Hi guys ,
Here is my next post. Usually I don't blog about my sad experiences, but having gotten over this one, I am blogging on it. I hope this helps some of the future aspirants or people who are yet to give their interviews. Here is an account of my IIM-Calcutta interview. Lovely campus... nice lakes ... a lot like IIT Kharagpur, so I felt totally at home. Then came the morning of the GD-PI session. The GD was supposed to start at 9 30, but since they were checking the validity of your National-International Level certificates beforehand, it took some time and hence there was a delay. Here is an account of the GD
Size of group : 11
Males : Females : 10:1
Panel size : 3 profs and 1 'distinguished' alumnus
The seating was semicircular. The topic of the GD was " It is not possible to be honest and prosper in India ". We were given 2 minutes to think on the topic. The discussion started off pretty smoothly. We discussed things like there being honest people like Narayan Murthy who are at the helm of their profession and that it is person-to-person. Also short term prosperity vs long term prosperity came up and the Satyam scam was taken up. I entered the GD around 6-7 times out of the 15 minute discussion and I think I made a fairly good impression. We were asked to summarise at the end, one by one. The panel started with those who spoke very less and ended with those who spoke quite a lot. I was asked to summarise 9th.
I was the 10th guy to be interviewed ( Damn it !!! ). By the time I arrived, I guess the panel was bored of taking interviews. Here's how it went ( Lady prof : LP ; Male profs : MP1 and MP2 ; Distinguished Alumnus : DA )
I enter inside
LP : Hello candidate.. come in and have a seat ....
I wish all the people in the panel and they wish me back
MP1 : So what exactly is your name. Is it Kenkre, or Nishad or Vishwas ??
LP: Well his name must be Nishad. I am sure he's from Karnataka or Maharashtra. Only these states have the system of writing your surname first. Isn't it Nishad?
Myself : Yes Ma'am. I am from Maharashtra. From Mumbai to be specific.
DA : So you are a Maharashtrian ? It looks like you are a Konkani
Myself : Yes Sir, I am Konkani. I was born in Goa. Its just that I have been living in Mumbai since the past 11 years.
They all nod and then stare at me for 20 seconds saying absolutely nothing ... I am quite stunned at this , but I prefer to remain straight-faced ....
LP loudly reads out my entire application form. Reads out my academic scores and says " Ohh my god, you are from IIT Kharagpur too?? ( 4 people before me were from IIT Kharagpur ) .. Why are these IITians all coming on the same day? Then she reads out my extra academic activities, my career goals ( they all laugh ) and finally says " Ohh he has a PPO from ITC India Ltd."
LP : So, you are a rock musician . What do you sing as such and how did you get into IIT Kharagpur's official band?
Myself : Sir I got through on the basis of auditions. I sing blues and classic rock as well as heavy metal.
MP2 : So you must be disturbing other people with noisy music in the middle of the night.. without caring for them... (smirking )
Myself : No, Sir. I don't.
MP1 : Do you watch the Midnight rock thing ?
Myself : Sir, I am not aware of any such thing ... ( I think fr sumtime... )
LP : You compose too.. do you write lyrics ??
Myself : Occasionally, yes ..
DA : So Nishad, what is this LLR thing in your form.
Myself : Sir, it stands for Lala Lajpat Rai... Its my Hostel name
DA: Who was he?
Myself : Sir, a freedom fighter
DA: Post Gandhian era or Pre-Gandhian era?
Myself : Sir, not sure
Da : You heard of Lal-Bal-Pal ?
Myself : Yes, Sir. They were three freedom fighters ...
DA : Name them
Myself ( displaying extreme stupidity here ) : Lal was Lal bahadur Shastri ....
They all had a hearty laugh. DA says " Arre I gave you a hint that Lal was Lala Lajpat Rai , still you don't want to take it"
Myself : Sir, I am not much in touch with History, so I actually don't know.
DA : Ok... Fine
MP1 : So your Father works in which company ?? And where is it based?
Myself : Huntsman Pvt Ltd . Based in the US ... In India, it has HO in Mumbai.
DA : Ok
LP : What else , Nishad ..... hmm so 8.06 out of 10 is your CGPA in ELectrical .. I wont say its that good !!
Myself : Ma'am , the Department Rank 1 has a CGPA of 9. Electrical Grading is a little tougher, if I may say
LP : Ohh.. alright ( surprisingly, she's not interested in rebutting )
DA : So you are interested in Electrical ??
Myself : Yes, Sir... I would like to think so....
DA : Really interested ?? like how an engineer is ??
Myself : Yes Sir
MP2 : You took electrical out of choice ??? Really?
Myself : Yes Sir, I did.
DA : So you interested in Electrical , huh ....
( I thought he was going to ask me questions.. but he just doesn't ..... )
LP : So Nishad what else do you do , apart from studies?
Myself : Ma'am I am a debator and elocutionist
LP ( interrupting me ) : So that's why you dont allow others to speak in the GD isn't it ?? .... She imitates me saying " Just a minute... just a minute, let me make my point " .. and then smiles wide....
Myself : I was just putting my points forward and whenever anybody interrupted me, I used to request them to let me make my point.
LP : How do you thing the GD went ?? ( smirking )
Myself : I think it was good... people made good points .. everybody spoke....
DA : Did everybody get to speak ?? As much as they wanted ? You really think so ? ( smirking again )
Myself : I don't know how much everybody had in mind, but I think everyone spoke decently....
