Return to Castle Wolfenstein : Nazis n the Occult

After about a month's excitement, the single player version of the First Person Shooter(FPS), Return to Castle Wolfenstein, is completed. Agent Blazkowicz blew the reincarnated evil prince Heinrich to save the Axis Powers from the horrors unleashed by the Nazis during the World War II.

Story :
During the Crunch of the World War II, Himmler, a general of the Nazi forces, conjures up a grand plan to crush the opposition offered by the Axis Powers. He decides to reincarnate the legendary dark prince, Heinrich I, with certain genetic and occult experiments. And Agent Blazkowicz is the American Soldier sent to single-handedly stop the resurrection of the Evil Monsters.

As you can see, the designers tried to make it a all-in-one package. There are Opponents of all Genres to blow up - The Nazi Soldiers, the Genetically transformed 'Super Soldiers' , some kind of heavily armoured androids and the scary monsters of the occult, mummies etc. The plot is preposterous, but so are most of the game plots. Genetics and Occult are cleverly woven into the Nazis' quest for world domination.

Gameplay :
The original RTCW is purportedly the first 3D game in the FPS genre. I had played it when i was a kid and felt that it was scary as well as thrilling. The graphics are very good in the new version. A wide range of weapons, intriguing story plot and whole bunch of bad guys to mow down, what else is expected of an FPS game!! Sound effects make u jump at times. But otherwise, it doesn't belong to the 'Survival Horror' genre at all.

Well designed locations, a decent AI and cool graphics are its merits. On the negative side, the cinematics are of poor standard, the plot is confusing and duration is short. Though multiplayer version is available, it is not very appealing.

But If you are a keen FPS player, Go give it a shot.

The Name Decoder

Recently, one of my friends found a novel way of titillating our friends in Orkut ( Don't know about Orkut ? God save U!! ). He starting writing scraps with their names deacronymized. A few ignored them, but most of them felt curious. I am one of those, and with due diligence, I have found the site where he got those acronyms.

It is the Name Decoder. It comes in three flavours : Cyborg Name Decoder, Monster Name Decoder and Sexy name Decoder.

And my name means ..

CYBORG




MONSTER




SEXY

My Inner Hero - Wizard!

Another timepass site, another simple test and here's the result. Maybe I am too bored or too idle these days.





There are many types of magic, but all require a sharp mind and a cool head. There is no puzzle I can't solve, no problem I can't think my way out of. When you feel confused or uncertain, you can always rely on me to untangle the knots and put everything back in order for you.



How about you? Click here to find your own inner hero.

Disgusting DTDC

I never thought anything could irk me in my current state of Euphoria. But DTDC soon proved me wrong. Over the past week, I have gone through a harried experience that challenged whatever sanity left in me.

Friday
DTDC, which claims to be one of the leading Air Express & Cargo companies in India, has been entrusted with the job of delivering IIMB's admission offer letters to the selected candidates across the country. As soon as I heard the news, I knew from past experience that I was in for some serious trouble.

Several of my Call letters have been delayed, some sent back to the senders quoting 'Address Not Found' and others arrived at leisure. Now, we have a DTDC office at our place, and the people have been properly intimated about the whereabouts of our Address. And I always use full postal address alongwith PIN Code, that leaves no ambiguity on any account. But still my mail always gets delayed, when DTDC is handling it.

Weekend
Some of the guys in Metros have received their offer letters. Others were hopeful of getting them in a couple of days. Well, I didn't have any illusions.

Monday
I called up the Admissions Office and inquired about the Consignment number of my Letter. As soon as I got it, I used the online tracking site to find the status. It says 'En Route Ongole'. Hmm...Maybe these guys finally improved.

Tuesday
It's the same status. I looked up Ongole Branch Office number and called them up. I was told that the package hasn't left Bangalore, and was suggested that I call Bangalore Customer Care. I took the number, talked to the customer care and lodged a complaint.

