I always smile when someone asks me "Where are you from?". Somebody asked me in Houston, and I said 'Mobile, AL'. Somebody asked me in Mobile, and I said 'Bangalore, India'. Somebody asked me in Bangalore, and I said 'Bhagalpur, Bihar'. Somebody asked me in Bhagalpur, and I said 'Jabalpur, MP; but I have spent most of my life in Bhopal and Indore'. :)
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Dream come true
When I entered into the fifth year of my studies at IIT Kharagpur, I had two dreams that wanted to fulfill before I graduated out of IIT. The first one was a very long standing dream, something that I had constantly dreamt of since my first year in the campus: To attain a CGPA of over 9 (out of 10). When I managed to secure 8.81 at the end of my first year, I knew it was only a matter of time before this dream got fulfilled. I predicted that I would cross the magic-mark by fourth (if not third) semester. But the scare of second semester (in which I managed to score a mere 8.04 and 8.32 leading to my CGPA falling to 8.52) meant that my dreams were far from over. During that time, I had begun fearing inability to maintain my CGPA over 8.5, and thoughts of a 9.00 were taking a backseat. A lot of hard work for the next four semesters, in which I managed an average GPA of about 9.5, landed me at 8.96 bringing me awfully close to my dream. I knew my job was far from over. I recollected the experience of one of my friend, who even after coming numbing close to the magical figure at 8.99, couldn't manage to break into the 9+ club.
My second dream was to secure a job with Shell (the popular name of Royal Dutch Shell plc). Unlike the previous one, this was not a long-standing dream. Although I knew about Shell for a long time, it was only when it came for campus recruitments for my senior batch did I get interested in the company. Shell was opening an R&D centre in Bangalore and wanted to recruit fresh graduates for the job. Before I heard about Shell's offer, I had trouble deciding which company to prefer. I wanted to work for a large company, preferably in R&D related area. I wanted to be preferably based in India, and wanted a job which promised good growth opportunities. Of all the companies I knew that came for recruitments, none of them fitted the bill. I knew that fresh graduates can't be very demanding about job options, so accepting the situation while trying to figure out my preferences was the best thing to do. Thus, when I heard about the job description of Shell, I couldn't believe it as this was exactly what I had wanted from my job. What was more heartening was the fact that not only was their compensation package non-repulsive, on the contrary it was very attractive, much more than what was offered to Mechanical Engineering graduates in India.
Even with such a clear choice in my mind, the work was far from finished. Not only was I far from clearing the hurdle of passing their selection process, I also had to find a way of not getting placed before Shell came for recruitment. The easiest sounding option would have been to not sit for any interviews before the D-day, but even an amateur would say that this can be suicidal. So I decided to sit for HLL, the only company other than Shell where I would have been happy to get a job with.
I was shortlisted for the final recruitment process by both HLL and Shell. HLL was on Day 1 (as they say), and Shell was on Day 2. I fared well in the group discussion round of HLL, and even cleared the first round of interview. Only me and Sneha Prasad managed to reach the second round of interview, which I later realised was a stress interview. The big-shots of HLL did everything to stress me out, but even though I got stuck a few times, I never lost my cool.
Usually, when people come out of their final interview, they expect that they won't get though, but pray that they do. With me, it was the reverse case: I expected to get an offer from HLL, but prayed that I don't. When the final results arrived, I learned that I couldn't make it to HLL. Looking back I feel that HLL wanted a person from thermal background, and while I was from a Dynamics background, Sneha was from Manufacturing background. All this was now irrelevant as I started preparing for the Shell Recruitment Day (SRD).
The Shell Recruitment Day was so much full of events that it deserves a post of its own. However, I will summarize what their recruiting strategy was. They gave a part of case study (background material) for reading the previous day, and on the SRD, the remaining part of it. After 80 minutes, we were supposed to present a 5 minute summary of our recommendations, followed by 20 minutes for questions and answers. The second round was a technical interview where we were grilled on a couple of our research topics for 30-45 minutes. The third round was group work where the candidates had to discuss and recommend a few projects for Shell to fund. Because of some chaos that resulted in last day's recruitment process, the results were held up till 3 am in the night. As you might have guessed, I got selected in Shell along with 16 other students. My joy knew no bounds when I learnt that after getting a 9.52 in the 9th semester, my CGPA finally became 9.02.