Again they laugh... much to my surprise and dismay ....
MP2 : Nishad... you have a job with ITC that is paying you well, almost equal to the average package of an IIM in recessionary times .... If not that, you are going to the IIM's .. So you are definitely running away from Electrical for sure, despite loving it ... Wht a confusion !! (They laugh again )
Myself : Sir, I do love electrical... I am not, like, running away... There is a logical thinking pattern that I have gained through my 4 years of engineering.. I am taking it forward.. I might or might not be implementing the electrical knowledge....
MP2 : (Laughs out really loud) .... Ohh my god... the logical thing huh.. so when you make music, do you apply logical thinking ??
Myself : ( thinking for sum time ) : No Sir.. I don't ...
MP2 and MP1 are still laughing out loud ....
LP : You want to ask us sumthing Nishad ??
Myself : ( thinking fr sumtime as I was too taken aback and did nt have anything in mind )
"Sir, I want to knw if work experience guys absorb knowledge any better than fresher guys after coming to iim's "
LP (getting excited) : Well, I wouldn't say a yes to tht.... absorption of knowledge is nt at all a function of work ex .. many work ex guys come in and find it difficult to compete .... but i guess studying by paying your own fees is a different experience ...
MP2 : Any more questions ??
Myself : ( thinking very hard.. so as to prolong the very short interview .. ) No ....
THE END ..........................................................
My shortest interview till date .. lasted hardly 10-12 min...was a disappointment all over with almost nothing asked.... I was surprised at how , even after inviting core engg questions, I wasn't asked any ...... anyways... have IIM-A coming up... it'll hopefully be better .....
Ciao
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The IIM experience .... first-person account !!
I finally had my share of IIM interviews, beginning 11th of February. On the insistence of many fellow IIM aspirants who are yet to give their interviews, I am giving a detailed account of my Indore experience, correct to the extent that my memory allows me. The whole process was formal , mostly, but quite funny at times. Also, the environment in the GD/PI room, where all the participants are supposed to wait, is too much to bear. So tip no. 1 for any fellow aspirant would be - please don't sit with over-the-top grim-faced aspirants, especially those who keep on narrating scary interview experiences. Just relax and the whole process will go on pretty smoothly.
GROUP DISCUSSION -
IIM indore GD was the best GD I have ever given. The format was very new and went down really well with all of us. Group size was 9, no girls. A case study ( HR-based) was given and we were given half-an-hour to read it and write our analysis and recommendations on the back of our interview form. It was a simple case study about this employee of the company who is very eccentric and often behaves rudely, but he is so good at his work that he can't be fired. We had to suggest how to treat that employee so that the problem is solved. It was a one-page long case study and had many points, which one could have easily missed if the case was read too fast. After this, we were given 20 minutes to discuss. Luckily, my group was a very civilized one and every person gave every other person a chance to speak for a decently long time. Although a few crappy points were raised here and there, it was overall very good. I came in around 10 times in the whole GD. ( Since we had spent 30 mins on the GD topic earlier, everybody had ample stuff to speak about).
PERSONAL INTERVIEW-
Panel consisted of one male professor ( Pm ) and one female professor(Pf) , both of whom bore a very intelligent look on their faces. Although it was told to us that we would be called in random order, the 4 work-ex people in my group were called in first and then I was the first among the freshers to be called in.
Myself: Good Afternoon Ma'am. Good Afternoon Sir
Pm : Good afternoon Nishad. Sit down. How do you think your GD went?
Myself : Sir, I think the GD was good. We came up with plenty of solutions and it went about in a very civilized manner.
Pm : How was your performance in particular?
Myself : Sir, I think it was good, at least by my expectations.
Pm ( smiling ) : So Nishad where are you from ?
Myself : Sir I was born in Goa, but have been living in Mumbai for the past 10-11 years.
Pm : So how much of Goa do you remember ?
Myself : Not much Sir, as I have not been there often in recent times... although I do have some childhood memories.
Pm : So, How has IIT Kharagpur been ?
Myself : Its been wonderful Sir. Its changed me a lot as a person and ... ( Pm interrupts )
Pm : What have you done here that has changed you as a person?
Myself : Sir, apart from my academics, I have .... ( Pm interrupts )
Pm : Why apart from academics? Lets see your academics first.
In the meantime, Pf is going through my certificates and my interview form very carefully. She is also looking carefully at the way I am answering. Pm opens my transcript ( academic semester-wise scorecard ) and exclaims
Pm : Your grades are decent, but the only D you have ever received is in Digital Electronics. Why ??
Myself : Sir, I think I was overconfident in that subject. Became very slack.
Pm : But its the easiest one to study I hear. You have scored well in the tougher ones.
( I prefer to keep quiet )
Pm : So tell me the difference between a NAND-NAND and a NOR NOR gate ?
Myself : Sir, I don't think I'd be able to answer that right now.
Pm : Ok, so you tell me what subjects have you learnt properly and with interest ?
Myself : Control Systems , Signal Processing....
Pm : Aha, control systems ..... I think we should talk about it
Myself : Sure Sir
Pm : So what is control systems ?
Myself : blah blah blah ( Pm satisfied )
Pm : Any real life applications that you have seen / designed
Myself : blah blah blah ( Pm satisfied )
Pm asks me about Nyquist plots, Bode plots and seems satisfied by all answers that I give.
Pm : OK Nishad , have you heard of Cauchy's residue theorem?
Myself : Sir, I have heard of it for sure, but can't remember exactly... If I could take a guess, it was used to find out poles and zeros.