Wednesday
No Progress. I called up the customer care. Couldn't reach them at all. I thought of trying the Hyderabad number. I looked up the Helpline numbers of Hyderabad and started dialling them. Some of them didn't work, some were busy and others just kept on ringing endlessly. These guys don't even bother to attend the calls. Finally, I got connected with some Branch manager. I explained my situation and he gave another coupla numbers. After trying for sometime, I caught an operator, and asked the status of the complaint. I was assured that the problem wud be solved and that they would call me back by end of day.

Waited till 6 PM, nothing happened. The day has ended without any progress. And I got furiuos. With all the spite and venom I could muster ( I'm not a nasty Guy!! ), I wrote a big mail to the id given on website.

Thursday
I got a reply to my mail reassuring me that the matter would be looked into. I waited till evening and then losing my patience I called up the Customer Care again. One last time. And the same response. After putting me on hold for about 10 mins, the person told me that they couldn't track it right then, but would definitely call me back later. Outright careless behaviour. I was fed up.

Friday
I called up the Admissions Office and asked their help in my case. They promised to talk to the DTDC people. They sent me a soft copy to use meanwhile. It's not going to work, those guys are incorrigible. I will have to settle with the soft copy.


However lousy and incompetent their systems and operations may be, I can't understand why it takes them more than a week to trace a simple parcel. If the parcel had been dropped in the postbox outside the campus, It wud have reached me a long time back. This is just Gross Negligence. A highly callous attitude towards their unfortunate cutomers. How these guys handle Int'l Consignments with all the ineptitude, God only knows!

But I have come to hate DTDC in all sincerety for eternity.

An Obituary

Name : The CBox Chat Box a.k.a My Guest Book
Born : Jan 2006
Dead : Apr 2006

This CBox was initially put up on my Blog as a substitute for anonymous comments. I wanted to facilitate my friends ( Most of them don't have Blogger ids to comment ) to express their views.

But, later it turned out to be BIG nuisance with people using pseudonyms to thoughtlessly scribble obscene remarks. It proved to be an embarrassment for quite some time, but later on, I found a way to smoke out those miscreants and coaxed/cajoled them into quitting such games. And the CBox has been used in a productive manner since then.

And after some time it lost its novelty and people stopped writing anything in it. Well, I let it lie that way..maybe inertia, or maybe anticipation of future use.

Recently I discovered that CBox is actually an AdWare. Ads were splashed on the viewers whenever they visited my Blog. Strangely, I never saw any pop-up when I myself opened my blog. Maybe the website matches the IP address of the requestor with the IP address of creator, so that the blog-owner doesn't know abt the Ads. A Clever Scheme !! But the trick was out yesterday and the CBox got wiped off my Blog.

And Now, for the services rendered in the past, a few minutes of silence.

The B-School Grads' BIG Bucks (?)

Records are made to be broken.

Very true about Cricket. The record of 'the highest runs scored in an innings' has been broken twice in the same match - by Australia and then by South Africa..What a match it was ?! So true it is with B-School Placements too, with the 'the highest pay package' record being rewritten twice in the same season - by IIMB followed by ISB.

No wonder 'The Hindu' has found the subject interesting enough to publish a cartoon on it. The media is going gung-ho over the placements. A lot of hype is being created. And eventually the number of CAT aspirants( Or should I just call them test takers ) is gonna shoot up...right out of the roof !! Well, '1 crore' is definitely a BIG number. But are the Bucks really as BIG as they appear to be ?

There are three aspects that we must not miss here..those which the media conveniently prefers to ignore( Maybe bcoz considering them wudnt produce the dramatic effect ).

The Gaping Gap between CTC and Take-Home

All the work-ex guys must have been aware of the structure of the pay packages and the difference between CTC and Take-home. For the less priveleged, here's some gaan:

CTC( Cost to the Company) is the figure that appears on your offer letter, The BIG Number. It comprises of various salary components and perks like Basic, HRA, TA, DA, LTA, Medical Allowance, Insurance, Superannuation, PF, Gratuity and XYZ.

