A Memoir

I remember the first night she spent here, in my proximity. Seven years ago. A scared 14 year old, she jumped up at every minute sound- real and imaginary. There was an instant when she almost ran outside, to her parents; but stayed back due to some magical willpower. And she has stayed, ever since. 

She mostly reads in my company; she occasionally tattooed on me, played ball with me and shared with me every exam scheduled for her. She loved to collect Harry Potter paraphernalia and went about it furiously. Then came this queer contraption she sat with often. She fiddled with it continually and the device even sang for her, played movies for her and had her enraptured. I was jealous- her long contemplations, face-to-face with me, were remarkably reduced. Still, I tolerated it. I was happy to see her study hard and bore her occasional barrage of French words at me, with patience- maybe she was in for something good, though she was always cynical about it. 

To the world, she appeared to be a nerd. But I knew better than that. 

Then there came a time when she was in a mild dilemma. She almost left me. But she chose not to, for several reasons (and I am sure that missing me was one of them!). 

The four years following that most fortunate decision have been the most interesting ones for me. I have seen her in various moods, going through phases- good and bad, making mistakes as well as a few right decisions. I am happy to say that I have truly stood by her through everything.

But even the best of times must come to an end. And she is leaving me. She will return, occasionally, for a handful of days at a stretch. But it will not be like the old times. 

Oh, come on. I should stop feeling bad. In fact, I should not feel anything at all. After all, I am just a wall in her room. 

What after +2?

Yet another academic year has ended and a fresh batch of school pass-outs are now ready to enter college. When I saw the results of the Tamilnadu State Board for Std.XII, the one major feeling that overcame me was Relief! 

Relief that I had completed this four years back and didn't have to face the competition of a batch that has produced 120 students with 200/200 cut-off (for Engineering admission).

That apart, I've also been playing the role of a career counselor ( :D ) to quite a few relatives and friends. The one thing that is unshakable in all of them is the belief that a degree in Engineering is the one and only elixir in their lives. Looking back by four years, I find that I was quite determined about this degree too, that is, after my earlier career choice of journalism was ruled out. Did I have any particular reason for taking up this course I've been through these four years? Frankly No. It was one of the best available options for my rank and its "scope" was highly spoken of. Hence, I cannot completely criticize those 198.somethings and 199.somethings for their choice of Engineering. But the advantage of a B.E. degree is restricted mainly to the college from which one graduates. 

The various factors that people consider for choosing among several similar colleges are: 

• Faculty
• Infrastructure
• The most important one - Placements

Faculty- this factor is no longer relevant. Even in some of the most respected colleges, all you find is a handful of professors who know their subjects and are in the profession for something more than the monthly cheque. But it is a fact from personal experience that a really good teacher will make one love the course and study it in depth.

Infrastructure- This too, does not matter and can be obtained with a few hundred crores of rupees (which should not be a problem with the private businessmen who start Engg colleges as more of an investment). 

Placements- This is where the hitch arises. The companies that recruit in masses from most of the colleges do not offer job profiles suitable to the knowledge gained through the four year course. Relevant jobs (the really good software jobs and the core jobs for hardware students) are offered only to students from the cream of all colleges. 

A very important factor that is not looked into properly by the diehard engineering aspirants with lower cut-offs is the peer group. However high one's aspirations may be, if he/she is part of an unmotivated group, it doesn't take long to lose focus.

The gargantuan demand for an Engineering degree is understandable. In four years, you start earning 20-30k per month which most students' parents didn't earn until they reached their 40s. But what I'd give more preference to is the suitability of the candidate to the job he takes up. This is where our Indian Education system's serious flaw comes to mind. 

For a Science group higher secondary student, any degree other than B.E. or MBBS (at ANY college) or their approximate equivalents like the integrated MSc (at a few reputed colleges) is a shame to hold. A friend openly told me this when I advised him against a B.E. at a college that would suit his cut-off. The reason for this - jobs cannot be obtained easily if you are not a B.E. holder.
We all prefer a stable life. Fulfilling our personal passions with respect to career is not as important as keeping our family happy and satisfied with that steady monthly salary. But at the same time, we are not as independent a society as in some Western nations. We are family-oriented. We like sticking together rather than live as strangers under a roof. All these are things I love about Indian culture. But this in itself should not be a deterrent to following one's passions. For this, we need the families' and at large the society's support. They don't need to do much. Allow enough space for the "other kind of" professionals to exist and achieve whatever they are talented to do, in life.

Oligarchy in Camouflage

The Tamilnadu Assembly election results, declared on Friday the 13th, bore no suspense or surprise. Those who genuinely expected the incumbent party to return to power would have been the people who would have believed the voting populace to be short of the six senses that human beings are generally endowed with.

