Interview jitters!!!

Have you ever closely watched people just before they enter an exam hall or interview?Normally, you don't pay attention, cause you too are one of them, all jittery and nervy. However, yesterday on a Sunday morning, I was exactly able to view a group of such people who were waiting for an interview which would determine whether they would get into a reputed software company out here in Pune.With an onsite opportunity as soon as they joined, the stakes were a little high.What was I doing there other than attending the interview??? I had come with one of my friends, who being not much familiar with the Pune roads, had asked me to accompany him.

Anyway we reached the place with half an hour to spare. As soon as I entered the lounge, I made a note of the pantry cause with 3 hours to while away, what way better than test the coffee machines in this posh office!!!

Some of the people had already arrived and as I had nothing better to do, I went to get a cup of coffee!!! As I came back from the pantry, I noticed a guy going through some JAVA book. With people whispering to each other, Mr. Java was finding it difficult to study, and after giving a look of irritation, he moved into an adjoining, empty waiting room, as if we would be the sole reason if he did not make through the interview.I was really impressed with the guy's concentration. However, after some time he came out to get a cup of coffee and on his way back, he met a lady who had just walked in.It seemed they were acquainted before.Anyway, they went into the waiting room, the book disappeared into his bag and a critical analogy of Pune buses and traffic started which went on for some time, until his name(don't remember what!!) was called out 3 times to report for the interview.

Another guy with a flop of hair, reminded me of Jack-in-the-box, as he kept going to the pantry or to the restroom every 10 minutes!!!

A guy who seemed to be older than the rest kept tapping his chin with his fingers.As soon as the phone rang at the receptionist's desk, which would announce the next candidate, the beat of the tapping would increase and then decrease, when someone else's name was called out.

Another guy was poring through a notebook, in which he had made some notes, while a set of guys had collected near the vending machine, discussing about what questions could be asked.

My friend's name was called and after giving him a thumbs up, I moved into the pantry to check out the various beverages and the snacks.Some gave me a startled look, cause I was the only guy who was testing all the snacks as well as looked cool and composed.Anyway, my friend came out and then again rushed in for the H.R. interview.

After 10 minutes , he came out and whoopie!!!He had got the job.People looked at us with some new found request.We savoured the moment and then walked out....Mission accomplished!!!!



P.S. My friend will be leaving in 3 weeks. Will miss him, cause he is a great guy, but then he deserves this job. Fortunately, he will be in Pune itself, so I can still keep in touch with him. Hey! Matty ....all the best man!!!

Over and Out!!

It's been a tiring week and it's still not over!!!!Came on Sunday to office... which is unheard of, and worked on that day... which is more unheard of!!! I missed a cricket match as well as a movie with my friends... all and all, I am flustered, tired, pissed off and there is not a single idea coming into my head about which I can blog about!!!! To top this all, I can't have Tandoori Chicken due to the Bird flu... Aaagh!!!

Anyway, the weekend is only 2 days away...will have to survive those 2 days and then sleep, sleep and more sleep....that's if I am not asked to come again this weekend:(

Cups of coffee from the vending machine and cream biscuits are the manna I am carrying myself on... Of course, in case the coffee powder gets over, you get something which seems to be a mixture of cornflour, water and sugar, with a topping of curd...Yuck!!!!

Anyway I am not getting bored of the stuff I do....and until the time I enjoy my work it's ok!!!Also, there is always sea food and being a vegetarian seems to be the trend now, what with so many celebrities proclaiming their "greener" side!!!

I already feel better after venting out my frustrations on my Wall, and oh yes,there is some kind of treasure hunt competition in our project on Friday...So something to look forward to!!!!Chalo...not much of a post....but well to all frustrated people out there.....Just chill!!!

Help...are you there???

It was 8:20 in the morning today...I glanced out of my window which overlooked a lake, the early morning mist floating like wisps of smoke amongst the tress....really lucky to have such a view especially in a city like Pune!!! A certain bird (name, species, family unknown!!) had taken a fancy for my room window the past one month and keeps banging its wings on the glass early in the morning....don't know whether it was it's unique way of protesting against my roomie's bellowing(he calls it singing!!) while in the shower!!!

So, I was ironing my shirt(had to hurry due to the scheduled current cut at 8:30) when I saw a group of school kids on their bicycles pedal their way to the junction of the road beside the lake and then stop!!! They were all shapes, sizes and age!!!The eldest seemed to be in the tenth while the youngest probably in Nursery ......anyway, all of them stopped in a neat row, and turned around waiting for the ones who were lagging behind. The tinies sat on the backseats of the elder ones who were shouting out to the younger riders to stay by the side of the road!!When all had regrouped, they all set out again, their bells ringing out, as before in a neat row....no one trying to overtake the other...all set to face another new day at school!!

How many of us wait for others at office, lending a helping hand when required, without competing and back stabbing???? Very few!!!
Go to the coffee vending machine, and a neat queue of people is a rare sight...the short ones try to sneak through while the huge ones use their sheer strength to push others out!!!
Somewhere along the corporate path which we have travelled, we have left behind the etiquette and helping mentality instilled in us by our parents and teachers.. Its me and me alone( and maybe my girlfriend/boyfriend)....

As one of my friend was saying there are 3 types of people:
1)Those who genuinely hear your problems and try to lend a helping hand.
2)Those who listen to your problems and try to find fault with you instead of giving you a proper solution and
3)Those who do not even bother to listen to you.
Hope you guys are of the first kind.

P:S: Hope this post did not seem like a treatise on discipline and social behavior. As they say giving gyan (preaching) is easy!!!!!!