The most interesting one is the Variable Allowance. Companies specify so and so amount as the VA( Variable Allowance ), often a big sum. Now you get a part of this amount depending upon your performance. And to rake in the whole amount, You need to get the 100% rating and appraisers seldom give it. "If I give you the top rating, it means that you don't have anything to improve ", they say. So you can hope for 60-80% of VA only, assuming that you are ready to work ur guts out.

So the 'Gross' Monthly salary comes down to a much lesser amount. Now, after deducting the inevitable taxes and other miscellaneous expenses, you get the 'Net Salary' a.k.a Take-Home. This is the final amount that is credited to your bank account on the salary day.

Experience shows that Take-Home generally comes down to 70% of CTC... With the percentage inversly proportional to the CTC. So, all those who have been performing the simple calculation CTC/12, wake up. Those not convinced yet, move on to the other factors.

The Magic of Dollars and Pounds

A quick observation will tell you that the highest salaries are paid by foreign companies. The salaries in dollars/pounds are converted into indian rupees and we go crazy over the figure. In the excitement, we forget the fact that the bills are paid in dollars too. A person might be earning a few thousand dollars per month, but he/she has to pay more than half of it for a comfortable living. So the savings are almost equal to his/her low-paid indian counterparts'.

So, Cost of Living and Purchasing Power Parity comes into picture here. Rashmi Bansal, an IIMA alumnus and Editor of JAM, has written a nice article on this.

The Past Profiles

The Guys who have bagged those hefty amounts are not fresh graduates or 25-year old young executives. They are people with strong profiles, fancy degrees, huge work experience and a proven track record.

The ISB Grad, who finally caught up with the elusive 8-digit figure, is a person with 10 years of work experience. Similarly, Gaurav Agarwal - the IIMB topper, is 29 and has an IIT degree, an MS from Berkeley and two years of work experience in the US.

The median salary in the biggies is about Rs.9-10 lakh. What does that mean ? It means that half of the class end up with less than Rs.9 lakh. And the people who manage to cross over to the higher end generally are the Fin Guys or IITians or Guys with high workex in relevent areas ( Now, 2 year IT workex has become a commodity, Every other guy in the B-School has that ).

So the ordinary chaps with a few years workex in a reputed IT company are gonna end up with just a few bucks more than that they would have earned without an MBA. And that too, after investing an year in preparation, another couple during the course and scrounging their savings to pay for the tuition. Freshers would be in the same rocking boat too, except that, in addition they have a BIG loan to repay.

======

So, no dreams, no illusions. And while we are at it, Lemme discuss some statements I have come across..

Fresher : " I want to do an MBA after my Graduation. I want to earn in 7 digits. "
By seven digit, If my friend means Rs. 10 Lakh, Thats an achievable target, though a lil difficult. But If it is 20 or 30 lakh, then I suggest professional help. This guy has a serious dormant illness : Day Dreaming.

An Elderly Person : " Just work hard for an year, get into an IIM and you can enjoy for the rest of your life. "
Hmm...Why don't people understand that If it is so tough to get into an Institute, the course is gonna be tough too. The course is not a cake walk. And If you wish to get anywhere near the median salary even, you need to slog.

A S/W Professional : " I will do MBA and learn about Management. Then I need not worry, I can coolly climb up the hierarchy. "
MBA does give u a leg-up, it helps you in the initial days, but it can't take u all the way. It is ur talent and hard work that matters later on in life. And how exactly does one learn Management !!


Now, I hope everyone will agree with me: That there is nothing called Easy/Quick Money.

Awesome Poem !!

LIFE AT IIMB - A COLLECTION OF THOUGHTS

When I got the call from IIMB,
I got the thrill of my life,
"My life is made," I thought,
"All but finding a wife".