Yes, People have voted for change. But is it a change for the good or for the lesser evil?  

For the past two decades, we have had the two biggies - DMK & AIADMK - taking alternate turns to rule the state (and fill their coffers). Now it is simply the latter's turn. 

I couldn't understand why people wanting a change for better governance would elect convicted people. After all, with an 80.3% literacy rate in this state, would people be averse to having some fresh air in the arena of politics?

A new party, started by a common man and not a well-known (and of course influential) cine actor, seems to rise to power only in movies like "Ko" (what it takes for that to happen, is quite plainly shown in the film). The Lok Satta Party, that fielded candidates who looked fresh and ready to bring in some change, has lost in all constituencies. A truly inspirational candidate, Mr. Sarathbabu, lost in Velachery, coming behind not only the AIADMK but also the candidate of PMK which is a party that is the embodiment of absolute fickleness! How many BITS, Pilani + IIM A graduates would give up lucrative careers to serve the people? The few stalwarts who do so are nipped in the bud. How can we then expect more youngsters to join the losers' bandwagon?

India is a democracy - so said my Civics textbook. But it looks more like an oligarchy. 

Ko!

The last movie I have seen, as a B.E. student during official college hours. The movie was fresh in its look and theme. A very brief recap-

The Good:

Unusual characters. A photo journalist as the hero who keeps clicking away even when he is about to be thrashed, kindles the shutterbug in anyone possessing a camera. For me, it was a sneak peek into the world I wanted to inhabit, as a teenager. No one is clean- be it the incumbents or the opposition. Politics is a dirty world. We are obviously thrilled to see the hero cruising through it, armed with a Canon camera! The twist in the tale towards the end is very good. The climax has been handled beautifully.

The Bad: 

The lack of an element called logic. Well, though it is an accepted fact that Tamil films always have super-heroes, I still find it difficult to digest the unreal stunt scenes from an objective point of view. 

The Ugly:

The song "Venpaniye" is nothing short of a pain in the neck. A complete irritant, it has been inserted at the most inappropriate place. The heroine's mostly passive screen presence. Well, I can't call it acting. The character was a good one. An expressive portrayal would have done justice to it. And seriously, her questioning the link between the hero and another guy while the former is on the verge of a huge discovery is stupid to the normal senses, whatever significance the ensuing flashback holds.   

On the whole, "Ko" was definitely worth a watch, though I'm still wondering as to why it has been named so! (if any reader knows, kindly put it up as a comment)

Red vs. Blue!

Feb 14, 2011: Coimbatore was draped in Red. Banners, Hoardings, Boards over petty shops and what not! 

The reason was not Valentine's Day.

It was the arrival, in Coimbatore, of "Times of India"- a newspaper that never had a dominance in the South. The loud entry was accompanied by aggressive marketing strategies, including a one year subscription for Rs.299/- which also entitled you to the gift of a very useful travel bag. People naturally signed up for it, in hordes; my household included. My uncle's family, based in Mumbai, has frequently endorsed ToI and regretted its non-availability in Tamilnadu. They felt that "The Hindu", which is easily the King in the Ring of South Indian Newspapers, focussed too much on regional news only. 

I was all set to experiment this new flavour each morning. Especially, as this was the time I used to scour newspapers hungrily for GD/PI preparation, an extra paper meant extra knowledge to my simpleton mind!  

ToI's entry here was a cause of serious concern to our dear old "The Hindu". They tried to advertise themselves too. Suddenly, many a bus-stop had a backdrop of their blue hoarding with a picture of a cute family reading their traditional newspaper. I was completely amused!

ToI was very articulate. Lots of attention-seeking images and nuggets of news in bits and pieces of message balloons strewn around. I initially liked it. Like most human beings, I prefer pictures to words and it was good to see a colourful paper. They announced a contest "One Day in the Life of India"- asking for entries in various categories- comics, photos and jokes. The shortlisted entries made good food for entertainment. But I realised I was leaving out something when I read ToI. And that something was nothing other than my mind. I was enticed by the loud captions and colours; I took in silly jokes. I was reading more gossip-stuff than real news that mattered. The one column that brought me back to my senses was the one on Parties going on in the city. I was shocked to see that they found it worth reporting who came to which party dressed in what, spending time how and with whom, etc.! Seriously who'd give a damn about all this, maybe except those party-freaks who got pictured in the paper?!  

Meanwhile, my "The Hindu" was still there. Quality reporting. Top-class language ( I once thought I'd identified a usage error in the paper and sent them an email. They called me back to clarify it! Such a huge organization cared enough to clear the doubt of a college girl they might as well have ignored! ) And Absolutely No Gossip. The supplementary editions made good reading, as usual, with no nonsense. There was good humour in the words of Indu Balachandran in Sunday's "Magazine". Wow, I even remember the writers' names as I type now. Goes on to show the impression the paper has made on me. 

