SAI BABA

Sachin Tendulkar's birthday would have never ever been so sad before... The death of Sri Sathya Sai Baba at 07:40 AM on the 24th of April, 2011 will be remembered for ever and ever as the day when a great soul, a symbol of love... departed...
I am not a great devotee of him but certainly I love him a lot. I am not such a

CONFESSIONS OF A FRUSTRATED MIND!

Hi all!

My previous post  (http://akthegenius.blogspot.com/2011/04/placements-interviews-et-al.html) has some endless frustrations behind it! Let me share a few of those!

We might have all seen students who just come and go to college - students those who bunk the entire morning classes and come only in the afternoon, those who always come only during exam time without touching their books at all and write with bits and answer sheets and cell phones and wall-writings and bench-writings (yeah, they happen) and passing by all illegal means possible, those who don't give a damn about attendance... uh uh!

(Disclaimer: I am not talking about the 'gethu' or 'the good' people or 'my-friends' who DO bunk with responsibility and pass legitimately during semesters. I am talking about the horrible, stupid ones who come to engineering colleges!)

Yeah God! They become engineers too. I am an engineer too. And so are many of my friends (Alright, we get Engineering degrees, that does not qualify us as an engineer, but that's not the point. Engineers is just a point of reference here!) who went to professional courses of various streams in different colleges all over India! Now... THOSE people and WE people are Engineers. What's the difference between us and them?

1) We came to college with lots of 'fear' and 'perseverance' - they didn't!

2) We studied for HOURS during exams and passed with difficulty - they didn't!

3) We put college before everything else - they didn't!

4) We respected our professors just because they were professors (ya it's tough... excuse me!) - they didn't!

5) We maintained attendance... not to get into trouble - they were forgiven!

and the last of all...

6) We maintained a clean record - they didn't!

and for heaven's sake...

WE ARE NOT FOOLS!

Then again, they and we go to the same place - placements, job, and so on! How is this possible? At the end of the day, if we just think about it, THEY have enjoyed life in college more than US!

Alright. Even if it turns out that we were fooled, why couldn't you tell it the day we stepped into this cage called COLLEGE??? WE would have done the same things THEY did! (It does not mean we have no balls! It's just that some significant people had a lot of hopes on US; it was not the case with THEM!)

Damn! It's so frustrating!

If we think about it, it comes down to some things - we must do something different to prove THOSE that we are capable and not impotent and incompetent!

It's high time we got to show we can DO something and they CAN'T unless otherwise there is a pre-defined path shown to them! Don't fall in the rat race!

Come on engineering folks! :) (yeah, I feel [soft-corner] a little bit more for engineers because they study 4 years compared to 3 years for B.Com, BBA, etc.!)

And this is one of the reasons why perhaps Robert Frost once said

'I took the road less travelled-by

And that has made all the difference!'

Great genius HE!

ak

PLACEMENTS, INTERVIEWS et al.

A Very Warm Welcome to all Readers :) !

When 4th year comes, there comes this thing called 'placements'! Ah yeah, 'engineering' students and those who have some knowledge about colleges know what I am talking about!

Some people are so visionary - they browse for which college offers better placements even before entering that college for the FIRST year! Yeah, I repeat - FIRST year!

All that is said and done. Let's talk about this 'placement' thing now. I think I can talk about it since I am nearing my FOURTH year. Well... please don't laugh. It happens automatically. You sit and fart in an engineering college, you come to fourth year. It's not a big deal folks! You will hear many names - Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant (CTS), Infosys, Accenture (yeah, recently added)... the list is endless. One thing is for sure - they won't take you easily! They give you a great hype as if they are going to make u a millionaire or as if they are going to make u the President of India ( I am not sure if they would have faced tests like this either!). After overcoming all the 'tests', you will be paid a salary that is much less your worth mostly!

Some of the tests:

1) Interview - Hearing this name, many people will piss their pants. I don't get this at all! Seems they will ask questions like "Do you have any questions?" (this question usually is the finishing question) and you are supposed to ask something. (after all that flurry of questions!) You can't say 'Can I leave? Are u taking me or not?' I guess proposing a girl was easier.

2) Group Discussion - You fools! Can't I have my own group? Why would I discuss something with strangers? And for heaven's sake, who are you to monitor our discussions??? And another thing... You hire us and then see if we fit in the group or not. If you are not confident of your own selection skills, why do u mess with us? Alright, give me a few hot girls in the group and I will discuss... :)

3) Aptitude test - We are in FOURTH year. Does it count?

4) Technical questions - Ask our professors. If they know the answers, surely we will know! They taught us for 48 damn months! We know nothing! :)

5) HR interview - Hello dude! How are you? Seems this is not enough for that fatso! We need more I guess! We have to flirt him for atleast 20 minutes. If he is pleased, he'll select us! :)

6) Tell me you ingenious people... When will I enjoy with the money I got? At the age of 58??? (I hope you all get this point! If you are not getting it, read all my previous blog posts!)

