Women Can Bring A Change And Also Love Coffee

It was with an utmost excitement that I ended one very interesting day last Saturday. It seldom happens that you get to not only listen to but also observe highly influential people waving their magic wands that spreads their charisma everywhere keeping fascinated people like me bound under their spells. Such opportunities make you look at the real struggles of real people in a new light that simply does not fail to motivate you.

Let me get to the event that I am talking about - Career fair and confluence especially for women by an organization known as Women Changemakers. This event was the second installment of such a fair the first one being already held a couple of months back in Bengaluru. I happened to come across this event by chance and in the beginning had very little intentions to visit the fair as I was doubtful about it being of any interest to me. How silly of me !!

This event is a career fair that is held in different cities and it mainly consists of guest speakers - both men and women - who believe in and would like to encourage the power of women employed in various job roles in corporates. It also has booths corresponding to the companies to which the guest speakers belong that are ready to discuss career options for women and diversity in their organizations. 

I had registered for this event long time back and was not particularly willing to attend. After all who wants to be out and about during a long awaited weekend ;) However, the curious part of me didn't let me stay back and I decided to attend even after being late to the event by an hour or so. 

It was held at a popular five star hotel of Gurugram and it took me a while to reach the hotel as it was an unfamiliar territory. The moment I entered the hotel I just....froze. The site was so mesmerizing that I was left with no option but to gawk at my surroundings. Such a wide and spacious hall that consisted of shiny and absolutely royal pieces of furniture. The waiters and attendants also seemed so well off in their attire and facial glow that I started feeling a little self conscious about my own appearance. This hotel was definitely frequented by either very rich people or celebrities. 

I registered myself at the entrance of the ball room where the event was enfolding and went happily inside with a T-Shirt emblazoned with the women changemakers icon on the front and the back side. Later on I was highly thankful that the large sized T-Shirt fit me well !! The moment I entered the ball room I was welcomed with the strong and inviting smell of freshly brewed coffee. Everyone in the lobby was holding a cup of coffee and I felt myself desperate to rush to the nearest coffee vending machine and pester the attendant to pass me a cup as soon as he could what with the extreme heat outdoors making me forget everything else but....coffee. So you see how much in love I am with coffee :D Anyways I stopped myself and went to the nearest table and grabbed a mini bottle of water instead and gulped down the entire content within seconds. Then I went inside the hall where the amazing speakers were pouring their hearts out explaining how women have come a long way from being just a homemaker to being the best in their fields leaving men far behind and breaking the stereotypes like a boss. I had no idea that I would be so interested in what the guests were speaking but rather thought that I would just like to know what would happen at the booths and if I had any chance to get hired by those organizations. Rather, exactly the opposite happened. Once I started paying attention to the beautiful speeches that were being given there was no way I was going anywhere until it all finished. 

The speakers were varied and some of the women speakers had been highly experienced. They had donned the hats of people being in varied roles before joining corporate including being the sole woman participant of Indian Air Force and also piloting army helicopters and planes. Their talk was so interesting and inspirational that you started believing that you, as a woman, whoever and wherever you were, were capable of doing unimaginable wonders. The power lies within you and not in the society. 

Amidst these engrossing discourses I finally went and fulfilled my wish - I grabbed a warm cup of Cappuccino. This made me more alert and more interested in the talks. Before heading back in, I found a group of ladies swarmed around two ladies in the middle. One was younger and was telling about the extraordinary achievements of the other and much older woman. I couldn't catch much of what they were talking about because they were about to disperse. However, the most remarkable person in this group who was verbally in awe of the old woman's achievements was Ashish Vidyarthi - the TV and Bollywood personality who made me loath his mostly villainous characters in movies. I never knew that he was to be present at this event. But he was and once again for the second time that day I was spellbound. I never saw a movie star face to face and so close as a real human being. He was surrounded by many people and was taking groupies with his phone. I too got myself featured in one of the groupies although my wish to get a selfie on my phone with him remained unfulfilled. Later on I came to know that he too was a guest speaker at the event and had already spoken by the time I reached the event. Damn !! I missed something really interesting. 

Finally the speeches ended and the booths were opened for the ladies. It was too crowded and everyone was rushing and making a ruckus to hold a talk with the people at the booths. I was reluctant and hence went outside for some time and had a quick snack available outside. Then I went inside and could not hold my excitement when I saw the American Express booth. I am currently working in a project with the client base belonging to Amex that naturally made me proceed to the booth despite the crowd. I knew there are many opportunities for Salesforce developers in Amex and hence went to that booth first. Opportunities and talks notwithstanding, Amex was the only booth that was distributing free goodies to almost all the ladies who came there. Hence, two things made me highly excited - the potential to learn more about opportunities at Amex and also very interesting freebies that were not available at any other booth. But, subsequently, those were the very things that made me highly disappointed about the whole event. 

Firstly, after making my way to the front of the booth with great difficulty, I came to know simply that there are opportunities for cloud computing technologists at Amex but I would have to visit their website mentioned on a pamphlet being distributed very enthusiastically to everyone and look for the same and apply directly at their website. For that purpose, I was supposed to type an entry on a laptop giving my name and email Id which I did. Fair enough. Then I stood there expectantly looking at the person waiting for my free gift. But to my dismay, he moved on to the next person and ignored me. I had no choice but to leave empty handed. My bad luck.

