Film Review - Naan Kadavul

Me and my friend Vijayan went to see Naan Kaduvul at Lakshmi theater today evening show.The stills and trailer had created some expectation in my mind. I though it would deal in depth about the lives of nagas/sadhus.But the movie was really disappointing.

The beginning of the movie was really good and showed varansi very realistically. I thought the movie would go somewhere.But till the end I could find what the exact story line was.My guess is that neither could Bala :) The movie is just a fleeting account of Nagas/Sadhus and their way of life(no details whatsoever) and reasonably good slice of life of beggars with some dry wit thrown in when dealing with the latter.

The primary problem with the movie is that the characters are not very well defined.Except for the character of Murugan(who is the coo of beggars inc) no other character has been etched out fully. Especially the lead character of Arya , which could have had some more background detail and dished out with little more subtleness.The way chittan's was in pithamagan. The second main problem is lack of any credible plot.The movie seems to flow on its own random tracks towards nowhere.

The fist good point of the movie is its casting. I have to praise the Casting crew's work especially for assembling such a large bunch of incredibly odd people for beggar Inc.The second point is the acting. Both the lead roles (Arya and Pooja) have given it their best shot considering that they have not worked on such pure skill based riles. Arya's getup and physique is excellent and fits the role of the Naga to the T.But he has been limited to emoting just a few expressions over and over again during the whole movie.Totally deglam Pooja has put in her best performance to date.

Although I should appreciate Bala for breaking out of the formula scheme and trying new things, I also need to caution him. Bala needs to be reminded that a semi nude Arya resting in a head stand position and deglam pooja does not help a movie succeed. To succeed, a movie requires a cohesive and compelling story/screenplay.I also pity Arya as he has got very little scope to perform.He keeps repeating just 2-3 expressions.Overall very disappointing.

My Score - 1.5/5

!!My ISB Experience!!

Institute Experience:
The first thing that stuck me on entering the Campus of ISB was the way the security spoke to me.He spoke very good english, with a smile and once my name was checked with his list, wished me all the best for the interview also.Its not always that one gets to see such courteous behavior from a security guard.Once I entered the campus, I was impressed by the landscaping and maintenance.The main building is also really good architecture wise. As I was nearly 2 hrs early, took the chance to go around the college. I could see that the insti was run like a company only.I ve not visited many B Schools, so I cannot compare it with any other place as of now.One more thing was the library(learning resource center they call it).It was massive and 3 floors.The books published by the faculty only filled one full row :) I killed some 1 hr there before going towards the interview hall.

Interview Experience:

I perceived that my interview went quite well.Its another fact that in my case there is usually a large gap between Perception and reality ;-) ..It was more on the lines of a conversation than an interview.There was an one page essay on the word 'MAD' first.I wrote some cock and bull story there.Then the interview.There were three males in the interview panel.One was mid 40s, most probably an external panel member ,one more was a college staff and the other was a current student(called chotu with affection among puys).The questions were as follows:

1) How did u market toast masters in ur organization.(I had claimed so in the essay)?
We painted many chart based posters and stuck them at key places.Sent mails regularly to the office groups and also tried to deviate from the general pattern of toastmasters so as to make it more fun so that more people volunteer.

Why do you have to market such a club in the first place? if it is good people will join is'nt it?
Even though it is good, there is always a need to publicise the advantages.Because lot of people might not know about the existence of such a club.Even if they know they might not know about the benefits of such a club.Hence the need to market it.

If it is such a good forum why not the company sponsor everyone to the forum?Did you approach the company?
There is a entity called Employee club that handles such requests. But they are cash strapped and do not have such powers.Its more like the chicken and egg problem.If we get more people, maybe we can put forth such a request and again if get such a request granted, we might have more people participating the activites of the club. One more problem is quantitatively linking the improvement in job performance to the club activities. Being a communication and leadership promotion forum, membership is mainly for personality development.For example there might be several other factors that influence a person's productivity at workplace.Hence it is difficult to convince the company on these lines. And the last major factor is that, Oracle does not usually give any freebies. In many services organizations, things like oracle certification are offered for free. But in our organization, despite we being Oracle, there is not such policy. Permissions for free certifications are given a token of appreciation for achieving some target.Hence it is even more difficult in my organization.

2) Post MBA goals.. Current job role..

I am at present working as a Technical consultant in ERP domain.I want to move into a more function role immediately after my MBA and gradually to the role of a Functional Solution Architect. I explained how projects work and what are the roles that are there usually and pinpointed where I want to be.And also why I feel the need for an MBA( to get a grasp of the fundamental business functions) by stating pertinent examples from my work exp.

Is MBA degree the only way to reach where you want to.
I ve talked to people in my organization who are at present in such roles.I found that there are 2 other ways.One way to gain function expertise by working in a business for some time.The second way is to gradually shift from the technical to the functional role.

Why not the second way?
It will take a lot of time(3-4 years) plus there may be some blind spots where I am blank.

3) So thats why you want be @ ISB. Just to save a few years.
I explained that Other than the regular reasons like rankings/prof profiles/placements/ 1 year course etc. I had a personal reason to join ISB. It is the peer grp. Growing up in a small town did not have have exposure as to what actually happens in premier institutes like IITs. When I joined college only I came to know the actual gap between such premier instis and normal ones. Whatever ideas we sit and mull over for a long time, students at such colleges take it up and execute it with east. I aspired to be amongst such a peer group atleast in my PG. For example I was talking to a guy who was interviewed by the other panel. He has started and is managing his own social networking site after working with ITC for 8 years. I learnt a lot of things and got new perspectives even in my short 10 min chat. I think what all I could gain from such varied group of individuals over a period of 1 year. Plus the contact I develop in this 1 year among my current batch and also with alumni will help me throughout my life.

