Thursday, December 31, 2009

The year that was - 2009

Year 2009 has been a mixed bag of events for me. In the monotony of daily routine, here are some of them which I recall as I type this post...

Year started with my refusal to go to Korea, as I was dreaming of ABC, but this dream was shattered as early as Jan 10th. Jan 14th marked the 10 years of a mistake, which turned out to be the best thing I did in the decade. To mark this, I wished happy birthday to a totally unknown person. Got my spectacles on 19th, which I never wanted.

Reporting manager was changed in Feb, but not the kinda work I was doing. March started with New project, which was dropped by the end of the month, all of the efforts wasted. Appeared for my first Group Discussion and PI on March 28th, and I was like, God ! it's totally different experience. Got a call from my best friend on March 31st. I felt like forgiven for everything wrong I did to that person.

In the first week of April, I was assigned to develop a mobile application. It was really good experience. As the complete design, study, Algorithms and finally the coding was done by me alone.

I went home in the first week of May, the only time in 2009. I had a drink with an old class mate,now in Army, for the first time and came home after chewing a dozen of green cardamom. In the mid of May, I lent a couple of grands to another old friend for a week, it's not recovered yet. On 25th of May, Got many calls from friends, a miss call from bro, 3 calls from ....., finally, I called home to tell my Mummy that it was my Birthday, and she was surprised, as it was still to come as per the Hindi calendar, I gifted my self a Dell Studio as a Birthday Gift, with thanks to Rohit and his friend.

Next 2-3 months passed in the same rut, office, home and mock tests on weekends. I was on compensatory leave on Oct 23rd, was getting bored at home. Clicked on JS.com advert on Orkut. Created my profile there out of curiosity. I sent a request and got another 2 in next few days, and finally hide this profile as the fun might have taken some serious turn.

November too passed in the work, exam prep, and a false but exhilarating experience.

December started with very high hopes for many things, Manager was changed in the office, but 9 days' continuous stay at home for some prep was really boring, and it was not fruitful either. CAT came as a shocker, I was unable to concentrate fully( don't ask the reason) and left many sitters in the paper unanswered. 15th and 16th of Dec have really been ...tough but good in a way. I had to lie to my room mate that I got mouth ulcers, mind went into a whirlpool. Sobering up in the last week, canceled the tickets to Home and went on a trip to Ooty and Kodaikanal. It was real fun, around 1400 km in 3 days by a taxi, the great hotel search in the middle of night and the ultimate broker guy!!....today, manager came to me and asked to think about more applications for touch screen mobile phones.....lets see what we can get for you.

over all ....the year 2009 is ending as any other before it.... but T10 is going to be different...some hard decisions need to be taken ...and I'm gonna take this time for sure...another lie!

Wishing you all a very happy and enriching year ahead :)


Don't look 4 mistakes in this post...just go and Have some Party ;)

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Hum - Tum

मैं, मैं ही था जब तुमने मुझे देखा
मैं, मैं ना रहा जब मैंने तुम्हें देखा
तुम, तुम ना थे जब तुमने मुझे देखा
तुम, तुम हो गए जब मैंने तुम्हें देखा


----N.P.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ek boond ne...








Cont..

Bhari bhari si reheti hain aankhein..
Inke chhalak jaane se darta hoon..
Bas isi liye aajkal main..
Ghar se kam nikalta hoon..

Chaand mujhe bhi bhata hai..
Par tanhaiyon se darta hoon..
Phool mujhe bhi bhaate hain...
Par unke murjhaane se darta hoon..

Yahi soch kar bas apne aap mein..
Simta simta sa reheta hoon...

Ek boond ne saari mehanat bekaar kar dee..
Aise chhalki ki saari hadein paar kar dee...

Qaid tha jo toofaan mere seene mein...
Aankhon se uske liye ek raah taiyaar kar dee...

Yaadein teri naam tera sab bah gaya usme...
Dil ki zamin phir se banjar bejaar kar dee...

----N.P.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

My Roomie has changed....

He has changed!! certainly.... I have seen him Happy and Sad, but not the same at the same time, that he has been for last 5-6 months.

You see for yourself what has happened, I know he's got great talent, or its result of something...

these are some of his custom messages in gtalk, i like most..

the paths i pave....the doors u close.....the knots i tie....the bonds u break.... :)


I give my love freely... for it is mine to give.... My love has no possessor.... My life is mine to live.... ;)


and for this one, I dont know, how he read my mind, may be we drink from the same bottle, or we breath the same air, he has got this right from my head....

shaam se aankh mein nammi si hai... aaj phir aap ki kami si hai.... dafan karr do humme ke sans mille.... nabaj kuch derr se thami si hai.... waqt rehta nahin kahi tikk karr... iski aadat bhi aadami si hai.... koi rishta nahin hai phir bhi ek tasvir lajmi si hai.... shaam se aankh mein nammi si hai... aaj phir aap ki kammi si hai.... :)

more to come....sure he's got more of it...may be I'll also learn something...

