7 Fictional Characters that changed my life! :)

The title says it all. This apens to everyone. Sometimes, fictional characters are more influencing to your life than actual people. It is especially true when you can connect to the situations the character has been in. Well, this is list is about some of the major of my influences. The list goes as below: (this is exactly how I write my exams :))


1. Barney Stinson: For the obvious reasons. He is simply legen-wait for it-dary! Be it the coolness with which he handles problems, the impeccable suiting-up or the mysterious story-line about his job, Barney simply rocks! If you've never come across Barney, go for any episode of How I Met Your Mother. The kind of gentle comedy (yeah! ;)) and mystery behind his work makes him a sort of idol for me :). And of course not to mention The Bro Code - awesome book. I was rolling on the floor laughing when I first read the book. Rock on, Barney!


2. Eric Cartman: Eric Cartman, the douche-bag from South Park, yes! I know, Eric represents everything that is wrong with the world, for academic purposes, this is probably the most influential of all my influences. I have learnt a lot about the world and people especially from this show and especially Cartman. The "Screw you guys, I'm going home."s and "But, Moooom"s definitely make him the best characters in the show. In spite of being a racist and a pretentious douche, he has touched my life and affected my thinking patterns a lot. Hats-off to Trey Parker and Matt Stone for thinking him up! \m/


3. Holden Caulfield: The protagonist of the popular "The Catcher in the Rye", probably my most favorite book. Well, the informal tone of the narration and the beauty with which he talks about the things around him makes him the frankest character in any book, movie or series I have ever seen. The best part - "All I want to be is a catcher in the rye and not just another phony like everyone else" like Holden says to his sister Phoebe. Awesome!


4. Tyler Durden: Brad Pitt at his perfection, but Pitt isn't why Durden is an important influence to me. The stoicism and philosophy Tyler represents what I would like to be. "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." is what sticks. I would highly recommend you watch Fight Club for a better understanding. :)


5. Ross Geller: The geek from Friends. No descriptions, but he has affected me quite a bit. And of course, Science Boy! \m/


6. Bruce Wayne: Typical super-hero inspiration, you might say. But then, there is something very different from any other super-hero. Ever realized that Wayne had no super-powers like the other super-heroes?? All Wayne does is making use of science and technology to get his powers. Wayne teaches me that hard-work and innovation can get you accolades which are usually assumed.


7. Severus Snape: Forget the superb revelations of the real role of Snape in the Deathly Hallows, he was my all time favorite right from the first book. His stoic attitude and the best part, keeping secrets is what touches me :).


List out yours too! :)


P.S.: Feels good to have nothing blabbered at the beginning and the end, right? :)

I, Blog.

Hi everyone! I am the blog writing. No, this time, I have decided to take things into my own hands instead of leaving them for Munaf to sort out. He is such a geek and believes that, if a blog is good, it simply finds acceptance without any efforts on the author's part. Well, duh! I have had enough of this goody-two-shoes attitude on his part. Let's face it, publicizing anything is almost as important as making it good. Hope Munaf realizes this soon. And coming to taking things into m own hands, let me tell you what is important for my kind (blogs, of course). First thing is, of course, readership. More we are read, more we enjoy. But, the story doesn't end there (yeah, you wish!). A blog is a very complicated entity, so to say. We have feelings too. When a person rates a post, we feel proud of our author. When someone comments on a post, it is all the more special for us, because we get to get several points of view rather than the monotonous POVs of our author. When someone follows us, it is even more elating, just because then, we know someone cares for all this *replace with word meaning non-sense* (I'm no Munaf, see... :P) our author has to put up.

Now, that's out of the way, I'll give you what you came for. You all read the posts I host (wow, I'm a poet and didn't even know it! :P). Did you know that, posting a comment takes just about a minute of your time? Now, don't tell me you don't even have that kind of time, I see Munaf and can surmise how jobless his readers can be. (Munaf's gonna kill me if he sees this, he respects his readers a lot, you know...) Do you know how much a comment can mean to the blog and may be even to the author? A lot! If you really like Munaf's posts, please make sure you comment. I cannot, of course, judge Munaf's writings, but then, the few comments he gets tell me he's not so abysmal as I thought. You know, a minute of writing a comment can encourage the author to write better and thus, it makes me look good too :P. Then, following. I, of all people (or should I say things? :P) know how many readers I get in any given period of time and most of them are returning (yeah, I know that too.), If you are so interested in my author's writings, why don't you just follow me. If you use Google Reader, new posts I host will be updated almost immediately and anyway, shouldn't you be showing your support for Mr. Shaik when he, I'm sure, he gives you a couple of laughs at the very least :). Now, all you need to either follow or comment is a Google account and in this day and age, I'm sure no one is without one. It's just a matter of a couple of minutes and makes me look good and consequently my author, better.

Please comment and let me live. Also follow to make me look good :). And of course, try to write a blog yourself. We are still a rare race, make us ubiquitous :D. And keep enjoying my author's posts!!