After that, the crowd dispersed very soon. And as a result I easily went to each of the other booths and made the same inquiry everywhere - opportunities for a software developer specifically in Salesforce and got the same response - I need to visit their website and look for the openings and apply by submitting my resume. In one of the booths I even submitted a hard copy of my resume. At last I took my leave with my hands full of pamphlets from each of the booths and small goodies like stickers and key-rings plastered with the respective company's logo. But I never left without having one more cup of steaming Cappuccino :D Can't help myself what to do. 

It is impossible that you do not visit the famous Ambience Mall of Gurugram when you are present in such a proximity of the shopping center. And it is even more impossible that you do not visit the biggest book shop of the mall as the first thing when you enter the mall. As soon as I went inside the book shop I knew I would spend the next couple of hours there only. The shop is huge and consists of all varieties of fancy notebooks, pens, pencils, paints, sketchbooks etc apart from books. Even though I came out of the shop after purchasing only one book, I couldn't take my eyes off the beautiful stationary. 

Finally I returned to my place after having such an interesting day. I never knew I would enjoy myself so much. And the coffee !! 

Looking forward to more such interesting escapades. 

Pharell William's Happy - A Sure Shot For Happiness !!

Happiness is something that everyone craves for. There are different meanings of happiness for different people. There are also a number of philosophical musings about the theme and concept of happiness. Motivational and spiritual leaders mostly say that happiness is within you and you don't have to roam around trying to find a reason for happiness. The ultimate reason for whatever we do and however we do is to stay happy and keep others happy. I myself have my own meaning. Sometimes I find myself very unhappy and try to get over it by distracting myself. But happy or not there is one song that I found on the Internet that works like instant coffee ! That is it makes me actually and instantaneously feel happy even though for a short period of time as long as it is playing but enough to leave me smiling all along which is just awesome !! It is Pharrell Williams's Happy. With excellent and instantaneously uplifting lyrics accompanied with pleasant and joyous music, this song goes a long way in staying true to its title - Happy !! It is all about simple happiness. The lyrics remind you of the simple things in life that can make you happy.

It has been said that Pharell wrote these lyrics as a sound track for Despicable Me 2 when he asked himself what is it that makes him happy and he came up with damn good reasons.
Of course feeling no barrier whatsoever while trying to mentally soar above the clouds is something that will let the positive energy flowing continuously.

Not only the lyrics, even the video features everyday people dancing and clapping going about their daily routine showing how happy they are. The minions are like an icing on the cake. The cute little ones make you feel even more happy with their somersaults.

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Oh yes that makes me feel like flying away and feel lighter.

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do
Oh yes I know I just want to stay happy. 

The lines 'Because I'm happy' are said in a beautiful chorus with clapping noises in the background which makes you feel the finality of the statement and let you know that you are happy !

Here come bad news talking this and that
Yeah, give me all you got, don't hold back
Yeah, well I should probably warn you I'll be just fine
Yeah, no offense to you don't waste your time
A clear indication that whatever bad and negative things come your way you should not let them make you feel down or defeated. And stay happy. Wow that's something !!

Happy, bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
Love is too happy to bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
I said bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
Love is too happy to bring me down
Can't nothing, bring me down
Nothing, absolutely nothing can bring me down. Oh yes !

Such simple lyrics and such beautiful chorus make you feel like dancing and jumping with happiness and inspire you to remind yourself to be grateful for simple pleasures that life has given to you and if only for four minutes forget everything else that obstructs your path to happiness. 

Even though these very facts and inspiration has been given by various people in different ways like movies, books or motivational speeches, this four minute long simple song has proved to be the most effective and simple way to make me instantaneously happy.

Kudos to Pharell !! He has done a marvelous job. 

How The Fault In Our Stars broke my Book to Movie Myth !!

I read so many books and also would like to read many others. I also watch movies and it becomes necessary to watch a movie based on a book that I have already read. Curiosity takes better of me and it is almost a crime to watch the movie before reading the book if I already know that the movie is based on a book. And then comes the comparison. I would watch the movie less but compare it more with the book and its a totally frustrating experience if suppose I watch the movie a long time after I read the book because I would forget most of the things what happened in the book and how far the movie represents it. I have watched several such movies starting with the very popular Twilight Saga. The movie was just a minor version of the story and characters. They did not bring the same charm and wonder surrounding the bookish characters. Rather, everything about them seemed forced. I wasn't impressed any more from several such movies like the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, 2 States, 3 Idiots etc.  But then one fine day this myth that the book is always better than the movie was broken so nicely because I came across The Fault In Our Stars. 

The Fault In Our Stars is a very popular book and also it comes under the young adult genre. I myself do not like YA books because I feel since it is YA let them be restricted to young adults and teens only. Hence, I read TFIOS because it was highly popular and was awarded Goodreads reader's choice award. Most people say that they cried at the end of the book but the best thing that I found about it was that how hilarious it was. In between, there were many funny situations that left me giggling and chuckling. Unfortunately, the book did not turn out to be as sad as it could have been for me had not the crucial spoiler presented before me by some uncaring friend at some random moment. That was rude. So much for being late in reading a highly popular book. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading it. I thought the author managed to bring out the beauty of the story via his book but only until I did not watch the movie adaptation.

