Gulabi World

Playlist Test

2011-08-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

Testing html video integration

2011-07-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

Test BC 1

Test BC 2

PMP Certified

2010-02-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

When I first heard about PMP certification, I was a programmer in Wipro. It was a BIG thing to be PMP certified at that time, it STILL is. After learning traits of IT trade and working across different continents and working with people from different cultures my admiration for PMP has gone up a notch.

Early 2009 when I decided to get myself certified, I was glad I had gained valuable real-time Project Management experience which came in very handy during preparation. During my preparation I compiled links for online questions.

Below is the list, hoping it helps others to get the certification

http://www.certchamp.com/pmp-sample-questions.jsp

http://www.oliverlehmann.com/pmp-self-test/75-free-questions.htm

http://headfirstlabs.com/PMP/free_exam/

http://www.oliverlehmann.com/contents/free-downloads/175_PMP_Sample_Questions.pdf

http://www.pmstudy.com/freeresources/freeSimulatedTest.asp

http://www.pmstudy.com/chaptertestsindex.asp

http://www.pmstudy.com/enroll.asp

http://www.preparepm.com/mock1.html

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/pmp-exams/pmp_mock_exams.htm

http://pmzilla.com/pmzilla-free-pmp-tests (Free Exam Samples)

http://www.pmhub.net/ (Best Free Exam Question/prep site)

http://www.slideshare.net/trashidi/pmp-question-bank (Free 1440 Exam Samples)

http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com/

http://www.pmtests.com/packs.php

http://www.ajithn.com/login.php

http://www.ajithn.com/exam_first_pass_pmp_prep_series_test_try.php

http://www.pmtests.com/packs.php

http://www.pmconnection.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links&l_op=viewlink&cid=9

http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/5138-10878-5984293.html

http://www.centreline-solutions.com/pmp_sample_exam.html

http://certification.about.com/od/projectmanagement/a/pmp_test_whiz.htm

http://www.husonbay.com/PMI/En/PMP/exam_s.asp

http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com/

http://www.bestsamplequestions.com/pmp-sample-questions/pmp-sample-questions.html

http://www.pmhub.net/pmdigest/component/content/article/1-articles/52-free-pmp-testspmp-capm-exam-simulation

http://www.itworld2.com/pmpq1.aspx

http://www.testprepreview.com/modules/pmp.htm

http://nutek-us.com/PMP_SampleQA3.pdf

http://www.pmfinal.com/homeindiv.aspx

Indian IT Trends - FY 2009 Vs my predictions

2009-09-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Indian IT industry is till a GROWTH story in biz world. Four years ago Saurabh and I spent countless days-n-nights doing a primary research to assertain the trends in Indian IT industry for years to come. The research took us places and won accolades, now is a good time to check our predictions vis-a-vis realities today.
Indian IT Industry clocked revenues of $47 billion in FY2009. Below is summary of key points from our predictions and their validity today

Product Development: On Track. The contribution of s/w products in total revues is still minor. This is changing slowly with companies investing in Ideation, product development read; RnD & Consulting services. Indian IT had some amount of success in delivering value from Consulting Biz but this remains pre-dominantly a game for Big guns of IT - IBM, Accenture, EDS etc

Flexible Business Models: Meet Predictions. As predicted the complexity and adaptation of new business models is increasing. Customers with large & small outsourcing contracts DEMAND instant cost savings, reliable service and better usage of available resources. Recent quarters have seen customers demanding more offshore leverage to the tune of 90% delivery from offshore and max 10% onsite presence. Other business model includes revenue sharing, pay per usage, IT providers buying out service divisions of large clients with assured business deals for 10-year periods. Eg. TCS & Wipro buying out captive units of Citi in India with assured business for 10-year periods

High Growth Biz Areas : Remote Infrastrucutre Mngt. Meet Prediction Indian It companies are increasingly winning RMS deals by competing with global players. Deals won by Wipro & HCL are quite evident. This segment of biz promises domestic IT market, Wipro tech winning deals to provide services to new Telecom entrants while pushing aside IBM is a major win for Indian IT

Glad our predictions are in-line with growth of industry.

Singapore - Land of Attitude

2007-04-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

SINGAPORE VISIT - Part 1
Much awaited singapore came to a flying start, after 3 hours delay of Indian Airlines flight.from hyderabad at 2 AM in the mrng. By the time I reached singapore it was 7 AM local time...... Big swanky Changi Airport will take any traveller by surprise. Enter the airport throught the skywalk.......the immigration area is as good as any Five star hotel lobby.. in one word MINDBLOWING. The airport with 3 terminals, has a lavish shopping mall with where u can buy everything under the sun at duty free rates. Passenger facilities.....gyms, massage parlours, internet surfing, TV viewing areas( read in different languages) all these free of cost. Every cuisine can be easily found in the airport. The Changi airport integrated system is so exhaustive, any info about the airport,flights planes arrivals/departures facilites,rules etc are readily available on the website. As member of Indian IT industry, I felt proud knowing that SATYAM computers developed the whole s/w for the airport operations..... three cheers for Indian IT success.
One step out of the airport, you will be greeted by huge bays for parking and wide spreads roads...mostly empty. I took the Mass Rapit Transit System to head home. This system similar to Delhi Metro is lifeline of singaporean public transport system. Swanky trains criss crossing singapore, excellent connectivity. All along the way we can see the oppulance of singapore.
A lot of emphasis must have been given to the way the city was developed. The total area is broken into constituencies. Each constituency( similar to our streets) has integrated facilities like - primary school/high school/college/ hospitals/ malls & malls. Each area is self sufficient, people dont need to go far to get anything. Malls the size of Central in blore/hyd are present in each street not one but two three.
All public transport and other major pay and use systems work in a system called EZlink. Each individual gets a ezlink card and he tops it up with some Dollar value, he only needs to swipe at time of entry and exit in train/bus/taxi/Mac Donalds outlets(yup its accepted even there). No jhanjat of buying tickets/ monthly passes. Even to refill your card, you have ATM lined up at all prominent points. In public transport there is no on to monitor whether people are paying for the services or not. Its expected that most of them are honest......... while I was using these services, i sensed there were so many ways to go scott free and not pay for the service.......had such system been prevalent in India, god save MRT/ SMRT systems.

Citizens ( 6 million on last count) follow LAW very diligently.....The law is ruthless with anyone who is caught. More than God fearing(did i tell you 15% of population has no religion- read atheist), people there are law fearing. I came across a news article during my stay, An american citizen was found in a vandalising incident. He was put to task and given punishment in singapore inspite of US Govt interfering for him.... Thats singapore soverignity for you.
A tiny nation which has nothing on its own. Singapore produces nothing, all goods are imported from different countries of the world, processed or re-exported. The economy depends heavily on exports refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing(28%) and electronic goods(TV/chips etc). Tourism accounts for 15% of economy. Visit to any of the major retail store - Fairprice/ John Little/ Carrefour/ Cold Storage will give you description of goods imported from different parts of the world. As per a statistic less than 20% of the population consume home made food. As most of the families have working couples packed/processed food is in big demand....... I was surprised to close to 6 varities of parata - plain/butter/onion/capsicum/ palak/ assorted varities in the stores.