4) Tell me three things that you plan to gain from the MBA which would take you towards your career goal.
1-> Basic understanding of how business work
2-> Good communication skills
3 -> Good convincing/marketing skills

Explained all these 3 points.

5)What industries or markets u follow?
None in specific. I just follow the current business trends and news on the papers and magazines.

6) What is the current business trend?
Currently the world economy is in recessionary mode.Reason is misallocation of resources over a relatively long period of time. All orgs are cutting costs/ shedding employees/ going slow on expansion plans etc. Stock markets also are plumetting.

7) What happens when stock proces go down?How does it affect a company
It does not affect the day to day operations anyways.

What about valuation of companies?? They come down is'tn it?
That affect the shareholders/promoters, not the company by itself in most cases except when these is sustained fall. I feel that the stock prices are more an indicator of the people's perception of how a company is performing rather than the actual performance. This is why we have seen that the stock prices fall even based on some bad rumors.

Consider SATYAM's case.. It was trading @ 130s then suddenly dropped to 10 now going @ 30-40.. How will it affect satyam?

It will affect satyam in 3 ways:
1-->Customer trust might be lost as they fear the company may go bust
2-->Investor confidence might be down so difficult to raise funds for expansion
3-->Employee morale will be down and will result in more people moving out of the org and also in lessenning productivity.

7) Any questions for us?

I asked one to the current student.I asked whether students can pursue their area of interest in depth if they so wish within the constraints of one year time frame.He talked abt various avenues to do the same.I asked whether all those are practically possible.He replies telling me that , "As u have told in ur essay, if u have done time management well till now, there is no reason why u should'nt do it in college.If ur time management is spot on its absolutely possible". That gave a faint ray of hope(atleast these guys have gone thro my essays in detail )..

Although I don want to rate/dissect my interview, I felt I had a good chance when I came out.I had told all the things I wanted them to know.Now to judge whether I am good enuf or not is upto the panel and the school(for factoring in the diversity factor too).

But now after going through all that I have told from a third person point of view, I feel I don't stand much of a chance as I could have more clear on a lot of things.Anyways will know the result in another 4 days.Keeping my fingers crossed.

My 4 Day Hyderabad Trip -- Conclusion

It would be a criminal offense if I fail to mention about one of my key observation in Hyd.I was totally surprised by the conspicous absence of any road sense whatsover.There were blatant voilation of even the most sacred of the road rules.For example, cars whizzed thro at 50-60 km in the wrong way, threating to knock the pedestrains(who are on the correct side) off their feet.No one stopped at the signals except when they absolutely could not go in their intended direction. Travelling in an auto(esp in the front seat) is a harrowing experience, with such thrilling twists and turns that even the transporter movie would look like a farce.There is only one rule that all the Hyderadis follow on the road - "I have the absolute right of way". Even while taking U turns, drivers don't even slow down to check the incoming vehicles.He Just assumes that the incoming traffic will slow down to let him pass.What If they don't?? I dont know why they never think of this possibility :(...

Although there are'nt en uf busses in the peripheral areas like HiTech City and Gachibowli,the overall transport infra is good. Lots of share autos ply on the roads and they are very cheap.Even auto wallahs are quite honest and reasonable wven when they ask for a fixed fair, unlike Bangalore.I guess the IT bug is yet to catch on with the Autowallahs. One more reason could be that Hyderabas is not like BLR and Chennai where Goondas and Police own/support majority of the autos.

Climate was pretty hot but not the hottest considering that it is till just Jan end.But due to extremely low humidity one does not sweat that easily, which is a good thing.But one feels thirsty very very often.We were buying so many bottles of water all through the weekend.Wish I should visit Hyd some other time with a more leisurly schedule.

My 4 Day Hyderabad Trip -- Part4

On day four, it was again 1 ish when we were ready to get out of the house.Went to a nice little restaurant named HUB, which was a branch of the Much Touted "Chutneys" group.The biriyani here was amazing.Me , V and SK had a field day trying out all the NV items in the menu, while Subbu ate just some Egg biriyani.I finally got to try the hyd speciality "Kubaani ka meetha".It was nice desert which tasted similar to our panjamrutham, minus the fruits and lots of sugar.It tasted pretty unique and good.As subbu wanted to see the Summit clash between federer and nadal(Auz open finals), he deserted us midway and went back home.After vascillating for some time about whom to join, I finally decided to join my roommates and visit the Charminar.
Charminar is just a glorified roundana on which a big tower has been built.Its not at all magnificient of awe inspiring.It is further more sad that it is not well maintained also.The first floor is nearly 50 feet off the ground and there are huge french arches which are open to the floor.but there is no safety net or not even a simple rope that is tied.It was aweful.Chariminar is right in the middle of the muslim dominated old Hyderabad.It stands right in the middle of a bustling market area within which one can purchase pretty much anything one needs.Although I wanted to buy somke pearl for my mom, I did not venture out for that as I had no experience in buying them and did not want to be taken for a ride.Even if i had some idea about pearls and their quality, I could bargain.As I was totally blank in this regard, gave it a miss.On V's insistence searched for a local cafe and had some good iranian Chai! I left those two who wanted to shop and reached home early and watched some great tennis for 1.5 hours. V and SK reached home @ around 6 and we left for the station and hopped onto our 7.15 Garib rath and came back.I had a nice experience of watching 3 movies back to back on my lappie as the train had comfy plugpoints. I had a dejavu of my college days when we used to watch one full movie on our way back to trichy from madurai.