It was the best movie that I watched in a long time !! I now wonder that if I had not read the book, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. Even though I knew how the story would proceed and how each scene would turn out to be, this movie had left an impression that few movies do. I never cried while reading the book but I did shed tears once the movie ended. The characters were brought so alive and it seemed as if the picture going on in my head while reading the book somehow sneaked out of my mind and onto my laptop screen. Even though Hazel and Gus were supposed to be sixteen and seventeen year old youngsters, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort turned out to be their perfect representations. The book wasn't half as much engrossing as the movie. Most of the dialogues were copied from the book and even though, following the usual trend, most of the scenes present in the book were omitted in the movie, I never could say that I watched any other movie half as beautiful as TFIOS. 

The State Of Being Blank !!

Did I just take such a long break ? Oh no how is it possible for me to stay away from my blog for such a long period of time ? Was I too lazy to even open my blog and at least give it a glance ? These are some questions that I have been asking myself. Just the way my blog stands blank my mind stays equally blank with my life becoming lately uneventful. It has been quite some time since I last wrote about being selected in IBM and my happiness about it. I was truly overjoyed at my little success but when I saw the same post after about a month or so I felt stupid to write so enthusiastically about my placement. No harm in being enthusiastic but there is a sense of fear that creeps in letting the mind be skeptical about seemingly innocuous things.

Okay so lets come back to the present.  Here I am sitting in Chandigarh in the middle of Punjab - the land of the Sikhs waiting for a single call from IBM to invite me to join work on....well I don't know when. Chandigarh though being a joint capital of Haryana and Punjab is mostly Sikh dominated and every second person will be speaking Punjabi here. At this point I can proudly say that I have lived among and observed the two most divergent and prominent cultures of India and thus I am a true and real Indian...haha !! But unlike Tamil I am satisfactorily comfortable with the Punjabi language which is very much similar to Hindi. The first thing that you notice about Chandigarh is its comparatively lesser population than big cities like Delhi and Chennai. This has an advantage in that it lets you stay in peace of course and the disadvantage being that it has no big malls or anything advanced for that matter which leaves you craving for the shopping pleasure that you used to get in the big cities (Of course shopping is my weakness). But, overall, its my home and almost my native and hence I am sure to have a gala time here. But, unfortunately, I cannot do anything without any proper dedication which I do not have currently. I would have loved to start working here itself but I have to give way for the big brother and that is IBM which has led me to kill my time by staying at home all day and making my laptop steal the much acclaimed and suitable tag of an 'Idiot Box' from the television set which doesn't get as much as even a glance from me. All hail the Internet. Right now is the most demotivational time which will distract you from your bigger responsibilities without any external force mounting any pressure on you. You are just left at the mercy of your sluggish mind with on and off periods of motivation with minimum results.

In fact, this is what happens when your vacation period extends the normal duration to keep everything in balance. And, you find yourself desperately wanting this period of nothingness to end. Here, give me the liberty to fast forward to my future posts.       

Yeah that is what I am - bored

Music - Its Evolution as I see

I have been a die hard fan of music since the time I remember. After all who isn't ? I haven't heard of anyone who isn't fond of listening to music. If such a person exists then he is definitely not from this world. Even babies shake a leg at some disco music. There are many ways and methods that I followed to listen to my favorite music since childhood. These 'methods' make their memories precious. 

Starting from the time I remember when I just started understanding what is music, I will describe my first 'method'. 

We had a very antique radio with us. During the 90's the radio used to be the modern age music system with very huge body and very heavy. But, at that time that was the only source of music for us. It had a cassette player too. But I was unaware of the concept of buying new cassettes as I was just a kid with no knowledge of music and the cassettes kept by my parents were very old and the music didn't seem to interest me at all. So, all I had to do was to dote upon my radio. I, as a kid, used to carry around the radio all over my house even keeping it by my side whenever I used to get bored and sometimes, surprisingly, hiding under the table with it and lying down listening to all kinds of songs being played by the radio jockey much to the disappointment of my mom. I was at the mercy of the radio jockey who played whatever songs he liked but I never complained. I simply enjoyed myself listening to it. 

Then when I grew up, I caught hold of the concept of audio cassettes. And, most importantly our radio was replaced by a sort of deck. It had very huge speakers and professional looking cassette player which did nothing but just played audio cassettes. The old radio stations went into a state of oblivion as now I had the freedom of buying audio cassettes of my choice and thus listen to music of my choice. And yes, sometimes, making others listen too at times much to their disappointment and at other times to their pleasure. At that time I loved my music system so much that, occasionally, I just had to stand and dance in spite of myself as I always rocked to the tunes being emitted out of the huge speakers that you now particularly find only in marriage ceremonies.

Until here, I was used to large music systems that weren't portable and thus whenever there was any kind of outing I always assumed there would be no music. But then technology evolved a bit and there came the turn of walkmans. A walkman, as it's name suggests, used to be a portable, battery operated and small sized cassette player which could be used to listen to music while walking or doing anything else for that matter.   

Being portable, I used to carry one along with me at the time of an outing without missing out on my favorite music. Of course, it required me to carry many cassettes and batteries that used to increase my already overflowing luggage. But, it was worth it. Music was there with me wherever I was. And, not to mention the rapid speed with which the Everyday batteries used to drain out.  

After the generation of walkmans, came the generation of audio CD's. The biggest advantage of audio CD's is that they can be played on any computer system as well as a music system. We even installed a CD player in our car such that car rides became all the more enjoyable. But, at that time these CD's used to be very expensive and did not allow me to exploit them just the way I did the affordable audio cassettes. But they did brought about an amusing change.

