Reservation ?? Really??

Read a post on Sagaro's blog on the reservation issue, and some of his points are worth mulling over.

It is pretty evident, that this decision by the Indian Government, (yes, the guys you and I voted for) to increas reservation has multiple reasons, the most evident being vote-bank politics. Which politician, in a power-hungry country like ours, in which only numbers matter, wouldn't want the vote of nearly 77% of the country's population. Sagaro makes a couple of critical points, he says that the backward classes in question have not had a comfortable life like most of the general quota students and have had to work and study simultaneously in state run corporation schools. Agreed. They probably do deserve help from the government. I don't think a lot of us are against the idea of reservation per-se. Its the way its being/ going to be implemented now which concerns us!

From personal experience, I can say that it does hurt when you see a student, one that has studied with you all through school, been a very bright student, scoring lesser marks than you in one of the entrance tests ( and by lesser, I mean, a good 10 percentile points lesser) getting into an IIM, easily the country's best and most prestigious business school. This, when other classmates of yours have to slog and be disappointed in the end, because their seat has been taken by someone else. Is this Fair?? Is it fair that, in an educational institution of international repute (IIT, IIM, NLS, NALSAR, AIIMS etc..), you have a complete class of students, half of them entering via the back-door so as to say?? An argument that has been put forth by the guys who have used the quota system is that they compete against the general quota guys once they have been admitted. If that is what you want, why don't you compete against the general quota guys for the admission. If you're good enough to compete later, you must be good enough to compete now.

On NDTV, the other day, I saw a medic saying that he was from a poor family and din't have enough money to attend coaching classes to prepare for entrance tests. So, he took advantage of the quota system and now is a doctor. Fair play and well done to him !! These are the kind of people the government needs to be taking care of, providing them with assistance to prepare for these tests, maybe provide them good education at the primary and secondary school level, rather than at the graduate level.

Sagaro says,

Reservations have worked wonderfully in India. In IITs people tell me how these SC/ST guys at the first year are shy and aren’t very sociable, but by four years they are better off and even overtake these FC guys.

I don't necessarily agree with this. The aim of these institutions is to produce good engineers. Developing personalities is something that is upto an individual and happens along the way. There have been a lot of cases where these reserved students haven't been able to cope up with the general category students simply because they haven't got the kind of scores that most of their classmates have obtained in the JEE exam. Meaning, the kind of foundation that the others have is lacking somewhat in some of these students. It's not their fault mind you!! It's the system's fault. A system that says, "Ok, a seat is reserved for you, you don't have to work as hard as the rest, IIT mil jayega!!." Is this the kind of students that a premier institute like the IIT needs?? Remember, the IIT's are branded as the best engineering college in the country and brand IIT has a huge impact all over the world.

Increasing seats is not an option either. Lot of logistics and admin related problem crop up, like increasing classrooms, faculty and hostel facilities. This is not a feasible option, not for a while now atleast.. Also, in a country like ours, getting a OBC certificate is not that hard a job!! Or so, I am told!! :)

So, what is the solution?? Possibly a middle path!! Provide monetary assistance to these students, empower them at an early stage, so that, by the time they reach class 12 or so, they would not require to use reservation and compete with the general category students!!! This, in all likelihood, seems like the most plausible way out of this situation for now!! Though, knowing the government and the way politicians think, one never knows!!

Cheers

You know that you're in India when ....

-- You drive on the road and a cow suddenly appears outta nowhere!!!

-- You get caught for breaking traffic rules, and escape with either a very small fine or sometimes even talk your way out of it.. Like " I know this politician. that police officer and so on.. "

-- You find people not using the footpath / sidewalk. What is more, when you take a closer look, you actually find that the sidewalk is used for sleeping :-)

-- You drive down an arterial road in a big city, and suddenly have to slow down because a bullock cart is transporting bricks. The bull and the owner are oblivious to the problem

-- You find people using areas behind trees and bushes for relieving themselves!!

-- You see people crossing roads at all places except pedestrian crossings.