My 4 Day Hyderabad Trip -- Part3

We found that the park(Sanjeeviah park) was closed till 5 in the evening.Hence we had the full afternoon to kill till we felt hungry enuf to have lunch.So we went for some bowling near Panjakutta in Secunderabad.Subbu was extraordinary in the bowling lane with nearly all his attempts being strikes.SK gradually cut loose from me and V leaving us to battle out for the third spot.I edged out over V thanks to some gutter throws from V.I got bored with bowling and moved to play Snooker while these guys kept on with bowling.Had 3 excellent games of snooker with a regular there.He won the first game by 7 point after a tie, I won the next two by 2 points and 3 points.Now it was nearly 4 and all of us were hungry.So went to the much acclaimed Paradise restraunt to have our shot at Hyderabadi Biriyani. Unfortunately, for unknown reasons the experience turned sour.The biriyani was tasteless and the chicken/mutton peices very rubberry.After stuffing our stomachs a little and lightening our purses a lot, we left the place in sorrow :(

From paradise, we went to the Hussain sagar lake.Its one of the biggest lakes I have ever seen.So vast that it takes around 30 mins plus to travel one half of the circumference despite very little traffic and very good roads.But the lake stinked worse than our own Koovam.I guess the whole of Hyd's sewers drain into Hussain Sagar lake.I wondered, why we care so little about such beautiful natural resources.Had this lake been in North America or Europe, it would have been kept clean and clear and made a major tourist attraction.First entered NTR Gardens and spent some time clicking some snaps.It was a decent place.Played net cricket (similar to the one avaialble in Forum BLR). V made 46 in 3 overs and I made 48 in my second attempt, both of us missing our half centuries which would have given us a extra 2 overs to bat..

We went to the Lumbini gardens next.We sat on the same section of the audi where bomb blasts of aug 2007 killed nearly 50 ppl.I felt a bit sad for the people who would have died for no rhyme or reason.This time though there was three levels of security and heavy frisking.The sound and light(laser) show was disappointing and out of synch.Describing it was awful would be an understatement.But could not leave the place until the show was over so waited patiently.After the show went on a cruise around the Lake and look a few snaps of the Budha status in the middle(not exactly in the middle though) of the lake.It looked magnificient in the night lighting.There was some dance programme by some struggling artists, to a variety of telugu hindi and tamil movie songs.Except one female dancer, rest of them were neither beautiful nor diginified.It was a very shabby show.But we din care.We had to kill time till 10 when we had a show booked @ imax screen of Prasad's.

After the cruise, went to the movie.The imax thetre was Awesome, just one look at the gigantic screen and the Huge speakers takes one's breath away.We had booked for the movie "madagascar 2 - escape to africa".The movie was extremely well made and the imax experience was really awesome.It was an experience that I ll savour for a long time.The clarity of the image ,the vividity of the colors on the screen, the sound affects and the animation, everything was top class.We were dead tired when we finally reached home @ around 12 and just fell into our beds and dozed off...

My 4 Day Hyderabad Trip -- Part2

My mobile had started ringing from the time I was on the outskirts of Hyderabad, asking me to connect for work, as user testing/demo was on at the client location.Finally reached home @ 11 and connected to work for 2-2.5 hrs till around 1.30.Then went thro ISB interview experiences on PG and a few random page on the ISB website , had lunch at a nearby andhra mess , dressed up in the stupid suit with tie and left for my interview @ around 2.15. From here on the ISB part shall be covered in a seperate post.Came back at around 6.45 changing three share autos on the way.Carrying a great looking new Arrow suit in my hands , I sat beside the autodriver in the front all the way. People were staring at me.But as usual I dint care :)
Subbu did not come home from office that day as month end work made him work late into the night.Had dinner with one of his friends DK and his junior and worked for sometime.Got up in the morning and walked over to Oracle office in Hyd(15 mins pleasant walk) and worked the whole day on a stupid bug which was finally resolved at the end of the day @ around 9 pm.Then took some printouts about Hyd from wikipedia and wikitravel and was eagerly looking fwd to the weekend as two of my roomates/classmates Vijayan and SelvaKumar(Hencforth referred to as V and SK) were also coming to Hyd for the weekend.Had a late dinner(around 12 when we were done with it) at some medium range multicusine restraunt, which tasted like any other hotel in its category.Fancy names, fancy prices, but totally bland taste :)
After the dinner me and subbu went for a looooong walk(nealy an hour and half) talking about anything and everything under the sun.We had a lot to catch up on as we were meeting after nearly 2-2.5 years and I am not that good at keeping in touch with ppl over phone.It was nearly 3 am when we finally retired for the day.V and SK arrived home at around 10 am. It took all of us till around 12.30 to brush bath and get ready to go out.Had late breakfast at some local restaurant and proceeded towards some Park on the way to Panjagutta in Secunderabad.

My 4 Day Hyderabad Trip -- Part1

Although the heading reads 4 day trip, I was busy with work for 1.5 days and ISB interview for half a day so ended up sightseeing only 2 days technically :). There shall be a seperate post on my ISB interview.So skipping that part here.

