Thank u all teachers....

This post would have been apt on Teachers day....But to remember my favorite teachers and write about them anyday is no cardinal sin.

First and formost I would like to thank all teachers who taught me...From LKG to 12th.But there are some teachers who are really special...


My UKG teacher --Helen teacher....she was kindness personified the right person to teach tiny tots.A teacher who loved children to no ends.
And the best thing ..she got my name correct ,even though I was visiting her after 15years.... :)

From 1st to 4th it was my Mom who taught me everything.she was the one responsible for me getting those proficiency awards....She kinda pushed me into the top league...

5th Std ....that was the worse year in School in terms of academics....But I did get some great friends there...Mom stopped teaching me!!! I was njoying the new freedom like anything...No more moms pinches,no more asking qns.....And it started showing on the results also.....It is in this class I got a new teacher --a 10th std kid --Who helped me with my maths --Leo Chettan.

I owe a lot to you!! You are the first person who instilled a genuine interest in maths.It was you who made me realize how lucky we were to be born to parents who want their wards to study and who are more than willing to shed out that extra money so that we get the best...I am very thankful for everything you did.


Jose Paul Sir .my class 7,8,9 and 10 malayalam teacher....U are the best language teacher...U helped me nurture interest in literature,movies etc.U made me realize i can write well in Malayalam.U were our regular tour teacher..I remember u asking my dad permission,so that i can come for the tour...thanks for everything...

Benny Sir...I wont forget the way you nurtured my interests in Maths...U helped me alot..I still remember u telling my parents not to worry abt me...and he considered me as his son.....That says it all :) Thank you ....

Lakshmanan Sir...For removing my stage fright and nurturing my leadership skills...
U are the first person who made me realize I can be a class leader or school leader if I wanted to...Thanks for giving me the oppurtunity..

Murali Sir..The most strict teacher I ever had...But with the heart of gold.Thanks for giving the idea which won 1st prize for Maths fair...

Manoj Sir...Another malayalm teacher...Thanks for helping us out in our Youth festival dramas......

Late Philip father...our headmaster...who taught us chemistry...I will always remember that "chevi pirikkal"...when I the class leader was making the loudest noise in Class :).....U had a unique style of teaching and an effective one also...

Premanand sir...Holy angels tuition centre...u rock big time...I guess who all studied out from Kannur would know abt u ....U have a special knack of teaching and the best thing u make it interesting...




Sunil Sir...My 11th and 12th maths teacher...The coolest teacher on earth....
More like a friend (outside the class ie)with whom we can decide anything under the sun..We all love u for that...

And the best teacher I ever will have ...MOM...I know u really worked hard and prayed hard for my success in exams ,tests what all..

Thank u...thank u for everything my teachers.... :)

Lock Lock????

As I said in my previous post I am in Germany now......
The incident happened last week....
2 guys(Mr.F and Mr.R) from our company had just landed here in Lippstadt and as is the tradition( it seems) (I didnt follow
that tradition),they set forth for there quest for bicycles.
They found a second hand cycle with a price tag for 50 euros,which infact was a good bargain.
Now starts the fun......
Suddenly Mr.F realizes there is no lock for the cycle.
F : Lock??? lock????
Shopkeeper(SK):was???(German for What)
Now F starts using the sign language also
F:Lock..lock???
SK:Nein nein (No in German)...
Mr:R also joins him...Lock sayippe Lock!!!!!
SK:nein.....
R &F are frantically showing him the locking and unlocking action....But ot no avail!!!!
Sk :ok 40 Euros............

Lippstadt

After sometime I am getting time to blog!!!!Actually an experimentation-bloging through e-mail.
Right now am in a German Village !!!!!The place is beautiful,but transport system is big let down.Last time when I was in Frankfurt, I was going gaga over the European mass transport system.But here the transport system is non existent....The first thing there are not many people and whoever are there have got a car or atleast a bicycle.
Signing off now ,will let you know more details in time

Interviews

warning : its long..
This post was inspired by silverine's post on interviews.
Flashback - 3years ago........
Place - Engg College ,Campus placements is going on ...