Pm : why are poles and zeros so important?
Myself : Sir, they help us to determine the values of frequency which will result in a stable system...
Pm : Hmm... can you tell me which subject you studied it in?
Myself : Sir I learnt Cauchy's residue theorem in La-place transforms.
( Pm nods and then looks at Pf. He then says " Over to you Ma'am " and Pf takes my interview thereafter. )
Pf : So, Nishad you have written that you love compering stage shows. How has it helped you ?
Myself : I think it has helped me get rid of stage fear and my communication skills have improved a lot, too. Plus, it gives me a sense of accomplishment to know that a thousand people are all listening intently to what I am saying.
( Pf laughs out loud and says " Ohh, thats a frank answer ")
Pf : So what are the things you have to take care of as a compere?
Myself : Blah blah blah... ( Pf and Pm listen intently. Do not interrupt even as I go on and on and on )
Pf : So what is your prime extra-academic activity ?
Myself : Music is my passion....
Pf : Do you know somebody called Remo Fernandes ? You were born in Goa right?
Myself : Yes, Ma'am. He happens to be a family friend of my maternal family in Goa.
Pf: Ohh, so your music was inspired by him??
Myself : No Ma'am. I have interacted with him when I was about 3-4 years old. I hardly remember anything.
Pf : Ok, so you are part of a rock band?? how did you form it?
Myself : Well, we are five music lovers and in the same college. So, it wasn't tough getting together
Pf : What kind of music do you perform ?
Myself : For individual vocals I perform blues and for group competitions, we perform metal.
Pf : Iron maiden , etc? That's heavy sound....
Myself : Yes Ma'am ... Maiden, Priest, Black Sabbath, etc.
Pf : But whats so special about metal ?? Its too loud and the lyrics is , well, very different...
Myself ( getting a lil angry ) : I think that lyrics is the main focus of many metal songs. Unlike bollywood, metal songs have lyrics which is meaningful, which u can feel, and many a times the writer himself has xperienced the incident which he writes in the lyrics...
Pf : Ohh, so you mean that eastern music doesn;t have soulful lyrics?
Myself : Well, mainstream music like bollywood mostly doesn't. Other music styles like Sufi etc might have, but their popularity is limited.
Pf : Don't you think that's a brash statement?
Myself ( a lil scared ) : Ma'am, I don't mean to undermine eastern music as a whole, but the eastern music that I have heard, I dont think it is comparable to mainstream western music.
Pm jumps in : You sing blues music?
Myself : Yes
Pf : Which singers in particular do you like?
Myself : Gary Moore,Eric Clapton ...
Pf : Do you know how exactly blues originated?
Myself : No Sir
Pf : You know how metal originated?
Myself : Yes Sir.... blah blah ( narrated a story about black sabbath guitarist tommy iommi )
Pm ( smiling ) : So do you see you and your band turning professional anytime ?? Do you want to in the first place ? Or would you rather stick to academics?
Myself ( taking a long time ) : Well Ma'am, I would never like to make music my primary form of earning. Its something I do in my free time and it relaxes me....
Pm : So that's even better... ull be relaxed while at work. Don't tell me that you don;t like the idea...
Myself : Well..... I think my academic background is strong and ive worked hard to get where I am. It provides for a much more stable career. Music is something I'd like to do in my luxury time only. Even if we turn professional, that'd be my hobby and nt my career.
Pm : OK Nishad... it ws nice talking to you ... take your certificates back....
( As I am about to leave the room... )
Pf : Please have some chocolates.
( I heave a sigh of relief and take a few chocolates and go )
They talked to me very smoothly and never tried to put me under any stress. Needless to say, I really liked their interview process. However, everyone was treated well, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Tip no 2 for Indore aspirants : Choose a few topics frm ur branch of study and do them rly well .. no need to do everything .. also, be well-versed with the technicalities of ur extra-acad activities ( how it is done? how did it originate? etc )
Best of luck... Ciao
GROUP DISCUSSION -
IIM indore GD was the best GD I have ever given. The format was very new and went down really well with all of us. Group size was 9, no girls. A case study ( HR-based) was given and we were given half-an-hour to read it and write our analysis and recommendations on the back of our interview form. It was a simple case study about this employee of the company who is very eccentric and often behaves rudely, but he is so good at his work that he can't be fired. We had to suggest how to treat that employee so that the problem is solved. It was a one-page long case study and had many points, which one could have easily missed if the case was read too fast. After this, we were given 20 minutes to discuss. Luckily, my group was a very civilized one and every person gave every other person a chance to speak for a decently long time. Although a few crappy points were raised here and there, it was overall very good. I came in around 10 times in the whole GD. ( Since we had spent 30 mins on the GD topic earlier, everybody had ample stuff to speak about).
PERSONAL INTERVIEW-
Panel consisted of one male professor ( Pm ) and one female professor(Pf) , both of whom bore a very intelligent look on their faces. Although it was told to us that we would be called in random order, the 4 work-ex people in my group were called in first and then I was the first among the freshers to be called in.
Myself: Good Afternoon Ma'am. Good Afternoon Sir
Pm : Good afternoon Nishad. Sit down. How do you think your GD went?
Myself : Sir, I think the GD was good. We came up with plenty of solutions and it went about in a very civilized manner.
Pm : How was your performance in particular?
Myself : Sir, I think it was good, at least by my expectations.
Pm ( smiling ) : So Nishad where are you from ?