So much for the introduction,lemme start with the actual story! Left bangalore on Wednesday morning , by Garib Rath.I must thank Lallu for the cost effective and luxurious train.Its 3 tier AC, new/clean coach minus the roaches at Rs 500/- for a 12 hr trip.I left office by 6.15 pm,changes 2 busses and reached Yashwantpur by 8.30 pm, just 10 mins before the train's departure time.I was hungry as hell as I had to skip lunch to finish work for the day and yashwantpur station catering gave a luxurious option of choosing between plain biriyani and anda biriyani.I chose the latter bought a bottle of water and checked the reservation chart as usual,(Looking for a F between 18-30). And as usual found none of interest in my coach.(Murphy's law holds good here I guess). When I got in to search for my seat, it was another unpleasant surprise, my bay was the first one and it was only half a bay that means 3 berths on side and a wall on the other.Felt extremely cramped(Psychological feeling I guess as all the measurements should be the same).Then this interesting incident hapenned.

The uncle in the lower berth had just finished his packed dinner and he had a packet of subji and pickle untouched.He offerred it to me.He was using a blackberry phone, very elegantly dresses and carried himself well.I was extremely dissapointed with the plain egg biriyani.In this situtation , I was somehow tempted into accepting, when he offerred his Sabzi and Pickle.When I was halfway thro the food, I suddenly started thinking this could be the usual con job with some sedatives in the food.All random thoughts went thro my mind.For example how pickle could be a ideal food item to lace with sedatives for in its sour taste you could never make it out.But having accepted the invitation and eaten the stuff halfway, I could not explicitly leave it untouched too.Hence finished as little as I could and threw the rest away.But my thought train was progressing unbridled at such a furious pace that I could control it no longer.I had a thousand crazy thought and plans.I said to myself that if I could stay awake tilll midnight, I can be sure the food has not been tampered with.Hence started reading and pulling myself awake with several facewashes(for I had slet only 5-6 hrs on average the whole week). Finally when the clock stuck 12 I was relaxed!! and dozed off immediately..

Reached Secunderabad station in the morning and took a local train to Hi Tech city.As it was a working day, the train was fully crowded.Thanks to my mumbai experiences, I could somehow manage to embark and disembark with 2 bags and a suit, without seriously damaging or losing anything.Hitech city seems to be the IT hub of Hyd.I looked totally out of place amongst the office goers dressed neatly in formals.I was wearing a 3/4th shorts a loose t shirt.But as usual I did not feel odd :) Finally after a interminably long 10 min wait, my classmate subbu arrived in his Unicorn bike to take me to his place.

India's sad plight at the Olympics

I feel ashamed about our nation sometimes.Olympics is one such occasion.We celebrate one gold medal won.Its the first ever individual gold medal.At the same games someone is winning 7 golds and chasing his dream calm cool and composed(Phelps).If our sportsmen make the Olympic norms it makes headlines here.Its something we all need to be embarrassed about.
What do we lack?Genetics cannot be blamed always.Because all games do not demand extreme physical standards except maybe athletics.Even there Chinese, who belong to similar gene pools, have consistently done well and kept improving.I think the following are the key reasons.

1) Lack on infrastructure.
2) Lack of professional sporting bodies.
3) Lack of financial security for athletes/sportsperson.
4) Lack of talent spotting programs in all discipline of sports.

These are the key issues.Feel free to add more points if u feel like it.

Bachna Eh Hassenon Review

Let me not trouble my busy friends.I ll give a one line rating first.The movie is easily a one time watch.So if you are twiddling your thumb whether to book the tickets, go ahead ans book it.Its atleast worth the money.
Going into details, ranbir kapoor carries the film on his shoulders.This film clearly asserts that the talents he displayed in his first movie were not a flash in the pan and he belongs to the BIG league!The film is very well made in terms in look and feel.The locales are as exotic as it gets(yash raj films trademark sshtyle).2 Songs are excellent.Rest are ok ok types.Strory is also pretty decent, although it could be rip off of some hollywood biggie :).Screenplay is taut and very engaging.One gets suprised that interval seems to come very fast.Coming to the heroines.Minisha looks ranbir's Didi.Leave alone chemistry, there is not even a spark between them.She looks wooden.Bipasha looks her sexy best(as usual).Although she also looks older than the hero,she does not hurt the eye like minisha does.Deepika is the pick of the heroines.She looks a million dollars.Especially when she smile.The real life chemistry she supposedly shares with ranbir does spill over onscreen.The climax, although predicatable, is very natural.With 4 smooches in the movie, it can be termed as hot.There are many 18+ dialogues too.But not too vulgar because they are not double meaning ones.Just one meaning :-).So if you are of the eenie weenie types who cant watch such stuff with parents/brothers/sisters, u need to exercise restraint.I am not going into the actual story as it would spoil the maza of watching the movie!! Go ahead and continue the review or else tear mine to pieces!! :)

GMAT Fundas continued..

Funda 4: Take mock test at regular intervals:
Once you are done with OG and as u start getting into other study material like 1000 series etc, start your Mock tests.Mock tests need not all be Computer based.Feel free to take paper based ones too intially.I would recommend a frequency of one every 2/3 days once u r done with OG.Again, one must analyse the paper and get all doubts solved thro online forum friends etc.Else the exercise would be in vain.After you think you are done with preparations(maybe in the last 1/2 week) start taking only computer based tests.Make sure you take the AWA sections also.Beleive me, the biggest challenge on the GMAT day is gonnabe maintaining your concentration level for 3 1/2 hours.So practise takign the test as though it were the GMAT.Do not take unscheduled breaks.Time your breaks when u take them.No water bottles.Use erasable marker boards.No noises.No calling bells.No cell phones.Make it as near as GMAT as possible.This will sort of get you into the ZONE.You might face problems with concentrating for so long.Gradually you ll get over it.Thats the purpose of this simulation.