Then when I came at an age when it becomes almost impossible to live without music, something very interesting happened to the world of music. It was as if it listened to my growing addiction to it and completely revolutionized this field. Welcome the father of all kinds of music - the MP3 !!! This music format just changed the way I listen to music even today. Walkmans got replaced with MP3 players with their size ranging from almost negligible players to quite impressive and stylish ones. I still remember the way I squealed when I first came to know that my little player in my hand can play any song that I like and can store thousands of songs at a time without the hassles of carrying batteries and cassettes. This was like feeling myself to be in heaven.

Earlier I was troubled by the fact that to play MP3 songs I had to once again take the trouble of buying MP3 audio CD's. But then, music was not the only field that got revolutionized. All hail our friend the Internet. Any song, yes, practically any song can then be downloaded from the Internet and within minutes can be transferred to our players. And, Voila !!! Our favorite music then is there right in front of us without doing any hard work to acquire it. 

Today, in the age of smartphones, the same MP3 music can be played in our phones as well. That makes listening to music even easier than ever. 

Now when I am writing this, I have my earphones plugged into my ears listening to some awesome music as the day seems way too dry without some. And, it's a pleasure to think the way I saw the evolution of music in front of my own eyes within 25 years. Now, I am curious as to what the next generation has to witness in the world of music. Till then, plug in the earphones and forget the outside world.

PS: Don't forget to check out my favorite song of the week on the right hand side of this page.  

Smartphones Are Really Smart !!

Today, technology has taken over our lives like nothing before. In just a matter of a few years it has surprisingly evolved so much that it has left us dazed making us want to drown in it more and more. Indeed, computers have been making our lives easier since their inception but today technology is more than just a computer that has always brought an image consisting of a monitor, keyboard and mouse along with the entire system consisting of what kids have been taught to name as CPU as soon as we think of one. After a simple desktop computer came a laptop. This transformed into an even more portable version in recent times which is known as a tablet being first introduced by Steve Jobs as an IPad. Well if I want to believe that a tablet is the most appreciated and standard product of evolving technology then I must admit that I cannot be more astonished and dumbfounded by the most happening invention of today's age - a smartphone. Smartphone has undoubtedly and undeniably revolutionized our world like nothing else in just a matter of few years which is very less interval when we observe the difference that this small sized harmless looking gadget has brought to our lives.

Just three years back I had no idea at all that I would ever be fascinated by a mobile device. I never felt any need for it except of course for making some emergency calls on rare occasions. Even then no one knew that this device can become much more than just that. Today, it has become practically impossible to stay without it. Wherever I go it follows me and not once can I stay separated from it. It is a living thing inspite of being non living.

So what is it that makes them so special. They wouldn't have been so if they weren't smartphones. There's a multitude of difference between a normal phone and a smartphone. The exact reason why I am suddenly out of the blue so passionate about them. You cannot get enough of the countless number of apps in the Android market. Apps for guaranteeing that you wake up at right time by making you solve complex equations to stop the irritating wake up call. Apps for recording certain patterns while you sleep which you were never aware of. Apps that let you decide which best restaurant to dine at even if you are at a completely new place. Apps for suggesting and reminding you to eat healthy food according to your customization. Apps for this, apps for that. Our entire world starts revolving around just one word - "Apps". The first time that I knew that I would be owning a smartphone my heart used to leap out with joy whenever I browsed Android Market. There were unlimited number of apps that were constantly gaining my attention.

Today after about a year of smartphone use there are certain number of apps that have become my favorite and those without which my phone's smartness quotient will stay incomplete. Of course this is my own personal choice and might differ from other users in a vast way but they will always remain fundamental apps for my smartphone:

1) Androidify: 

This is the first app that had all of my attention even before I had the thought of buying a smartphone in the remotest part of my mind. Leaving alone me being an Android operating system fan I had always been in love with the Android logo. I find it sort of cute and the reminder of the awesome gadget always in my hand. Androidify is the best app for such logo lovers who can customize the already cute green robot into whatever appearance they like with the help of so many pre-installed customization tools from clothes to hairstyle to shoes and even heart warming accessories. The logo can be resized to make it extremely thin, fat, short or long. The skin color can also be changed such that the logo can become your exact replica. The robot doesn't stay still but moves it hands, blinks its eyes, shakes and nods its head bringing a smile to your face. Overall, it is a great enjoyment to customize your Android robot and even share them with your friends. That is why this app is at the top position in my list. 

Check out: http://androidify.com/

2) Go Launcher/Go Locker:

Well I am quite sure most of the smartphone users will be very well aware of these two apps as they are trending and most popular apps in the Android market. But they have got mixed reactions from users. Some love them and many others hate them equally quite unlike Angry Birds game about which no one gives any negative review. (And yes, here I would like to say that I am no angry bird fan and not as fond of this game as most are). But, the simple reason why I love both these apps is because they spice up my phone's appearance and make it look cool and there is always a scope for deviating from the same dull look of your phone's home screen everyday with cool animations. In short, I love decorating my phone. But others hate them because they take up too much memory space and drain the battery a lot and the most devastating effect being that they make the phone extremely slow by constantly running in the background such that there's always an irritating delay before opening any other app or even while trying to make a call. Okay, there are serious reasons not to use them but my phone's appearance is more important to me. Hence, I cannot use my phone without these two. 