My friends they were all mighty impressed,
They said, "You're quite a stud,"
And Dad said, "I knew you'd make it big someday,
I knew it was in your blood."

For a month after the admission.
I was basking in my glory,
Giving advice to other people,
Narrating to them my story.

I was longing to come to Bangalore,
Looking forward to it and more,
Staying at home all day,
Was getting to be quite a bore.

At last I set off from home,
And reached campus with a smile,
But it all soon disappeared,
When of the readings I saw the pile,

But when I started the curriculum,
I got the shock of my life,
And to pass this place, I would say,
Is tougher than finding a wife.

I managed to clear the courses,
Like a snake wriggles out of its skin,
And all the while I longed to go,
Back to my kith and kin.

Though I was quite surprised,
With all that this place had in store,
I must admit to one and all,
What life never grew to be a bore.

Cause when you didn't feet like studying,
There was always other things to do,
Play some game or watch TV,
Or think of the girls you'd like to woo.

And I say `When you didn't feel like studying',
Cause there was always enough to read,
And if you never `didn't feel like it',
you wouldn't even have time to feed.

The Profs you thought were biased,
The toppers you thought were crank,
Life was full of hypocrisy,
Rarely anyone seemed to be frank.

But as you got used to the life,
A life of downs and more downs,
The disappointments started to cease,
And the smiles exceeded the frowns.

As you looked around you,
More people you got to know,
More friends you got to make,
More often you said `Hello'!

The mess table was the best place to socialize,
Because everyone had to meet,
And they all had one thing in common,
A grievance against the food they had to eat.

Slowly you started finding time,
To do the things you like,
Some people sat and chatted,.
While others went off on a hike.

And if you were free for the evening,
With nothing urgent to do,
Just take the bus to M.G.'s,
And put in a pitcher of two.

At last the parties started,
With drinking and dancing galore,
And we all came to know,
Why the best IIM was Bangalore.

We learnt quite a few things out here,
Not just what the professor tried to teach,
We learnt the 4Ps of Kotler,
And that Putkai is trying to Reach.

We've gone through 2 years of hell,
That's what everyone will claim,
But if I were given a chance on retrospect,
I'd live through the experience once again.

And as I pass out of this place,
Get a job and begin my life,
I still maintain, "To pass this place,
Is tougher than finding a wife."

-Rumy Kanga(Class of '95)

Destination IIM : Mission Summary

[ Note : This post is strictly for CAT aspirants, to give an idea of what awaits them. ]

Now that the fight is over and done, I thought of chronicling my exciting and enriching journey to the highest altars of Management Education in India. Here, I am posting about things I have done and what I have felt about them.

The Preparation

- IMS Classroom course : CATapult.
Good Course, but the GD/PI module is highly inadequate and dull.

- TIME Mock CAT series
They were tough, but CAT was much more tougher.

- Career Launcher Pegasus material
The presentation is simply superb. Very good for practice.

- TCY Online GK Module
Module was good. But was hardly useful.

- Hindu Editorials
Very very Important. It helps a lot both for RCs and later GD/PI.

- Debates on NDTV and CNN-IBN
These give different perspectives on various current issues, and very helpful in GD/PI

- IMS Achiever's Workshop
The inputs were invaluable.

The Tests

- CAT
Tough. Just 90 Questions. Differential marking.
Horrible Performance.
VA - 94% DA - 90% QA - 94% Overall - 97.25%

- IIFT
Moderate. A section on GK. Questions on Higher Maths too.
OK performance.
Score : 36.6 %

- JMET
Moderate. Quant was damn tough. Others were OK.
Decent Performance.
Rank : 257

- XAT
Very Tough.
Incremental Negative Marking.
Excellent Performance.
Score : 99.54 %

- FMS
Missed due to a Bike Accident.