Funda5: Be relaxed and have a devils may care attitude!
Whats the max you are going to lose if you screw up big time.10 K and may be two scores reported to schools instead of one.It is a setback.But not too big a setback.If you get tensed and screw up the test because of that, the result would be the same.So logically its better to be relaxed and go in to the test as though it just another mock test.Don't get very tensed/jitterry.You'll do yourself no good.


Few more tips:
Visit the center atleast one day in advance and get to know the reporting time.

Try not to drive down to the center.Take an auto or ask a friend to drop you.

Take the gamtprep test available of MBA.com 3-4 days before GMAT.That will give you a rough estimate of ur actual score.(+ or - 20)It has worked for most people I have interacted with.

Take your time and pace your test properly in GMAT.Sometimes you might be running through questions at an hectic pace.Keep checking every 15 mins whether you are ahead of schedule of behind and change pace accordingly.

Feel free to post any comments/questions/opinions on this blog.I ll try and respond to all of them.Thanks for reading my post!! :)

GMAT Fundas...

My first post after such a long time.One significant event has happened in this brief interval.I had taken GMAT and got a pretty decent score of 740!!After that a lot of people have asked me about the exam and the prep materials/methodology details.I had also read a lot of blogs on my runup to GMAT.With the idea that I'am giving something back to the blogosphere that continues to give me so much, I put forward my two cents about GMAT.

Funda1: GMAT is differrent from CAT:
Primarily ,while the aim in CAT is to maximize the number of questions attempted and accuracy ratio, the basic aim while taking GMAT is minimizing the errors while maintaining a near 100% accuracy.So they fundamentally differ in their approaches.If you are someone who is seriously preparing for GMAT and reading this blog then you must have identified that the first sentence is erroneous because of mistake in parallelism.Otherwise you need more hard work in days to come in the verbal section ;-)
Second difference between CAT and GMAT is the sections.CAT has a DI section which is very practice intensive.While GMAT has a Sentence Correction section that is practive intensive.If you can crack Quants in CAT(I mean clear cutoff in mocks) then quants in GMAT is a cakewalk.Only thing needed is caution against overconfidence and avoidance of silly mistakes.In verbal section, the staple diet of CAT is RCs, which are very huge.But in GMAT the RCs are shorter and easier.But CAT does not have SC(sentence correction).GMAT sentence correction KILLS you.Nothing but practice can save you.Instinct and good reading habits can help solve most of the SCs by elimination.But if you answer the level 1,2 questions and go to higher difficulty, you ll always end up with 2 likely answers.(and most probably the one you mark will be the wrong one ;-) ).
Third difference is that, CAT is time intensive.While GMAT is also timed, you can finish well within time if you care to take a few MockGmats and pace yourself well.The above structure is a typical example of AWA section.GMAT hangover still lingers in my head I guess :)

Funda2: Make a preparation Plan and try and stick to it.
I cannot claim to be a master in this department.The figures given are my estimates only and should be taken with a pinch of salt.Now that the disclaimers are done,I ll proceed to the actual matter in hand.
I ll present my time estimates first for person who has my profile.That is engineering graduate, decent maths background, good reading habits,taken atleast 1/2 potshots at CAT(I have taken 2 till now).Such a person need not do any maths basics preparations.He can directly start with the practice questions and tests.Only concern might be areas you know you are weak in, by virtue of all the mock CATS u had taken.My nemisis in Quants was , data sufficiency.In Verbal one needs to concentrate more on Sentence Correction.For such a profile, one would need atleast 2 months of full time preparation with 2 hrs/weekday and 6-8 hours on weekends.That comes to a total of22-26 hrs/week(Target this much..you ll end with with a 15 hrs a week).So identify your weak areas, target them and prepare a comprensive work plan.

Funda3: OG is bible.Spend Enough time for analysis.
When I say OG is the bible I mean it.It is the basic reference book.Make sure you buy the latest edition of OG GMAT® Review , OG GMAT® Quants Review , GMAT® Verbal Review.Make sure that you finish these books before you proceed anywhere else.The best methodology to use these books are to take questions in sets of 15-20 for 30 min durations and check the explanation of all questions.Please spend enough time on analysis.The aim of the exercise should be that you need to answer correctly 100% of the time, if a question is posed to you which is of the same format in the book.This only will get you 650-680 range score.

Fundas will continue......

Puthu Kavithai!!! (Onsite Pogatha Valibar/Valibi Sangam)

(Olimayama ethirkalam tune )

Irulmayamaana edhirgaalam en ullathil therigiradhu.....
adhil onsite/promotion edhuvum illai.......
(night)shift-la work varudhu........
Irulmayamaana edhirgaalam en ullathil therigiradhu.....

naalvagai platform naarpadhu koadi project Engindraar - andha
customer thaanum onsitelirundhae koovi azhaikkinraar
maalai soodi engal PM onsite poginraar
project oothi moodiya piragu benchula poduginraar... [Irulmayamaana]

Onsite chance-u undaendru sonna, HR-u enga - avanga
pona maasam paper pottu poittaanga therinjukka
neeyum paper potta podhum onsite koduppaanga
nambi nambi yaemaarndhadhu podhum escape aayidu..... [Irulmayamaana]

I did a South Africa...CAT Scores are Great..