Deify (or may be not)

My second post in two days. Looks like I'm on a roll, but then, let me not get over myself here. How I am doing this is, I have a folder on my system with text files named after each topic I want to write about. This list is being accumulated from about a couple of months (ever since I got this machine..) and I haven't worked on them until yesterday. Alright, none of your business, right? I know. but then, it feels good to be sharing these things with friends. :) Well, I named this text file deify and hope the title stays the same at the end too. Just a declaration :). Anyway, I am enjoying the first few days of my holidays very much, what with nothing and yet, everything to do. Why, just today, I enquired for a course to learn Spanish and was astounded by the exorbitant price and decided to download one instead. Typical Indian, you might say, but then, lack of resources and the exorbitant price makes me do that, Fine, jokes apart, what is this post about? Well, this is something we see virtually everyday. I'll barge into the post, because one of my friends (and avid reader of this blog) doesn't apparently like my dragging on the first few paragraphs of each post.

You might have seen people praising people. That's pretty common, I am not saying praising people is bad. But sometimes, what happens is, people just deify (I don't know a more superlative word for this...) their peers (yes, I forgot to mention this, just peers and I'm gonna make an elaborate argument stating how everyone is a peer. :)). Fine, let me start off with some building statements. Everyone is equal. People who have achieved something have done so just because they have worked hard on it. Having said that, I'd like to play a bit with the borderlines of religion here. Let me state some more things here. God does not play cricket. God has (most probably) better things to do than making you laugh by enacting a bit as your favorite comedian. God does not get a paltry 10 Lakhs per annum package for a job. And there are many more things on those lines. I have seen people (quite many around me) compare people especially peers with God. Let me stop being religious here. Let's face it, Sachin is not God. (A post on my views on games and stuff might be just around the corner) (this is just an example, no offence to you hardcore fans) This has become a common practice, at least I believe, in the recent past. Let me move away from this, you may prefer to call celebs whatever you like, but let me get to my point.

Fine, coming to peers. A guy gets a good score on a test, or may be a fine placement, I dunno why some of us are compelled to deify the person. He may be whatever he/she is, but then let me put some perspective here. Did you ever notice that, by deifying a peer of yours, you are simply creating delusions to yourself that you are a good-for-nothing person? A person may deserve praise, I'm all for it. But do that in a way that is not pretentious and constructive to yourself too. For instance, call the person up, talk to them and congratulate on the achievement. I don't see any reason why a successful person needs to be deified. Get inspired, yes, but there is no reason to deify the person and least of all to tell the person himself/herself. You know, your peer probably got to be good just because he worked hard to get there, so just simply let him be and for once, be selfish. Being a guy who thinks a looooot, I know what kind of effect deifying people has on your own efforts and may be even you levels of confidence. So, simple solution - do not deify. May be revere, may be just respect, but deifying is completely not in the same league. And about everyone being peers, this is not the right place for it. May be another post :). But thing is, I haven;t thought out this whole post a lot, I must be better prepared for future posts :).

Ok, almost sleep-time, I'll leave it here. I think I have made a statement of sorts with this and my previous posts. I have my own thought process and ideas and for all I know, they might be as twisted as a mobius strip. What I actaully want to do using this medium is - urge readers to think about these topics and build their own opinions. I shall never rub my personal thought process on anyone at all. *batting eye-lids* :)

And of course, the disclaimer at the end of the last post applies here too :). By the way, I lost all my ":P"s if you haven't noticed. :)

Nighty Night!!

P.S.: Please give your opinions too in the comments section :)

Chapters

Alright, end of exam season and finally, I am almost an Engineer, just waiting for the results and my convocation. Actually, I've decided not to make any promises about the frequency of posts coming about this season of the blog (yeah, right, I like to call them seasons :P). Anyway, let me start off by giving out my current state of mind. Well, people around me are all acting so mature and grown-up, no one (except a couple of them...) is fooling around, people are going around Visa offices and keeping their fingers crossed about their MBA entrance results (not you mama, you're handling it very well... :P) and here I am, just sitting and planning on going abroad in he coming Spring. Actually, there is not much planning, it's almost all set. Anyway, at least, I now have the gift of time. Sounds a bit too sanguine, but then, it pays, You know, I now have new and improved (how can something be new and improved? Don't ask me. :P). respect for the Uncertainty Principle. No comments about that, find out and assume things at the link on this blog. Gift of time. A lot of things that can be done and a couple of things that must be done along with the one thing that gave me this break in the first place. Of course, I am now totally enjoying the 64-bit Ubuntu Lucid and loving messing around with people and computers as usual. Well, what is this post about? The age old question. Well, this is a timeless post. It is at the same time about the past, the present and the future, Kind of oxymoron-ic, no? (Pardon my Indian touch to my English, I'm trying to lose it. :P and I shall try to lose the ":P"s too :)) But of course, let me get into the post.

Well, this post is coming mainly from my experiences. Also, the timing for the post is also kinda perfect because I have just completed one of the most important and enjoyable things I ever did. Nothing so mystic though, it is just my Engineering. Come to think of it, it has become so ubiquitous at least in our part of the country. Actually, I don't feel any different after finishing it. No, I just don't have to worry about not caring for important things. I'll be honest, at least here. I will definitely miss those days, but then, it's not like I'm moving to anything less fun than this. No elucidating here, mainly due to FUD regarding TUP (don't even ask!). Anyway, I'd rather have my peers see the change as a positive thing, mainly due to the development each of is most likely about to see in the near future. Most of us are now gonna get paid, for crying out loud! I'm digressing here, looks like the long stint away from writing has done no wonders to my writing skills (much like my project did not to my confidence, but then, that is a whole other story altogether...). Damn, another lengthy paragraph and I have not stated anything that is not obvious! I gotta pull up my gig now.