-- Auto Drivers indicating one direction but going completely in the other (Chennai specific)

-- Walk along any shopping area and find brands ranging from Mike, Rebook, Adidaas, Radoo all in the same pavement :P

I love the country :)
India rocks!!
Cheers

My GD/PI Experiences

Lots of people wanted me to write about my Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI) experiences. My first one was way back in February whereas the last one was sometime towards the end of March. So, will just write a summary of each one!

Feb 14, 2006 - IIM Indore Venue : IIM Bangalore

GD - There were supposed to be 9 of us in the group. One person decided not to turn up. Hence, it was 8 of us. Topic for discussion was a case study involving some venture capitalist and some company. Very boring case and I couldn't understand anything :P. Hell, I din't even know who a venture capitalist was! Spoke some amount, din't exactly know whether I contributed to the discussion. Overall, a very average GD..
Rating - 5.5/10

PI - Was a two-member panel. Nice and relaxed interview. Touched upon a lot of aspects. There were technical questions which I was able to answer reasonably well! Also some other general questions on politics and sports. On the whole, a feel good type interview. Answered a lot of the questions.
Rating - 8.5/10

Final verdict -SELECTED

Feb 16, 2006 IIM Kozhikode Venue: IIM Bangalore

GD - Supposed to be a 10 member panel, only 7 turned up. GD was peaceful, about sting operations and the ethics of it, money involved, the like..Spoke decently, a better GD than Indore. Would rate it at about 7.5/10
PI- This was weird. There was hardly any tech. Most of the questions involved politics, and seemed like an extension of the GD. They also confused me and had some fun with me ( This I came to know later). Never mind, I got thro.. So peace :)
Rating - 7.5/10
Verdict - SELECTED

Feb 22, 2006 IIM LUCKNOW @IIM B

GD - Was on how good governance is the most effective way to curb and eradicate poverty in our country. Peaceful discussion. 7 member GD. We ran out of points towards the end. Another probable reason was that the moderators warned us beforehand to let everyone speak. I think we were being extra careful though !

PI - Moving on to the interview part, this was easily my worst interview. I was asked about anything and everything from Diamonds to VLSI to politics to capitals of countries. The number of times I uttered the "I Don't know" phrase would have exceeded the number of cows that Laloo Prasad Yadav possesses. In short, even I wouldn't have selected myself. Although, I must add, the IIM L professors seemed to think otherwise and offered me admission. Which I have regretfully denied :P

March 1, 2006 IIM Ahmedabad @ IIM B

Supposedly the mother of all interviews, atleast according to a lot of people!

GD - Supposed to be a 9 member group, one person decided that IIM A was not worth his/her time and hence, decided not to show up! Meant that it was reduced to a 8 member group and the topic was a case study, typical WIMWI style. For the uninitiated, WIMWI is an acronym for Well known Institute of Management in Western India. Was a fun discussion, I actually understood and could contribute to the discussion!

Interview - Again, very generic. Asked me about everything from sport (I had written that I support MAN U in the form), cooum in chennai, politics in TN, different newspapers in the country, and my project (which for the record was a total fraud project).

Well, after speaking to me for about 25 minutes, these guys decided to offer me admission into IIM A and thats where I am headed this June :)

Will talk about the other two in another post!!
Cheers

Time for a Change?? Really ??

Its election time in my state and wherever you go, the mood is the same. Debates within family members as to who will come to power, my grandmom asking me why the DMK is not contesting the Saidapet seat, my driver telling me that DMK is going to come back to power, and I retorting saying that Amma will make it again!!

However, over the past three months or so, there are a couple of other parties that have joined the fray, most notable among them being the Lok Paritran about whom enough has been said an written!! Their campaign managers have been telling us to vote for them because they promise change! And eradication from corruption. They don't promise insane stuff like color TV's and rice for Rs.2. Which is great. Its a refreshing chnage from the verbal wars that the two Dravidian parties have resorted to! Karunanidhi on the one hand says Jayalalitha claims to be working 20 hours a day and appeals to the voters to give her some rest from the 8th of May, not for her benefit, but for the benefit of the party. Jaya on the other hand blames the centre (of which the DMK is a part) for not having assisted the government enough during the tsunami and the rains last year.

