Dignity of Choice

After months of speculation, upsets and failures I feel a bit relaxed now. I know where I am going now and I know what I have to do next. I have quite a few things up my sleeve at the moment but have decided with finality the move I am going to make next. Just hope it all works out at the end. I decided to refrain from accepting IIMB's offer for the PGSM program. The same goes to job offers from a top Indian IT firm and the software division of a top international financial firm. After a year of being a member of the mendicancy squad, I feel the dignity of choice.

Dogs of War

Cry "Havoc" and let go the dogs of war. - William Shakespeare. An apt phrase describing India's software crowd. We are India's hi-tech mercenaries. We fight for someone else's cause in someone else's land. I have given up wanting to fight for my cause. Now all that I care about is a long drawn war in some foreign land, that leaves my wallet a mite heavier.

MIB Dude

Met honorary blogger dude Made for IsB yesterday at Deccanpark. He looked well fed to say the least :-).

SANity

Right now I am busy learning the ropes of network storage, never mind why. Well seems like the entire gamut of technologies used for network storage are abbreviated some permutation of the letters S, A and N. Now thats funny. When you can do cutting edge research in storage technologies, why not do some research on naming and come up with names that at least look different. Thats what I call "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". I for one would have come up with a name first and then started on the problem. Here are a few names that I have christened my babies with -
SODA - Simple ORF Detection Algorithm.
BiOLD - Bioinformatics Literature Database.
SMoDGe - Small Molecule Database Generation.
Bugblatter - My self written crash handler.(Ref. H2G2)
LeMO - Lead Modification and Optimisation.
Hmmm . .. . whaddya say. I at least can make a career in inventing funky names. Bangalore was fun. In 2 days I attended 3 interviews. Made it to Infy, flunked Techspan and am awaiting IIMB results. The best part was Techspan sponsoring my airfare. Not bad eh!.

PGSM interview experience

The interview window was 9:30-11:00 a.m. on Friday. I reached the venue half an hour early. There were already a bunch of people waiting. After verification of my testimonials I joined them on a series of chairs arranged in an open corridor. Struck up a conversation with a couple of guys. All were from companies like SAP, Oracle, Intel and Infy. Quite a few of them had reservations about the utility of the course. Exactly at 9:35 the first interviewee was called in. My number was 5th for that particular panel. Each interview lasted approximately 20 minutes. Candidates who were interviewed felt that it was a very relaxed process. The only intent of the panel was to find out why a candidate was interested in doing the course. Finally I was called in. I entered the room to find two profs. seated on the other side of the table. After some initial difficulty in getting into the chair, I started fielding questions. Bald Prof(BP) - Ok, tell us something about yourself briefly...... Me - Didnt get personal and limited the 'something about yourself' to my work life at TCS. Einstien Haired Prof(EHP) - So what exactly does bioinformatics mean. Me - Told them about Celera and Human Genome Project. EHP - Who was heading Celera at the time? Me - Craig Venter EHP - As a result of whose efforts was the genome data made public? Me - :-0 . I dont think I know that. EHP - Bill Clinton. EHP - Okay, Kalam feels that bioinformatics will do good to the nation. How many employees does TCS have? Me - 44K on last count. EHP - How many of them are working on Bio? Me - About 32. EHP - Dont you find that disturbing. Me - Yes, but when 20 years back IT started in India, nobody would have thought that things would have reached to this level. EHP - What slice of the global IT pie does India represent? Me - 5-6% would be a good guess. EHP - 2% is what we are today. Me - But we are still nascent and we will definitely scale up. EHP(Smiles to the other prof) - Now, theres an optimist. BP - So you want to do an MBA now, and later join the UNDP. Me - Thats right. BP - How long do you plan to be there? Me - 8 years approx. BP - And after that you want to start your own consultancy firm. Me - Thats right. BP - Do you think you can sustain high levels of determination at that age. Me - Believe so. BP - Smiles EHP - So why do you want to join the UNDP? Me - i believe in greater participation of the public and the private sector . . . (blah, blah). EHP - Can you think of any such projects that are being done in India? Me - Name a few Indian and a few global projects. EHP - So, how did you get this idea into your head? You just read a job posting and decided you wanted to do this. Me - No. (Tell him about people I know who have served for the UN) EHP - Why dont you do an M. Economics instead of an MBA? Me - I want to look at the problem from a private industry perspective and not from a NGO or public sector perspective. EHP - Tell me some challenges you faced during your years in TCS? Me - (Count some challenges.) EHP - So what would you say is the greatest advantage in working for TCS? Me - (Mention some points) BP - So how would you describe yourself, a technologist or a manager? Me - Actually, a bit of both. BP - Good, so do you have any questions for us? Me - Yes, TCS is not a partner company. How does a company become a partner company? BP - Says something. Me - I dont have anyone to talk to about this program in TCS. EHP - Gives me a name and asks me to look for him on the campus. Me - Great EHP - Any more question? Me - None. BP, EHP - Nice talking to you. Me - (Thank them and leave) To think of it, I have positive vibes about the interview. Lets wait and watch now.