The Institutes

CAT => BLACKI, NITIE, MDI and SPJIMR
JMET => IIT B,D
IIFT => IIFT
XAT => XLRI

The GD/PI calls

IIM B, XLRI, IIFT, IIT B, NITIE, IIT D.

The GD/PI

- IIFT
An essay on 'Decline in the popularity of Cricket'
A one hour long GD on 'Should Dress Code be implemented in Institutes' ( 12 members )
A 10-15 min PI.
Essay and GD were OK. PI very bad.

- IIT D
10 min, 12 member GD on 'Should IIM/IITs be privatised ?'
PI totally focussed on career goals.
GD was a horrible chaos. PI was cool.

- IIT B
A HR case study.
12 members, 20 mins and was well ordered.
PI was a test of logical/analytical/technical abilities.
Good GD and an Excellent PI.

- XLRI
A 20 min PI.
Mostly focussed on convincing abilities and communication skills.
Average Performance.

- NITIE
8 member, 20 min GD on 'Is management education a Luxury ?'
A stress Interview, totally concentrated on my Engineering Subjects.
Excellent GD, PI not good.

- IIM B
5 member, 15 min Case study.
15 min Summary of the GD.
PI on Workex, Career goals and Current affairs.
Cool GD, Decent summary and decent PI.

The Final Results

Converts : IIMB, IITB, NITIE, IITD.
Kicks : IIFT
Waitlisted : XLRI ( 78 )

Going to IIM Bangalore.. Mission Accomplished !!

IIMB Result : A Dream Come True !!

" Congratulations! You have been selected for the PGP 2006-08 at IIM Bangalore. The official offer letter is being despatched. Please contact the IIMB admission office in case you do not receive the offer letter by April 18, 2006. To secure your seat you are required to do the needful as per instructions in the offer letter by May 8, 2006. "



I can't believe it. Someone pinch me...Aaargh!! It hurts, alright, I have done it :)

To say that I am on Cloud 9 would be an understatement. I am literally floating in the stratosphere. It took two tedious and long TOI( Transfer of Information ) sessions in office to bring me back to my feet. Slowly, it begins to sink in. And with it, a few memories unfurl..

About Two years back

I was in the final year of my Engineering. Got placed in TCS and had a GATE score of 99.48%.

It was another dull morning session, and the class was half empty. Most of my classmates have been busy mugging up wordlists, taking mock tests, applying for foreign institutes and scurrying around coaching centres. There was enough noise around with ppl exchanging their mock test scores, trading questions on synonyms and having hot debates on which institute is better. But, I was not worried about anything. My mind was elsewhere..

"So how many of u are taking CAT ? ", Our professor finally succeeded in capturing the attention of the class. Hands shot up. No, I didn't lift mine..that was a completely alien topic for me. I continued with my preoccupation.

" Theja, What about u ? "
" No sir "
" Why not ? "
" Not Interested "
" Why so ? "
" I want to stay in technical field. Not interested in Management "
( C'mon, I have enough things to worry about other than silly cats. )
" Hmm...But u should take the exam. It's good to crack it. "

I know, I know. It is good to crack it, But I don't want to. Because I know I can't !!
People are specially made for IIMs, aren't they ? I am not one of them.

Nearly 20 months back

I just enrolled for CATapult 05 batch in IMS, Pune. Walking along the MG road( Every city has one, doesn't it ? ), I sstarted recollecting the names of the B-Schools the counsellor had mentioned. IIMs, MDI, SJM, SPJIMR, NITIE ...it went on. Hmm..could I get into any one of them. No, not the IIMs .. I knew they were Mile High. Any other institute in the Top 10 would do..no no Top 15 would do.

Just 7 months back

I was looking at my mock CAT results on the website. 99%. Hmm...a definite improvement. Still there were months to go, to perfect my skills, to crack it. Yes, I can crack it !! Haven't I seen enough success in my academic life. Maybe I have what it takes. All I need is self-belief and a little more effort.