ToI's crass reporting became obvious to me when they put up the news item of a boy from my college committing suicide in the hostel. Well, the data given in the report was illogical and did not corroborate with my knowledge of my college's functioning. Maybe they were given wrong facts. But publishing every word heard without giving a thought to verifying the data obtained is not responsible journalism. Come on, which 20-year-old will take his life due to wheezing problem?! Has common sense become so uncommon? The Hindu had no trace of that news item.

Blue has won my permanent respect. They surely don't focus on the South Regional news alone. Which Indian newspaper got the rights to the WikiLeaks India cables? And I'm just happy with the amount of other International and National News I get from "The Hindu".     

ToI, I shall take a leaf out of your book to learn marketing strategies. Your entry was good. But sadly, your core workforce (at least here in Coimbatore) is not up to the mark, to retain the attraction you gained.

Road to the "B"eehive!

Okay, this is it. The post that I have been hoping to write for a long time. The journey to the start of the most exciting phase of my life!

I have written time and again, in this blog-space about my managerial aspirations. 

Many people have asked me, "With a cgpa of 9.84 why don't you do Technical Research or do higher studies in Engineering?". A senior once explicitly told me that MBA is for people with bad academic records in Engineering. 

But I did not see MBA as an alternative to a technical career. It was not an escape route to me. An MBA (or rather the Post Graduate Program in Management), to me, would complement my career. 

Okay, now that sounds like a too wise and polished-for-the-interview kind of statement, right?

But it happens to be the truth. I frankly did not have such clarity when I first decided to do an MBA. It was quite an immature decision triggered by:

• My interest in Extra-Curricular activities
• My inability to do as much as I wanted (and as I could do) in the extra-curricular field due to my being the "day-scholar-girl-in-ECE-possible-nerd" - easily the worst position to be in for a girl with ambitions to hold positions of responsibility
• My discovery of the talent I had in covering up blunders and the joy I derived from the few organizational things I'd done in college

The Not-So-Good Start..

So, early on, I enrolled for CAT 2009 full-time course at T.I.M.E., though I was eligible only for CAT 2010. The classes were fun (though it was full of seniors!) and I particularly enjoyed the Verbal Ability classes handled by a spectacular teacher. I was enjoying English classes for the first time since the heavenly days in Std. X at school!

Though I attended the classes regularly, I never worked at home for CAT. The laziness was due to the extra year I had to prepare. The MockCAT season started for CAT'09 and I attempted the mocks with zilch preparation. Though I knew that the analysis of a mockCAT is more important than taking the mock itself, I rarely did it. The early bird strategy was backfiring and I was helplessly falling down the pit of not knowing what/when/where to start a serious prep for CAT'10.

The Revival..

Then came the Blessed SMS from T.I.M.E. in December 2009- "We are starting Revision Classes for CAT'10 aspirants who joined us for CAT'09 classes" 

And during those classes, which mostly ended on an inspirational note by our QA/DI coach, I got to know Bala who was also working with me for an event in Kriya'10. Post Kriya, we decided to team up for CAT prep. 

And we worked. Hard. Maybe it could have been harder. But it was much better than the laggard state I had previously been in. 

The Fever..

The mock season started. I was scoring mostly around 98%ile, with a rare 99%ile and a relatively more common 97%ile. There was also one mock where I reached the late 80s which left me depressed and in self-doubt. But these scores kept me on my toes and I never lost focus. I knew that as a General Category student I needed a 99+ to get the coveted calls.

I used to work out Quants during classes at college; a couple of teachers even caught me in the act. But, incredibly, they let me off, wishing me success :-O

Prep gained momentum with the weekly toppers' batch classes that introduced me to many serious students who shared innovative ways of solving problems. 

The Test..      

November 3, 2010, was the day. 10.15 a.m.-12.30 p.m. The exam turned out to be weird. With wrong questions and the obscure normalization, I had no idea of how things would turn out. Discovered, to my dismay, that I had made 2 silly mistakes in DI. Waited for Jan 12, 2011, impatiently.

The Call..

Quant: 98.49%ile [ :) ]

DI: 88.77%ile   [ :( ]

Verbal: 97.65%ile [neutral]

Overall: 98.70%ile 

I was terribly unhappy at 00.30 hrs on 12/01/2011. Due to the General category, my chances of top calls were very bleak. But my past deeds came to my rescue and I got a call from IIM Bangalore :) 

The Introspection..