Let me start with a for-instance. Let us say you have a life decision to make that is certainly going to have you relocate (for want of a better word...) to a new place. Now the question I pose is not such a difficult one, in that, first of all, it is not even a question so much as a matter of opinion. So, in this situation, would you prefer to have a good friend of yours (at least an acquaintance for that matter...) and continue your life, so to say. Or, simply don't even care whether or not anyone you know is at the new place in hopes that, you can start afresh, so to say. Now, I have not been so articulate in the above few lines, but I hope you got what I meant. Now, here cometh my take.

First things first, I metaphor-ize my life as a set of short-stories. One story ends, the other one begins, and of course both stories need not correlate in the least. But, morals and lessons learnt from the precious stories always find use in making decisions in the next story. In simple words, I like to have a fresh beginning each time I take a turn in my life. No, I'm not talking about ditching my old friends and go finding new ones. Old friends are important but then, they have their own _things_. Time for elucidation. See, I make mistakes and have flaws in each stage of my life, like anyone else. Old friends have the incorrigible habit of nagging on these subjects even though the things happened like ages ago. That's just one side of the coin. Old friends aside, it is also important to bury the skeletons you have in your closet, right? (totally figurative, I have no real skeletons in my closet, you can come and check!) A new place for me, is usually a way to clean my slate and start building a new life for myself. I have done this about 4 times now and have loved the way things have turned out. You know, you usually get to live your fantasy. Tell tehm you were Superman and you are golden! :) That does it, huh? Well, of course, that's just me, trying to bury the skeletons in my closet in any possible twisted manner and living out fantasies. Well, doing this has its downsides too. you need to be patient at the start of each story and by the end of the story you have new skeletons in your closet (I'm using this a bit too much). So, after this part of my life I called Engineering, I will most likely start a new story. This is just my preference. If I had no choice, this chapter would continue for a little more time.

Fine, this was probably one of the not-good posts, but you gotta know I've been away from this for quite many days and this is just like a warm up post. Don't stop reading the blog just because of this post!

Write your own stories. And live your fantasies like you want, because life is too long to be a single chapter, better break it up into chapters. :) :) :)

Almost...

Back, as y'all can see! (read this in a southern accent.. :P). No, it's okay if you haven't, really! I don't want to be imposing such silly things on my blog's readers, I respect y'all. Anyway, as a few of you might know, my birthday is just round the corner, and the most important thing about this b'day of mine, is that, I'm gonna turn 21 tomorrow! If you are not able to get the picure to the right, think Blackjack. :P.


People tell me 21 is an important age to cross. I don't see why, though. Thing is, I believe that, birthdays are over-rated. True, it is a red-letter day in many people's life, but then, it's not like you have personally achieved something by being born. anyway, 21 s a bit different, you are completely considered an adult once you become 21, and people expect some maturity from you. It's kinda like a stream, once you cross it, the things you've left behind seem too far away and you start finding new avenues altogether. Wow, I never knew I could make such metaphors - maturity, see :P. Be practical, celebrate the day you indeed achieve something. Alright, let me indulge myself a little before my birthday. If life were a game of Blackjack, I would be hitting the spot tomorrow :P. And it's gonna be all bust after that, no? :P Anyway, it has been fun to be on the winning side of Blackjack. And now, I'm off the eplore what's good after 21! I would like to put in words what I have been for the past almost 21 years.


Let me start off with something I am good at. 


I am almost versatile with computers.
I am almost a good orator.
I am almost the best in thinking.
I am almost good at writing.
I can understand almost everything. (as in concepts, not languages.)
I can spend almost all my time on social networking site.
I almost have a job.
I have almost made it to some of the good universities in the US.
I have almost completed my graduation.
I have almost achieved Ubuntu (not the Linux distro, the African philosophy.)
I have almost understood the inner workings of human minds..
I have almost understood social ethics and cultures.
I have almost a good understanding of the current zeitgeist around me.
I have almost found out the secret of happiness. (I have understood it, but am unable to put it in words. :))
I have almost mastered Linux.
I have almost done nothing.
On the other hand, I have almost done everything.
I have been almost the best person I can be.




Finally, I am now, Almost 21!




P.S.: First things first, i don't mind if people don't wish me on my birthday (even I don't so much care about wishing others on theirs...). Please don't make it a big deal about calling me up and wishing me. Another thing, if you were to call me, don't durng 9:30 to 13:00, I have an exam tomorrow (ironic, I know :P). All the best to me! :D :D

G for Genius!

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.    - Arthur Schopenhauer

Alright! Call it the effect of the bloggers' meet yesterday or something, I suddenly get the mood to write regularly (yeah, I call two posts in 2 consequent days regular :P). Anyway, it's been nice - going through peoples' blogs and finding some excellent work done by each of them. Kudos to y'all!! And of course, keep the good work going!!