The D-Day

I came out of my centre. It was hot and I was sweating a lot. I knew I was hungry and tired. But nothing was bothering me. I didn't want to eat. Calls started coming in..No, I didn't want to speak to anyone. I felt useless, I felt helpless, above all I felt hopeless..

I ruined the only test I had put in my heart and soul for. I messed it up. I knew I could have excelled, but I simply screwed it up. I flunked, and I flunked very badly.

Was it the end of the world ? No no, It wasn't depression. Or maybe it was.

On the New Year Eve

The IIM calls are out !! So what, I am not going to get any. Anyway, for sake of formality, Let me take a look.

IIM A - Sorry
IIM C - Sorry
IIM L - Sorry

It hurt. I wasn't expecting any calls, but when a plain 'Sorry' is slammed on your face, it hurts. It hurts every time as worse as the first time.

I had enough. I closed the websites and started looking into the bugs..

My cell phone rang. It was my friend who took CAT with me. Hmm..maybe he wants to share his woes too. I answered the call and he said that I was selected for IIM B GD/PI. Hey, that was unbelievable. I checked out myself and there it was...5th April !!

A few days before the interview

I had calls from NITIE and IITB. I was euphoric. Well, all I wanted was an admission into a Top 15 institute. And there I got !! I started wallowing in the success. Totally, I forgot the upcoming GD/PI.

My only concern was to select the institute to join : NITIE or IITB ? I called up my friends who are about to complete their MBAs. And asked them as to which Institute will get me the profile of my dreams : Strategy Consultant. The answer: None. I was told that companies like McKinsey and BCG visit only A,B,C.

That implies that even after my MBA, I couldn't get a profile of my choice. I still have to compromise. Only way out is to get thru IIMB. Hmm..So the fight is not over yet.

Pulled myself together and started preparing for the Ultimate Encounter. It was tough to concentrate on different things at a time. It was tiring. But, Anything for IIMB !!

Last week, same day

I could hear my heart beat. I was just walking out of the campus. Completed my GD/PI by then.

How did it go ? I didn't know. But a small ray of hope. Maybe I could make it !!

I looked back at the building from the auto. Could I ever come back ? I didn't know If I would come back, but knew fully well that I was worthy enough to. People are not made for IIMs, they are human beings. As normal as me.

Today

I was right, IIMers are normal people like me.

Nevertheless, It feels Nice to be considered 'creme de la creme' !!

Inspiring !!

" It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause ; who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievements; and who , at the worst, if he fails , at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. "

- Theodore Roosevelt

The Tough Decision : It's IIT Bombay !!

" B-Schools are like Girl Friends. Once you get selected in that cherished institute of yours, the place of your dreams, It suddenly loses its charm and seems very normal. Your heart laments for those you have lost or those others which you start feeling would have been better. "

- A wise MBA aspirant.

For the past coupla weeks, my thoughts have been swinging like a pendulum over the powai lake. I have been deeply confused as to what to choose between the two almost similar institutes. My managerial skills have been put to test throughout the selection process, but I never thought that my decision taking abilities would be put to a much severe test after the selection.

I read each and everything that is remotely connected to either of the two institutes. I scoured the Net for any tiny bit of information that would help me in making an informed choice. I spoke to the students of these institutes and other B-Schools, to the Counsellors at coaching institutes, other MBA aspirants and all others those who could impart some gaan. I examined placements, course, batchsize, infrastructure and all other parameters that could make a difference during the MBA course.

And I was lost. Different perspectives, different preferences and different rankings...but I couldn't come up with any single strong reason to prefer either of them over the other. After much deliberation, I concluded that whatever be my decision, It couldn't be wrong. It will not have any significant impact on my career.

So, as I feared, It has finally come down to a toss!!

Then I made up my mind, It's SJM SOM, IIT Bombay. The reasons if you ask me, are that it provides better oppurtunities to learn, the brand name of IIT, smaller batch size and hence more choice when it comes to placements.

