today,after so many years I see a stark  similarity between  The reel city " Gotham" and the real city "Delhi".
Delhi a.k.a. India's Political Capital is the home to the political stalwarts of  the nation but it is also home to 26 million people like me who would always be proud to say the three words " Dilli Meri Jaan" anytime in the day.But in the recent past, the city of decisions has turned into a city of chaos and lawlessness where one can hear stories of Rape,Murder,Kidnapping occurring almost everyday even in broad daylight for the criminals have no one to fear.

Gotham represented a city full of Power,Wealth,Corrupt officials and menacing criminals and so does Delhi. The mafia here has the political backing since every second person has a contact or a jack, the favourite line being " Tu Jaanta hai Mera Baap Kaun hai" and the reply being " Haan mere Baap ke yahaan naukri karta hai". The criminals of Delhi is a conglomeration of wild,unruly,rambunctious gun wielding psycopaths need to be given a punisment more than a jail terms because sometimes wild animals need to be culled than confined.The recent string of incidents of abuse by the same people whose duty is to protect the people have eroded the belief that one used to have in the judicial and political system.

Its time the city needs its silent protector,its dark vigilante, its Dark Knight!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why MBA : The Real Reason

MBA - This three letter abbreviation stands for Masters in Business Administration. It means an entrance to the corporate world ,where the holder of this coveted degree would be assigned a position of responsibility from where he can change the course of history.
But  over the last few years, this once a shunned degree ,which was meant only for those people who weren't so good at studies suddenly had a change in fortune . The reason attributed to this change in attitude of the people have been tried be explained by many a analyst firms and consultants ,but who knows what actually transpires inside a human mind coz numbers are just a quantitative description and are not an indicator of the qualitative factors affecting the outcome of an event.
Over the last four years, I have attended the Interviews of most coveted Indian Institutions disseminating this degree to prospective managers. The institutions as we know them are brand in itself. To name a few, I have been a part of the Interview process of  FMS, IIFT, MDI etc.But there is one question that I have always faced in these four years and that is " Why MBA ????"
So here is what my answer that I give to all of them :

I want to gain a business perspective of doing things and be at a position of responsibility where I can add value to people around me and myself.
Now WTF is that even I don't know but  that is what I had been answering for so many years now because my elder brother said me to do so. He said it looks as nice a cake with lots of chocolate cream on it.
But, as an individual I am trying to analyze the real reasons of Why people wanna be an MBA .....

Reason for College Dudes/Dudettes : Oh Come On Man! We have so far enjoyed our three/four years of college and wanna have an extended vacation. We don't wanna do some crappy job,hence that answers for us  "Why MBA " .

Reason for IITians : We are the best brains of the country and an MBA from IIM - A,B or C would add spice to our degrees of IIT- K ,B or D. We have the first right to be an MBA and would be first in the competition of youngest entrepreneurs on Mother Earth.This answers for  us "Why MBA".

Reasons for Graduates whose Girlfriends are MBA 's  : They do an MBA because their girlfriends are MBA's ( Even from II*M)  and they have given their respective BF'S a stern warning that if not an MBA now then they would marry an MBA from IIM and a new Devdas would be born. Hence we know "Why MBA ".


Reasons for IT 'Unprofessionals' : Do I need to tell "Why MBA ???? "

Reasons for all other graduates from Arts/Commerce/Others : It was us who were meant to be  MBA's . How the hell did you ask "Why MBA"....


With this I come to an end to this post still searching for myself an answer to the question " Why MBA ???"

Chocolate Day, Propose Day, Rose Day or Another day : Diaries of a Singleton

 A day before yesterday I came across a post on one of my friend's wall on facebook who was blabbering something about showering lacs of roses on every path his love would walk and something like that. The next day again the same guy was proposing that girl to be with him forever and to grow old with him. I was like ehh... what has happened to him.
It was only today on Chocolate day (My day of concern), that I finally realized that Oh Shit! Its the week of love with the 'Shiv Sena presents'  Valentine Day  round the corner and how can I forget it. Yet,it doesn't makes any difference.

The status has been like that for a long time now that it skips my mind as far as I remember , I didn't had a partner in my school days, then I went to Engineering college ( The darkest days of my life) where there were more mongoose than the  number of girls and finally landed up in an office where there were 50% girls but 0% Guts. So the status quo has maintained so far and is unlikely to change in near future.

As of today My relationship status is not among Single, Complicated or Committed but of "Waiting for a Miracle".Its quite amusing to be see my friends posting status updates about how happy they are to be singles having freedom of their own and time for themselves but often complaining about not having a partner in their lives with the favorite line  being  "Yaar koi Bandi mil jaaye ".

So on these seven days of "Expression of love" our feelings of having a partner in our lives suddenly spikes . We try to hook up with every girl we ever tried to know ,talk or fantasize about.But But But! How can we get one , Since we are specialists at being singles. We try to do everything right from being flirtatious to spending huge amounts from our already fiscal deficit bank accounts but to no avail.

So it doesn't makes any difference whether its  a chocolate day, rose day or WTF!!!!! ( Wednesday,Thursday or Friday)  we were, we are, we will be singles until some Harry Potter ( Even Lord Voldemort would do) spins his magic wand and a partner comes into life.
In the end,signing off  from my office for it would be work time soon. Hope to feast on some Bournville's and the likes today on Chocolate day. A single that empathizes with every other single he has met in his life( around 99% of the people so far I have met).


Note : There are 1400 tigers left, but there are only 934 girls for 1000 boys left. SAVE GIRLS

I love my Project Lead and nineteen other IT Jokes

1. I love my Project Lead. He/She cares for me and do not overburden me with loads of work.

2. Smoking is a bad Habit.

3. I love my Job. I am not interested in MS/MBA and would like to continue here.

4. My Project Lead is always busy. He/She spends nine hours working in a single day.

5. I can afford to drink expensive alcohol on my Big Fat salary.

6. I feel fitter than ever three years after joining this company.

7. I suffer from no Headache,Blood Pressure,Back Ache since I joined IT sector.

8. I am paid highest among all my friends. One who is a Pilot, The second who is an I-Banker and the last who is a Driver.

9. There are more beautiful girls found in my project than any other place on Earth. 

10. My teammates eulogize my presence of Mind.

11. I can afford to buy a Mercedes Benz within 5 years of my working life.

12. Vada Pav is my favorite food and I can kill anyone to have it. 

13. I don't terrorize my juniors with deadlines and do not harass them with warnings of Bad ratings.

14. Work is Worship.

15. My Client is very understanding and Intelligent.

16. I love my job @ Offshore and I am not interested in Onsite opportunities.

17. I am a software developer and do some Hardcore coding that would send even Mark Zuckerberg's head dwindling.

18. I sit for more than nine hours in my office.

19. Our group doesn't stare at girls and never fantasize about them.

20. I would like to continue in this industry and retire only from here.