Main shoppting district of singapore is Orchard Street/Clarke Road and few more places. One walk down this street and I already last the count of the international label I saw 10 minutes ago.......... This street is literally flooded with shopping malls and speciality stores................. Cosmetics and Jewellery stores rule the rooost......... one Saphire was on display for all Window shoppers like me :-) at Jee Loon Way Jewellers...... on single saphire costing Sing $ 18,324/-. At a conversion rate of $1 = Rs29 , best place not to take your wife to shopping ehhehehehehhhehe.....
One thing which I realized over period of 10 days is ATTITUDE of each citizen.... A tiny nation state with a population not even half average indian metro is the financial power house of South east Asia.
Few of my experience, I was on a city tour- the guide who was of malay decent, spoken typical.....Singlish ( Mix of english and singporean dilect). When he was showing us the singapore sports school, he said.. we are producting Gold Medalists for Beijing Olympics here. I wonder even if our top coaches say such statements in any sport.
This one took me by surprise, the government was trying to devise a policy to reduce the time taken for bill clearance for private contractors working on HDB projects to improve their WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT and better CASH FLOWS. This was being discussed in the Parliament. When I further went through the news, current payment period for contractors is 15 days... the bill proposes to reduce it to 7 days..... Such things can't even be imagines in India.
This is the best which Indian beurocracy would want, but only the first part :-). Salaries of Government employees have to be raised by a whooping 56% from the next financial year onwards.......heavy debate in parliament. The reason PM has given is to sustain our economic growth we need strong/smart/efficient and HONEST civil servants and Ministers. To ensure we attract the best, we need to pay them on par with Private sector salaries in Sunrise industries........Superb way of getting things done.This explains why singapore is among the top ten cleanest from corruption in Transparency Index...........
One for MBA fundu...... I understand the concept of Vision(Kotler) - Big adacious blah blah something goal.
A retail store - FairPrice has this Vision - To be Singapore's Leading World-Class Retailer with a Heart. We wish to moderate the cost of living in Singapore through our cost effective Retail Operations. Few Facts about Singapore:
1. Rainfall supplies approximately 50% of Singapore's water needs :-)

2. Singapore does recruitment soldiers from Nepal ????? Gurkha Regiment again

3. The government is encouraging Singaporeans to have more children through the provision of financial incentives for the first to fourth child of each family. Total Births in 2006 - 37,600

4. All constructions in singapore are done by Housing Development Board -HDB

5. Salary of a civil servant in the grade similar to IAS officer is Sing $1.1 million per year. Spore PM earns Sing $3.4 million which is more than George Bush salary

6. Indians for 15% of the population

7. Foreign reserve of S$212 billion (US$139 billion).Area 699 sq. kms

8. Spore army gets trained in Malaysia/Taiwan/China/Australia/New Zealand. Except the mandatory Militry training for Men above 20 years every other training happens abroad.

9. Every year singapore men go to compulasory militry duties for 2 months. During this time the company you work for will pay half you salary and government the other half

10.Density of population is 6208/sq km.

11.Spore crime rate is very low... Biggest threat they face is hold your breath - Cycle theft...:-) The cost of installing GPS on cycle is more than the cycle cost so they are finding a better way to stop thefts.

12.Govt discourages you from using private transport like Cars. They have a heavy 300% tax on the base costs. Inspite of this you see many cars on road.

13.100000 taxi's operate and best part all of them are government controlled.

14.Govt owns each and every major business in singapore through its Govt Linked companies - Tamasek is the prominant one

15. Little India and China town are the only ethnic places in Spore.

16. Democractic nation with multi-party system, but only one party is in power for past 45 years. Country had only 3 PM's till date.

B-School Jargon saves the Day

2007-04-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

Remember all the presentation n class lecture, where we made the Bull $hit bingo matrix……. Who completes the matrix faster with all the jargon we learnt in B school.

Last Thursday, I had a client visit in my office Sr. VP level who heads entire America ops.

She wanted to understand how things are happening on the floor and met with 7 of us from the delivery. She wanted to make notes on the issues n follow-up on them. When each one started speaking, they got into transactional level issues, which she was not interested in rather not able to connect, as expected she just shooo-off all the concerns team raised.

When my turn came, the MBA brat in me came to fore……… J. I asked her can I use the board, she gave me a good look n said ‘You May’

Picked up a marker n drew a small process flow from Business need to final delivery. Then hell broke loose.. I was at my best usage of jargon (didn’t use them for close to a year)

Business criticality of market forces for credit cards in USA,
Time to market which business wants,
Product/process viability of the offshore model we are pushing,
value add to business which we IT vendor is providing,
Knowledge management to ensure the domain knowledge is captured,
ROI on IT investment they are making,
opportunity loss if we don’t work together Client n vendor,
people mngt – cultural difference ( things like Indian’s ability to say NO to american’s when they pressurize to do more work) ,
lack of trust leading to Communication GAP( our pet theme in all case studies we did)

Post 10 minutes I was able make her take notes in her BLACK diary J.

MBA jargon saved the day for our team that day……………………… We learnt the jargon to be prepared for the Big show, it just happened I used the jargon in the big stage with the right people………….. BOARD level hahehehhehehheheh

Sundeep

Wings of Change in IT Industry

2006-11-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

2001 IT meltdown was a major blow to the industry. Critics were on the rise doughting the industries recovery and they called it the dooms day of IT in India. Fast forward six years n here we are............... New articles like these " Indian cities best for outsourcing: Survey " . We are the Player in the outsourcing game... albiet for our cheapness thats how our labour is referred to now a days.

Few interesting aspects that i noticed

1. Salaries which are being paid to individuals have grown on a continuous basis. Top four companies pay close to 2.2 lpa for a college passout. We have high end tech MNC companies paying quality talent ( which is few right now, due to our college system) anything from 8-12 lpa. This will hamper our competitiveness in the global place. On average Indian companies bill at anything from $15-25 per hour on a IT services project. China is ready to do it at $6 per hour. How are we going to manage this.

2. Companies are recruiting at pace of 20k+ per annum. This is a huge figure compared to earlier times where job openings itself was a big thing. We have abundant talent as referred by our political leaders. But sadly the industry differs with this " MS not keen on hiring fresh Indian grads". Companies now are looking for talent from tier II and III cities, catching them young is the rule of the day. College graduate get job offer in their third year of college. I remember my days of attending walk-ins in blore for a job. Most of them who get placed in college will miss all the important learning you get in a job hunt :-)

3. Quality of work has gone a sea change. We are now mostly into maintanance projects......this statemetn is debatable. To put it this way the share of actual development work in the whole business has come down. The growing monotonity of work is killing people. The ones who are in high tech services are doing niche work for global product companies the rest are lingering in lavish campuses across India. The coveted ONSITE oppurtunities are becoming rarer and tougher now................. partly the blame the offshoring model and tight visa regulations.

4. Change in attitude of companies on how they do business. Joint bidding of companies for big projects is a healthy trend. Indian biggies now stand shoulder to shoulder with IBM n Accentures of the world today. Companies are not shying off from recruiting globally and also acquiring globally. TCS is a marked example in this space, Why TCS prefers 'partner' over 'wife'. Biggest change i observe is companies are now choosy about the way they want to grow....... They are in a healthy position to say NO to global outsourcing player like GE, if it doesnt suit their strategic plans, if i can use the word.

5. Employee hire and FIRE policies have taken interesting turns. Fresh engineers are made to sign bonds for sticking to the company for one-two years depending on the value of the company can extract from you. Retaining experienced people is a major headache for any HR across IT companies. With average attrition ranging from 18-20% the cost advantage indian IT used to have is depleting fast. Companies dont hesitate to terminate employees due to non-performance even if its fresher who is not performing during the training. Read on this article at INFY

6. Now comes the best part. CPIM wants to form a Union for IT employees, they feel that the employees are jailed during their working hours and are made to work for 12 hour shifts without any over time and not being treated like humans. So much media space in West bengal today is about this. Companies fight back saying they can handle their employee welfare in a better manner

All in all feels good to see the industry grow and benefit large number of people. Every new job in IT/ ITES creates 3 new jobs in aligned services which is good for the India as a whole.

Signing off for the day............ IT coolie :-)

What am I walling in or walling out

2006-08-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

Robert Frost poem Mending Wall, last read in school. The line he recites in the poem and the state of my life/ career right now go in sink very well.He faces dilemma while building the wall with assumption that "Good fences make good neighbors." but this doesnt happen and the enimosity between neighbours persists.