Time for me to do some Qualitative thinking instead of the Quantitative one. I looked within me for the true reason I'd been working away furiously all those months. Those reasons I'd mentioned earlier seemed too childish and irrelevant, though they formed the seed of the thought process. I saw how management was part of every activity we did. Even in our completely technical project "Voice-Controlled Robot" I found a lot of management aspects. And I enjoyed the power-point presentations of the work more than the MATLAB coding- which is reason enough ;) 

I tried to express my purpose as clearly as possible in the SoP. 

The Interview..

The day before April Fools' Day. I'd done a decent job on the essay on Social Networking. The Interview was a random psychometric process, with me voicing my opinions on God-Men, Maoism (enacting a Maoist!), Films and Censorship. It was incredibly short (one-third of the time that every other candidate had spent inside!) and I was not sure of the result.

The Result..

April 18, 2011. A night out with the F5 button on my keyboard. The site was hacked! What an omen! I dragged myself to bed at 1.30 a.m. but sleep was elusive. The results came conveniently after 13 more hours. 

The "Congratulations!" message took time (and ten views) to sink in. 

Well, the work of one year has paid off. And I'm on my way to Bannerghatta Road, to the place which is popularly called the one to "B"e in.

The rigours of the curriculum and activities do look a bit scary, but I am ready to take it on.

Adios!

Disclaimer: A longish one, this just-released-from-the-drafts post might attract "Yawn" reactions. :)

"You have done, in these four days, all the lab work that you have never done in your past four years"- a teacher joked, upon our recent completion of a relatively simple job. This kick-started the cliched train of thoughts which I boarded to go down the still more cliched lane of memory.

What have I done in the past four years?

I decided to breeze through the time period briefly.

Have I enjoyed life in this college? Not really.

Can I quantify my learning here? My non-academic learning should be well over a thousand times my academic cgpa over the same denominator. 

First Year..

Started with Josh and eagerness. Happiness that I got to choose the college I want to join. Getting used to the fact that there can be two Physics labs in a campus and not reaching the correct one on time will result in being told-off. Hourly attendance. Freedom to bunk. New Friendships. Fights. Movies with friends became a matter of habit. 

Second Year..

IV, Intrams: Possibly the best time of these four years. We were never united as a class, both before and after this period. And the third semester comes closest to what can be described as "enjoyable". Subjects like Analog electronics and Electro Magnetic Fields were really brain-stimulating! After all, this blog was conceived while studying them :) Got to know a good lot of friendly seniors; even did my first mini project! 

A short stint at Reliance Communications, Mumbai for an In-Plant training after the second year served the purpose of changing my "Mujhe Hindi malum nahin" to "Mujhe Hindi thoda thoda malum hai" :P

Third Year..

I Block!! The 135-step climb to the classes (while the elevators were reserved only for faculty members and physically challenged students) kept us fit throughout the year! We started working on Embedded Systems, celebrated a "Batch" Day with only the girls and started taking placement prep tests. A tough period for me, for I didn't want to risk opting out in favour of an MBA and simultaneously hated learning C/C++ in greater depth. I preferred Quant Books to "Let US C" or "The Complete Refernce to C/C++" , earned the wrath of the Placement Representatives, being an unyielding girl, went unprepared for the first mock interview (which turned out to be a blessing actually, helping me get in touch with two Great Seniors I still adore) and skipped the second mock interview! YLGC'10 was fun and I decided to attend more Model United Nations conferences. And then there was Kriya. The joy of organizing and seeing my words on the official homepage were temporary. The most valuable thing I got out of Kriya'10 was my study partner. I don't prefer group study usually, but without this guy, my CAT prep would have never gained momentum.

Fourth Year..  
I started planning for my life beyond this college. Fervent B-school entrance prep, laced by occasional studying of Engg subjects (the occasions being the Internals and Semesters!). An enjoyable Model UN Conference at VIT with Bala & Sathya provided a respite from studies and made me richer by Rs.1000 :) 
An incredible first-shot placement success. Several lessons, learnt on the personal front, added to my mental maturity. 
Jobless Project-work sessions. Realization that even without flexing a single muscle for your project, you may gain the maximum score of 9/10 in the Project Review (err.. I'm not sure if this has yet been officially renamed as "Fingerprint-Attendance Review" in honour of the component that counts). You may have broken your leg in an accident, you may have attended interviews or you may have just casually bunked college. Everything seems to be the same here. Absence is absence. Legitimate and Illegitimate reasons don't appear distinctive.
And finally... The Nearing End! 
Am I nostalgic? Will I miss this place? 
The answer happens to be a loud "No!"
There were good moments; so also were bad, worse and even worst moments here. Each of those has contributed to my evolution in the past four years. For these, I thank you, PSG Tech.