The first company that came along was a giant in engineering side.....The profile offered was that of a management trainee...The big guns in our E&C department are all ready for the battle..Yours truly couldn't appear as the cut-off was like an astronomical number!!!(for me ;) )
After the initial rounds namely written examination and GD,some 10-12 ppl were selected for interview. GD round also saw the rise of a star in college -Mr.AV.
Till the GD, he was regarded as the most silent guy in college (well his friends knew better).But the GD woke the LION in him . But for this interview it was not Mr AV who was going to hog the limelight but Mr.KL aka iceman This guy was pucca management material and all.So our iceman goes for the interview -The company had a very bad reputation of recruiting only Brahmins !!!!!!But our iceman is one among them....So everything is set.....

And interview starts

Interviewer (Int) : Describe about yourself ?
Iceman : I am so and so from a Tam Brahmin family

Int:So are u a Iyengar or Iyer ? (seems there is always a fight among Tam brahmins among who is superior and blah blah )
Iceman :Iyer

(Interviewer was highly impressed as he was also one ) starts the real interview
Int: why is your marks going down and down
iceman : good qn ,even I was having the same doubt why??? but he didn't give that answer well i became house captain, cricket ,injuries etc etc
Int :Injuries?
iceman :yeah concentration goes ..u know???
Int : Maybe ..I never played in my life...ok,we are ready to give u a offer
iceman:what !!!plz don't do that..u didn't even ask something remotely technical
Int:That's OK ..we are ready to offer u a position as so and so...
iceman:No!!!!!!!!
Int:Y???
iceman:I am not interested in this area...
Int: Then y the hell did u come to interview
iceman:I don't know how i cleared the test!!! :o
Int:(In Mind : *&^@#$% we tried u help u)..we are disappointed!!!!
iceman:I want to be in s/w industry :(
Int:Are u sure u don't want an offer
iceman:i have never been more sure of anything else

Int starts talking abt professionalism and all...iceman is tensed ---what if they screw up his other oppurtunities......but nothing of that sort happens......he allowed to withdraw :)

The Company in its true professionalism selects 4 - 3 from our class and 1 guy from Bio and yes u guessed it correct all Brahmins ...appa what a start to campus interview!!!!

After this college made sure -if u apply for any company u have to sit through interview ....

The 2nd company -a s/w giant (main operations from Chennai )comes down to Kochi.
As usual our iceman makes an impression before the test itself !!!(this was his dream company ,dont know whether he has the same opinion now!!!)

For this Company -most of us were allowed to write the exam (low cut -off) and they have an habit of recruiting in bulk (35 was a big number back then -now bulk is like full college ),so everyone was excited,tensed,emotional -u name it all the emotions were there.....Now comes the twist -the 4 selected earlier was also asked to write the exam by the Company ppl...Now coll authority is in a dilemma ...they dont want to make the first company ppl angry ..so they found a workaround ask the selected 4 to underperform .....
So the written round starts the elite 4 underperforms........1 guy Mr KS underperforms like anything, of the 25 odd qns, he attempts only 9 ....But the qn paper was real tuff for the ordinary mortal souls ....so the cut-off was based on hit ration and a min cut-off. Based on that ranking our underperformer Mr.KS comes top!!!(All 9 were correct !!!) Now Mr KS is scared -what has he done.....but again the placement co-ordinator comes and says "its ok underperform for the interview...."