The neighbours in my case is my career and my personal life. I have got into a career which I wanted for all these years. This role requires full dedication and also the challenge which its offering is just irresistable. For past three months my personal life has gone for a toss.
Events from last week have pestered me much into thinking what was i walling in or walling out. Am I loosing my personal life totally n becoming a work-a-holic. Looking at it from my side, this is the time I can put in extra efforts and prove to myself what I am capable of least to my superiors.

Delhi alumni meet, roaming with friends in kurnool streets, meeting friends after 2 years n talking to them after 4 months, though we stay in teh same city. this definitely needs to be looked into.

Again the dilemma persists....i still feel i am walling in to ensure that I will have the last laugh in my career and personal life as well. Guess what this is the dilemma for any 24 yr old guy who gets into corp world with amibition and also has the luck to get the work he wants :-)

Things Take Time - let me go by this adage for now.

Finally the Coveted Induction

2006-08-04T00:21:00.000-07:00

After months of long slogging sessions. My delivery goes into production at 2 AM on 4th august.

I take the 6 AM flight, land up in delhi. company books guest house, but they dont intimate the guesthouse. Cab fellow takes you to different guest house.

using some brain u convince the owner, to let u take bath n run to office which is just 5 minutes distance away as per someone. you end up walking for 15 minutes to reach the same.

finally i get to enter teh rom where the induction is happening.

funduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu is the feeling.

looking forward to make most of it.

Eager for the party.......... in the evening.

Hyderabad BEATS Las Vegas in Gambling

2006-07-30T02:08:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has gone to or heard of Las Vegas would call me insane.......for such a bold statement. The gambling I am talking is not for fun. This gamble which is currently on in Hyderabad is for survival.

Not sure about number but atleast a Lakh people are gambling with their lives today in hyderabad. Everyone wants to be part of the growing IT industry. Fresh engineering graduates/ people with work exp are gambilng their life here. Fresher come in search of jobs, stay in shared rooms, attend testing tools training or any other package whish is in DEMAND. I fail to understand who defines this demand. Dropping CV at every office possible in the town. Each one spends atleast close to 3 k per month apart form the training fees they pay. This is a gamble you can't miss to loose unlike in Las vegas where you have a second chance.

The riskier gamble if from so called wiser souls. People well settled in different careers want to make a killing in the ERP space. Courses on SAP/ Oracle are hot cakes. Training cost add up to 2 lakhs from a good institute and rest is history. you gamble with the exam at a short period of 26 days. once you are certified then you move on to the hunting mode. Again you gamble with fake work exp. you always run the risk of getting caught after entering job. The background checks is a IN thing in corporates now.

At end of all this what you get is one job. Whether the gamble pays off or not, no one is sure. The only dream you have is of success and this is the only thing you want to think. Stories of people keeping fake work exp for 3-5 yrs n sailing high in jobs now. But what you dont hear is double the no.of people who lost the gamble and end up in jobs which they didnt even want to think earlier.

Sad part but life still moves on..................... Luckily the gamble i took, of leaving a job n going for higher studies, has paid off well.

I wish all the ones who are still gambling with their lives to make a living not just in Hyd but in blore..... n other places. All the very Best.

@ CLIENT INTERFACING - Dream Role for Placements@

2006-07-30T01:49:00.000-07:00

" What are the oppurtunities for Client Interfacing Roles in your company?" - A question which every IT company gives diplomatic answer. I had similar expectation with my job, I only want client interfacing roles, its THE role for MBA, rest all are :-(. MBA's are smart, see how - big companies wont give you D role, so you pick up small companies which is growing. I chased one such company n the story never ended there.....

My trip to himalayas n other scenic places across country was cut short by call from HR, join us ASAP. I land up without any clue of whats in store for me. First hour in office and your senior hands you a large manual size of Oxford dictionary, haaah I can run thru it (MBA fundas), was my thought. Then came the jolt from blue, you will present our case with the CLIENT in the evening call. My joy knew no bounds the coveted interaction was just hours away. I use my MBA ka funda n get ready for the session with client.

I had no one to lean on in the call, first words from client " Hi, this is connie ". My interaction with client got off to a fine start. What else do you want, B-School grad speaking to client on a daily basis, not just talk you discuss things. Communication skills from college boost your confidence about HANDLING the CLIENT.

You get moved into multiple roles, triat of D role." Delivery Lead Offshore " for one part of the project, waaah kya baath hai. The perils of my D role show up, slowly one at a time, entertaining u at times and annoying most of the times. The client doesn't approve your plan first, it thinks we are lying around, so your plan is shrinked ( literal meaning). You try to negotiate the LoE (payment) for your efforts, you have a shocker its halfed without debate and rest is chopped after repeated brain storming. You realize how smart your client, they come up with innovative ways of pushing things on to your plate for the same WAGE.

Still your MBA has taught you, when chips are down, hang in there. Our whole team slogs to meet the fast approaching deadline, a month passes n we have no clue what we made. Day of testing your s/w - IR's pur in like monsoon in Mumbai. You end up running from team to team to fix them all. Your communication skills are a gr8 help during this. No one is as seriuos as you are on the job, reason : You are the only one who faces the CLIENT. Your manager is more than happy if you resolve the issue, without troubling him. You double up as tester/ DBA what not to bring out results( traits of D role). Hourly status calls,clients expects miracles when you dont have one. CLIENT is the last thing you want to hear, forget interact with.

Slogging sessions continue for days. Work begins at Morning IST as a regular employee n ends at Evening EST like a call centre employee:-), again thanks to B-School for the stamina. The day for delivery is 4 days away, what a pain in the back - CLIENT. Was the D role really worth it? Did I make the right choice, when most of my friends are in training and living Life.
I see a ping msg from client at 4:24 AM " Sundeep are u there?" , I dont respond for a while " Sir - I need quick answers , I cant keep waiting" .....as I collect my thoughts and my perception of D role is back.

One more challenge to face ....... Never say die attitude, One desire to beat the CLIENT professionally atleast once.

SCMHRD - Spoiled For Life

2006-04-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

Oooppppooooooos finally I get time to list down what all i did in scmhrd.The only college application i filled, while my preparation for MBA,with 100% confidence was our college. Right from written test, GD/PI I had some gut feeling that i will make it here.

I arrived in college first day. Meeting the roomates was first trist with outer world. Then started the stream of people coming into the college seeing people from all over India. I started feeling the country guy among everyone. The way people were behaving, potraying what they knew, what they are, what they could do. I was like at my best possible foolish mind then. Was just trying to analyze do I even stand a chance to compete with so many people and I was thinking of facing brightest minds in India some where far off in IIM's n rest of B schools.

First hua art of living shuru hua, I started seeing people crumbling like pack of cards slowly within the morning session. My physical fitness once again came to my rescue. I could withstand the pressure. The first class was of PPM Mr.Sane , he literally brought my spirits back when he started discussing abt the subject. I had strong foundation in general understanding of business. Then came budget session in front of director. I was the only non-commerce guy who had given his name for the team. They gave me a so called insignificant topic Export-Import policy. I was full gang ho about the topic, when my turn came I gave my best shot, to my surprise the prof ( Oke sir) as well as director were happy with my presentation. I then compared my work with others.

hahhahahhaah the husk started waning away from the grain, it was not how well I can talk or the image I have its the work I can show that mattered. Subjects just started. My first test stats paper I got 6 out og 20. I was bloody happy i atleast got some marks, then i meet our psycho our IIT saikat he scolds me like anything for gettin such marks, incidently he too scored 6 and i congratulated him. we had a tacit understanding we will screw all the buggers out there with our performance. Then we started our famed sessions on fifth floor. Daily discussin some topic on a regular basis. Things started falling in place. I could sense what my strength was n what i was not capable of. The cultural festival happenend, i was standing in every function like a kid not knowing what to do. Peole even knew english albums by heart ahhahah. I was standing between all this like an assssssssssss. One day I saw our CA babu he had a print out with lyrics of hotel california. I got some assurance I was not the only dumb ass around. All these incidents gave me courage little by little n confidence that I can make it big even here.