As usual I flunked @ the end.Tripped and fell on my face in the home stretch.Ended up a chocker chasing a low target.I can eloquently wax my failure in a thousand different ways.But it all means only one thing.I am a LOSER!! :-)...
Here is a guy who attempted CAT last year without any preparation and callously casual attitude and managed to score a decent 88 percentile(Not too decent for many of you.For my level it was decent).This year he puts up one year of hard work and thousands of rupees in investment and ends up getting the same percentile.Sounds absolutely hilarious is'nt it.Thats my story.Let me try and Analyzing this failure with a cool head..

1) Either I am not made for such competitive exams:
This is typical bad loser's line right.But maybe I am right.If you ask a 51/2 foot 70 kg guy to face a sumo wrestler and he loses.He should not feel bad right.But that is not possible because people who are close my caliber in IQ have made it thro before

2) The exam was too tough:
Cat is after all a competitive exams which gives ranking to people.All the freaking 2.5 lakh people wrote the same exam.So if it was tough it was tough for everyone.So thats cant be a reason too.

3) Not enough preparation:
Can't be the case.Because I had been attending regular classed 6 hours a week.from feb 2007.After that I had written all mock cats religiously and solved them all meticulously.But no amount of preparation is enough.I could have done more I guess

4) Exam Tension on the the D Day:
I have never got tensed for any exam.Maybe that was the real reason.Lack of seriousness.Very much possible.

Summing all this up and after deep introspection I am able to zero in on the chinks that lead to my defeat.

1)Lack of focus: Though I spent enuf time solving mock cats my scores din look like improving.I did not spend time on areas/activities that were required.So Although I should have noticed that my efforts were not doing anything to improving ever lowering scores in mock cats, I did not!!!Just thought things will get ironed out themselves.But they just din!!!

2)Poor Quantitative skill: Did not focus on improving speed and accuracy in calculation involving number.The basement was weak so however well I build the building it is bound to fall flat.It did happen.

3)Preparing too much: In some ways I think the intense half cooked preparation only did me in.Either I should have gone all the way(from basics) else should have gone with a open approach.Rethinking now , in many scenarios I found myself trying to fit the problems given into the frameworks I had learnt, in the process of trying to solve them.That should have been the last option.I should have applied common sense to most questions and I would have done much better.In an objective type questions answers and only answers count.Methods don't.

So if someone who is planning to appear for CAT next year is reading this, I have only one line for you.Either go all out or just get out.

my tamil scribblings.

Please double click on the image below to see the full text.

Solution to Attrition - Recruitment Drives or Retension Measures ????

"A reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death".This is how Marriam-Webster defines attrition.

But the attrition we all talk about generally is caused only thro resignation.It is a well know fact that IT sector leads the pack when it comes to attrition figures.Especially in India we all know that attrition rates are pretty huge.Even in small organisations with few thousands of employees atleast one person sends in a sweetly worded good bye mail everyday.Few dozens read it and smile @ themselves thinking their D day is not that long away.

Most observer feel that IT sector attrition rates are so high because of the economic boom in recent times.Because there is so much work that every tom dick and harry get offers as "10 more limp hands are better than none at all" is the attitude towards hiring in IT sector nowadays.It is true to a great extent.I feel there are two kinds of people.The perpetual movers.Who move to the next company to before settling down into one.It is because if they settle down they'll have to prove themselves, take up more reponsibility etc etc.These people are seldom productive,whatever be the work environment.The other lot are already very productive and are either learning the ropes well @ the lower levels or are the pillars of the organization at the middle level.The second kind of people leaving will bleed the organization so much more than the first kind leaving.

There is this utopian idea of process oriented organizations where people do now matter much.Many people propose that such a structure will minimize the effect attrition will have on the operations of the organization.But how far is it true?Why are people treating the symptoms while allowing the disease to spread unperturbed??

See any organization today they are recruiting at a hectic pace.Recruiting one 1-2 years expereince candidate costs the organization somewhere between 50-100k depending on the route of recruitment.(except for walkins).Plus the org has to pay for training the candidate if necessary.Plus the pay the candidate for no work he does until he settles down into work and becomes productive(If he works in the first place ;-) ).All this companies spend to keep recruiting people.Many companies are willing to bend down backwards and negotiate on all terms for getting people onboard.But how many companies make such an effort on the employee retention front.I don think companies are doing enough.

As i watch company after company in the service sector recruiting @ a rapid pace while losing employess @ much faster clips, I feel as though I am looking @ a small boy trying to fill a leaky tank frantically with little buckets.How much ever fast the tank is filled it ll keep leaking.Filling the tank is fast,easy and short term job.It can be easily measured and the HR function rewarded with incentives and fancy trips. But fixing leak is dirty job.You are bound to get wet and dirty.But it is most rewarding in the long run.For the money the companies spend on recruiting one person, they can easily retain two people, if they spend it judiciously and the right way.But all companies tend to move away from this view as it is very difficult to acheive and is not easily measurable(although fall in attrition rates can be measured.. employee's job satisfaction is difficult to measure).Hope people wake up to the reality atleast when the next Recession comes.

Prelude to my post on Delhi - Dalhousie Trekking Trip

First Let me start with the itenary for this trip:

Itenary:

1) 20^th Dec 2006 – Started from Bangalore

2) 22^th Dec 2006 – Reached Delhi

3) 22^nd,23^th Dec 2006 – Went around Delhi

4) 24^th Dec 2006 – Visited Agra , Started to Pathankot

5) 25^th Dec 2006 – Reached Pathankot,Started to dalhousie and reached dalhousie

6) 26^th-30^th Dec 2006 – YHAI trekking.