------

A few weeks ago, one multi-national company (I think TCS) came to our college and gave some boring lecture. One particular line is still ringing in my mind "You will be spending more time with our company than with your parents..." Well... Why the hell am I working then? They also added "We will be selecting the best people here. Prepare well... bla bla...". Alright people! Only then you can make us to continue doing that! I also heard that they keep exams in the first six months even after getting placed (not in TCS, but some other company, May be here also, not sure). Now for this alone, I think I won't go! Rather, I need some one to copy during exams. But copying in IT companies doesn't sound good at all!

------

Some more stuff: There will only be 10 days casual leave. 10 days medical leave. I don't get it! Should I enjoy only 10 days in a year? There are 12 months I guess, in a year, if my common knowledge is right. Leave that. How on earth do you know I will be sick only for 10 days? Even if there's some relaxation, that's far from being humanitarian!

I hate the word 'boss'! Good morning Sir, Good evening Sir... Fuck manners!!! (Thanks Negi, Ashwin!)

-------

I am not saying 'Don't attend placements!' or 'Go jobless' or 'Act like a maniac!'. I am just saying 'Use your common sense!'

There are so many other things too. I don't want to mention those since they are not much fun either.

My dear friends who are reading this... Think just once. Do you deserve this placement or do you deserve more? Do what your heart says! We live just once. How long will you compromise? How long will you be satisfied with a second-grade thing? If you just 'feel' the right thing, do it!

 It's not about liking what you do. You got to do what you like. The first option is chosen by common people!

"Don't think. Feel!"

Sometimes in life, you have to 'exit' something to see another 'entrance'!

Will you compromise on your girlfriend / boyfriend? Think... er... feel! Yeah, that's the way to go!

I would like to finish this off with an inspiring quote from my friend...

'I don't deserve Infosys. I deserve something special!'
 - Sri Prasanth (Engineering Graduate)

உன்னால் முடியும் தம்பி!

Best Wishes!

Arunkarthik :)

The Cup That Counted!

Hi all... I could not help but write a post about this Cricket World Cup, for all it gave to India and to the world!

I would like to thank all the teams that played in this event. The tournament went on smoothly!

There is just one reason why I followed this mega event with great interest - SACHIN TENDULKAR! No one can deny any more that he is the greatest ambassador of any sport ever seen in the history of the world. Even a kid can recognize his wonderful smile. But not many people know the amount of charity work he has done to India! All in all, he has achieved the one glory that had eluded him... till the 2nd of April, 2011!

1. I got my first hopes when Sehwag scored 175 against Bangladesh. In 1983, Mr.Kapil Dev did it too!

2. We thrashed all the lower teams. That's the hallmark of a champion side. Ok, in group A, almost every big team did it. But then, Group A was a one-way traffic. Only Group B produced Cricket!

3. The amount of energy shown by India against West Indies was amazing. It seemed like we were preparing for the big fish - Australia! The way India strangled West Indies after their third wicket fell... that's something I will never forget! Indians were already peaking!

4. India - Australia was a gem of a match. The mercurial Ponting scored a century. If at all you looked at history, cliches like 'cometh the hour; cometh the man', 'big man for big occasions' would linger in your mind. But again, Indians proved... 'Lone man in the battlefield is no warrior'. I hated Ponting! Screw u man! Go home you flimsy sledger! Alright you r a champion batsman. My heart is India! Say hello to Steve Waugh - he is the man we all liked... and continue to do so!

5. India - Pakistan. History repeated itself. Sachin did not score 100 this time, because 'it is written'. So long ago, those things happened. But now, Pakistan was playing against INDIA, and not Sachin! I don't take away anything from Sachin's 85... he was doing another job this time - guiding the team in all ways to victory! Mr.Afridi, your team played really well. We were just better!

6. Finals... 100th Catch Miss, 99th 50-plus partnership, Gambhir's 97, his 4000 runs, Dhoni's 6000, Sachin's victory march, his home Ground, so many things to mention. Above all, India's hope on themselves was amazing after 31/2. Got to say, I was following scores alone online because that's what I always do when India is in trouble. I went to the Computer at 31/2 and came back only a little after Gambhir's wicket to see the final moments. Sri Lanka played quite well. Chasing 275 under lights in a World Cup final is by no means easy. And doing it so convincingly after losing a wicket with the score at 0... that is something that can be done only by the REAL champions. Also, DHONI'S commitment came to the fore when he batted at 3 down. It was a great team effort! It was a spirited show of Cricket. Well done Team India!

"This goes to you Sachin!"

453 One Day Internationals, 18111 ODI runs, 5 previous World Cup campaigns... Finally ONE WORLD CUP triumph! No one deserves you more than this!

"Sachin carried the burden of Indian Cricket for about 21 years, I think it's time we carry him" - Virat Kohli

"There are two types of batsmen: Sachin and the others" - Andy Flower

I am not qualified enough to say anything about you. But still, "Thank you for BEING!"

Proud to be Indian! Happy to live in your era Sachin!

Arunkarthik