The experience of getting a job was most certainly a fulfilling one, and quite surprisingly, in the days to come, I found bitterness in it. Initially, the bitterness was because I came so close to being nobody. If I were unsuccessful at getting a job with Shell, it would have meant that I would have been left unemployed for many days to come. What was more painful was that I would have landed in a job I quite likely wouldn't have enjoyed in the first place. It is said that those who have seen death closely start understanding life a lot. I was not an exception to the rule. Whenever I tell someone about my job they either start feeling proud of me, or develop envy against me. But none realize how close I had been at being nobody. In the days to come, I saw many friends who were still hanging in that empty zone. While all knew that they would get "some" job, nobody knew which one. I saw so many people applying for every other job, with their aptitude taking a backseat. I saw each of those stories as my own, and placing myself in their shoes, felt the pain they themselves were going through. One of my favorite mantra is "Life isn't meant to be fair". For the first time in my life, I understood it from my heart rather than my mind. Things turned out beautifully for me, and I ought to be happy, but something held me back in enjoying things to the fullest.
Keeping these discussions aside, I often find people wondering why I didn't go for higher studies or pursued MBA at IIMs. It has been tough for me to explain these things to everyone, but I think that I should document my opinions on the issue once and for all. Most of the people who know me (but not closely enough) take it for granted that I will be going for higher studies. I must say that I often feel surprised at it as I have never said or done anything that remotely indicates my aptitude or passion for higher studies. The people who assume this about me either owe their belief to my intelligence, or the hard work that I put in studies that gets reflected in my academics through my CGPA. I never knew that using the Grey Matter was linked to going for higher studies. Also, while it is true that most people who put extra-hard work on their academics go for higher studies, I don't see any reason why the former should cause the latter. As a student, I feel that it is our responsibility to do well in academics, irrespective of the career line we choose to pursue later. The reason why I never went for higher studies is that I don't have aptitude for higher education. My experience with research has been that at the doctorate level, people become overly obsessed about a topic of a minor significance, something which I find myself incapable of handling. Also, add to the fact that the best you can do is choose the field of your major research, with the exact topic of your research decided by the whims of a professor you hardly know before start working with him. The atmosphere of indefinite detention also doesn't help. What lies beyond the Ph.D. degree also doesn't thrill me. One either goes for an R&D job at an industry or enters academics. If I were to choose the former, why not choose it at the graduate level (As a matter of fact, I got an R&D job with Shell). The latter is not something I relish. We all have heard about professors who understand their subject very well, but are unable to teach their subjects effectively. Some may respect them, but they get ridiculed by most of the class. This is something that I would not like happening with me. Those who wonder why I didn't go for MBA surprise me even more. Throughout my educational career, I have hardly done anything that would showcase my talent or aptitude for management. So when I have showcased enough aptitude and talent for technical job, why on earth should I move over to a field that I don't even know I would relish or not? I presume most of those who pursue the IIMs do it so because of money. They join the rat-race of getting more and more money, realizing little that money would stop mattering even before you turn 30. This is something that people from all walks of life would tell you. In the end, it is job satisfaction that matters. It is not that I am averse to management; but what is the point in jumping when you have no clue of what would greet you. Adventures aside, I consider it suicidal, not to mention outrightly stupid. I don't know if someone asks me this question again, do I repeat this whole story, or redirect them to this blog post.