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Exams, Cheating and friends...

Exams! Exams!! Exams!!!, Millions of students worldwide get nightmares because of these. I too have been thorough incubus since I’m aware of my existence as a student. Exams, to me, are still as tough as these were when I was in primary school. During the school days, it was all about maintaining the first rank in the toad’s world. In High school, it was all fight related to internal exams, classes and tuitions. Then college, here too it was no less game then earlier, labs reports, surprise tests and yes, Viva and thesis. Getting bored! Ok...finally but not the last, Examinations for professional degrees, crucial observations by big bosses, friends, and society at large.
Even the ways to stop the malpractices in the exams are getting tougher exam after exam. In the school days, it used to be just beating, scolding and answer sheet snatching. In the board exams it became punishable offense, and now in professional courses, even the movements of students are A/V recoded. But I’ve been amongst the few lucky ones, those who have passed through government schools with students insisting on cheating, whatever be the punishment, after all it was their Army career which was at stake. For teachers, catching the cheaters red handed, beating hell out of them was great fun. Some used to say, “Even I used to cheat in my school days, it’s a normal practice. But your crime is that you are being caught. What will your spouse say? That you didn’t even learn cheating in your school days!”
Unlike others, who, used to depend on high amounts of ammunition (Kharre) and even pass books. I was among the small times crooks; we could just tell the answers, show the copies and in some case pass around the supplementary sheets. In one 9th class exam, Vinay Sharma, who used to be just after me in the row, and I cheated. I showed most of the answers to him but not all, because even I had to finish my paper. After exam, he was all fired on; he had to leave two questions because of me! As I didn’t show all the answers. What a show of gratitude. In the next exam he kept on calling but I didn’t turn back. Half of the exam time was over and he was worried. Then suddenly said, “Hey ! there is something in your hair, just above your neck.” “Is it ?”, I turned back, stroking my head. He was all smiles. And now he asked again,”Yaar tell me the answer of no 14.” "what? I just have 10 questions in my paper", I asked. How come you have 14?. I turned over my paper again. But it had just 10, nothing more. He showed his paper to me, and then I came to know that my paper was printed on one side only. Had he not asked, I was happy doing just 10 questions.
After maths, next exam was of science. For this we were huddled in a single hall. As per the seating arrangement, Sonam, the topper, was in my right side in second column. She came excitedly and said, “Let’s tally our answers in objective part of the paper.” I agreed, after all I was going to gain something this time. We decided that we would show 1 for A, 2 for B ...4 for D. After 20 mins both of us were done with first part of the paper, so it was the time to start with the signs. She kept showing A,C,B.....and I kept nodding for all the questions, suddenly something came in my mind and I indicated that answer is A. Apollo-7 not B. Soyuz-T for the last question. She replied in negative, but I insisted and she agreed. I felt strange for a moment but I did this while I kept my answer B only. It was the first time that I’d cheated someone just to make sure that I get the full marks in the first part of paper. For the second part of the paper we didn’t make any attempt to cheat. After exam, she was happy that both of us helped each other for the first time and I was feeling guilty but I didn’t say anything.
After the winter vacation, in the first week of Jan, our science teacher Chandra was ready with the evaluated answer sheets. He first announced the overall highest mark in the both the parts combined, and then he told the marks in first part as well. I got the best marks in both parts of the paper. I got 10/10 in first part. After 10 mins he started to collect the answer sheets back. I asked Sonam sarcastically, “So what happened topper?, you got just 8 marks in first part.” She didn’t reply, but I insisted. Then her friend said, “She left one question unanswered to make sure that you get the highest marks and got another wrong by bad luck”. I said,”I wish you were a boy.I need a friend like you.” Then I could not stand there any further. I felt as if she cut me into the pieces. I betrayed her trust. And you know what; there was no rule to punish this cheating.

PS: Purists please let me know the errors....names are fictitious.

Friday, November 20, 2009

First experience with a Scribe....

Last month a journo wanted to have my perspective about the proposed change in the cut off marks for IIT-JEE application. Since this article has already been published, I wanted to put it here,....

Mail I received:

Dear xyz,
Trust this mail finds you well. Allow me to introduce myself. I write on corporate strategy for the Forbes magazine.
At Forbes, I am working on a piece around Mr. Kapil Sibal’s recommendation that the cut off for IIT JEE aspirants should be raised to 80% from 60% today. Sure, he retracted that statement last week but his idea was that the IIT system should be freed from the clutches of coaching institutes. I will be glad if you can share your perspective on the subject. Here a couple of questions;
1. What, to your mind, would be the average percentage scored by the 7300 students who got into IIT in the last two years in their 10+2 exams?
2. What is the likely scenario to emerge in the event of the 80% cut off being implemented?