3) Fancy:

Here comes a spectacular app - Fancy !! The name itself signifies the purpose of this app - to fancy certain things that catch your attention to be in your collection IF you can afford them. This app aims at the shopaholics that will display all kinds of stuff that you can buy including day and night stays at beautiful locations around the world. I did not install this app with the intention of buying anything but just to browse through the things to know about so many different and unique things available. Sometimes, some of the stuff is extremely interesting and hilarious as well. So, whatever thing that catches my attention is fancied by me which gets added to my online collection. I just love browsing in this app which is so relaxing and enjoyable. 

Check out my profile: http://www.thefancy.com/anika1988  

4) Instagram:

Nope I am not a photographer or rather I want to be a photographer but I don't know how to become one but still Instagram is an app that will always stay at one corner of my phone with me adding photos to it occasionally if not frequently. This is because there's something about it that catches my attention inspite of there being several similar and maybe better apps in the play store. Maybe its just the app's huge popularity or its neat interface but all the same it is one such app where I will keeping adding photos however few that I might capture. 

5) App2SD/One Tap Cleaner:

Finally comes the tools that are vital to manage your phone for a rich android experience. I don't care about battery enhancing apps as they kill many processes automatically that is highly unwelcome but I do care about memory enhancing apps that clear away all the cache and extra memory space so that I may use and install several apps at once. Thus the two apps :- App2SD - for shifting apps from limited internal memory of the phone to the spacious external SD card and One Tap Cleaner - for clearing cache and other unused memory space are highly useful for smartphone users. I highly recommend them to all for better and efficient memory management as I have had bitter experiences with respect to phone's memory. 

The above list is really very short but these are the apps without which I simply cannot use my smartphone. Still, I can expand the list to announce my preferences but those are not as favorite to me as these are. 

Technology is advancing really very fast and in another couple of months or so many other terrific apps may come in the play store. So, lets see what my smartphone can do for me even more than what its doing right now.  

The Moment - At least Once it Belonged to Me !!!

It was a fine Sunday evening. Dusk had just set in. Dark clouds were ominously hovering in the sky. A slight humidity made the weather a bit prickly. Occasionally, a short burst of breeze rode past my face reminding me that normally at that time I used to be at my home seated by my laptop listening to my favorite songs or reading my favorite book. But in my mind I was thinking that day was different and was forever written as a part of my life which will be always remembered and cherished. Because that day was a first of something which had to eventually form my future.

There is something exhilarating associated with college life. The freedom, the sense of responsibility and maturity, the best and the most enjoyable moments spent with your friends unlike any other time in your life, the thrills of bunking and being crazy about a visit to canteen and of course knowing fully well that you have chosen a career path of your choice. And when you reach the end of your chosen professional course, there comes the opportunity knocking at your door asking you to show yourself and your prowess in the real world where there is a huge demand of talent and perfectionists. Well, yeah I am referring to the process known as campus placement. These placement drives not only provide you with job but introduce you to a world where you can be what you want to be based upon your academic skills and this is the precise moment to realize your long held dream from childhood - that dream varies from person to person but everything begins from there. And, will I be left out of all this ? Nah, and that is what happened on that fine Sunday evening.

I have already expressed my thoughts in my previous post about my grand reason to come to Chennai and join my current college. I had mentioned something about placements and I too had mentioned about my enthusiasm towards this very chance at the beginning of my course. But, just as the usual trend, I became a youth from a teenager and forgot everything that I had resolved to do but just went with the flow of enjoying my life more and automatically abstained from going near the textbooks and worry about exams. Oh come on life is much more than just that. So, there started my journey and I never thought about placements at all until the end when I had no other choice. As the companies came one by one and as I literally got rejected in the same manner, a heavy feeling constantly started accompanying me reminding me of my stupidity to be careless since the beginning and my conscience chastised me for not being sincere and falling in the devil's trap by ignoring my more important responsibility,which, if I had taken care of, could lead me into a more blissful state without straining too hard or worrying incessantly. But, upon thinking about it now (you seem to get more polite with yourself once the mission gets accomplished and forgive yourself in a way that was not even imaginable earlier) I realize that it is nothing but the usual unpleasant nagging of your subconscious before something needs to to be done for sure. This is the case with every student during placements. If you don't get in soon and especially when you see your friends and other classmates getting in before you, it seems to you that you will never get placed and that your future is bleak. But, hold on, after all you are a qualified person and that is why you are here today. If not now then some time later. These words are supposed to be soothing but don't find place even in small recesses of your mind under that heavy weight and you naturally become a pessimist against your own wishes. During one of such processes, I managed to reach till the interview part of at least one company and after getting rejected even for that, the familiar sinking feeling hit me hard and left me hopeless. I was on the verge of tears because may be I had dared to be way too optimistic and had resolved about one thing that nothing at all can be predicted out of these placement drives. Normally, it is ninety percent your intelligence that works and ten percent is your luck supporting you but here the ratio is discouragingly a bit modified - it is fifty percent your skills and knowledge and the other fifty percent is your luck standing in your way smirking at you with a hint of mischief in her eyes.    