There have been quite a few mails floating in my class' yahoo group about the elections, TN politics, Lok paritran, some independents, and even Vijaykanth :) I hear that 'CAPTAIN' is contesting all 234 assembly seats!! Wonder how this is going to affect the vote share of the main parties because he is sure to eat into the vote base of both the DMK and the ADMK, but may not win that many seats! Some students of my class have been involved in the campaign for Lok Paritran and have been using the group as a means to campaign. So, I asked them, why should one vote for the Lok Paritran. The answers I got were various, ranging from the young and enthusiastic party, to the educated people, to the IIT brand. But, really, is it fair that one should gather votes based on a 'brand' like IIT?? I don't think so simply because an IIT + NYU education can prepare you for organisational skills and all that, but you need hands-on experience in grassroot level Indian politics to be able to compete. India is a very diverse nation and different people (sometimes members of the same family) voting for different candidates for a variety of reasons!

Whether both LP and Vijayakanth can eat into the vote base of the dravidian parties, we'll find out, come May 11th!!

As of now, after saturday, all the political parties will have their fates decided by the voters of this state! All I can say is that its going to be a closely fought election and that "Yeh Public Hai, Yeh sab Jaanti Hai".. Roughly translated, it means, "Its the public and knows everything"

Cheers folks

The Power Of Democracy!!

Saw this news story on CNN-IBN this evening. Assembly elections are on in Kerala and in one booth, situated about 2500 mts above Mean Sea Level (MSL) and 60 km from Calicut, there is only one registered voter. This is a remote location nestled among the forests and for just one voter, there are four election commission officials and two security men sitting there from 7 am in the morning waiting for this one man to come and cast his vote. This practice has been going on for years and usually, he comes by 4 in the evening to cast his vote. This time, he had promised to come earlier and it was a funny sight, seeing these officials wait patiently.

He finally came, or rather, the IBN team had to go into the forests to bring him along, and when asked why he insists on voting at this particular election booth, he says that he pays taxes to the government and is justified in his actions. Incidentally, the law is on his side as well, as it states that a polling station should be within a 1.5 km radius of the voter's residence.

Such is the power of democracy! Even a single vote matters ! So, if you guys are reading this and are yet to get voter ID's, please do so ASAP. Your vote might win or lose an election for someone !

Cheers

For Completion Sake:)

Posting this for completion's sake!! The previous part of this post can be found Here..

Am sorry about the size, please click on the images for a better view..

Speechless:-)

What started off as a 'lets give this exam a shot because the others are doing it ended up in THIS today' -)

I am sorry about the size. Click on the picture to get a better look!

Cheers :)

The Premiership title race is back ON!!

Yeah, the race for the premiership is hotting up with Manchester United comprehensviely beating Arsenal at Old Trafford.

Mourinho must be a worried man now!

Go RED DEVILS!!!

Ad--vert-ise-ments!

As a result of my TV remote conking out ( batteries drained) coupled with my laziness to replace those batteries, I was forced to watch the same channel on TV for the entire day. I attribute this to my laziness in getting up and changing the channel manually. Also, the match on TV wasn't all that bad and it was worth a watch. Yes, even though Saurav wasn't playing :(

Anyways, usually, when I watch TV, I keep channel surfing, especially during the commerical breaks, much to my mom's irritation. She claims that it hurts the eye if channels are changed rapidly. Don't know whether that is true or not, but for the record, I have good eyesight and do not wear glasses or lenses.

But today, I was forced to watch these advertisements on Sahara One. I think that some of these commericals are downright crazy and have no relation to the product that they are trying to sell. I like Airtel's ads. Nice and enjoyable to watch. The entire series, right from the time A.R.Rahman composed the song which became a rage until the recent Shah Rukh Khan - promoted ones have all been nice. Recently, airtel has come out with something called the music shop and it has to be the best ad I watched today!

Other nice commercials that I have liked include the one with Hutch and the dog ( FYI, I do not like hutch with pink now and I don't use hutch anyway). I saw a new ad for lifebuoy soap, one with a kid and all. I think advertising products using kids helps 'cos it grabs the viewer's attention.