Myself : Sir I was born in Goa, but have been living in Mumbai for the past 10-11 years.
Pm : So how much of Goa do you remember ?
Myself : Not much Sir, as I have not been there often in recent times... although I do have some childhood memories.
Pm : So, How has IIT Kharagpur been ?
Myself : Its been wonderful Sir. Its changed me a lot as a person and ... ( Pm interrupts )
Pm : What have you done here that has changed you as a person?
Myself : Sir, apart from my academics, I have .... ( Pm interrupts )
Pm : Why apart from academics? Lets see your academics first.
In the meantime, Pf is going through my certificates and my interview form very carefully. She is also looking carefully at the way I am answering. Pm opens my transcript ( academic semester-wise scorecard ) and exclaims
Pm : Your grades are decent, but the only D you have ever received is in Digital Electronics. Why ??
Myself : Sir, I think I was overconfident in that subject. Became very slack.
Pm : But its the easiest one to study I hear. You have scored well in the tougher ones.
( I prefer to keep quiet )
Pm : So tell me the difference between a NAND-NAND and a NOR NOR gate ?
Myself : Sir, I don't think I'd be able to answer that right now.
Pm : Ok, so you tell me what subjects have you learnt properly and with interest ?
Myself : Control Systems , Signal Processing....
Pm : Aha, control systems ..... I think we should talk about it
Myself : Sure Sir
Pm : So what is control systems ?
Myself : blah blah blah ( Pm satisfied )
Pm : Any real life applications that you have seen / designed
Myself : blah blah blah ( Pm satisfied )
Pm asks me about Nyquist plots, Bode plots and seems satisfied by all answers that I give.
Pm : OK Nishad , have you heard of Cauchy's residue theorem?
Myself : Sir, I have heard of it for sure, but can't remember exactly... If I could take a guess, it was used to find out poles and zeros.
Pm : why are poles and zeros so important?
Myself : Sir, they help us to determine the values of frequency which will result in a stable system...
Pm : Hmm... can you tell me which subject you studied it in?
Myself : Sir I learnt Cauchy's residue theorem in La-place transforms.
( Pm nods and then looks at Pf. He then says " Over to you Ma'am " and Pf takes my interview thereafter. )
Pf : So, Nishad you have written that you love compering stage shows. How has it helped you ?
Myself : I think it has helped me get rid of stage fear and my communication skills have improved a lot, too. Plus, it gives me a sense of accomplishment to know that a thousand people are all listening intently to what I am saying.
( Pf laughs out loud and says " Ohh, thats a frank answer ")
Pf : So what are the things you have to take care of as a compere?
Myself : Blah blah blah... ( Pf and Pm listen intently. Do not interrupt even as I go on and on and on )
Pf : So what is your prime extra-academic activity ?
Myself : Music is my passion....
Pf : Do you know somebody called Remo Fernandes ? You were born in Goa right?
Myself : Yes, Ma'am. He happens to be a family friend of my maternal family in Goa.
Pf: Ohh, so your music was inspired by him??
Myself : No Ma'am. I have interacted with him when I was about 3-4 years old. I hardly remember anything.
Pf : Ok, so you are part of a rock band?? how did you form it?
Myself : Well, we are five music lovers and in the same college. So, it wasn't tough getting together
Pf : What kind of music do you perform ?
Myself : For individual vocals I perform blues and for group competitions, we perform metal.
Pf : Iron maiden , etc? That's heavy sound....
Myself : Yes Ma'am ... Maiden, Priest, Black Sabbath, etc.
Pf : But whats so special about metal ?? Its too loud and the lyrics is , well, very different...
Myself ( getting a lil angry ) : I think that lyrics is the main focus of many metal songs. Unlike bollywood, metal songs have lyrics which is meaningful, which u can feel, and many a times the writer himself has xperienced the incident which he writes in the lyrics...
Pf : Ohh, so you mean that eastern music doesn;t have soulful lyrics?
Myself : Well, mainstream music like bollywood mostly doesn't. Other music styles like Sufi etc might have, but their popularity is limited.
Pf : Don't you think that's a brash statement?
Myself ( a lil scared ) : Ma'am, I don't mean to undermine eastern music as a whole, but the eastern music that I have heard, I dont think it is comparable to mainstream western music.
Pm jumps in : You sing blues music?
Myself : Yes
Pf : Which singers in particular do you like?
Myself : Gary Moore,Eric Clapton ...
Pf : Do you know how exactly blues originated?
Myself : No Sir
Pf : You know how metal originated?
Myself : Yes Sir.... blah blah ( narrated a story about black sabbath guitarist tommy iommi )
Pm ( smiling ) : So do you see you and your band turning professional anytime ?? Do you want to in the first place ? Or would you rather stick to academics?
Myself ( taking a long time ) : Well Ma'am, I would never like to make music my primary form of earning. Its something I do in my free time and it relaxes me....
Pm : So that's even better... ull be relaxed while at work. Don't tell me that you don;t like the idea...
Myself : Well..... I think my academic background is strong and ive worked hard to get where I am. It provides for a much more stable career. Music is something I'd like to do in my luxury time only. Even if we turn professional, that'd be my hobby and nt my career.
Pm : OK Nishad... it ws nice talking to you ... take your certificates back....
( As I am about to leave the room... )
Pf : Please have some chocolates.