So, another post. The title might suggest something about Parle-G biscuits, but no! This ain't got anything to do with any confectionery or something on those lines. I literally mean G for Genius as the title. Well, this is about Genius. Have you ever wondered how generously we use the adjective? I've been thinking for a while now and the answer is not good. Let me illustrate what I'm trying to say here. If a person gets more marks than you - genius. If someone can answer something esoteric you have no idea about - genius. If someone discovers something, however insignificant, - genius. B the W, I'm watching the DC match and hope we recover soon and make like a 180 runs. Fingers Xed on that area. :).  OK, genius, huh?? I simply don't like people call just anyone that. This post is where I try to describe what genius actually means to me. So, when you're around me, try to adhere to these rules before tagging someone a genius :P.

I draw upon a little bit of tutelage from Roger Penrose (author of A Road to Reality). I believe that, some things simply exist - in kind of a Platonic sense of existence (please don't ask me more about this. :P). Well, anyway, the thing about such things is, they are just there. It is not like the person who uncovers them is doing a great act in trying to find something that is already there. (Refer Mandelbrot plots here, they simply existed, like forever and Mandelbrot was just he person to uncover the underlying beauty...) With all due respect to all the great inventors and discoverers, most of them aren't anything close to genius. They might have been intelligent and persevering hard-workers, but genius, I don't think so! 

Let me give you some examples of people who are in my view, tagged genius rather liberally. The first, may be the oldest - the wheel. We all larn that the wheel was tone of the most ingenious inventions. But, on second thought, it is kind of obvious. Let us say Mr.X (or may be Ms. X, for all non-sexists like me...) invented the wheel. The fact of the matter remains that, eventually, someone would stumble upon the idea to make a circular thing. Same goes for Aryabhatta, who is credited with the "invention" of zero. Come on people! Definitely, i wouldn;t tag Aryabhatta a genius, if not him, someone, somewhere might definitely have stumbled upon the idea of having a number which had no value (tell me about it, Indians have a knack at these things - we like getting things for free, right?) Then there is the probably the biggest speculator of all time - Sir Newton. Gravity, they tell me, makes him a genius. But think about it twice,the idea of gravity can be attributed mainly to his being in the right place at the right time. So, I'm sure I made my point clear here, as to what kind of people do not qualify for the tag of genius.

Now, the obvious question. Who is a genius? I'll try my best to put my idea in good words here. A genius is a person, whose ideas and maybe inventions affect the world in such a way that - when the later generations look at the ideas, they go like what the heck was this fellow thinking? How the hell could anyone get this vague an idea. In simple words, the idea should be simple but so out-of-the-world that, no one would think about it unless they go mad. Like someone says, Genius is just another level of insanity, :P. Anyway, time for examples. The first one that comes to mind is Nikola Tesla. The man single-handedly formulated wireless communication (you might say Marconi did that, but the patent for Radio was later corrected to Tesla's name in 1943), the AC motor, Alternating Current itself and wireless electricity (not one of his successful ventures, I'd say...). Da Vinci is another. Then there are several authors who get into this category of genius-ness. Shakespeare, Tolkein, Milton, Crichton, Clarke and many others. Then there are mathematicians - Hawking, Penrose, Feynman, and how can I forget Einstein. Then there is the person who got the idea of a microprocessor - there wasn't anything analogous to that in earlier times, was there? Also on the list would be Page/Brin for Google and Zuckerberg for Facebook. And of course, Tim Berners Lee for the Internet!

Alright then, I take leave! Please don;t call undeserving people genius, for me at least. :P. And for any disputes, please refer to the disclaimer under the title of the blog. :D. Finally, i think it is important to draw a proper line between genius and geek.

Keep Rocking!!

Hyderabad IndiBlogger Meet!

Finally, I found some kind of inspiration to get back to blogging. Each time I've been trying to post something, I was getting bored and started doing something else. It was the interaction I had with about 150 bloggers that gave me the get-go again. Thanks you all!!

Coming to the bloggers' meet, well, this was my first one ever!! I was kind of stylishly late :P. I arrived like half an hour late and people had already started introducing themselves (30 Seconds of Fame). I went on and sat down in one of the back rows. There were several interesting people whose blogs I'm surely gonna visit (some I've already done...). The response was really overwhelming. And yeah, why was I late, again? I had to blow my farewell party thrown by my Juniors. But, I'm sure, that couldn't have been better than this. Now, coming to my 30 Seconds of Fame, as usual, i was the same old afraid-of-the-crowd Munaf. I blabbered off something and later realized I hadn't said anything I had planned to :D. Alright next came the funny part of the meet.

We were all handed a chart and a sketch pen (we weren't told why, at first). This part was called Live and Let Comment. Weel, we were asked to hang the sheet around our necks and go around socializing with people and let them comment, give their blog address etc on the sheet of paper. It was fun! Foound and met a lot of interesting people here. Then came the quiz.

Well, let me be honest! Despite the quiz-master's saying that the questions would not be esoteric, I felt them to be. It was probably because I have been active on the Internet only for about 3 years now. (There were people very much older than me, internet wise :P). No, I wont touch upon the questions! I simply cannot recollect them as of now.