I know, these are not convincing enough. My real motivation has to be something more concrete!! So after a little deep diving and soul searching, I found that maybe I didn't want to risk 70K in NITIE, in case I get thru IIMB. Since there aren't any other strong differences between the two, why not go for IITB, after the IIM results are out. I could save some BIG bucks, If at all I make to IIMB. Though the chances are bleak, there wouldn't be any guilty conscience if it happens..

So, that's it, End of the Story. Matter settled !! I am going to the Only Place to 'B' - whether it is IIM or IIT :-)

Menace of the Mobile Phones

This post is a tribute to all those poor souls, who by sheer bad luck (No, not carelessness) have carried their mobiles to those much awaited interviews and screwed them up.

Imagine how you would feel when your mobile rings, playing that fancy ring tone of yours, while you are passionately explaining your long term career goals to the panel. It sucks big time, right ?

Well, I have experienced this highly embarrassing situation during my IIFT interview !! The end result, I was chucked out. Though I know that my cell phone was not the only reason, I found great comfort in crediting the full blame for my failure on my cell phone.

I thought that I was the only fool on Earth. But recently, I have found some others expressing similar experiences and felt relieved. There are enough people out there who forgot that their mobile has a Silence Button. So, after all, that was a human error.

One of them narrates :

" My mobile beeped with the message received tone. First in the GD while the Professor was giving some introductory talk. Then I switched it off and asked to be excused. Then when we came out later after gd, I turned it on to message ppl. But later just forget to switch it OFF. So in the interview it beeped once again. I took it out and switched it off again. "

And another shares his woes :

" My mobile rang during my XLRI Interview this year... similar bad luck... what to say !! In my case I literally screwed up my answer to 'Tell me about yourself' because of this. "

So all of you slogging day in and day out to crack that all-important interview, keep this in mind.

Your Mobile could ruin Everything !!

IIMB GD/PI : The Final Showdown

Date : 5th April
Place : Bangalore

"The Last GD/PI of the season. My only chance to enter the IIMs. "

I have been reciting these words for the last couple of weeks. Hoping for my Guardian Angel to listen to them. With a CAT percentile of just 97.25 %, I need all the blessings to convert this call.

This time my strong profile is not going to come to my rescue. It has done its part. In fact, IIMB has given its calls after careful sifting of people with good profiles. So, It's just my performance in the GD/PI that is going to matter. Pretty scary thought !!

The Venue :

I read somewhere that the first time a person enters an IIM, he/she feels humbled by the magnificence of the Institute. Very true indeed !! The serene premises of IIM Bangalore, filled me with a variety of emotions : awe, inspiration and intimidation.

I checked out my name in the list and proceeded to the allotted classroom, M-23.

The Batch :

Our batch is supposed to have 6 members, and I was the last on the list. This always happens to me. I was the last person during IITB and NITIE interviews too. The problem is that I will have to wait outside the door for my turn, like a batsman sitting in his pads, with a bat, waiting for the next wicket to fall. But then I converted both NITIE and IITB. Will the magic work one more time ? Hmmm, Getting Senti..No, I was getting nervous.

I got on to the first floor and there were three others waiting. After a brief interaction, I found that each of them has at least 2 yrs. workex. There was one BLACKI, one BLICK and the other a solitary B( Join the Club !! ). A few minutes later, the 5th person walked in and he had more or less similar profile. The 6th person didn't turn up. Apparently, he decided to skip IIMB( Thanks a ton, dude ).

The Panel :

The panel had two professors. Both looked cool. Both were wearing casuals( Believe me, T-shirts !! ). One of them was smoking pipe.

The Process :

Case Study :

10 min Preparation and 15 min discussion.