( I heave a sigh of relief and take a few chocolates and go )
They talked to me very smoothly and never tried to put me under any stress. Needless to say, I really liked their interview process. However, everyone was treated well, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Tip no 2 for Indore aspirants : Choose a few topics frm ur branch of study and do them rly well .. no need to do everything .. also, be well-versed with the technicalities of ur extra-acad activities ( how it is done? how did it originate? etc )
Best of luck... Ciao
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Where the hell in KGP - An experience to remember !!
Blogging requires a lot of effort from my side, especially since I am more or less busy all the time and can hardly take time out for posting. However, once in a while, you experience a strong feeling, one which lasts within you much longer than any other, one which makes you feel nostalgic, proud, emotional, and all those feelings which can't even be expressed in words. And you suddenly want to document it forever, so that you can relive the moment whenever you want.
One such thing that made me feel all the above feelings was this video called " Where the hell in kgp" made by one of my fellow seniors called Sarabjeet ( a.k.a. Surd ) ... This guy who cracks the worst of Pj's and hardly ever appears to be talking serious stuff is usually not taken seriously by anyone who knows him .... So when one of my friends informed me that Surd had made a video called the above based on "Where the hell is Matt" ( a famous video on youtube ), I thought that it was merely another one of Surd's bad jokes, this time based on IIT Kharagpur. But I was mistaken !! And to what an extent !! The video is about the different places inside the sprawling 2000 acre campus of IIT Kharagpur and it made me go through my entire 4 year experience here at Kharagpur... I relived each one of those moments and felt so grateful towards this campus, which has transformed me from a shy boy to a confident individual, given me so many moments to remember, given me a truckload of awesome friends, filled my life with so much meaning !!! The reason why the video makes you feel so high on emotions ia also largely attributed to the background of this video, which is a song called as "Praan" composed by Gary Schyman and sung by Pablasha Siddique, (a 17 yr old Bangaldeshi girl, with a golden soothing voice ) with lyrics adapted from the poem "Stream of Life," a part of the Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. Firstly, hats off to Surd, for making this video. I and all the other kgpians will always be grateful to him for having given us this video and for that superb ( read : Surdy ) dance !! And secondly, IIT Kharagpur is heaven !! ... No matter what people say about it and no matter how much we love to hate it, its one place I am so damn proud to be a part of and will always be till I am at my grave!!
Reminds me of the lines from Bryan adams legendary song Summer of 69
"Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Ya - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life !! "
Here's the video link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnzd5LgBsJM
One such thing that made me feel all the above feelings was this video called " Where the hell in kgp" made by one of my fellow seniors called Sarabjeet ( a.k.a. Surd ) ... This guy who cracks the worst of Pj's and hardly ever appears to be talking serious stuff is usually not taken seriously by anyone who knows him .... So when one of my friends informed me that Surd had made a video called the above based on "Where the hell is Matt" ( a famous video on youtube ), I thought that it was merely another one of Surd's bad jokes, this time based on IIT Kharagpur. But I was mistaken !! And to what an extent !! The video is about the different places inside the sprawling 2000 acre campus of IIT Kharagpur and it made me go through my entire 4 year experience here at Kharagpur... I relived each one of those moments and felt so grateful towards this campus, which has transformed me from a shy boy to a confident individual, given me so many moments to remember, given me a truckload of awesome friends, filled my life with so much meaning !!! The reason why the video makes you feel so high on emotions ia also largely attributed to the background of this video, which is a song called as "Praan" composed by Gary Schyman and sung by Pablasha Siddique, (a 17 yr old Bangaldeshi girl, with a golden soothing voice ) with lyrics adapted from the poem "Stream of Life," a part of the Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. Firstly, hats off to Surd, for making this video. I and all the other kgpians will always be grateful to him for having given us this video and for that superb ( read : Surdy ) dance !! And secondly, IIT Kharagpur is heaven !! ... No matter what people say about it and no matter how much we love to hate it, its one place I am so damn proud to be a part of and will always be till I am at my grave!!
Reminds me of the lines from Bryan adams legendary song Summer of 69
"Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Ya - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life !! "
Here's the video link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnzd5LgBsJM
Friday, January 2, 2009
Vatan Mera India
Long back, when Rajiv's millionaire father asks him why Rajiv always travels by 2nd class railway when he can easily afford a private helicopter ride, Rajiv said "Kyonki asli India sirf 2nd class train me dekhne ko milta hai, aasmaan se nahi. " .Now, that was a scene from Subhash Ghai's movie "Taal" .... During one of my recent train journeys in the Sleeper compartment of Indian Railways, I experienced the Asli India in my own way ... Here are the excerpts :
My eyes, while trudging along the words in the never-ending novel 'Atlas Shrugged', suddenly caught the glimpse of a few govt. workers in uniform with high-tech cleaning equipment barging into the train, the way commandos might barge into a terrorist camp, as soonas the train halted at Raipur. Whoever said that govt workers are lethargic at their job should have witnessed what followed. The workers were so hellebent on cleaning the toilet that they started banging on the door of the occupied toilet, shouting at the lady occupant to come out !!!! .... Right in the midde of what she was doing inside !!!!!!! Hehehhehe .. That's the spirit my boys ... Yo India!! Go India!!!
The Pantry car wokers were selling mineral water belonging to a suspicious brand called "Amust". As if the weird name wasn't enough, it had an awesome tagline - ' Piyo pyaas bujhaane ke liye ' - so proudly displayed that I felt the urge to ask the vendor - " Paani aur kis liye peete hain ?? " .... Talk of creative advertising !!!