Then there was the exciting part - food! Just kidding. It was a decent enough tea and some time fo mingling with the co-bloggers (in search of a better term).

Then there was this session to discuss about forming a Hyderabad Bloggers Forum and it went pretty well with some people offering to host the website and everyone coming up with names. 

Then, there was a group photo session - which was great fun in itself. :).

What I observed there was, there were people literally from every walk of life. Of course, the majority were students/IT Professionals. There were many IT Professionals from biggie companies like ex-Google/IBM, Microsoft, TCS, Satyam and some even had their own firms.

All in all, it was a real fetching experience for me!! If you ever get a chance to attend one, don't ever leave it!!!

Thank you all for making my day!!

P.S.: For more details on the meet, go to http://www.indiblogger.in/bloggermeet.php?id=70

My Favorite words! :)

Back again! What have I been up to? Well, I've been busy with my project (yeah, like you'd believe that :P), looking for the best laptop for me and South Park (you read it right...I love it!!). Well, this post as the title goes, is just another list. This time a list of some of, yes just some of my favorite words. How I compiled the list is an interesting story though...For a week now, I've been thinking about it and each time a word I like pops up in my mind, I just note it down in a draft SMS and move on. It has been quite a task to recollect words and noting them...Alright, how am I going to give the list this time? Well, first is of course the word, no, I won't give it's meaning here, you can use your own dictionary :P, and then why I like the word. For some of the words I like I don't even have a reason to like, simply idiosyncratic, I guess :)

The list goes like this...

cliché - the word simply sounds good to me. I also like the meaning.

bohemian - the meaning of this word is something I can relate to. 

onomatopoeia - the word sounds funny, don't you agree? The meaning is a bit funny too. :D

utopia - a bit like bohemian, both these words give me the goosebumps each time I come across them.

assimilate - no reason, I simply cannot fathom why I like the word so much.

omniscient - something I aspire to be, and hence like. :D

sanguine - again, something I usually am.

instigate - No reason.

nostalgia - Obvious reason, the meaning.

idiosyncrasy - Something I believe is very important for everyone. Ironic, ain't it?

hypocrite - I hate hypocrites, but the word, I like. :P

charlatan - A funny word with a funny sound.

rain-maker - the meaning. I'd like to be one for myself one day.

silhouette - funny word.

connoisseur - something I am a little but try to be the best one.

mademoiselle - the sound of it. It sounds so refined and smooth.

paranoia - ha ha.

innuendo - the sound and meaning.

insinuation - meaning.

And why do you need to know this? I have no idea myself!

Anyway, try South Park sometime, I'm sure you'll enjoy all the wry humor and the hidden insinuations. 

Adios!

There and back again!

What a series of events it has been! I'm talking about the placement session conducted by Infosys Technologies in our college. Well, a hectic day, of course. I'd like to share my experience of the day through this post. Most of the conversations (including the interview) are verbatim and a few are paraphrased to convey the same meaning only because I don't remember the exact wording. Fine, let's set the ball rolling, but first, a few disclaimers. If I sound gloaty at any point during this post, it is just out of momentary elation. No offense to anyone. This post has been in the making for over 4 days now (I'm editing the number at the end of each passing day...)(I started writing on Feb the 2nd).


The conventions:


These are the words spoken by someone else.


These are my thoughts.


There are my actual words.

Feb 1, IST 0600 Hrs - Location: Home

I woke up and freshened up. I had a perfectly dorky pair of pants and slightly less dorky shirt ready to be worn to the college that day, not to mention, a perfectly dorky pair of shoes too. (No more details about clothing. :P). Anyway, to keep the shirt from getting a full one on the road, I wore my jacket too, which I might add, added a lot of physical weight in my bag on me later in the day. Well, no breakfast on that day - all I wanted was to be on time in the college.

Feb 1, IST 0815 Hrs - Location: Ghulam Ahmed Auditorium

In Ghulam Ahmed Hall -  the seminar hall where the pre-placement talk was about to take place. On a separate note, the reason given by our placement cell for the lateness of the Placements was that, this hall was under renovation. I don't think there could've been a lamer excuse. Let's continue. There I was, going through my Resume, and trying to recollect what I actually did during the past 3 and a half years. It included me being a(n Active) member of the IEEE Student Chapter of my college and such stuff that you can only put on a Resume.


Thus started the pre-placement talk by one of the HR Managers from Infy (easier to type, you see... :P). He started telling us about the history, present and features of Infy in excruciating detail (much like what I'm doing now... :P). This ended about an hour later and we were all fleeted off to the classrooms where the Aptitude Test was to be conducted.


Feb 1, IST 1040 Hrs - Location: Room No. 5406, Block 5, MJCET


Seated in the Exam Center (just another of our classrooms...). The skinny guy who was standing on the dais was supposed to be the invigilator. He was giving all kinds of instructions about how to fill in the forms supplied to us. C'mon, when's this gonna end, huh? We were instructed as if we were kids, let's move on. The funniest thing he told us was : "Please write in capslock!". I laughed out at that. Fine, the test ended without many events, not for me at least.