Success and failure are like two sides of the same coin. It was proved to me refreshingly on that Sunday evening of 23rd September, 2012. A well known company named IBM was visiting our campus starting from Friday of that weekend. I don't know about my friends, but there was almost no excitement at all in my mind towards it but I had to force as well as constantly remind myself that I just had to try doing whatever I could do without raising my hopes at all as I was afraid of doing just that - a very contradictory arrangement for my mind who is used to predicting results based upon its performance and those turn out to be exactly how I expected. I never cared to even think what IBM was about as a company. At that time also, I just knew it as a company with its logo on several of the computers and laptops that I had seen and that's all. That is what the interesting thing about these placement processes is - at one instant you don't know or care to know anything about the visiting company and at the next instant that company becomes your everything and you go gaga at the mere mention of it !! So, I sat for the first written test round like an hopeless fellow grinning at the IBM people arranging for the tests like a poor person with minimal means looks with awe and longing at the rich enjoying all kinds of luxuries of modern life. With a highly time constrained and challenging written test, I took a sigh of relief after finally finishing it and completing my responsibility as of now. Results of that round almost came at midnight that day and I nonchalantly checked the list. Not surprisingly, my name was there. Well, I said not surprisingly since I had cleared similar first rounds earlier too but was always kicked out in the second part that is interviews. So, careful not to raise my hopes, I prepared myself to be at college the next day earlier in the morning which happened to be a Saturday against all my wishes because weekend is not a time when you feel like facing a place called college and that too at a time when I was supposed to be enjoying myself in my dreams. I reached college fifteen minutes late and managed to peek through the large crowd gathered at the teeming auditorium at the presentation slides being given by IBM people dressed immaculately in professional attire. My sleepy mind didn't register any awe but I was just eager to accomplish the mission for which I had come that day and retire back to home and to my normal life not wanting to think in any hopeful way. Then came the second round of fifteen minutes checking our skills in summarizing a given passage in six sentences and after what seemed like ages I was once again ushered in for the next phase that was group discussion. That too proceeded with a snail's pace and not until eight that night I came to know that I had to once again be at college the next day for the final and the most dreadful interview round. Still, not wanting to raise any hopes, I once again grudgingly prepared myself to face one more harrowing day with an equally harrowing round. 

The next day, people around me were discussing the possible questions but I had no guts in me to face even that and sat in a corner desolately waiting for my turn. Just like the previous day, after what seemed such a never before experienced  long period spent waiting for my turn under humid weather and uncomfortable surroundings, finally my turn came which left me fidgeting nervously minutes before the interview. This was the round which finally made me cheerful and hopeful as just two minutes later the final declaration to be remembered by me my entire lifetime was given out - that I am selected. Still, not believing any such thing I went in a daze to the auditorium where I was supposed to submit my documents and other formalities and after some time only the realization sank deep in the recesses of my subconscious making me feel like doing just one thing - rush and hug all the IBM people who had come to our campus. 

This was the moment. A moment that belonged to me. This is what is called delight. All of my five years of college life concluded at this final moment. A moment that reminds you of all the important elements in your life - your parents and God. A moment that you can never ever forget because it brings a divine happiness on your parent's face and nothing, absolutely nothing can be as blissful as that. This is the moment when you feel that you are blessed and you are floating and soaring high above in the sky among the fluffy clouds. 

A heavy weight lifted off my shoulders that very moment and not only me but my selected classmates were also gushing with joy. This was such a memorable moment and such memories along with the sad and distressed ones make what is called life. 

I do not know what my future will be and what I am going to do after becoming an employee of IBM but for now I can be proud at the fact that I did what I was supposed to do as a student and fervently wish that I prove to be a very good asset to the organization and stay happy with my work.   

PS: These two days were the longest days of my life and if you are wondering whether I would like to party or not then let me say that I am partying since that day and would like to dance at the tunes of only one song - The Gangnam Style !!!       

          

The Transformation of My Life - 2

Hello Friends !! Welcome back to the story of my life. I shouldn't say it to be a specific story of my life as it's just a part of a very big and complicated structure. But, yes there is something in it that forms a huge part of who I am now. Just the way they say that there are some important stages in a human's life I can say that after coming out of the first stage when I entered second stage of my life it was sort of dramatic enough to shake me like never before. I do not know to what should I attribute the way I was shook but mostly it seems to me that it was because I had entered an unfamiliar territory like the city of Chennai. When I first set foot in this city I was welcomed by a humid air around me just in contrast to the dry air that I was accustomed to. Well, I wasn't to know at that time that almost everything here would be in contrast to what I had always been accustomed to. And that process was what that shook me. 

Coming to Chennai was not the only factor but rather I was in such a stage that wherever I would have been I was sure to experience all the psychological effects but yes as I already said it came as dramatic.

Well, let me first begin with my weird and unique experiences with Chennai. Long time ago while I was just fourteen or so, my father would have gone to Chennai a couple of times for official purpose. He used to bring some goodies from there like a silk Chennai specific saree for my mom or one time he even brought special delicious sweets from there (which now are my top favorite sweet). Believe me, I used to look at all those goods with an awe of a bedazzled teenager who thought them to be so precious as if they directly came from a very famous foreign land and as if I would never get another chance to even look at them directly. Such was my image of the city of Chennai. Because I knew it was different from the rest of the India and had a very good scope for people who really wanted to make their mark in the field of academics. I had heard of many famous people hailing from Chennai (not necessarily from academics but yes with a spirit of a winner) like Viswanathan Anand, APJ Abdul Kalam and AR Rahaman to name a few and also there were many south Indians spread all over in very high positions. And this image is still maintained by this city which has been time and again proved by the difference in attitude of people belonging to Chennai and where I had been earlier which directly leads to a successful life and a life full of precious values. I can say this since I have seen both the contrasting attitudes and mindsets and immediately recognize the speaking difference. But, amidst all of my high profile image at that time I didn't have an iota of an idea that someday I would complete my studies from this very city.