I have a deadline till Thursday to complete this piece and I am really looking forward to your assistance. Thanks for your time.

I am sorry but time is really running out. Will it be possible for me to call you. Can you share your number?

Warm regards,
ABC

My Response:
Hi ABC,
As we know that coaching classes are not unique for IIT-JEE preparations only. These has been in existence for many decades, and now we have coaching classes for the preparation of clerk recruitment, school teacher selection exams to GRE, GMAT, and UPSC and many other competitions. As the Indian economy grows further, people have enough money to provide their children with best of guidance and education, and this has led to to spread of coaching and tuition class culture.

I remember, when my father asked me to prepare well for my Rajasthan board exams first, and if I could score more then 80% marks, then he would send me for JEE coaching to Kota, Rajasthan. I scored 81% and 85% in 10th and 12th standard exams and he fulfilled his promise. I took a year's drop after school education and cleared the JEE exam to go to IIT Kharagpur. I'm sure that it would not have been possible with out coaching, as the JEE exam was very different from Board exams. He said that it was a kind of investment he was making for my better future. And I'm happy that he made the right decision.

The following are the responses to your questions:
· What, to your mind, would be the average percentage scored by the 7300 students who got into IIT in the last two years in their 10+2 exams?
It is difficult to answer this question as the syllabus and marking patterns vary widely across different central and state higher secondary education boards. The questions asked in IIT-JEE exam are based on the application of concepts and complete understanding of the subject, while the school exams are mainly rote learning based. The marks obtained by general category aspirants vary in the range of 60% to 98%. I know one of my batch mates, who had scored just 62% in his 10+2 exam of the Madhya Pradesh Secondary Education Board and cleared the JEE exam in first attempt. One the other hand, another student, who was in the merit list (top 10) of 10th as well as 10+2 exams of Rajasthan Education board, but could not clear the JEE exam even in two attempts. So it does not mean that a student with higher percentage of marks in his board exams is good student for IIT and others are not.
As per my knowledge the average marks scored by students should be in the range of 70% to 80%.

· What is the likely scenario to emerge in the event of the 80% cut off being implemented?
If 80% cut off is implemented, then it is going to be more difficult for JEE aspirants to prepare for both exams as the paper patterns and preparation methods are of different nature. Sincere aspirants may lose the focus of their ultimate target, to make it into an IIT.
It may even lead to proliferation of coaching classes and schools boasting of their students, who got higher percentage of marks in their board exams. Now coaching classes are offering classroom and distance learning courses for students of even 7th to 10th standards, to groom them for JEE and other similar competitive exams. Coaching classes are looking forward to the online education market it will create. And these developments are certainly going to put the rural and poor aspirants in a disfavour able situation.
On the other side, it may lead to some other changes as well. Students can focus on their studies in school; obtain the required percentage of marks and then prepare for JEE exam. But in this case, they will have to play with one year of their precious time. The role of coaching classes and special training schools is not going to be diminished by this change.

My contact no is +91-99864-54428.

All the best for your report.

Thanks,
XYZ

Friday, April 03, 2009

The Sun Rises Again...

P: shayad aapko pata hoga.......
Me: i dont care
leave the past ... live in present
blog padha ki nahin mera
P: haa....padha......bt that also contain smthings from past.....

I think in some cases my Past will always be Present with me and I'm happy to live with that...

It was the dawn as usual, but there was something unusual for the day, I didn't go to office to exhaust my last remaining casual leave(CL) of the financial year. I woke up at around noon, had Maggie for lunch around 2:00 pm and continued with Midnight's Children.

At 3:01 pm phone rang, and I answered it saying "Oh my God !" I could not believe my ears as I heard that Voice after almost five years....well conversation continued for around....that I'll not write in this open diary.

It was something very nostalgic .... a kind of SUN rising after many Years.




Happy Fools day .... ;)[Written on 01-04-2009]

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

About ME.

MY NAME IS RED, am right now in CATCH-22 situation, because I spent A LOTs of NIGHTs @ CALL CENTER (read IIT hostel, Dep or whatever ) to do EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH and to become an ALCHEMIST, but the results were not as expected, so had to be content with SEVEN POINT SOMEONE and had to work with INSCRUTABLE AMERICANS, who practiced FRECONOMICS and their RICH DAD became POOR DAD. now they are going to be the MONKS WHO SOLD THEIR FERRARIs and some of their VERONICAs have DECIDED to DIE. ok...enough of my quibbling.....before the ATLAS SHRUGGs I need to return to my work and reach THE FOUNTAINHEAD of success. Then I'll probably get the FREEDOM AT MIDNIGHT.

About Friends:

For me Friends are like Books, I picked up many of them....read some of them....understood few of them and learned something from most of them.

more to add:

The Kite Runner
Plans for Departure
Screw It, Let's Do It. :)