Feb 1, IST 1200 Hrs - Location: MJCET Front Canteen


Post the exam. My room was apparently the first one to start (and thereby end) the test. I had to wait for about 30 minutes for all of my friends to be out of their respective "Exam Halls". Our regular hang out: under the big tree (I dunno what kind it is...) in front of the front canteen in our college. Well, you can imagine how hungry I must've been mainly because of no breakfast. We got like a hundred samosas each (not literally... :P) and a couple of Pepsi pets and had a blast. Everyone was discussing the paper and speculating whether or not they would clear the paper. I was saying the very words that'd become my war-cry for the day: "No comments on my performance until I see the end result. :|" (And why, you might ask. Refer to The Uncertainty Principle). We saw virtually everthing you can see before an interview. One of my classmates was learning by-heart the answers he'd give to the HR Manager. Another was getting fresh copies of his Resume. We? We were just trying to pass time by laughing at people and cutting some of the most clichéd of our jokes.


IST 1400 Hrs - Location: Ghulam Ahmed Auditorium


The D-Time. The results of the aptitude test were due at 1330 Hrs but as usual, the timeline got blown. We were all seated in the auditorium and expecting something like the results being pasted as a sheet on the walls or something like that. But to our surprise and horror, the Placements Officer started calling out names of people who cleared the first round.


Fine, please keep quiet!! I have here a list of people who cleared the aptitude test. It is a partial list and whoever's name has been called must go and stand  in the back. And keep your clapping for later.


Yeah, he's punishing the people who got through the aptitude test! :P


Then he started calling out the names in the first list - some 30-35 people I guess. I guess, because, my heart was in my throat looking to see if my name was on the list. There wasn't even a proper order (like department wise etc.) and it was a hair-raising thriller of a list. At the end of the list only two of my group went over to the interviews. I was all like, damn! I didn't get through. Then, about half an hour later came the second and apparently the final list.


OK, I have the final list here with me. The total number of candidates who qualified is 125. just a hundred and twenty five?!?!? Damn, the cut-off must've been hideously high. Fingers crossed, let's hope we get through. I'll read out the names and please go stand in the back.
...
...
...
4095 Munaf Hussain Shaik (My actual roll number is 4094) Did he say 4095?!?!?! But he called my name right? Can I go to the back?
...
...


Feb 1, IST 1440 Hrs - Location: In the back


There I was, finally clear of the aptitude test. All around me, people were taking out neck-ties out of their pockets and bags and I dunno where else (much akin to the magic tricks :P). Why did I not wear a tie? Well, my neck was too thick to put the top button of my shirt, that was the major reason. Either ways, I wasn't going to try something so new that day mostly because I was not used to carry a tie. Well, still confused about the discrepancy in the roll number, I left the hall for the 6th floor of Block 5, MJCET.


Feb 1, IST 1530 Hrs - Location: Room No. Something, 6th Floor, Block 5, MJCET


A total of about 125 people crammed into a single room (at least, that was what I thought at first glance.). There were actually two rooms for all of us. Going there, I found that a batch of people had been cattled away for the interviews. And the group consisted of the two friends of mine who were called in the "first list". My hands were all cold, and sweaty, I dunno why. Whatever one might say, getting a decent placement was my last ditch fall-back. For a last ditch fall-back, I was taking it a tad too seriously. Anyway, I was soon quarantined by taking me and seating about 20 of us in the adjacent room. The organizing guys had our aptitude test papers in their hands and one couldn't resist the temptation to try and find out how many one had scored. But, talk about being super secretive, these people were hiding the paper as if they were some national security issue. End of the wait and the 20 of us were guided out and to the next level.


Feb 1, IST 1620 Hrs - Location: Room No. 5402, Block 5, MJCET


Well, it ain't easy to be ready for your first time (yes, pun intended :P). This was the very first time in my life that I was gonna take on some real HR guy face to face. The preceding hour or something is just hell. And when I was heading to be seated in my room, one of the guys of the first list (my friend) was just out of the interview.


Kaisa gaya re?? (How'd it go??)


Dum tha baap!! (Was a pain!)


Kya puchra?? (What's he asking??)


Pura Resume pe ich puchra. Mereku project and mini project ke baare me dum kara. (He's just sticking to the Resume. He asked me a lot about my projects and mini-projects.)


I was freaked! Damn! My Resume was something I wasn't prepared to talk about. But then, there is only so much you can do when you know there's very little time left for the interview. I went and got seated in the second bench and there was this talkative guy. If there's something in this world that freaks me out before I'm gonna give an interview, it is people who like to hear themselves speak. He was seated beside this friend of mine.


...what are those things on CDs called? Those round things. I know they are called something, what?
Sectors. They are called sectors.
Yeah, right!! I'm totally surprised at my clearing the aptitude test. Like I wanna know that. The verbal section was out of this world. It wasn't for me. (not sarcastic). Especially for me because I did not write any competitive exam, ever.
He was looking back at my Resume.
You are Munaf Hussain? Your aptitude is high, is it? What the hell are you talking about?? Hey, you guys said you looked up answers from someone, right? Who was it?? (Directed towards my friend, the one beside him. For which he said someone else's name). Yeah, I have a **** on my GRE and a *** on my TOEFL, I'm sure I could be the guy with the high aptitude.
There we are sitting and everyone else save about 4 of us are being called to submit their Resumes, Certs and stuff. The only ones left are me, the talkative guy, one of my classmates, and a stranger in some real contrasting pair of clothes. Then the talkative guy walks out and comes back in a few minutes.