The only thing i used to think of all first semister was I shouldnt end up at the bottom of the batch, all efforts were to stay out of below average bracket. I never bothered abt top performers. I was very fortunate enough with people who were kind enough to share what they knew without feeling the J factor ( jealousy). I too started getting back to the group with some info in whichever way I could.
Then came the senior placement team notice asking for people who want to go to bangalore. I gave my name as appa was also going. I didnt even fancy my chances, went to the interview, i was my usaul self in what i spoke. I was selected to represent the college. This one incident gave me the much needed kick that i have something in me, i am after all not one country guy from remote place in andhra. I did some good work during that visit, we had good feedback form companies. That was the time when i started interacting with appa, learning from him how to deal with people what to speak, what not to speak. he too was kind enough to give me liberty to do things when i was with him.

During our regular humour shows of subbu's batch meets one day I raise my hands for taking the admission work up n take the biggest risk i took in SCMHRD till date. I become the Admission teams coordinator. I never kenw at that time what all learning will i get from this job n how happy will i end up due to my work. I slowly started feeling what responsibility is, what power is, people skills n last but not least humility. I was glad to get two trusted friends who never let me down all during our work Preethi n Midha. Though I had times when i had to set them right first but it was always fun working for admission. The late night work with the whole batch. small issues with batchmates weeping , crying fould , trying to lure with delicacies and many more naughty encounters. All in all convincing 20000 applicants all over India, my team and batchmates and our dear director. Every time I was able to help some applicant it gave me so much joy.

During this work one day adi(roma's crush) comes up to me at 1230 AM and tells you are leaving for blore for senior placement vist ( only two juniors me n appa were sent for it, rest all seniors) by 2 AM train. That day i realised i made my mark in the college. I was on equal footing with anyone in the college. I land up in blore on friday,do some work n saturday sunday i get the shock of my MBA. I am in IIMB festival Vista. our team had not even reached final stage in a single event. Any event we participated we were dismal last. That day i got to know what my Auquat is. Me n saurabh on that day decided next year we will make sure we screw people from IIM's it was more of a personal debacle for both of us when we lost all the events. I bought on IIMB ka T-shirt which i wear often, it always reminds me about my ability and what all i should do to compete with the best.

I finished my summers without much adu, had a very good time in office, home, delhi n also all the tirps i made during my two month stay. The learning i had in HCL was very useful in understanding where i fit myself. I realised my strength is my ability to crack people n get work done. So i was happy with my work, given the limited work company gave me. Exposure to delhi junta, culture n behaviour taught me couple of things about dealing with people.

Third semister came as a breather lots of chicks going around in college with juniors from all 3 college ahhahhahahah :-). Subjects which we took were much aligned to what i wanted to do. Me n saurabh got our focus on day one. Started to work on research paper. this was a good reward for all the pain we took to reach this stage. If i look back i feel i deserved the success which we both cherished. Placements happened later on. Not much to talk about them, just becuause of my research i got my job, i know it pretty well. I was able to convince the company only based upon my understanding of the industry n exposure i can give them. The joy was yet to come, everytime i could be of help to anyone from the batch for their job. The smile i see on their face gave me much kick than the day i got myjob.

Now i consider less worse in terms of the Ignorance scale than i was at the beginning of the course. If i look back on a scale of 10 I would rate my learnings in this campus as 100. I never thought I will be exposed to such good things, pushing myself harder, handling people across different backgrounds n not least made friends whom i can rely on. That gives me much more joy. While i leave this campus i will be one of the most happy souls walking out .
Last one month in college has been few bumpy rides with friends. Feeling of moving out of the campus is really setting in now. One more day to go for the convocation, i am then off this place for ever. Lets hope we make the most of it.

SCMHRD - Spoiled for Life.

Last HOLI in Campus

2006-03-17T09:51:00.000-08:00

Holi the festival of colors always brings with it renewed joy and ever lasting memories. In first year MBA holi was a real surprise for me, the way it happened here. Unlike back home it was much more colorful, violent and not least Joyful. everyone wears clothing expecting them not be in place by end of day and walks to the playing area.

The place for holi was behind the campus in an open field. A water tanker was pressed into service for our use. Music in a corner, bhang in other and people with colors, water raoming all around hunting for dear ones to give them a new look. Once colors are thru the real fun of mud bath starts, one after the other gets his/her turn to take the mud bath. The fun continous with it followed by a round of dance, the T-shirt tearing spree sparks off now.

The pic shows u all boys with shirts torn off. the moment we got tired we walked back to the campus. All we guys got into the hostel lift forcing ourselves.

The lift got back to us by getting stuck. We had a heartful moments till the security gaurd rescued us. The tempo was so high that we had to take the pic below even while we were stuck in the lift

This holi would be hard to forget. its the last time i played holi as a student. Long live the festival and the joy it brings with it.

My Statement of Purpose - SOP

2006-03-12T23:22:00.000-08:00

The only oppurtunity to write an SOP for me was when I applied for Rhodes India Scholarship. In my wildest dreams I did think I had a chance to be be among the final 40 students shortlisted for the interview in Bangalore. I didnt get the scholarship but that event gave me lot of self-confidence which has been driving me even today.

Hope this SOP helps other in some manner.

I hope that this essay serves as the best tool in describing myself and putting my aspirations before you and to throw light on why I am applying for Rhodes scholarship.

Presently I am in my final year of B.Tech (EEE), from GPR Engineering College, Kurnool and will graduate in May 2003. My willingness to accept certain risks and to make a strong commitment in exchange for interesting and varied work motivated me to join the Engineering stream and I was fortunate enough to get enrolled with specialization in Electrical and Electronics, which is considered to be one of the hardest disciplines. The experience of last three years was very fascinating as I learnt the vital role electric power plays in every walk of life; it has been my breath since three years.
The CBSE, New Delhi recognized my merit and awarded me Certificate of Merit for outstanding academic performance and for being among the top 0.1 percent of successful candidates in Social Sciences in Class X .I worked hard to maintain my good academic record; its evident from my first position in class with an aggregate of 85.5% in class 64.My testimonials are proof of my consistency in academics.
Till my sixth standard I was topper in class, but I was not sure of where I was heading. My life took a very positive turn when I started playing football as a hobby. I tried quite a few sports but football fascinated me very much and I stuck to the game. I captained my school team in various tournaments with pretty decent outcomes. The high point for me on field was when I represented Andhra Pradesh in Under-19 team in January 1999. My undergraduate course left me little room for active participation in football; still I represent my college team and this year I got selected for the University team. I desire to play at Manchester United Club some day. Sports have been good for me. Apart from keeping me fit, they have taught me the importance of teamwork and helped me develop leadership qualities, which have been a boon in later part of life.
I attempt to enjoy life to the fullest, in accordance with the motto: “You only live once”, I place less faith in luck and more in my own deeds. There was a time when I had to choose a comfortable time for study or opting for playing football for AP and risk my studies in my Class XII. I took the risk and represented my state and later put extra effort to secure a good rank in EAMCET.
My visits to various places as a part of football team exposed me to the realities of life and how people suffer for a single meal. This motivated me to contribute for the cause of under-privileged; I joined as a student volunteer in the Vivekananda Sanskrit Vidyalaya (help line for orphans in kurnool). My job as Secretary for Vivekananda Study Circle, in College was very satisfying; I was in charge of organizing medical camps for poor in 8 villages, near by our college. The work included collecting detailed information about the village people, their health problems, and age group affected and giving them schedules for the medical camp. I was delighted to see people thanking us for the service we rendered them.
My course of Engineering provided me the right environment for research and analysis of technology in real life. I worked on two projects till date, one is Electricity distribution automation and other is project on Demand Side Management. Both the projects involved solving problems in a practical, uncomplicated manner through research and creative thinking. I presented these two papers at National Level paper contests winning first and second prizes for my work.
My department organized a survey on the actual possibility of supply of free power to farmers (this is a big issue in our state), I participated in the hands-on survey in Anantapur and Kurnool districts where the shortage of power was acute, later I documented and presented it to Loksatta (an NGO working for social-legal causes). These projects gave me a chance to feel the present day betrayal of under-privileged in hands of politicians.