Bangalore bang!

Am posting from Bangalore. Its 2:15 at night. Had a hectic day today. Attended the PGSM interview at IIMB. Have positive vibes about the interview but have negative vibes about the course. Anyway, who cares now. Have another hectic day tomorrow. Have to meet some distant relatives (smirk). Have to meet aunt N.S. Sofiy and aunt Rupa (a bit of Da-Vinci Code here). Have to discuss the details of an impending marriage. Am flying back to Hyd on the 17th.

The most influential figure in the 20th century

This is a question that is doing the rounds of most Indian B School interviews. People with come up with all sorts of answers to this. Some say Hitler, some say Saddam and there are others which say Gandhi. Now to me the influential means the ability to influence directly or indirectly, mentally or physically and openly or in guise, the lives of other individuals. Sadly for humanity the most influential events are always that result in trauma, bloodshed and displacement of millions. If that were the case, I would say that a young Serbian named Gavrilo Princip was the most influential person of the 20th century. He was the guy who pumped one bullet apiece into Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. The murder precipitated into the First World War and that in turn led to rise of communism and fascism that ultimately led to another bloody global conflict in 1939. India's independence was the direct result of the second world war and Britains increasingly slipping grip on pre-war colonies. Apart from India, a host of new countries gained independence immediately after the second world war. The second world war led to the discovery of nuclear power and consequently the arms race among the world's two superpowers. It also led to the emergence of a baby boom in America that led to soaring industrial productivity. I could go on and on, but guess I got to stop now. So people, now you know who was the most influential person in the 20th century. Sadly, he died of TB in a dank prison cell at the age of 24.

Vasella's Speech

Below is an excerpt from the speech Daniel Vasella made on the passing out day at ISB. He has summed up in simple words what many of us will take years to learn from experience.

I hope that you join a firm that inspires you by the purpose it fulfills for society. Work should not just be about money or power, but about an aspiration to contribute. As leaders, people will expect more from you than from others and they should. Accept this responsibility and act accordingly. Remember that money and power can corrupt. There will be temptations to misuse your knowledge and influence. You will need strength and character to resist. In any case you will know if you fail, although it may be invisible to others. This will undermine your self-assurance. Finally, I’d like to share with you some thoughts that are very important, but which you probably won’t hear a lot about in your career. There will be days when you feel the pleasure of accomplishment. But the truth is, there will be times when you are disappointed, angry or sad. This is normal. Have the confidence to accept these feelings, trust your self, be genuine, and also transparent with others. Be yourself and don’t try to play a role. Tough days never last forever and after follow the good days. Your family and friends will support you in difficult times, therefore understand and respect also their needs and strike the right balance for yourself and for them Dear students, today I shared some of my beliefs and insights with you. I would have liked to pass on all my knowledge and experience, which of course I cannot. I wish you success, financial rewards and a great job But above all I wish you wisdom, the ability to respect others, the fortitude to resist temptations, the generosity to help those in need, and the awareness that we are all humans, with all our human strengths and weaknesses. The new land is yours – at least for some time – make the best out of it, it’s up to you. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world. Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty, it is its own reward. Everything else is in God’s hands.”

The string of failures I have been having lately has taught me one thing. Be patient and bid your time. Your time will come, if not now, a little later. After all failures are there to inspire us to try harder, whatever be the stakes. Here's a link to the whole speech. http://www.isb.edu/campussbuzz1/newz_vasellaspeech_gday.htm

Have been keeping busy lately

Have been keeping busy lately. Plan to post later.