7) 30^th Dec 2006 – Left Dalhousie reached Pathakot,Started from pathankot.

8) 31^st Dec 2006 – Reached Delhi.Started for Bangalore

9) 2^nd Jan 2007 – Reached Bangalore

As this would be a reasonably long account let me split it into 3 parts:

Part1: From bangalore till Leaving for agra:

Part2: The Agra Trip

Part3: Trekking in dalhousie

Part4: From dalhousie to Bangalore

Before that I should tell you who all were part of the trip:

From left to right:

1)Siva Subbiah:
My classmate from school.We have spent around 6 years together in School and College(Who talked abt studying).He is from trichy.Currently working in Hyderabad.

2)Sivamurugan Krishnaraj:

Pollachi maapillai.My friend and collegue.We have sitting next to each other for nearly one year now.(Who talked abt working).

3)Santosh Kanna: My collegemate and ex-Collegue.Although we had not moved closely before the trip,I knew that we shared a lot of common interests and viewpoints.He is from madurai.Currently working in Bangalore.

Ambition (rather the lack of it) Among Software Engineers

The so-called Ambitious Software Engineers ,who switch jobs @ a toss of a hat ,for so called better oppurtunities, are dime a dozen.How many of us are really really ambitious.If 1000 software engineers ask themsleves "Where do I see myself 20 years from now".What do u think the majority will answer??I guess the answer from most would be "I ll be working for Microsoft/Google/xxx/yyy".. Some say "I ll start my own software company"...But out of that some how many actually do it?? Very few only ..sadly.

Consider most average barbers in a barber shop.Their aspiration would be to own a saloon himself.And moist people do it.Consider average helpers in a photo studio.Ditto.. But consider a software engineer, he aspires to work for the most big/prestigious/well-paying software company in the world.Not to own the most big/prestigious/well-paying software company in the world.Why is this the scenario.Are we getting bogged down by the safety net of the monthly salary we get , the monthly EMI we pay towards our home/car/2-wheeler/washing machine/etc etc....
This is one case.. I have one more doubt.

Why do software engineers never leave software line and diversify??

Basically software is something that helps some business x,y,z do their work better.Better may mean , increased effeciency, increases volume , increases customer satisfaction, etc etc.All boils down to increasing profits.So software only betters a business model.without the business there are no clients for software except for research purposes.

Why don't software people think about startig their own core business??India's largest enterprise is still Reliance Industries.Richest group is still TATA group.Although TCS is a part of tatas, no single software company can match these industries.The average IT spending of a company is around 20% maximum.And it does not go to any one single s/w company.This means no single software company can become bigger than the top core companies.

See these links for some info:

http://www.forbes.com/2006/03/29/06f2k_worlds-largest-public-companies_land.html

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/21/biz_06privates_The-Largest-Private-Companies_land.html

These are the list of biggest public/private companies.Not one software company figures in the list.

So I feel its time we people consider shruging the security and the big bucks of our software industry and plan to be more ambitious.We can never grow bigger than our clients in this business.Way say??

Mumbai trip-Vidhya's marriage

Posting after a long time( as usual).Had been to mumbai to attend My cousin sister Srividhya's Wedding.Was in mumbai from 23-30 oct.Had a great time.

These occasions are a oppurtunity to meet all my cousins and interact with them all.Watched Shahrukh's "DON" in thane's aanad theater.Was a decent film.Then on was mostly in home.Eating , sleeping and chatting.Last few days helped in Marriage activites.All small ones only because the marriage event ,as a whole,was outsourced to some marriage contractor.

Went shopping quite a bit in thane streets.Got one authentic RayBan aviator Sunglasses for just 120 bucks.Enjoyed mumbai's panipur and ganna juice.Sriram anna(my bro) had got a superb carrom set(height adjustable stand adn overhead lamp included).It was a tournament board.We all played carrom with losers quit logic.The very fact that we played without fighting is a great thing considering that there were nearly 12 ppl competing for places in a single carrom board :-)...

Finally we arrived @ the marriage hall.It was a beautiful and compact hall.The two striking features were it had no top floors(only ground) and it was fully airconditioned.There was a smaller A/C banquet hall behind the main hall.It was also booked so that we could sleep there.So all through the wedding we were in airconditioned spaces :-)...So it was very very comfortable.

Another highlight was the fireworks we had.There was one single box which sent 30+ rockets of all colours in the air when u light it.. Just like a 1000 wala cracker it was many rockets attached to one single fuse.It was too good to see in the dark starless sky.

Overall it was a very relaxing one week vacation.I am also embedding a few pics of the marriage in this post