I just went and talked to one of the organizers and requested to send me to an easy HR. I'm real freaked out. Hope he obliges to my request.
Why would you ever do that??


Then, finally, the talkative guy was called and was interviewed for a long time, i guess. Then I was called along with the classmate of mine. We were both made to wait in the corridors and were instructed not to make a peep (as in a sound.. :P).


Feb 1, IST 1710 Hrs - Location: Floor 4 , Block 5 , MJCET


Well, both of us waiting and then comes the guy to collect our Resumes. He staples the Resume to the aptitude test paper and I try to steal a glance for my score, but it's hard. Then, he calls on the guy with me and takes him into one of the interview rooms. I'm all alone in the corridor and all the HRs are busy taking interviews. I get taken to the 2nd room and wait there for about 10 minutes. Then, out comes the talkative guy from the room across the one I'm waiting at. He's all smiles. Hope I get out all smiles too. 


I get called over to the same room as the talkative guy came out of. The HR is busy on his phone and I'm told to wait outside. Wow! This must be the easy HR guy. Let's not get too cocky and keep cool. The HR is literally shouting into the phone and I'm like Speak into the phone, dude. I'm sure the guy on the other side can hear you either ways, though. And after about 10 people walking past me to the waiting room and 10 more painful minutes during which time I noticed I had sweaty palms and cold hands, I was told to get in. I had wiped my palms on my shirt and gotten them dry by that time.


Feb 1, IST 1730 Hrs - Location: Room No. 5401, Block 5, MJCET


I enter. The HR is still busy on the phone - he's literally shouting at the person on the other end.


Good Evening sir. He nods and offers me his hand. Haath kya dera miyan? (Why are you giving me your hand?) I wasn't gonna shake hands but there's hardly anything you can do when he offers his hand. I give him a firm hand-shake and May I sit, sir? He nods again and I get seated. The arrangement is as far as you can get from the ideal interview arrangement. Two benches (yes, the ones we sit on in classes) are placed face to face. Damn! Now he can totally see my body language. Gotta be cool and stick to the basics.


At long last, he hangs up on the phone. He picks up my set of papers (Application, Aptitude test answer sheet and my Resume.) and goes through what seems like each and every word. 


Kitta padtha bhai, bas hai. kuch tho bi puch. (How much'll you read dude. Ask something) Ab puchta dekho "Tell me about yourself." bolke. (Now, he's gonna ask me "Tell me about yourself."). I wasn't so prepared to take that question though.
What did you learn at this Defense Electronics Seminar? 
Damn! I did not know he would ask this!! 
I learned about the various communication protocols used in the military and other things such as unmanned vehicles and stuff (I actually said stuff :P).
Where do you think all those things can be used? 
When I join the Army! Well, there wasn't much new to learn there sir. Those were the protocols that are already being used in the military. They are tried and tested.
That's fine. What do you want to do using this knowledge? 
I'd rather not have attended that damn seminar! I didn't even pay much attention there. Due to their stable nature, I'd like to make use of those protocols and systems in regular civilian systems and make life simpler for people. He kept asking for more - aan, aan...Aur kitta bolna chicha...itta bola, bas nai hai? (How much more do you expect me to explain? I've said enough.) I just kept quiet.
OK, tell me about your final year project. I did. These details are pretty gore and I'd rather not put them here. But, I somehow managed to convince him that it wasn't the worst project in the world.
Hmm...what did you do in these events er, Adsophos and others? Don't tell me what you were supposed to do, tell me what you actually did. 
Apan kabhi kuch kare? (When did we ever do something??) 
I organized a quiz when in my 3rd year and did itto my satisfaction. I also organized a er, what was the event? (I actually asked the question!) yeah, a hardware design contest. 
What do you mean - to your satisfaction? 
Aisich bhauth bolthe bhai....lite lena. (We say all these sort of things dude, don't hang on to them.)
Well, er, the turn up was good and I managed to conduct the event without any goof-ups. 
Why do you think the turn-up was high? 
It wasn't, dude. I'm just faking. Well, i guess it was probably because of the catchy posters I designed. 
Tell me something catchy from those posters. 
There was nothing catchy to tell from those posters sir, I said they looked catchy. 
Oh, OK. How do you know the posters were catchy? 
The turn-up mostly, and I even asked a couple of participants as to why they chose this event, and got a similar feedback. Yeah, like any event organizer does that. 
He was impressed and I was not complaining. 
Good. What do you mean by this? "Active" member of IEEE student chapter. What did you do as an "Active member"?? 
Arey yaar! Har koi aisich likhta! Khaali member bolke likhe tho kya acha dikhta?? (Dude, everyone writes the same, no point in writing just member.) 
As an active member, I try to make my juniors realize the beauties of real engineering. What's happening nowadays is, people join engineering just for the brand name. I strive to make them like engineering and stay on the cutting edge by joining IEEE. 
How do you do that? 
I show students interesting articles from the IEEE Spectrum magazine and try to cultivate real interest towards engineering. 
How many people have you recruited into this IEEE? 
About 50 people I guess. yeah, the total membership of IEEE in our college is about 70 and I made the chapter (sarcastic).
Good! Hmmm...Your hobbies are Reading Books, Blogging...(reading from my Resume) How many books have you read? 
Puchliya? Chal ab letun mai teri!! (Good thing you asked me. Now, I'll take a session!) 
I dunno the exact number sir, I have read a lot though. 
Give me a number. 
Ab kitte pada ki ginlethe baiththe?? (Who counts the number of books they've read?) 
I'd venture a guess at about a hundred, hundred and fifty. That is like half the books I read. 
*Wide-eyed look*. Which is your favorite book? 
There are many yaar, ab kya bolun? 
The Catcher in the Rye sir. 
What? 
I repeat. 
What do you like about that book? 
I start off...It describes the angst of a teenage boy...blah...blah...blah...Kuch samajhme tho bi aara?? (Are you even able to understand anything??) 
What was the title again? 
The catcher in the rye sir. 
Catcher?? 
Yes, sir. In the Rye. R-Y-E Rye. 
Do you have that book? 
Kaiku? Ab padinge bi tum? 
Yes, I do sir. 
OK. Do you have any questions...
Paagal hogaya? Interview kon kiska lera bhai? 
About Infosys? 
No sir, I have gone through the website and have a good idea of what to expect when I get there. Yeah, right. Like I have no other business. 
Good! You may go, thank you. 
Mereku thanks kaiku bolra bhai?? (Why are you thanking me??) 
Thank you sir.