Interview Room -Interviewer knows he has an offer already
Int :So how was the exam
KS:It was easy.
Int:Easy??
KS:yeah
Int:Then ,why didnt u attempt more qns???
Our KS is happy ...I can screw this up ...ha ha
KS:I dint get time!!!
Int:Still it was easy???
KS:Not exactly, was time consuming ???
Int:Hmmm.....Or did u underperform??
KS : No sir no way.....
Int:Okie....So explain TV???
KS: TV????
Int:yeah
KS:There are 2 types of TV's basically...Color and B/W.
Int:I meant -how the TV works ???anyway the insight was good..
KS: I dont know...
Int : what???You are and Electronics and Commn Engineer rite??
Now this hurt him a bit ......poor KS ..hes top class in basics actually.
KS:Well I remember only in parts.....
Int:Hmm can u think and come back to me ...after say 10 minutes
Mr KS goes out to think......
Outside the room ,instead of thinking ..He roams around the corridor laughing with friends cracking his PJs .In total was having a great time.

After watching all this drama from the room our Interviewer comes back and takes him back to the room "by his ears" .yes by his ears!!!that was a site indeed -interviewer taking the interviewee by the ears........
Int:We know u are under performing ...but nevertheless we are giving u a position in our company....

And so KS gets another offer!!!!

Now after the initial rounds of placements most of the ppl were having 2 offers and ppl like KS had 3 offers....

This interview happens to Mr AV (The same guy who became a lion after first GD)
The Company another S/W giant the one with offices all over Bangalore.

After the test - Mr AV comes first -- Nothing to beat him in Verbal Tests ...(Av had read Karl Marx in Std II to talk with his 'palkaran' milkman in English. His childhood stories I will write in another post )He's such an expert in everything ,we call him walking encyclopedia :). I guess you get the picture.

Well the interview starts its an HR interview

Int: Tell me abt your self
Av : I am blah blah blah...I did blah blah
Int: So what do you do in your free time
Av : I read
Int: What??
Av :Fiction Non fiction everything???
Int:Why do you read??
Av:For enjoyment??
Int:You are wasting your time dude???
Av: What???
Now Av is really exasperated
Int:Yes.
Now is the part I love .......
Av: To understand books ,you need to have sense ,sensibility and sensitivity....
(This is a hit mammoty dialogue in an altogether different context )
Int:What???hmm........u have any other offer in hand???
Av:(gotcha) yes!!!!!!!
Later in the day when results came out Av converted this interview to a job offer!!

The characters
1. Av had converted 5 of the 6 IIM calls ..(Indore didn't find him as bright prospect i guess ;) ) and is all set to join IIM A.
2.Ks is working for an MNC (named after some country) now as a field application engineer (he quit his old Indian company)
3.KL aka iceman is still with the original company and all ready to fly to US.

From Here to Where!!!!!

I have come to yet another crossroad in life!!!
Its partly regarding the Higher Studies part.....
A decent MBA from US University costs approx 60-65lakhs INR .......Can I afford it ?? The answer is a big NO!!!!!!!!!!!
Chances of getting into a top notch institution here in India seems really bleak...:(
First and formost my profile is just mediocre...Nothing to brag about.......
May be an MBA from Singapore or Canada.....But will it be as good as an MBA from US(definitely NO....)??
So where I do I go from here ???? This question is haunting my like anything.......

The options I have found for myself for time till next year ...

1.Switch Company ......
2.Ask for marketing profile in my Company itself.......
3.Wait for the old client to return....
4.Ask for a new project in core VLSI area...
5.Pursue a part time MS in VLSI
6.Onsite to Middle East....

Option 1 -- I am not that keen-----Present Employer has been good for me till now..Except for say salary ,I dont think they have never let me down.

Option2 -- Am I ready for it?????????

Option 3 -- This is a possibility ...But will I learn anything new....May get chnace to lead a big team..That should be a challenge

Option 4 -- This is a great option ....but can jeopardize my GMAT plans to no end....

Option 5 -- This is not something am keen to do.....but if circumstances force me ..I will do it thats all.....

Option 6 -- I hate Middle East and climate there...........

So in the end , the best thing to do at the moment is wait for the old client to return ....by that time I should give GMAT my best shot......... A good GMAT score + some more international exposure should help me in giving my applications a boost....

Lets wait and see what happens in another 3 months...Hope I give my GMAT by that time!!!!!!!!!! :)