I like being sociable and want to lead people. This made me to work as the secretary
for the EEE Technical Forum, Center for Awareness and Discussion (CAD). I am an
active member of ISTE chapter in our college. My experience as Class Representative
and Secretary of various committees in college gave me the chance to interact with
different kinds of people, which made me more confident in dealing with people and I
realized the importance of being sympathetic to others problems.

My good performance in the academics in the undergraduate level will be of no use if I cannot continue that in my higher studies. I want to enrich my knowledge and I feel this is possible through study at Oxford University. I got glued to the idea of continuing my graduate studies at Oxford University after thorough consideration and reception of strong advise from all my professors.

Lessons from Bajaj Chetak

2006-03-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

The first vehicle I drove was the Bajaj Scooter 1988 model. My cousin who taught me how to drive told me if you can master this vehicle you can drive any vehicle easily. What an over statement was my first reaction. Now I look back and appreciate what he meant.
Over the past ten years of all the vehicles I drove bajaj vehicles have left a mark on me. From the early Bajaj chetak, Bajaj 12V electronic, Boxer and the latest Pulsar all these vehicles have been a good learning for me.

BAJAJ, the first impression I had as a kid was my dad driving a blue color scooter. The same one which had waiting queues of 4 to 5 years (ridiculous in todays times). The vehicle served us very well in all the long n short trips we used to take, four people could have a comfortable ride on it. It truely became our HAMARA Bajaj !!!!! as the ad portrays.
Salient features of the vehicle

1. Rugged: It never gave up running, the engine just had to fire once it never stopped. any terrain tar roads, country side, hill treks the vehicle never bugged. It taught me how to be resilent to different situations

2. Versatile: The way the machine used to operate was amazing, you could drive for long stretches without clutch wire. what creative mechanism was put in place by bajaj designers. You never had the worry of getting it repaired, any mechanic at the street corner could tickle with the vehicle n get it online

3. Image: Bajaj always carried the image of prestige with it, till the onslaught of motor bikes. It was a must in any dowry during marriages. Now the image which the scooter carries had taken a very bad beating. To counter this attack Bajaj did a change over new logo, push marketing and the ads( girl removing hands off the husband when she encounters an elderly person on the road man that ad was so touchy)

When i drove the scooter last week i deeply felt how much has the vehicles behaviour influenced me. So the writeup on HAMARA Bajaj.

My Job in B School

2006-02-12T03:32:00.000-08:00

One activity in B School which kept my attention and I was very passionate about was my Job as the Student Coordinator, Admission Team. The way I got into the job itself was surprising. I was the only guy who showed interest in the job when it was offered to the whole batch by the Diro.

What did i get finally from the job. If I pick one activity in my two years in college which had major impact on me other than academics, it would definetly be this job. All the people skills i picked up, by ability to perform under pressure, understanding the sytem and running it without loosing your identity as a good challenge. On top of all these I got two good friends who worked with me as a team Preethi and Ashish. Could be gods will that we three with very very different attitudes, likes n dislikes and behaviour made a great team. In our first year i just cant forget how the whole batch came to help us out while processing the application forms. Truly a remarkable event till date.

First time the process was a major challenge, everything we did was JIT, quick thinking on the feet , taking decisions which you have to stand by later on , whether it was the right one or not. My first few exposure to angry parents, students and even few politicians was a damn good learning, i dont know where i got the courage to handle all of them with such vigour. I actually started realizing my potential.

I never realized , a boy like me from a corner of andhra could be heading an admission process which screens people across India. Many people from my batch encouraged me while on job.

When i continued the same job in my second year. The process was much more systematised and well planned. I was able to pick a team of four from juniors. Luckily I dont regret any of the selections i made. My role more as a facilitator and guiding them taught me good lesson in team work. The process has come to an end and may be i will never get back to the process again. But will have the fond memories of the Job i loved the most in College.

Once more I feel I could have done that job much better, but I dont have a third chance :-(((

Mountain Trek

2005-12-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

After getting placed the only thing left was to roam around the campus. The one thing i always wanted to do in college while studying was to run up to the hill behind the campus. One fine day anand wakes me up from bed at 7 in the morning, we have our breakfast in mess and head for the mountain.

We had great time climbing one peak after anohter, in total we climbed 3 peaks behind college.

Called up friends in the campus from the mountain top to cheer them up.

the pics below will show how excited we were all during the climb.
we took eatables with us so that we dont fall off mid way.

reached campus late in the afternoon, hit the bed.

had a nice days outing today

Mission Accomplished

2005-12-12T22:49:00.000-08:00

30 November' 05 was mission accomplished in PUNE. coming far from home and hoping for great career materialized that day. The company Birla Soft Ltd. Just a day before that I wasnt able to make it into company I was eager for. Didnt feel much disappointed just felt not my day.

On D day I was totally engrossed in getting ready for one presentation around 3 pm. I had no clue abt the arrival of the company the role they were offering n last the salary. I was abt to walk in for my presentation. My dear saurabh bhayya gives me hint abt the role n growth in the company. I take his advise n sit for the written test. CAT based test, good fortune that day senses prevailed and I got to the strategy which gives good results do things you know first. Some how cleared the written hurdle.

Then came the GD by this time I Changed from my bright orange shirt to white shirt n a tie. I still had my beard on ( scary thought , how would the corporate feel abt it , i was framing excuses for not shaving). GD was also ok " Indian IT Boom crippling manufacturing & engineering industry ". One of my pet topics so I was sure I will clear the GD.

5 people was left in fray for final interview. I rushed to room took a quick shave n got ready for the kill. The interview was done by VP HR n VP Ops of the company so I had my best shot possible. My research work which I did for event at IIM Bangaore ( my earlier post of unfinished dream ) was the trump card for me in the interview. My hard work for 45 days on Indian IT industry was the crux of interveiw. I was able to convince the panel abt my credentials.

After a 20 minute interview I knew I made it. The offer in hand was very good 6.5 lakh pa.
Now trying to figure out how to spend my rest of time in college.

Chennaiiiiiiiiiiii i am coming

Deadly Subject - ERP

2005-11-24T21:36:00.000-08:00

We are India's first B-School to teach SAP ABAP, SD, FI, CO and BW modules to students.

Elaborate arrangements from the institutes side have gone in for this. Tutors from Growel come down and teach us the operational features of the same. They get paid by the day 7500 /- per day. thats big money, this reinforces our faith that SAP is the future for all MBA's n will give us that plump salary packets.

We run thru the course some how, finish the assignments at best trade it with others for ice creams. D day the final exam for BW. Exam to begin in an hour and have still struggling to go with it. One hour practical for 20 marks followed by theory paper for 30 marks.

Looking to trade in the paper again. hahahhaha :-)

its really hillarious now lets see how I finish this paper today, the last one for my third semister of MBA - Mai Bhi Aya

sundeep

Diwali at SCMHRD

2005-11-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

One more festival in my MBA. Diwali this year was not exciting before the festival actually kickstarted. Most of batchmates went home for festival. 90 of us were left out in the campus. Didnt knew that we will have some of thebest fun this time on campus. All thanks to Col. Mohan who had made sure we had the best possible food on festival for full4 days, we feasted on food full of delicacies which i guess we would have missed at home as well.Food was best part minus the oil in puri ahahh :-). The ques at the food counter and the decoration at the mess door set theright momentum for the festival season.