At the end, the HR was all smiles, I dunno why. I suspected that he may have seen right through me and understood that I was faking some of the stuff. We shook hands and I left, confused.


Feb 1, IST 1815 Hrs - Location: Some room on the second floor.

Here were all the people who had faced the interviews. And then came the toughest part - the wait. We were trying to ease our tensions by cracking jokes, taking pics and stuff. Then came the HR guy from Infosys, the one who gave the seminar in the morning, and gave us all a piece of his mind for making a big ruckus and apparently, we were audible even in the 5th floor. Then came the biggest surprise package. Some of us were being called for 2nd interviews. We were like, what the heck? Although I wasn't called, a friend of mine was. We were discussing all sorts of stuff, about whether or not each of us was gonna get selected and stuff and I was all like No comments on my performance until I see the end result. :|. Well, the 2nd interview calls continued until about 9 in the night and each and every one of the group was exhausted. After all, 12 hours on just a couple of samosas isn't so easy :P.


Feb 1, IST 2150 Hrs - Location: the same room.


In came the head HR and our Placement Officer. The HR had the "list" in his hands. He started off.


Okay, it was a tiresome day for all of us. Let us get it over with. I have here the list of selected candidates. Please keep your cheers, claps and celebrations for later.


And the list came to an end with a total of 77 people (technically). My name wasn't called and I was a teeny bit dejected. One of my friends was also not selected.


Now, I want all the Infoscions to stay here and all the best for all of you others for other placements. And some stuff about joining Infosys later.


We made it to the parking lot and went home and left all our friends to celebrate. I wasn't so dejected though, because I wasn't gonna work there anyway. And resolved never to lie in an interview and also to make some changes in my Resume.
...
...
...


Feb 3, IST 1647 Hrs - Location: Home


I was online on my Gmail mailbox and just received a mail from our Placements Officer. It said something about some lost items in the room where the result was announced. Out of sheer habit, I looked through the list of mail recipients. The list was pretty weird. All the people in the list were the ones whose names were actually called in the final announced list. My name was on that too. I was shocked. I thought "Lite, must've been some mistake." and went out with my friend. Later, i returned home and found another mail from the Placement Officer. It explicitly said:


Dear Mr. Munaf

You have been selected in Infosys campus placements


I was shocked and tried to find my Placement Officer's phone number but, couldn't. I went on Facebook and asked one of my friends if she had the number and she said: 
You are selected into Infosys. I saw the list today and your name was on it. I informed the Placement Officer and he said he'll mail you. 
I was elated. I thanked her profusely and still tried to confirm it. I only informed a couple of my closest friends and my family. Facebook status could wait - I still needed to talk to my Placements Officer and confirm. Apparently, the HR guy had skipped my name while reading out the names. I dunno how that guy can be so careless.


By the way, I'd like to thank my friend here again for taking the time to inform the Placement Officer and later, me. Thanks a lot. (I don't use names on my blog, I hope you don't mind, no offense.)




Feb 4, IST 1020 Hrs - Location: Placements Office, MJCET


I met the Placements Officer and confirmed and looked over the list too, only to find my name right on the list. I was happy again!!


Now, for those who did not make it this time. First thing: I know exactly how it feels to be so dejected. I was so for over 2 days. All I believed was that there always is something bigger and better waiting for you. All the Best!! Cheers!!




Somehow, all ended happily - Thank God!!


P.S.: Seems like I've made up for my long absence on the blog by writing this long a post :P. Now, I'm free, real free, as in freedom!!


P.P.S.: All the best to everyone attending placements!! Also people taking GATE.