Where's your Valentine???

My friend was telling me the other day on phone that on 14th Feb she would be celebrating her Independence Day!!!
I said "Huh!!Your what?".
She replied,"Well my friends will be celebrating Valentine's Day,while I am happy to be independent and not have anyone tagging along with me with a flower in his hand!!Not for me, yaar."


Sounds like some Indian feminist making a silent protest against the devastating, detrimental effects of the Western culture on the Indan youth of today(phew)???Naaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!
She too has lots of friends who are guys(sic) but has made a resolution not to hook up with somebody for the time-being!!!She just wants to enjoy those "independent days" of her life and make most of what life has to offer!!

SO is she a stuckup, snob who thinks herself to be a dolly-bird??
Naaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!
She is a cool, nice person who wants to enjoy life without somebody hanging onto her.Inevitably, love has it's share of adjustments and compromises and she doesn't want to start compromising now!!!It's her call!! So what the heck!!
As the song goes:

It's my life

It's now or never

I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive (It's my life)

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said I did it my way

I just wanna live while I'm alive

It's my life ..

So if you don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend to coochee-coo with during this Valentine's day, it ain't mean you are a sucker or looser.....The right person is somewhere out there!!Until then celebrate your Independence day ...and go and wish your friends a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Tag ..Tag ..Tag!!!!!

So I have been tagged by Shikha....and the tag has got something to do with my lucky number 4.... So here goes------------

Four jobs I have had:-
My first job was and is still a software engineer and I am still waiting to shift gears!!!

Four movies I would watch over and over again :
Life is Beautiful
Sound of Music
Aaradhana
The Gods Must be Crazy

Four places I have lived:
That's simple....
Calcutta....(it will always remain Cal and not Kol for me)
Trivandrum
Quilon...some of the best days of my life spent out here...college obviously!!
and now Pune......cool place ..

Four TV shows I love to watch:
Definitely Friends
Whose Line is it Anyway
and I wish I they could have reruns of Nukkad and Udaan(yeah the ones which used to come in Doordarshan!!!)..they were so much better than the dumb,senti serials they show now!!!

Four places I have been on vacation:
Jaipur
Hyderabad
Bangalore
Pondicherry ....still waiting to go abroad:(

Four of my favourite foods:
Chicken Chopsuey
Paav Bhaji with lots of butter
Gaajar(Carrot) ka Halwa
Pizza with lots of cheese.....slurp!!!

Four places I'd rather be now:
Ladakh
Siberia
Munnar
or playing football with friends!!!

Four sites I visit daily:
BBC
Google
Espnstar
was Orkut...but it's blocked now:(

Four bloggers I am tagging:
Thoyakat
Prad
Matty
Naiju

Be an Army Man!!

I am overawed, thrilled and flummoxed....all rolled in one!!!!
Reason: I went with my friends to the NDA(National Defence Academy) over the weekend and well, to say the least,the place was ultimate!!!
The tanks, aircrafts and missiles on show helped to increase the grandeur of the place....The smartly turned out cadets, the vintage buildings and magnanimity of the place embosses on your mind the splendor as well as the solemnity of the place which churns out India's best defence officers every year!!
A cadet's mess which can seat more than 2000 people....8500 acres+ land...Horse riding... rifle range....gymnasiums... and what have you..the list goes on....No wonder it is impossible to cover the area in one day!!!
Hope this post doesn't seem as an advertisement for the Armed Forces, but then if it does, it's all right. ..better than software????

No wonder girls like men in uniform!!!
P.S: You get a free haircut every week.

A Year Goes By!!

Yesterday(31st JAN) I completed 1 year of my life as a working professional .Time sure flies by,huh?.. Till yesterday I was a trainee...now I am an Analyst Programmer...sounds hi-tech and cool...However still the same chair and same project....OK!So there is an increment...Hmmmm!! Will have to wait for my next salary !!!So how was it one year before????

31Jan, 2005:-
I got the call from my company on a Friday(28th Jan) to join on the following Monday(31st Jan)... took an emergency train ticket, left the same day, travelled from the east of India to the west and landed up in Pune on the 30th ... Temperature:9 degree C....Should have taken the pullover my Mom had told me to taken:(
On 31st,was ushered into the conference room of my office......used to wearing T-shirt and torn jeans, the formal shirt I wore only helped to increase my uneasiness.....other new joinees gave me a once over glance and resumed their muted whispering!!Thank God my college friend was there with me else would have felt like an Idly surrounded with Ketchup..all right...now there were 2 Idlies instead of 1!!!
Got all the corporate, tech talk from HR, Finance etc....created our bank acccounts(that was nice),had free lunch and oh yes...my roomie(future roomie to be precise) asked for the complimentary gifts(T-shirt,diary and pen etc)...surprisingly, we got them too!!!
Training started the next day, which carried on for two and a half months!!!

31Jan, 2006:-
It's been one year...Temperature:6 degree C..our closely knit training batch of 28 have separated to the various offices in Chennai, Mumbai and Pune....only 4 from our batch are here in Pune....However, we still keep in touch..have arguments over mails..tease each other..the Mumbaites are coming over for the weekend...It will be great to meet them and play the fool...with those guys(and gals) we need not keep up that corporate attitude which we are (at least supposed) to keep in office...The Idlies will land up in the Sambar again...some of us will jump to greener pastures..some of us will stay back....think most of us will keep in touch...don't know for sure..times change, seasons change, people change.

The words of Bob Dylan's song come to my mind while I compose this blog :

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, ’n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before they’re forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,

The answer is blowin’ in the wind.