Diwali morning got woken up by mom's phone call so got out of bed, took a bath wore the new kurta from my friend. By the time I reached mess it was close to 130 PM. Did some course work after food. First puja of the day at sumit's room. Did some bhajan in the grp then moved down to join puja in the basement. Almost 50 peole turned up for the puja.The arrangements were done by three pretty ladies anu, mridula and megha.

Once thru with arti went to the mess had awesome food , the best was the double ka mitta type sweet made of bread.Few snaps from the mess. Then we got the symbiosis society sponsored crackers. had good fun while people started chasing oneanother with crackers. many misguided missiles were targeted at the acad block but the security was prompt enough to guide themto safer zones. Ended the day on a sober note watching the Lord of Rings sequel.

Then came Eid on 4, whole day didnt do nothing for the festival, first time I actually didnt celebrate Eid. Called up friendswished them, still Khaja suleman is missing from contacts. End of day while i was thinking that this Eid is without non-veg foodvimi , my salsa partner, informs me abt the kashmiri mutton she brought from home. Feasted on it with joy.

Ended day by watching the classic movie the Sound of Music.

Looking forward for the next things on campus :-)))

21st CENTURY LIFELESSNESS..!!

2005-11-17T02:17:00.000-08:00

Our communication - Wireless,
Our telephone - Cordless,
Our cooking - Fireless,
Our youth - Jobless,
Our religion - Creedless,
Our food - Fatless,
Our faith - Godless,
Our labor - Effortless,
Our conduct - Worthless,
Our relation - Loveless,
Our attitude - Careless,
Our feelings - Heartless,
Our politics - Shameless,
Our education - Valueless,
Our Follies - Countless,
Our arguments - Baseless,
Our bosses - hopeless,
Our Salary - Veryless,
Finally this message - meaningless

Computer - An Indespensible Technology

2005-11-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

I never thought I would get paralyzed by one toy of technology so much. When it was running

properly I hardly used to care for it. Just used to let it play all the time.Most of the time it was

my best music system. When ever I wanted it used to play me Latest movies. Yes all must have

guessed it COMPUTER.

Last month my cute little computer crashed for the first time in 4 years of its life. It took a

marathon of 4 techy minds trying to solve the puzzle. At last our lab incharge Mr. Manoj cracked

it. I newer knew windows had so many user friendly options to help out lost users

hahhahahha :-)

Now I am back to playing songs all day in the room. Yeppieee actually I was desparate to do my

assignments do my reading on the comp. As it had crashed I was not able to do all these things

for past one month. It was really tough to do assignments without a comp in the room.

Now I can prepare well for my finals ahhahahahha lets hope :-) til then bye

sundeep

Are you an Indian Check it out

2005-10-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

These are the traits you should have as an Indian , See it for yourself

Your dad is some sort of engineer or doctor.
Your parents say, "Don't forget your heritage".
You know what's going to happen in every Hindi movie before it happens.
You either really, really want to go to New York or really, really want to stay away from it.
"You want a stereo! When I was your age, I didn't even have shoes!"
You arrive one or two hours late to a party and think it's normal
Everyone in your family has pet names, which sound nowhere close to their real names.
You are standing next to the two largest suitcases at the airport.
You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house.
When your parents meet strangers and talk for a few minutes, you discover you're talking to a distant cousin.
Your relatives alone could populate a small city.
Everyone is a family friend.
You went to a university as far away from home as possible.
You eat onions with everything.
You use chili sauce instead of tomato ketchup.
You say you hate Indian films but secretly watch them with your parents.
You avoid public places when with a member of the opposite sex, especially if there is an acquaintance within a 250 miles radius.
You secure your baggage with a rope
Your parents are panicking if you aren't married when you turn 25.
A horoscope must decide your wedding date.
Your parents push the concept of an arranged marriage on you and try and demonstrate how well it works whenever they're not fighting.

One more Unfinished Task

2005-10-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

The marathon I was referring in my previous post,our research paper for Vista 05. It turned out to be one of those tasks I took up and as lady luck would have the last laugh, our work was not worthy enough to compete at the best possible level in India. We were not in the final 5 shortlisted. The news came in but it hardly took any time to take it down the throat as the selection list gave a clear picture who were the best in trade. Our joy of winning the event at MDI,Gurgoan thouhg gave us a real boost as you can see in the photo me n saurabh having gala time there, we were grounded equally fast from the result of IIMB.

The strange thing being I get up today morning I hardly have any trace of not getting selected I dont have a sense of failure in me. Have I become so unemotional and detached with things, I have put in one whole month of my third semister for this event at IIMB , one fine day I get to know I didnt make it, I hardly think about it and just laugh it out.

Well good things always come in parts, MDI happened , IIMB didnt happen we got one more test in IIM Indore in the waiting lets see whats in store for us there.

Over all good learning, My respect for the institution IIMB has grown many fold now.

One swallow doesnt make a summer - Aristotle

Taking if off from there one setback wouldnt close future for us, looking forward to unexpected glorious times ahead.

sundeep

Job is at Risk if it's done over Wire

2005-10-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

This the message Mr. Nandan Nelekani gave for interview with NewYork Times. The way Indian companies are challenging the Big brothers of software industry, I feel very proud about it. We have developed the Global Delivery Model which is being widely copied by MNC now to be competitive and stay afloat.

Read the complete article : http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/oct/15infy.htm

The ending of the article is a master stroke.

Does he feel odd to lecture Americans on the joys of capitalism? Nilekani at his best: "You guys told us for so many years to cut out the socialist rubbish and go to free markets. We came to free markets, and now you're telling us, "Stop, don't come."

There is only one way Indian Software Industry can go from here that is to the top. Future generations of Indian will be proud how we as a country challenged the might of Americans in Software which was their forte few years ago.

Jai Hind.

Meeting with Sudha Murthy

2005-10-08T02:04:00.000-07:00

Today reached MDI in the morning after 5 hour journey from Gwalior.
The day started on a good note with a healthy and sumptous breakfast - bread n butter, boiled egg, puri and sabji. Sudha Murthy was the first speaker as a part of the Change Master series.
Was glad to occupy my chair before the event started. Waited patiently for her to arrive. Had some description about her in the mind before she came, what all i knew about her was from her book " Wise and Otherwise " , a couple of articles by her and on her.

She arrived at 1030 sharp. She kicked off after a brief intro by a impressive lady. She occupied the podium with such ease and composure. Let me first describe how she came in there. I could just feel her as one of the typical south indian ladies you can see on bangalore streets. She was dressed in a grey color cotton sari which I could figure out was not costly. She had an air of simplisity around her.

Once she started talking the whole auditorium was just silent. She started talking about her real life experience and how as budding MBA we can learn from her success or failure which ever way we want to see the incidents. She went on narrating her life the same way she put them in her book. She talked abt various topics from why you didnt go on with ur career and become the IT Women in India, why did you break the rules n go for love marriage, what is a human for you. Do you think we can have a compassionate heart and a career mind, how difficult is it for a women to choose between career and family, how do you manage smart people working under you, What do you do when you get cheated.

She took all the array of questions with such a ease I was thouroughly impressed.
I wanted to touch her feet, but she had to rush to her other commitments.

Take home for me from the hour long talk, keep atleast some part of your income for philanthropy purposes, it could be any meager amount but make sure it comes form heart.

Sudha Murthy a legend in the making. Hats off to you madam. I salute you for all you are doing for the society.

End of a Marathon

2005-09-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

IIM Bangalore, the institute I had visited when I started my preparation for B School. Was just thrilled with the way things were there. Was not good enough to study there. Went there in first year of college for annual mngt event Vista. Had feel of what it takes to compete at such a level.

That day I had thought I should compete at such level.

In second year, the Vista event was announced. I was like wild bull fully charged but dont know where to run. My bhai saurabh was in the same state, we both teamed up and started working on the paper for the competition. Started off the wild goose chase. Had many ideas running at the same time. Had to control our horses and put things in place.