A group of Bengalis were arguing loudly on a totally arbitrary topic - Whether the recent introduction of an extra sleeper berth in the Indian Rail comparments would change the scene of progress of the nation's transport system ( ??? !!!! @@@ ) ... As I tried hard to steer my attention away from the painfully funny conversation ( part-Bengali, part-English ) , I could not help but be amazed the number of times Bengalis use the sound of the syllable "ch" ( aasche, jaasche, aache, etc ). The count had reached around 45 in a span of a couple of minutes !! Ok Ok .. I admit that it was probably the most useless thing anybody would have done at that point of time on the entire planet, but I guess being alone on a 30 hr journey takes a toll on your intellectual habits... :P
Another station and I get bored of the overtly descriptive writing style of Ayn Rand. So I let go of Atlas Shrugged and get down to buy an issue of Stardust !!! Yes, you heard that right ... I told ya !! a 30 hr journey takes a toll on your brain !! While I was contemplating whether to buy it at the exorbitantly high rate or not, my eyes fell upon the cover page with Kareena quoted as saying " I don;t think I can love any man the way I love Saif" ... and inside she said " Nobody can understand the sensibilities of a woman better than he can !! " ..... Now that's called lying through your teeth !! Firstly, she said the same thing about her ex-boyfriend a year ago.. and secondly she was referring to Saif Ali Khan - the man who is trying to set a guiness record in dumping and duping as many women as he can before he hits rock-bottom !!! Phew!! That made me laugh out and take out 60 Rs from my pocket to give the vendor ... Thus, I set forth on my journey of exploring the funnily surprising cracks that our filmstars shower upon the public !!
Asli India dekh liya yaar !!!! No wonder people say its the most unique country in the world !!!
My eyes, while trudging along the words in the never-ending novel 'Atlas Shrugged', suddenly caught the glimpse of a few govt. workers in uniform with high-tech cleaning equipment barging into the train, the way commandos might barge into a terrorist camp, as soonas the train halted at Raipur. Whoever said that govt workers are lethargic at their job should have witnessed what followed. The workers were so hellebent on cleaning the toilet that they started banging on the door of the occupied toilet, shouting at the lady occupant to come out !!!! .... Right in the midde of what she was doing inside !!!!!!! Hehehhehe .. That's the spirit my boys ... Yo India!! Go India!!!
The Pantry car wokers were selling mineral water belonging to a suspicious brand called "Amust". As if the weird name wasn't enough, it had an awesome tagline - ' Piyo pyaas bujhaane ke liye ' - so proudly displayed that I felt the urge to ask the vendor - " Paani aur kis liye peete hain ?? " .... Talk of creative advertising !!!
A group of Bengalis were arguing loudly on a totally arbitrary topic - Whether the recent introduction of an extra sleeper berth in the Indian Rail comparments would change the scene of progress of the nation's transport system ( ??? !!!! @@@ ) ... As I tried hard to steer my attention away from the painfully funny conversation ( part-Bengali, part-English ) , I could not help but be amazed the number of times Bengalis use the sound of the syllable "ch" ( aasche, jaasche, aache, etc ). The count had reached around 45 in a span of a couple of minutes !! Ok Ok .. I admit that it was probably the most useless thing anybody would have done at that point of time on the entire planet, but I guess being alone on a 30 hr journey takes a toll on your intellectual habits... :P
Another station and I get bored of the overtly descriptive writing style of Ayn Rand. So I let go of Atlas Shrugged and get down to buy an issue of Stardust !!! Yes, you heard that right ... I told ya !! a 30 hr journey takes a toll on your brain !! While I was contemplating whether to buy it at the exorbitantly high rate or not, my eyes fell upon the cover page with Kareena quoted as saying " I don;t think I can love any man the way I love Saif" ... and inside she said " Nobody can understand the sensibilities of a woman better than he can !! " ..... Now that's called lying through your teeth !! Firstly, she said the same thing about her ex-boyfriend a year ago.. and secondly she was referring to Saif Ali Khan - the man who is trying to set a guiness record in dumping and duping as many women as he can before he hits rock-bottom !!! Phew!! That made me laugh out and take out 60 Rs from my pocket to give the vendor ... Thus, I set forth on my journey of exploring the funnily surprising cracks that our filmstars shower upon the public !!
Asli India dekh liya yaar !!!! No wonder people say its the most unique country in the world !!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Rocking @ Mood Indigo
Hi,
For all those who've been to MI, I dnt have to elaborate on the fundoo and rocking atmosphere that this so-cult festival has ... and for those who haven't , well.... you gotta be at MI asap !!! This time I could attend only one day out of the fourdays of MI ... That this day happened to be the last was probably my luck and bad luck too ... But All's well that ends well, they say, and so I was satisfied... Had loads of fun in the Mohit Chauhan and Sonu Nigam ( Brilliant !! ) concerts.. Although Sonu Nigam wasted half of his time in the mumbai traffic, which was seriously unprofessional on his side, but he almost made up for all of it with his amazing crowd interaction skills, which included a song made up on the spot called " Aloo, Bhindi, Mooli Matar paneer " .... and guess wht? it actually sounded rhythmic !!! Yours truly dabbled with an impomptu stage performance for Desitara and won a Tshirt for the same... Here's my video posted on their website ...
Link
All in all, a great day well spent !!! Ciao ....