My second dream was to secure a job with Shell (the popular name of Royal Dutch Shell plc). Unlike the previous one, this was not a long-standing dream. Although I knew about Shell for a long time, it was only when it came for campus recruitments for my senior batch did I get interested in the company. Shell was opening an R&D centre in Bangalore and wanted to recruit fresh graduates for the job. Before I heard about Shell's offer, I had trouble deciding which company to prefer. I wanted to work for a large company, preferably in R&D related area. I wanted to be preferably based in India, and wanted a job which promised good growth opportunities. Of all the companies I knew that came for recruitments, none of them fitted the bill. I knew that fresh graduates can't be very demanding about job options, so accepting the situation while trying to figure out my preferences was the best thing to do. Thus, when I heard about the job description of Shell, I couldn't believe it as this was exactly what I had wanted from my job. What was more heartening was the fact that not only was their compensation package non-repulsive, on the contrary it was very attractive, much more than what was offered to Mechanical Engineering graduates in India.
Even with such a clear choice in my mind, the work was far from finished. Not only was I far from clearing the hurdle of passing their selection process, I also had to find a way of not getting placed before Shell came for recruitment. The easiest sounding option would have been to not sit for any interviews before the D-day, but even an amateur would say that this can be suicidal. So I decided to sit for HLL, the only company other than Shell where I would have been happy to get a job with.
I was shortlisted for the final recruitment process by both HLL and Shell. HLL was on Day 1 (as they say), and Shell was on Day 2. I fared well in the group discussion round of HLL, and even cleared the first round of interview. Only me and Sneha Prasad managed to reach the second round of interview, which I later realised was a stress interview. The big-shots of HLL did everything to stress me out, but even though I got stuck a few times, I never lost my cool.
Usually, when people come out of their final interview, they expect that they won't get though, but pray that they do. With me, it was the reverse case: I expected to get an offer from HLL, but prayed that I don't. When the final results arrived, I learned that I couldn't make it to HLL. Looking back I feel that HLL wanted a person from thermal background, and while I was from a Dynamics background, Sneha was from Manufacturing background. All this was now irrelevant as I started preparing for the Shell Recruitment Day (SRD).
The Shell Recruitment Day was so much full of events that it deserves a post of its own. However, I will summarize what their recruiting strategy was. They gave a part of case study (background material) for reading the previous day, and on the SRD, the remaining part of it. After 80 minutes, we were supposed to present a 5 minute summary of our recommendations, followed by 20 minutes for questions and answers. The second round was a technical interview where we were grilled on a couple of our research topics for 30-45 minutes. The third round was group work where the candidates had to discuss and recommend a few projects for Shell to fund. Because of some chaos that resulted in last day's recruitment process, the results were held up till 3 am in the night. As you might have guessed, I got selected in Shell along with 16 other students. My joy knew no bounds when I learnt that after getting a 9.52 in the 9th semester, my CGPA finally became 9.02.
The experience of getting a job was most certainly a fulfilling one, and quite surprisingly, in the days to come, I found bitterness in it. Initially, the bitterness was because I came so close to being nobody. If I were unsuccessful at getting a job with Shell, it would have meant that I would have been left unemployed for many days to come. What was more painful was that I would have landed in a job I quite likely wouldn't have enjoyed in the first place. It is said that those who have seen death closely start understanding life a lot. I was not an exception to the rule. Whenever I tell someone about my job they either start feeling proud of me, or develop envy against me. But none realize how close I had been at being nobody. In the days to come, I saw many friends who were still hanging in that empty zone. While all knew that they would get "some" job, nobody knew which one. I saw so many people applying for every other job, with their aptitude taking a backseat. I saw each of those stories as my own, and placing myself in their shoes, felt the pain they themselves were going through. One of my favorite mantra is "Life isn't meant to be fair". For the first time in my life, I understood it from my heart rather than my mind. Things turned out beautifully for me, and I ought to be happy, but something held me back in enjoying things to the fullest.