So, this was a very long time back but when I first set my foot in Chennai I just knew there was definitely a stark difference in both the regions and this very difference led me to hate this city vehemently as a beginner. To begin with, I felt so different and as I mentioned previously an odd-man-out even while I was talking to a single person. Somehow, several things used to start running in my mind at once leading my immature mind to form baseless opinions (realized by me later) and ultimately thinking in a negative sense about everyone. I always used to feel as if the other person is mocking me for no reason. Hence the phrase odd-man-out. I never ever in my life felt even remotely like this at least while making a simple talk with a simple person !!! I didn't know and there was never any reason for feeling so, it was just that I was new to a new place. Apart from such silly feelings, there was another major thorn in my way which still has not left pinching me time and again. And that thorn, as everybody knows, is the language barrier. The first thing that strikes any new comer to Chennai is the magnificent Tamil language. Okay friends,before you take my sarcasm in a opposite direction let me explain that I call it magnificent because still I could not come to friendly terms with this language or in more simple terms could not learn it not even the basics even though I have spent four long years of my life among people chattering in Tamil continuously. To some extent, there are times when I get a gist of what is being said and thus a stand a bit higher in my level as compared to complete new comers but now is the time to compare me with those who are outsiders but even then fluent like a local. No, I didn't learn because I didn't try. I didn't try because I never felt myself interested. I never found myself interested because I never felt the need. I never felt the need because I got my work done with the help of my all time best friend English language much to my extreme discomfort and frustration in the process. Because it's definitely not easy to stay as an odd-man-out almost forever. Apart from this, I was never interested in socializing or gossiping which would have practically led me to learn the language without any deliberate effort. So, there goes the winner bagging the first award for not letting me get emotionally involved with this city and hence constantly provoking me to day dream about that occasion when I would finally step out of my bond with it. But yes, thankfully, there is no feeling of the so called hate unlike in the very beginning and now I have begun looking at this city with the same image that I held as a teenager. But, if I imagine a scenario where I would be completely comfortable with Tamil, I can say that I would have developed a heartfelt relationship with Chennai and it would have been no different than my own home away from home and I would never have called it like a foreign city separate from the rest of India. But, if that was the case, surely nothing would have shaken me and led me to some bitter and self-realization experiences. Well, it seems nothing beats the fact that God reserves something good in every kind of happening.   

This wasn't a story as much as my experience with the city of Chennai. But the biggest weird advantage of coming here is my increased, closer and special relationship with my family. You would have thought that how is that but inexplicably it made me even more closer and in a more understanding situation with my family. Perhaps, it was because we all are literally cut off from our relatives and friends in north like never before. While all of them lived a normal uneventful life, we had no one but ourselves in our family to support each other in the toughest of times. There was something for all of us here. 

I would have never got anything to write under this heading if I had not become a member of Chennai. Because now everything related to me is about Chennai. Oh c'mon, I have spent my entire college life here which is taken to be the best part of one's life. Yes, this experience was self realizing and testing but when I look back I don't fail to bring a smug smile on my face. 

The Transformation of My Life - 1

Whenever I think of posting something new in my blog I think meticulously about the topic that I should write  about to share with everyone not wanting to be whimsical or random. But today, I am not keeping any inhibitions about my writing and sitting with my laptop I decided to write as spontaneously as my thoughts come. One reason for this might be the environment under which I am living nowadays. I am in my final year doing a very fine course in Information Technology and as the usual course of action for final year students this point of time coincides with the placement season. At the very first day of joining college, this placement season was thought of with a unique awe and wonder making me take a firm and highly inspired resolution to channelize all of my youthful energy and determination to single goal of getting placed in the best company possible trying my level best to do so. Basically, this placement season was the very reason for which I became the student of Anna University. 

To fill you in about my history, I was a very normal student studying in Delhi and then Kanpur during my school days aspiring to take up my higher education just like my other classmates. But, as fate would have it my father got his inevitable transfer to a very unknown and suspicious place like Chennai. Not that my fate was sealed just because my family had to go there. I was free to decide whether I wanted to stay there with them or go over to that place where my classmates went. But, with the only difference that I didn't make an informed use of my freedom of decision. This might imply that I took a wrong decision. But, let me make it very clear that I do not think that this was a wrong decision. A wrong decision can lead to many other unwanted consequences. For example, in my case, I could have taken admission to a college which in no way suited my abilities or what I thought I deserved. At least I can be thankful for that. But, what I didn't know at that time was that I was choosing a college in Chennai. Or, to be more specific, the most sought after college in south India. Yes, note the words south India.