The case was a tussle between a professor at a premier Institute and a preferred recruiter of the institute. The recruiter says that 80% of the students are unemployable as they do not have the practical knowledge. The professor feels that since his students have been doing well in R&D divisions of major companies, maybe the job profiles offered by the recruiter are not good enough for his students. So, what could be done ?

Pretty good discussion. Determined to initiate, I started the GD highlighting the difference in the mindset and was cut in the middle by others. It was not a very clean start. Later, I pitched in 4-5 times and ensured that I got enough bandwidth. In fact, due the small number, there wasn't a fight for air time.

A decent performance as an Individual as well as a Group.

Summary :

15 minutes were given for the summary. Oops!! I forgot my watch :( ( Those who know me wouldn't be surprised ). Hence, I couldn't keep track of time. And the consequence, the paper was snatched away before I could complete the last line. No idea how much my forgetfulness had cost me.

Interview :

The interview started with the most irritating of the questions : Why did you leave TCS for Oracle ? And the usual blah..blah..blah

Then the other professor took charge. All the questions asked by him were on my workex.
1. What did u learn in Oracle ?
2. Tell us about your product ?
3. Challenges faced during development
4. Market potential for the product
5. Future prospects
6. Alternative designs

The problem I face with these kind of general questions, is that I tend to answer in a circumlocutory manner. Though I consciously tried to reply straight to the point, I did digress a lot of times. What can I do ? Old habits die hard.

After about 10-15 mins, the professor indicated the other to continue.

Then, the discussion moved on to my career goals. I meticulously and sincerely tried to explain my Business Plan. I don't know how much the panel was convinced. They don't show their feelings, Do they ? And they exercise great control over their body language.

And then came my hobbies. He asked me about my latest book. And I replied, " Jack Welch's Straight from the Gut." He asked me why Welch liked India. Stammered something about Outsourcing, Cost cutting etc. He wasn't convinced. Then he asked about some centre Welch had opened in Bangalore. No idea. Big Blooper :(

Then the professor explained that his role was to test me on General Stuff and continued with the following Questions :
1. About the fact that 70% of telugus flee the country once they graduate.
2. The unfulfilled promise by Congress Government, the so called free power for farmers.
3. The problem of Naxalism and the possible solutions.
4. The recent controversy over the proposed Uranium Mine near Krishna River

I had become more open by the time, and in a hurry to answer these questions, I had inadvertently shown my bias. They must have felt that I was opinionated. Again, I wore my weakness on my sleeve.

After an eerie silence, I was told that I could leave.

The Verdict :

I have no idea how it went... or the kind of impression I made on the panel. There were moments of approval, but there were a lot of bloopers too.

Well, I am keeping my fingers, hands, arms and legs crossed !!

Googlism!!

Recently I came across a site called Googlism while reading a blog. No, no I don't think it is an official google site. But It claims to tell us what Google.com thinks of us, our friends or anything!

Curious, I tried out and ended up with bullshit...loads of it !!
And for those of you who are still curious, this was the outcome :

Theja is a scientist and a professional who lived in germany for 14 years and since 1991 in australia
( No way...I never left India. But wouldn't complain about the professional thing )

Theja is the mirror image of the islamic extremists
( lol..Replace mirror with opposite )

Theja is setting up a new teleconference studio in wattala and is planning to offer free studio time for saadhu samaja
( Where the hell is this wattala..and what saadhu samaja !! )

Theja is an idiot here you go
( Well, No comments. )

Theja is a site about christianity
( Again, Have you ever heard of a christian with this name ? )

Theja is worthy of worship
( Is it ? Congrats on your enlightenment )

Theja is absolutely right with the comments to rikbe and bill
( Yeah..Definitely I must have been right )

Theja is on all these boards?
( Pretty sure I am )

Theja is hell bent in tying the nuptial knot with sanjith
( Sanjith or Sanjitha ? FYI, I am not gay. )

Have you come till here ? I guess u have an appetite for Nonsense. Try the site yourself ;)