Keeping these discussions aside, I often find people wondering why I didn't go for higher studies or pursued MBA at IIMs. It has been tough for me to explain these things to everyone, but I think that I should document my opinions on the issue once and for all. Most of the people who know me (but not closely enough) take it for granted that I will be going for higher studies. I must say that I often feel surprised at it as I have never said or done anything that remotely indicates my aptitude or passion for higher studies. The people who assume this about me either owe their belief to my intelligence, or the hard work that I put in studies that gets reflected in my academics through my CGPA. I never knew that using the Grey Matter was linked to going for higher studies. Also, while it is true that most people who put extra-hard work on their academics go for higher studies, I don't see any reason why the former should cause the latter. As a student, I feel that it is our responsibility to do well in academics, irrespective of the career line we choose to pursue later. The reason why I never went for higher studies is that I don't have aptitude for higher education. My experience with research has been that at the doctorate level, people become overly obsessed about a topic of a minor significance, something which I find myself incapable of handling. Also, add to the fact that the best you can do is choose the field of your major research, with the exact topic of your research decided by the whims of a professor you hardly know before start working with him. The atmosphere of indefinite detention also doesn't help. What lies beyond the Ph.D. degree also doesn't thrill me. One either goes for an R&D job at an industry or enters academics. If I were to choose the former, why not choose it at the graduate level (As a matter of fact, I got an R&D job with Shell). The latter is not something I relish. We all have heard about professors who understand their subject very well, but are unable to teach their subjects effectively. Some may respect them, but they get ridiculed by most of the class. This is something that I would not like happening with me. Those who wonder why I didn't go for MBA surprise me even more. Throughout my educational career, I have hardly done anything that would showcase my talent or aptitude for management. So when I have showcased enough aptitude and talent for technical job, why on earth should I move over to a field that I don't even know I would relish or not? I presume most of those who pursue the IIMs do it so because of money. They join the rat-race of getting more and more money, realizing little that money would stop mattering even before you turn 30. This is something that people from all walks of life would tell you. In the end, it is job satisfaction that matters. It is not that I am averse to management; but what is the point in jumping when you have no clue of what would greet you. Adventures aside, I consider it suicidal, not to mention outrightly stupid. I don't know if someone asks me this question again, do I repeat this whole story, or redirect them to this blog post.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Nerves of Steel
This true story may sound like one we keep hearing in forwarded mails, but don't have any way to verify whether it actually happened.
Last year, during the Training and Placement season of IIT Kharagpur, one of my wingmates appeared for the interview of a major steel company. The interviewer asked the candidates to tell the factors influencing establishment of an iron and steel plant at a location.
This guy thought for a while and told "लोहा बनाने के लिए लोहे का कलेजा होना चाहिए ।"
("To make iron/steel, one should have nerves of steel.")
Needless to say, the interviewer was impressed and he was selected.
Last year, during the Training and Placement season of IIT Kharagpur, one of my wingmates appeared for the interview of a major steel company. The interviewer asked the candidates to tell the factors influencing establishment of an iron and steel plant at a location.
This guy thought for a while and told "लोहा बनाने के लिए लोहे का कलेजा होना चाहिए ।"
("To make iron/steel, one should have nerves of steel.")
Needless to say, the interviewer was impressed and he was selected.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Bedtime Story
Every night as I lay down in my bed to go to sleep, I make it a point to look outside the window from its upper left corner. From the clearing of the trees, comes a bright white light. Though the size of a twentieth of a moon, the aura of the brightness equals that of the full moon. It has a special place in my heart. Just as a full moon reminds a lover of his beloved, it reminds me of my childhood love, the IITs.
The bright light that shines at the top of the tower of the Institute's Main Building has a lot of symbolic value for me. When I am lying peacefully in my bed with the lights turned off, it shines singularly in the desert of darkness. It takes me back to those days in my school life when my only aim was to clear JEE. It reminds me of the single-minded devotion I had for my studies, and even today I draw inspiration from it.
I wonder how many people have the privilege of this view and how many actually attach it so much value as I do. Fortunately for me, this privilege is not a nuisance. Just by shifting my position marginally in bed, I can go again to the state where my mind and my vision go blank, singing me a lullaby. On such occasions, I often remember the rhymes from my early school days as I go into the arms of sleep.
"This little guiding light of mine,
I'm going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine,
All the time, let it shine."
The bright light that shines at the top of the tower of the Institute's Main Building has a lot of symbolic value for me. When I am lying peacefully in my bed with the lights turned off, it shines singularly in the desert of darkness. It takes me back to those days in my school life when my only aim was to clear JEE. It reminds me of the single-minded devotion I had for my studies, and even today I draw inspiration from it.