My current favorite is the Airtel one !!

On the other side, I can't stand these commercials for beauty products!! Some of them are downright silly and you don't really know what they are selling unless they actually show you the product. The one that takes the cake is the Fair and Lovely ad with kris srikanth in it!! Highly illogical. Or these detergent advertisements where each one claims to be the best!!

Later edit::

Got new batteries!! Won't be seeing ads for a while now!

Cheers

Dada Army!!

Read about this in today's paper! Apparently, a group of Indian fans have started something called Dada Army in order to compete with the Barmy Army. For the uninformed, the Barmy Army comprises of a group of English supporters who travel with the cricket team to all places.

Maybe time for the real 'DADA' to make a return to the team ;)..
What say guys?? The man is after all a class plyer..

Nostalgia??

nos·tal·gi·a
1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.


For some, nostalgia is just a word in the dictionary. It was the same for me too. Until a couple of days back!!

I've felt nostalgic about school life quite a few times, but not to a great extent.
I was thinking a few days back, that these last few weeks are going to be the last ones of my academic life at the undergraduate level!! And suddenly, I realised that I would miss college!! Yeah, all you SVCEians out there who are reading this, yes guys.. All said and done, I would still miss SVCE.. Would miss the campus.. The people.. Everything associated with it!!

To add to all this, a friend of mine sent me a link to some pictures of the school campus.. Nostalgic about that too.. Have spent the last couple of days reminiscing life at school and the fun we all had!!

Cheers

Quotable Quotes:-)

Credit for this post goes to all my classmates of ECE 2002 - 2006 (SVCE).

Some of the gems that my professors have told us over the past three and a half years:-) Sit back and enjoy...
Disclaimer :- The contents of this post are meant to be taken lightly and are not intended to offend anyone!! I am sorry if this offends anyone.

A certain management professor said this!!

You cannot afford to offer yourself to anybody during my class hours"

If u want to go personally by 1.30, go

By the time time will get over

The subject under the topic

do not allow interruptions to yourself

chairman has come today for the day

if not today,atleast by today's evening

all those earlier days was over now

nothing of that kind of thing

dont make my class a moral value

And this latest quote takes the cake! A classmate had actually noted this down and produced it verbatim!

The class started off with him saying, "Occupy the front seats"

And then he goes on to say, "I have been seeing that all of you people of this class are always sitting in the back rows YAAH and HESITATING to come in the front and occupy the so many seats available in the first few rows YAAH.. and you people are always going back YAAH.. So I tell all of you to leave the seats in the back benches and sit in the front seats of the first few rows.."


Apparently, my friend needed an additional sheet of paper on this particular day as my professor was in full flow:-).

Some more from the same day:-

"U cannot take ur leave between the afternoons"...he has more than 1 afternoon in a day I guess!!

A chap walks in late to class and he says, "HOD asked me to absent mark you."

Another professor who taught us in our first year had this to say:-)

He was trying to point out to someone in class and some other guy stood up and says, "Who, Myself??" For that, he replies, "No No, Not myself, but next to the myself :-)"

More in the next few posts.

I've been feeling particularly nostalgic thinking about all these memorable moments gone by!:-(

Had typed this post a week ago, but circumstances prevented me from posting this.

Cheers

Ramesh J (1984 - 2006)

A dear friend of mine, Ramesh, passed away this afternoon in a horrific road accident. Affectionately known as 'Base', he was an amazing guy to spend time with, always living life to the fullest and having fun! He was all set to go the United States with a fellowship as well!!

Dude, we all will miss you man!! Take care!

And guys, if you're reading this, please please drive carefully!

Today's fortune on Orkut :-)

In God we trust; all others must pay cash

So, out with the cash guys!!!

Cheers

I can't sleep....

And I don't know why........

Knotting a Tie!!!

I went to shop for some formal wear yesterday. Got a couple of shirts, a couple of trousers and came out feeling all good about the money spent!