For all those who've been to MI, I dnt have to elaborate on the fundoo and rocking atmosphere that this so-cult festival has ... and for those who haven't , well.... you gotta be at MI asap !!! This time I could attend only one day out of the fourdays of MI ... That this day happened to be the last was probably my luck and bad luck too ... But All's well that ends well, they say, and so I was satisfied... Had loads of fun in the Mohit Chauhan and Sonu Nigam ( Brilliant !! ) concerts.. Although Sonu Nigam wasted half of his time in the mumbai traffic, which was seriously unprofessional on his side, but he almost made up for all of it with his amazing crowd interaction skills, which included a song made up on the spot called " Aloo, Bhindi, Mooli Matar paneer " .... and guess wht? it actually sounded rhythmic !!! Yours truly dabbled with an impomptu stage performance for Desitara and won a Tshirt for the same... Here's my video posted on their website ...
Link
All in all, a great day well spent !!! Ciao ....
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Perfectionist Attitude... (read : Ghajini)
Most of my trips back home are characterized by meetings with friends and outings with friends and hanging around with friends and meetings with frrrr .. Ohh, I already said that... Moral of the story is that the time I spend at home, and I can't believe that I am shamelessly admitting this, is very limited. In my defense, there's very little to do at home for a hyperactive individual like me.
Anyways, yesterday was different. I was woken up by Mother India at 7 a.m. ( !!!???), which happens to be the time I go to sleep at when I am in Kharagpur, after which we went to several temples as a part of a yearly pilgrimage which my spiritually inclined mother puts me through. I don't mind though, because God has indeed been good to me... but I am not much of an idol worshipper, so the getting up in the morning was, I admit, a little frustrating ( I hope Gods don't have an internet connection , else I am screwed !! ) ... After that, I faced the scariest prospect ever - watching a movie with my family. I know that for most, it is beyond common understanding why it is such a scary prospect, but history has shown me that whenever I go for a movie with my family, I tend to land up in debacles like "No Entry" , "Aa ab laut chalein" etc. - Movies that are painful ... truly painful !! Anyways, yesterday my mom promised to make up for all of it by getting movie tickets for Aamir Khan's "Ghajini " ... The way the ticket sales are proceeding, I am sure she had to put in a lot of hard work to get those tickets, so there was no way I could say a NO !! Ive got some stuff to say about the movie, although a totally personal viewpoint.
This was one movie which was very non-homogeneous. In a less scientific lingo, I'd say it had different levels of performance in all its aspects. Story was well defined, Dialogues were OK, Actresses were strictly OK, Action was OK but a little too much to digest sometimes ( a 5 foot 5 inch Aamir throwing a 6 and a half foot man away like a matchstick has gotta be hard to digest, since it wasn't a Super-hero movie, but the South-Indian tinge in the film justifies it anyways ), Cinematography was decent, Length sucked bigtime ( more than 3 hours !! Ohhmigod!! My seat and my ass had gotten bored of each other, but the hero wasn't bored of his pursuits !! ) but last and definitely not the least ...... THE ACTOR WAS BRILLIANT.... ABOVE EVERYTHING / EVERYONE ELSE. Aah!! Aamir Khan... I know perfectly well why he has been bestowed with a short stature and a bad reputation as a human being.. Simply because the man is too dedicated and talented - an explosive combination in all respects. Even if the story would have been loose, I'd say Ghajini would still have been worth a watch, because of this one man !! He makes Shahrukh and Amitabh ( the worshiped Gods of acting ) seem like freshers of some acting school. Every scene, be it comedy, action or romance, oozed truckloads of dedication, preparation and acting talent. A scene where he cries out of frustration of seeing his lady-love being castrated in front of his own eyes and not being able to remember anything is just AWESOME !! It makes you want to cry aloud with him and beat the shit out of the bad guys. It makes you want to rise from your seat and help him remember things and also help him get to the bad guys. Even though the plot was a little unbelievable at times, Aamir Khan has made possible the impossible. He makes South-Indian-movie-like over-the-top action sequences and the more-colorful-than-a-rainbow songs seem believable almost throughout the movie. And yes... how could I forget the much-hyped 8 pack abs !! As we all know that most of the heroes of today have a well-etched-out body as a compulsory baggage, what is remarkable is the proportionate body that Aamir Khan developed and the way he displays it in this movie. You gotta watch it for this guy !!
I guess I won't be revealing much if I reveal the story plot. It's basically how a businessman who lost his girlfriend to criminals and simultaneously became a victim of short term memory loss, takes revenge on the baddies despite his shortcomings. The story-telling is phenomenally good. All-in-all, I broke the jinx of having to watch disasters with my family thanks to Ghajini ... A must-watch for everybody !!
Anyways, yesterday was different. I was woken up by Mother India at 7 a.m. ( !!!???), which happens to be the time I go to sleep at when I am in Kharagpur, after which we went to several temples as a part of a yearly pilgrimage which my spiritually inclined mother puts me through. I don't mind though, because God has indeed been good to me... but I am not much of an idol worshipper, so the getting up in the morning was, I admit, a little frustrating ( I hope Gods don't have an internet connection , else I am screwed !! ) ... After that, I faced the scariest prospect ever - watching a movie with my family. I know that for most, it is beyond common understanding why it is such a scary prospect, but history has shown me that whenever I go for a movie with my family, I tend to land up in debacles like "No Entry" , "Aa ab laut chalein" etc. - Movies that are painful ... truly painful !! Anyways, yesterday my mom promised to make up for all of it by getting movie tickets for Aamir Khan's "Ghajini " ... The way the ticket sales are proceeding, I am sure she had to put in a lot of hard work to get those tickets, so there was no way I could say a NO !! Ive got some stuff to say about the movie, although a totally personal viewpoint.