Srirangapatna-Melkote Trip (mis)Adventures

Me and three of my friends (Mukunth,Vidhya and Gayathri) had been to pilgrimage/adventure(this aspect not planned ;-)) trip to melkote and srirangapatna.The (mis)adventures that were part of the trip made us think if we were cursed by the almighty.
Mukunth thorugh his group mailing skills,persuation skills,language skills and many other skills he is blessed with tried to organise a gang to people to accompany him on his pilgrimage trip to melkote.Finally he could manage only a BIG gang of 3 other people ;-).So finally after some hectic mail activity among the grp the plan was finalised.
THE PLAN
It was that we all meet @ 6.30 am @ City station.Mukunth's train was supposed to come to come @ 4.45am.I was to get up and go there and meet him and he planned to bath at the waiting room to save time and leave by the 7.15 train to mysore and get down at mandya.Visit melkote.On the way
map of srirangapatna back we planned to visit srirangapatna and balmuri falls if time permitted.
My plan was to cook lemon rice and sundal and buy some chips so we could all eat on our way.I had bought all the stuff required.
HOW IT WENT AWRY
1) I went to sleep @ 2 and set my alarm to 3.30 to cook,pack,bath and start.My alarm failed me.(Or i
failed my alarm i am not sure which one is true)I slept me b4 srgpatna temple on till 5.15 when mukunth after waiting in the station for me for 30 min called me.As usual i lied i was on my way and went there @ 6.10 AM
2)The waiting room in which mukunth was supposed to bath was closed for renovation.He had to go to the busstand to bath .Actually KSTDC has very
good bathrooms(they charge 35 bucks too)so, it was actually a blessing in
disguise.We gave that guy extra 15 bucks as deposit and failed to take it back.So finally when we were back@ the railway station it was 7.10
3)Mukunth,the munujagrithai munusami, had got three tickets to mandya by train.Vidhya and Gayathri arrived @ 7.15.When we went in the train had just left.Next train was only after noon.Another Rs 100+ muk b4 srgpatna temple down the drain.
4)Then we came to Majestic bus stand and found out that some days back all busses to mysore except Point to Point were shifted to the sattellite bus-stand around 10 km away.We got a bus to there in 10 min luckily(very rare lucky moment that day).
5)We went and got down @ mandya around 11.30 only to find that the bus to melkote, sceduled for 10.30 am had not yet arrived.They had no clue
when/if it would come and we knew that the melkote temple would be mostly closed even if by some divine intervention we get a bus.So we had to go the next stop srgpatna.We could have saved 30+ minutes and 20+ rupees had we gone by the same bus directly to srgpatna.
6)Now we went to srgpatna and enquired abt timings temple tank+melkote of the bus to melkote.It was by 1:15.We had 1 hr left.So we hurried to the temple got nice crowd free darshan took some snaps and returned back @ 1.16 just to hear that we had missed the direct bus by a whisker.(When we are on time the bus is usually late..but not vice versa..murphy's law)
7)Now we got onto a bus to some xxx cross and got down somewhere 5 km
Melkote tank(temple above) away from melkote( Its been 1 month thats why so many somewheres). From there we took a share-auto reached the temple finished darshan at thirunarayanapuram(down) and melkote.If u think our misadventures have ended u r wrong.
8)We had to take a circutious route and go back to srgpatna instead of mandya because we din have bus in the correct direction.So that added 1 hr extra to travel time.Then our Bus got repaired.We were seated comfi and calculating accounts of the expenses when we got to know we had to change bus.The new bus was full as we got enroute.Luckily we got 3 seats and had to cram in and adjust to come back to bangalore @ 11.30 :-).. It had taken us nearly 2.5 hrs more.
Thus ended our momentous ans eventful trip :-)(oru maasama eluthi eluhti oru vazhiya intha posta muduchutten he he)

India the software sweatshop: Glorified slavery in name of outsourcing

I know that many ppl reading this blog would be IT professionals working in india and would cringe at the word sweatshop. But come on people we have to face it sometime and call a spade a spade..We have heard many statements like India is -- The knowledge capital of the world , The It hub of the world , blah blah blah...But the truth behind all this is that "India is becoming the software sweatshop of the world."
Think sofware engg what come to ppls mind??
1.Hefty pay package
2.Lots of perks
3.Cozy air conditioned workplace
4.Cool foriegn Trips
5.Flexible working hours

Only people who worked in this sector will know the dark,ugly, unknown side of it.Not many people think abt the follwing things..
1.Average working hours put in in a year.
2.The pressure under which the work is being done.
3.The number of lunches,breakfasts and dinners skipped.
4.The number of close friend's and relative's marriages missed.
5.The meagre number of hours spent happily with our families
6.The activities we have outside work (for most people it is NIL)
7.Number of months spent away from friends and family in some foreign land with no one for company.

Is money all that is required in life. If we are given any arbitrary amount we want and are asked to sit idle the rest of our lives how many of us would opt for it?Not many I am sure. Situation most ppl are in now is just the converse.Why are we taking this sitting.Work is for earning money.Agreed.Earning money to do what? If u r a software engineer try to ask these questions to yourself:
1.When was the last time you had an evening(i mean 5-7) on a weekday to yourself?
2.How many times have you told yourself-"This is new to me.. I am learning thats why I have to stay late to finish the job"
3.When was the last time you learnt something new outside work?
4.What else u manage do u do on weekdays except work?(don say i read newspaper everyday ;-))
5.When was the last time you did something that u enjoyed doing.

I know you don have to enjoy work.U do it for money.I agree.But are u being paid to work 5x12 60 hours a week?Nope.U are paid to work 40-45 hrs. But most of us are stretched to do more hours.Maybe ur employer says u r new thats why initially you have to work hard.He hired you knowing your current skill set is'nt it. So it is his moral responsibility to factor in learning time.Are we getting lured by money,comfort and trips to exotic locations that our job promises us? What do we get at the end of the day.Big pot bellies,unhealthy lifestyles,broken families................. and a good bank balance.Will the last one balance all the others.
The big problem with all the software people in India is basically this:
1.Thinking the work assigned to oneself as "MY WORK"..It is just "SOME WORK" assigned to you right..
2.Not saying NO when they have to.
3.Not knowing to prioritise between business committments and personal committments.

If you are a person working in the software industry please think hard if it is all going to be worth it @ the end of the day....

ps:Guess there are lots of bullets in this post.It is supposed to make it Explosive ;-)..