The count down timer began with 30 days left for submission. Came up with framework on what to do ( this was changed 4 times before final draft). Made a questionnaire using all our RM skills ahahhahahh. Went to companies , started bugging people. Did some crazy googling , found out mail ids of so many people concerned with our work and mailed them our questionnaire. Got help from many unexpected quarters both from India and abroad, industry people, academicians and analysts. Had couple of good personal interviews with ple at senior roles in companies.

Had nice learning from thework, more understanding with saurabh now, know what abilities i have to convince people and what I have to pick up still. How the industry works, this is where i am going to spend my life time in. What sort of roles i can play.

The D day came 20 september. After almost 4 reviews of the paper by our prof, batchmates gautham, mitesh we finally sentthe paper to IIM B. Fingers crossed now waiting for 25 october to see whether my dream of standing on the podium at IIMB has a chance.

Plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz pray for me, :-) is there a way we can do it otherwise.

I know i have put in my best foot forward, but still some feeling inside says things could have been much better but dont know HOW.

Let me ponder over it for some more time.

My Summer Project

2005-06-30T04:35:00.000-07:00

My summer project

I was one among the 60 students selected across India by HCL Technologies for the BCT summer program. Reached Noida , flying first time by air. Experienced the joy of flying courtesy company would reimburse the money. Had nice cool flight. Landed in delhi for the first time in my life. Settled in a place with 4 friends form college. The place was just concrete jungle with a good cook to save us form the ordeal of searching for food. Had very comfortable stay for two months.

Company - first day, came in complete formals with tie, was thinking others would be in blazers, oooooops first learning follow the culture, company was cool tie was something the big boss deserves not all. Next day onwards normal casual wear. Our canteen the place we dreaded to go for two months. Work started in the first week with 5 minutes intro to my guide. Then for first one month it went on snails pace. Once I was done with my trips to all possible places with my limited resources n time, I turned attention to project.
Work began by asking people for time n then make them give me process description how things worked n what was my role in the project. Had nice time interacting with people some very cordial few “ how long will it take “ other straight “ no time “. Later I realized people whom I was patient in the beginning paid rich dividends later on these were the ones who helped me the most gave me the though process. After dilly dallying I came out with my own analysis.

D day , presentation happened for 55 minutes, which was to be 30 min affair. Had good time convincing the panel of the worthiness of the work I have done n making sure I don’t leave unanswered any queires. Summers at Noida taught me one more phase in life as a good chapter on people skills n behavior. I picked up some pool and TT daily at our recreation room, used the office resources comp, net, tea, coffee lavishly as if there was no tomorrow. Over all good time for two months.

Mera ABCD - Mazzani style

2005-06-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

A is for Age – 24
B is for Booze – Lime juice and Cocunut
C is for Career – Management
D is for Dad's name – Manyap Reddy
E is for Essential item to bring to a party – Empty tummy
F is for Favorite songs at the moment –Its amazing how you can speak right to my heart – Ronan Keating
G is for Goof off thing to do – news online
H is for Hometown - presently Hyderabad, India unless you mean where I was born which was Kurnool, AP.
I is for Instrument you play – Nothing.
J is for Jittery act – Playing football
K is for Kids - 1234567 - none as of now
L is for Living arrangement – Paying Guest
M is for Mom's name - Janaki Reddy
N is for Names of best friends - far and few
O is for overnight hospital stays – Fortunately none
P is for Phobias – peopleQ is for Quote you like – Things Take Time
R is for Relationship that lasted longest – Its on
S is for Siblings – 1 sister
T is for Tirupathi – once a year
U is for Unique trait – Hunting for one
V if for Vegetable you love – potato, beans
W is for Worst traits –trying to make things “perfect”
X - is for XRays you've had – neck, back, legs
Y is for Yummy food you make – Does Kachummer( salad) count
Z is for Zodiac sign – Capricorn

My Teachers

2005-06-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

I watched BLACK movie with rapt attention not once but twice within short period. This movie refreshed memories of all my teachers who are responsible to make me into a spoilt brat as I am now. Ahah. Jokes apart I had people who were extra ordinary teachers though they had their own flaws at personal level.

The first memories of teacher for me is my LKG teacher Ms. Uma . She was the one who actually made me so called urban kid, I was fresh to city life after 4 years of country life. I had long hair at that time, the other teachers in school used to tie a pony tail everyday when I went back home. I didn’t understand why they were doing this I hardly could speak forget English. She was the one who taught me with care after two months I had transformed. Then I never looked back. Thank You teacher.

My UKG teacher Ms. Varalakshmi. I used to be very frightened before her. Everyday during afternoon we used to have a telugu writing (dictation) each day after games period, I used to be the last one to enter class each day. I was afraid of her cane favours on me, I used to pray daily “ isko uttah le re baba uttah le”. She never gave up nor did I learn telugu. I ended up scoring only 75 in my Class X . Sorry teacher

My Class II teacher Ms. Gracesamma. She was one disciplinarian even today when I see her, a shiver runs down don’t know why. Those were the darkest days of my life, not a single day passed without me getting beatings from her. Reason being I had problems with health n I hardly went to school. In between the only time I failed ever got a F grade. She kind of understood what I am going thru n told me just enjoy life do what interest you , strangely I passed class II , everyone was convinced I will repeat my class II, thanks to my teacher she realized what is best for me. Thank You teacher.

Class III techer Ms. Bhagyamma. The first time I went into her class unlike others, she didn’t even ask me what my grades were last year, I was so happy. Things started falling in place. First time in my life I got an A in exams, my mom was literally shocked. Then on I never looked back in studies till date. Thank You teacher

In high school my telugu teachers both were pandits n Phd in telugu.Ms Jayamma and Ms Sharada Devi I never scored more than 60% in their papers but somehow they had confidence that I had it in me. On one occasion for school day I was chosen to play lead role in a telugu drama, our principal sensible turned down the play saying the actors were nuts. They took up the challenge n trained us for the play. We actually won the best play award that year from the judges. This one incident brought lot of self confidence in me. Thank you teachers.

I was a bulky bump in school. Weighing 59 at age of 12. I turned to sports to reduce weights, I tired hands at athletics, basketball, volleyball, throwball, cricket nothing help then moved to football. My PT sir was Mr. Venugopal. This guy new what was correct for me , for the first two years he trained me mostly on fitness when I actually had reduced my weight he pushed me head on into the game, he gave me my thought process, never wait for the ball, always keep looking for it, go ahead n grab it. This attitude which he instilled in me has been with me in all walks of life. Thank you teacher.

My favourite teacher till date has been my social teacher in school for 4 years Ms Emily Rose. She was the one who actually brought about interest in the subject in the first place. Then I understood if you love one subject how beautiful it would turn up to be. This drove me to read all the general books, magazine which later helped me in entrances as well as debates. I never even thought of getting second mark in her paper forget sharing the same slot with others. Its because of her I got 97 in social science in CBSE board exam. She deserves 100% credit. Very calm lady , never interested in things which r not concerned to her, I picked up this attitude of hers it works wonder even today. Thank you teacher

In intermediate college, engineering college and now in MBA I came across wonderful teachers who were extraordinary in subjects they taught but no one comes close to what I felt when I was with people I mentioned above.

Still two teachers who will remain with my - amma and nanna who never give up telling me whats right n whats wrong , who’s thought comes to me whenever I do something. For them a thanks wont do.
Signing off with one quote.

“I have been suffocating in this dark world… I met you teacher….. I saw light.. light.. light…”

Trip to Vaishnav Devi n Srinagar

2005-06-07T23:15:00.000-07:00

Making most of my summers in Delhi. I had short notice to join my engineering college friends to visit Vaishnav devi and srinagar. Started off at IITD at 11pm on friday night. Qualis n 8 of us in total. Headed straight for srinagar as there was lot of rush for vaishnav devi on weekend. Had nice drive thru the heartland of haryana n Punjab before entering J&K. After entering J&K we took a diversion from the main National highway thinking of saving some time ( 50kms shorter) , at the beginning of the route, we were served rooh hafza sharbat by some people. Then we were given the actual news, that this particular road was opened for travel only 3 months ago as it was militant infested. ahhahahhah just got scared.