This was one movie which was very non-homogeneous. In a less scientific lingo, I'd say it had different levels of performance in all its aspects. Story was well defined, Dialogues were OK, Actresses were strictly OK, Action was OK but a little too much to digest sometimes ( a 5 foot 5 inch Aamir throwing a 6 and a half foot man away like a matchstick has gotta be hard to digest, since it wasn't a Super-hero movie, but the South-Indian tinge in the film justifies it anyways ), Cinematography was decent, Length sucked bigtime ( more than 3 hours !! Ohhmigod!! My seat and my ass had gotten bored of each other, but the hero wasn't bored of his pursuits !! ) but last and definitely not the least ...... THE ACTOR WAS BRILLIANT.... ABOVE EVERYTHING / EVERYONE ELSE. Aah!! Aamir Khan... I know perfectly well why he has been bestowed with a short stature and a bad reputation as a human being.. Simply because the man is too dedicated and talented - an explosive combination in all respects. Even if the story would have been loose, I'd say Ghajini would still have been worth a watch, because of this one man !! He makes Shahrukh and Amitabh ( the worshiped Gods of acting ) seem like freshers of some acting school. Every scene, be it comedy, action or romance, oozed truckloads of dedication, preparation and acting talent. A scene where he cries out of frustration of seeing his lady-love being castrated in front of his own eyes and not being able to remember anything is just AWESOME !! It makes you want to cry aloud with him and beat the shit out of the bad guys. It makes you want to rise from your seat and help him remember things and also help him get to the bad guys. Even though the plot was a little unbelievable at times, Aamir Khan has made possible the impossible. He makes South-Indian-movie-like over-the-top action sequences and the more-colorful-than-a-rainbow songs seem believable almost throughout the movie. And yes... how could I forget the much-hyped 8 pack abs !! As we all know that most of the heroes of today have a well-etched-out body as a compulsory baggage, what is remarkable is the proportionate body that Aamir Khan developed and the way he displays it in this movie. You gotta watch it for this guy !!
I guess I won't be revealing much if I reveal the story plot. It's basically how a businessman who lost his girlfriend to criminals and simultaneously became a victim of short term memory loss, takes revenge on the baddies despite his shortcomings. The story-telling is phenomenally good. All-in-all, I broke the jinx of having to watch disasters with my family thanks to Ghajini ... A must-watch for everybody !!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Heralding of a new era ......
It's the last week of the last month of 2008 as we all , I repeat, all, await happenings that we hope shall change our lives for the better, or so we would like to think !! For each one of us, in accordance with the amazing diversity that this world has to offer, the change that we ohh-so-badly want to see or experience varies widely. While a survivor of the recent terror attacks might put " End of Terrorism" at the very top of his priority list, Osama-bin-Laden might have just the opposite on his wish-list.....provided he is alive.... else, May his soul rest in peace !! ( Before you raise your eyebrows at that, let me tell you that it is merely a manifestation of my belief that all of Heaven, Hell and Earth are much better off when the bastard is at rest... coz we all know what happens when he is not ). To provide another instance of such a vivid diversity in human thinking .... while a fresher of my college might be wishing for shorter lecture hours in the forthcoming semester, I, knowing that it is going to be my final semester at IIT, am praying for lengthening of the same hours. And that's pretty much the biggest irony of late... I can't believe that I am actually ready to bear my professors ( Yeah!! The same arrogant bunch of people with whom all of us students seem to share a generation gap of infinite length, a gap which they somehow seem to enjoy while we obviously don't, a gap which they celebrate with a recipe of boring lectures, topped with tyrannical behaviour and garnished with unabashed taunts thrown on us... Delicious.. ain't it ?? ) for as long a time as possible, merely to extend my soon-gonna-end stay in the wilderness of Kharagpur.
And while I ask myself "Is this really coming to an end?" and simultaneously hope " Maybe there's something better in store" against clear evidence thanks to my characteristic sense of exaggerated optimism, I shall keep my promise and let my thoughts take a stroll along the corridors of this relentlessly unending e-world. I shall fulfill my longstanding aspirations of being a dedicated blogger. Let me just say that this is my resolution for the New Year. And as I go about this mammoth task with my head held high and with my zest for learning as my only weapon, the whole world shall witness the grit, the dedication, the determinaaaat ....zzzzzzz ( snore snore) ... the devooooshhhh .... zzzzzzzzzzz..... aaaand the enthuuuuuusiaaa ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz that shall ....
OK ... Some things, I guess, will never change!! Good night for now !! Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year
And while I ask myself "Is this really coming to an end?" and simultaneously hope " Maybe there's something better in store" against clear evidence thanks to my characteristic sense of exaggerated optimism, I shall keep my promise and let my thoughts take a stroll along the corridors of this relentlessly unending e-world. I shall fulfill my longstanding aspirations of being a dedicated blogger. Let me just say that this is my resolution for the New Year. And as I go about this mammoth task with my head held high and with my zest for learning as my only weapon, the whole world shall witness the grit, the dedication, the determinaaaat ....zzzzzzz ( snore snore) ... the devooooshhhh .... zzzzzzzzzzz..... aaaand the enthuuuuuusiaaa ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz that shall ....
OK ... Some things, I guess, will never change!! Good night for now !! Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year
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