I wonder how many people have the privilege of this view and how many actually attach it so much value as I do. Fortunately for me, this privilege is not a nuisance. Just by shifting my position marginally in bed, I can go again to the state where my mind and my vision go blank, singing me a lullaby. On such occasions, I often remember the rhymes from my early school days as I go into the arms of sleep.
"This little guiding light of mine,
I'm going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine,
All the time, let it shine."
Sunday, November 06, 2005
To Tell Or Not To Tell
Those who know me personally know that I am an athiest, and this in fact is true. I find it surprising how so many educated poeple still believe that there is God. But this is not the issue I want to debate now, and to avoid coflict, I respect their wish by making the 'G' capital in the word God. But there is something I have been unable to decide since long time.
My parents believe in God. They taught me a lot about God, our religion, the rites and the rituals. But over time, I grew up and realized the truth (Atleast I believe that its the truth) that there is no God. Since then, I have taken part in the religious ceremonies only for their pleasure. But I don't mind it much as being a Hindu doesn't bind one with much to do. Had I been a Muslim or Christian, I would have to go to Mosques/Churches ever so often against my wish that I would have start planning for a revolt. But for me, thankfully, it translates to a couple of Pujas in the whole year, and a few days in which I am not allowed to eat non-vegetarian food.
I don't care if my wife would be religious or an infidel like me. But anyway, for the sake of compatibility, I would prefer her to be a Hindu by birth. I am sure we would be able to find a middle path if conflicts arise. But what has been bothering me for a while is that what will I be telling my children about God. Should I tell them there is no God, or adopt the same technique used by my parents. If I choose the latter, I run the risk of being a hypocrite as I don't practise what I plan to preach. But for children's point of view, the former should be avoided.
This is because in many places, it becomes very easy for parents to answer questions if we take the help of God. Be it a question like where people go after dying or how children are born, it is very convenient to use God as a solution and many times plead ignorance by saying that we are still very small and unable to understand the working of God. Many a times, the hope that God is there keeps us going and it is essential that we encourage our children to move ahead. Though I want my children to realize the truth as I did about God, I am still unsure how to go about explaining them about God in their early childhood. Things would be easier if my wife turned out to be a religious person, but my greatest fear is that she might as well turn out to be one like me. I may be one of the very few athiest who want a theist as a wife.
Can anyone help me with this?
My parents believe in God. They taught me a lot about God, our religion, the rites and the rituals. But over time, I grew up and realized the truth (Atleast I believe that its the truth) that there is no God. Since then, I have taken part in the religious ceremonies only for their pleasure. But I don't mind it much as being a Hindu doesn't bind one with much to do. Had I been a Muslim or Christian, I would have to go to Mosques/Churches ever so often against my wish that I would have start planning for a revolt. But for me, thankfully, it translates to a couple of Pujas in the whole year, and a few days in which I am not allowed to eat non-vegetarian food.
I don't care if my wife would be religious or an infidel like me. But anyway, for the sake of compatibility, I would prefer her to be a Hindu by birth. I am sure we would be able to find a middle path if conflicts arise. But what has been bothering me for a while is that what will I be telling my children about God. Should I tell them there is no God, or adopt the same technique used by my parents. If I choose the latter, I run the risk of being a hypocrite as I don't practise what I plan to preach. But for children's point of view, the former should be avoided.
This is because in many places, it becomes very easy for parents to answer questions if we take the help of God. Be it a question like where people go after dying or how children are born, it is very convenient to use God as a solution and many times plead ignorance by saying that we are still very small and unable to understand the working of God. Many a times, the hope that God is there keeps us going and it is essential that we encourage our children to move ahead. Though I want my children to realize the truth as I did about God, I am still unsure how to go about explaining them about God in their early childhood. Things would be easier if my wife turned out to be a religious person, but my greatest fear is that she might as well turn out to be one like me. I may be one of the very few athiest who want a theist as a wife.
Can anyone help me with this?
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