Contined the journey, I should confess the road it was absolute scary with turns n twists, one of the tyres got punchred in the meanwhile. so spent some time on the road lonely , hardly 3 vehicles in that one hour of halt. Ahead there was one lake Mansar, its in midle of hills, very awesome view, full of boating facilities, looked like entry of heaven. Reached srinagar
by 6 PM. hired a house boat , srinagar was quite cold all thru. I read about srinagar the first time in class 8, "Trip to Srinagar " in telugu text book, author was nayani krishna kumari, she was absolutely on dot when she said its Heaven.

We had a 4 hour drive in shikara, it started raining while we were in teh dal lake, sun on one side, rain n the beautiful rainbow it was just bliss. Wish i would have stayed longer, but what to do short of funds. Went around places in srinagar Shankarcharya temple, Hazrath Bal darga( under renovation after militant attack - imp for having hair of prophet), Chapali Gurudwara, Moghul gardens ( absolute stunner garden must see). moved on to vaishnav devi early in the morning at 5 am, passed thru india's longest tunnl Jawahar tunnel, (3 kms ) hilly terrain, got to see the udhampur- jammu rail line, one marvelous piece of engineering. reacehd katra the base camp at 3 pm, started upward journey finished darshan by 10 pm n got down, started back for delhi n reached home by 8 pm on tuesday, very much for an extended weekend for me. The holy shrine was cold during the night day time it was proper summer heat. You feel
the diety at each step you take as the climb uphill 12 kms it very taxing on the body. Place worth once in life time, the darshan took one and half hour. The three linga's you see in the cace is one site , i had good look at the diety n prayed for alll.

The other side of my trip was the interaction with couple of security personnel posted in J&K. Most of them werent happy with the way things were there, most of all they were furious about the work conditions, 14 hours of duty daily, hardly any time left for themselves. The soldiers really derserve our salute.

Now the interesting part, Now i know why Jammy is so pinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnk boy. all the people here in jammu are pink like an apple no wonder how jammy has got that complexion. Girls very cool types, not the typical orthodox view which we get to read about women in J&K. Thats all signing of for now.

My second sem at SCMHRD

2005-06-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

After the blazing start to my MBA during first sem, the second sem turned out to be even more challenging and learning to me overall. I began my second sem immediately after first sem, so not even much time to sink in the relief of completing on sem.The major victory for second sem was cancellation of the Management Accounting paper, that was such a big relief, not to read one more fin paper, it was replaced by SCM, chill paper all the way.Studies were on dot during second sem, not much of levarage as most of the learning happened in the Learning grp. I am happy that i was able to work with my team, good learning from all my grp members. each one had his own strenghts n i learnt from each one.
The exiting part of second sem were two activiites senior placements and Admission process. For the senior placement process we juniors had put in our soul in the work. Everytime I was escort to a company I would go thru the roller coaster ride along with the seniors, calming them down each time when something happens, attending to the whimsies and fancies of the corporates, I had good time coordinating with people from Intel, BMC, Cerebrus, Satyam, Usha International and our own HCL Tech. The learning which I carried from this activity helped my in tuning my needs to different people n making sure you dont rub people on wrong side. It happened once I got properly from Subbu for no fault of mine, then i understood how you have to take things at times for overall good. During the placement time I even had our annual musical night, Guess what I danced for two songs one telugu n one tamil. Had nice time dancing to glory infront of our batch. The whole affair turned up to be far better than what I expected ( eggs, tamotoes n shoes ala ).

The best time in second sem was me taking the job of Admission Coordinator for the Year 2005-07. I had my time of my course till date, the best learning I can get, I made most of my time trying to get things done with people and making sure no error crops up in the process. When errors did crop you I knew how I had gone thru, just keeping my nerves helped me many a times, I had two great team players with me, they never let me down in the entire process. Preethi and Ashish. I guess it was the best possible combination for the task. Whenever we had an issue each had his own ponit of view, we used to brain storm n arrive at consensus. The whole process of coordinating the admsision process across India. We were very fortunate enough that the whole batch turned up to help us out, we responding kindly by getting them paid for their efforts.

The challenge for us during the process was one candidate who was denied a chance to enter our colleges, we just kept our nerves and fought with the system atlast we 3 had peace as the guy got admission. I still remember the smile on his face, that one smile made us forget all the pains we underwent for his case. By the time the admission process was over exams were on , same case again hunting for topics n content, sailed thru the exams. seniors ka convo aya, good fun that day in the morning almost clicked some 100 pics from variuos camera's . Ended second sem with successfully clearing ISO certification exam and SAP exam for two modules. The last day was fullto dance party. Left for summers. Looking forward for the Summers at Delhi.

My first sem at SCMHRD

2005-05-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

I finished my first semister at SCMHRD. I had a good learning experience in my first 6 months of stay. I learnt a lot of new things, Socializing , disco dance, dandia dance major learnings.The best part came in academics. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the campus. I started with the same engineering college attitude, I found it early on that its not going to serve.You have exams at the drop of hat, when ever the director feels we are relaxing u will have an exam or a library assignment. we used to have weekly tests on monday morning at 9 am. Even on that day we have to attend our morning workout sessions .I njy the aerobics, yoga and gym, still keeping me fit.

Few subjects pulled me down Accounts, we have a bible of accounts book from US , the only thing which i like about the subject is the prescribed book has lot of colourful pics in it.All other 14 subjects were fine, preparation for test will invariably start at 10 pm the night befre and go all the night. As the rest of week u have to concentrate on ur presentations, submissions if not anything else . We had our semister final exams , 15 tests in 5 days flat.daily morning first test 630 am, second 10 am ,third 1 pm.i had teh best times during exam, we have to cover 3 full length syllabus in one night, hardly slept for 3 hrs a day during this 15 days . totally nocturnal beings.

And the standard of the institution is evident in the question papersfor Economics it took 20 minutes to figure out which subject it was, each onekept looking at each other in teh exam hall helpless.accounts paper cant even put up a fight, problems with 4 times reservicing the goods, ( didnt even know what it meant :-) ) Business Ethics , very tough, fulllllllllllll faf no need tohave concept , only right all the good things in world.Law paper all the cases were suppose to be by heart to answer them , we seee paper full application , one case " husband promises wife to take her to a movie and forgets , is the husband liable under court of law" see our agony.The longest day was when we had Manufacturing and Marketing lenghty ones pure concepts based. Manufacturing mein - asked to design layour for diesel engine plant for 20 marks out of 90, and locatoin selection for Coca Cola plant for 30 marks , ample indication that u will have tought time filling the sheets.marketing , the prof is a gem, he covered all the syllabus in quuestion paper in a series of questoins each only 2 marks ,paper was for 90 .

The day every engineer will wait came, when we had Organizational behaviour n Human Psycology - full faf, i read the whole jist of syllabus , when i saw paper didnt remember which author wrote what, i tried all theories and authors n what they said about psychology with permutation n combination haaaaaa ( success ratio 51%)my favourite subject came on last day, Current Affairs , the whole paper i answered to the fullest of my satisfaction.we all were happy that exams were over, the director feels the other way he puts in onemore test today morning reason being he felt everyone is going to score 110+ in that subject.After which u are forced to attend a Guest lecture which goes on n on n on for 5 hrs. After that in night its dandia time, had full masti for 5 hours . Learnt all the steps on the dance floor, catching gujju and madu girls hahhahhahhahahhahahahhaha , know 4 sequence now. This the way i ended my first sem.

The second sem is going to be hell, 3 core financial paper god knows what in store for me. About second sem in the next post