Now, there was this little business of buying a tie, since I did not own one. Now, ties, I must add are very expensive, which is weird, considering that they have the least amoount of cloth on them!! Such are the strange ways of the fashion world. Once, I was watching this show on NDTV called Bombay Talkies where they were interviewing a well known fashion designer (don't remember his name now). Anyways, the stuff at his boutique costed anywhere from 50 grand to about 3 lakhs... 3 lakhs!!!!!!! That's how much it costs to perform an entire wedding!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, lets not digress.. Now, where was I?? Ahh, yeah!! TIES..
So, i go back to this store, in search of a tie. I find one that I like, and then focus my attention on the price tag. It was something like 799 bucks!! I am like, what??? That's how much a shirt costs, and I am sure that more work goes into making a shirt than a tie.. But then, as I said strange are the ways of the fashion world!!

Coming to the ties, common sense prevailed and I decided against spending 800 bucks on something that I am probably going to wear as many times as Saurav Ganguly is going to score a century. So, I went to an uncle, raided his wardrobe and am back with a few ties.

Yay!!! A good day's work, one might think!!
But, I DON'T know how to knot a tie!!!!
*Sigh*

Note to self - Learn to knot tie!!!!

Later Edit

The fashion designer was Tarun Tahiliani!

Cheers

Google Chat

Used Google Chat today!
Its an amazing feature!
Trust google to come up with such innovations!
Cheers

P.S - Will come up with a meaningful post soon!! Too many deadlines to meet :(

FED - EX

At the risk of sounding cliched, the best man on the tour right now is ROGER FEDERER. He plays at a different level when compared to his peers and frankly, I can't see anyone challenging him for the Australian Open singles title.

He just finished beating Tommy Haas, who for his part, pushed Roger hard and actually took it to a fifth set decider. In the first two sets, he seemed like a man in a hurry, winning it pretty comfortably. Then, suddenly, he began to look mortal and made a few errors, resulting in Haas winning the next two sets. In the decider, it was Federer all the way winning it 6-2.

Hope he goes on to win the open, especially with the No. 2 and 3 seeds out!!!

Hilarious!!!

Far easier than typing a post!! Will put up a more meaningful one soon!!
Cheers

Your Seduction Style: Sweet Talker

Your seduction technique can be summed up with "charm" You know that if you have the chance to talk to someone... Well, you won't be talking for long! ;-) You're great at telling potential lovers what they want to hear. Partially, because you're a great reflective listener and good at complementing. The other part of your formula? Focusing your conversation completely on the other person. Your "sweet talking" ways have taken you far in romance - and in life. You can finess your way through any difficult situation, with a smile on your face. Speeding tickets, job interviews... bring it on! You truly live a *charmed life*

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

Happy 2006, random thoughts and more!

Yeah, I know, I haven't been paying much attention to my blog recently. I could blame it on exams and lack of time, but its just me being really lazy!

First things first, almost a week has passed since the first sunrise of 2006 and let me wish you guys a very happy new year. Better late than never, I might add!!

Its been a good week, actually, an excellent first week of 2006. I am currently in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh attending a conference on VLSI design. Well, I primarily came to the conference because I needed a change and I am thoroughly enjoying it! Met a lot of people, went out and saw the city and its changed since the last time I was here was in November 1999. To top it all off, I am having a lot of fun at the conference itself. Whoever thought that a conference was only for old people and techies who have nothing better to do, think again! Its been organised very well, with a lot of entertainment provided by the sponsors. ATI are the chief sponsors and they have a stall with an X Box 360 and some really cute models :-P. Needless to say, I have been spending quite a bit of time at that particular stall (Playing games actually, lest you dirty minds think otherwise). That apart, the entire setting at the Taj Krishna and the conference is amazing. I've met a few people who I never thought I'll meet and its been good.

I also had started a post regarding some of my observations on this city, but I haven't completed that yet and will post it up soon!

Digressing to a completely different point, I have a few decisions to make, I am hoping that I don't have to make them for a couple of months atleast, and I also have to finish a lot of pending work that I have been putting off for a while now!
For those who did not understand the last paragraph, don't bother! It's just me rambling!!
Happy 2006 everyone!
Cheers

P.S - Am typing this from the lobby of the Taj and hence limited internet access. Shall put up a much longer post when time permits.