I was just a kid when I first came to Chennai. Yes, a nineteen year old kid who had not experienced the feeling of being left out alone as a odd-man-out in a group of people. The moment I entered Anna University, this prestigious college invited me to become an esteemed member of the engineering batch of Chemical Engineering. I even joined one week classes of that batch. But, fate had something else stored for me and finally it made me land in the world of simple Masters in Information Technology. There were several reasons that made me choose that as my final option. First, it was all about Information Technology, the field where I always wanted to go since I gained my consciousness. This was way too irresistible an offer. Second, I was very near to my parents and could easily avoid the unnecessary hassles of staying in hostel and tolerating the so called horrible mess food along with other complications of the earnest desire to be at home with my family during festivals or any other holidays by travelling so long a distance to Chennai from Delhi not withstanding and ignoring the advantages that a hostel life can provide (A sad realization made by me countless times). Third, everybody in our new neighborhood had gawked at me with their mouth open when they came to know about my association with Anna University not believing their ears and consistently making awesome remarks about my extraordinary fortune making me and my family(literally) force to think that somehow I had reached the after-life heaven with a direct association with the Almighty without dying !!! Jokes apart, certain over-zealous people had sincerely made intense requests to not even consider the thought of rejecting Anna University in our remotest of thoughts. We, being new to Chennai and Anna University sincerely believed them and earnestly made the final decision of going for this course in this college supported by the highly flattering all India rank of College of Engineering displayed in leading websites and magazines at that time. 

So, that is how I ended up being a prestigious member of this prestigious university which is considered to be no less than the elite IITs. As an obvious afterthought, I began dreaming of being in a highly reputed and so called dream company one day as a result of being a CEGian. And, the point to transform that dream to reality has come now at present spanning full four years (a very long time indeed) from that Anika to this Anika. That Anika was a fresher that had just come out of the school environment being a timid and not-so-sure of herself girl without any knowledge of how should she live her life but had been ready to just go with the flow. This Anika now doesn't want to go with the flow but wants to understand her capabilities and end up doing something that allows her to balance everything that matters. That 'everything' includes little things that amount to a successful life, which, are often ignored by most but are the most important to me in an inexplicable manner.

Now, when I look at myself, I clearly do not want to do something which I cannot do happily. By this, I did not mean that I doubt my capability which I always believed myself to have even when I scored above ninety percent in my class twelfth till now but just that being a part of a dream company is not everything, its just the only thing. Your priorities change with time and what is most important for me is to live my life as a complete human being. 

That said, now I start doubting whether I will get even a mediocre company or not going by what suitable knowledge I have to do so and of course by spending my time writing blogs and relatively wasting my time while all my friends are busy preparing for their placements. Somehow, several other things start seeming so important at once when you actually are supposed to do the most important task which is automatically being ignored.

This was what I think has happened in my life in these four years from school to college. But, there is more to it than what it seems to be. And, definitely there will be more to come but there are certain other facts that I would like to mention to make this blog post complete. 
To be Continued.  

               

Imagination Put To Use

Since the day I was born, people, whether jokingly to a little kid or being a bit more serious during my high school days had always this question in tow to shower upon me at the end of whatever they had to do with me - "What is your dream" or in a more casual way "What do you want to become when you grow up". This is a question that every student has to face and depending upon what he has to offer people suddenly change their treatment towards him beginning from their instantaneous change of expression implying that they have understood the obscure and underlying meaning of what the student is saying which may range from an icy stare to a slight raise of one of the eyebrows in awe without the student being aware of the dead serious implications of what he aspires to be. Whatever be the case, I never took the pain of elaborating any specific dream but plainly stated that I just want to love what I do. I never came to know or rather cared enough of what this may imply and never found myself dreaming of being at any particular position but yes I did dream of extracting as much pleasure as possible from what I chose to do and most importantly left no stones undisturbed in doing my best. Well, this is what my policy of living my life is. But what I want to mention here has got nothing to do about my real dreams or aspirations but this is just a figment of my "wild imagination" which you must have got a basic idea about in my previous post.

Imagination is such a awesome/ful part of human psyche that it can make you travel to such places in your fantasy world that you can become an author overnight or for that matter, end up concocting an ingenious murder plan to satisfy your wild and dangerous instincts. This is further enhanced when one keeps himself surrounded by books and stories that make you empathize with every possible character from a simple, clumsy teenager to a very threatening ghost like villain from your worst nightmares. And then, when you watch a movie the characteristic feeling of empathizing haunts you like nothing else and you can't help but concoct your own story with an ending that suits your wishes. So, till here it is well and good. Something which can be understood and related to. But, now starts something which is out of the ordinary. Once when I was active in orkut, I saw a community post asking members to post what they would like to pursue as their profession apart from their usual one. I never expected what I read. Some wanted to become astronauts and  place their country's flag along with their names. Others wanted to own their private spaceships and announce discounted space trips for people of all age. And, if some people somehow become talented scientists they would like to transform the world with the introduction of immortality pills or, for that matter, pills that make them read everyone's thoughts (Okay, too much inspiration from The Twilight Saga). It was then that I realized what is my out of the ordinary choice of a profession. After watching some extraordinary movies and also gaining some knowledge about the behind-the-scene activities of the movies and the attitude, skills of the performing actors and then reading this community post several things clicked at once and I came to one conclusion before anything else - if I ever happened to reveal this to anyone it will turn out to be a bad and cheap impression although I will never become serious and this will always remain stacked in that corner of my brain which has got nothing to do with what really I am and wish to do but just a part of a fun activity that involves self mockery. Oh then I believe it is already guessed what I want to mention but if not then I would like to take immense pleasure in announcing that my wild imagination wants me to become an actress. There, I exploded my bomb. 

So, how can anyone who knows me imagine me to be an actress. Oh no, not the usual actress who reeks of glamour quotient everywhere but just the girl-next-door type (Oh come on, I am not this much insane that I will imagine something which has got no roots in reality). An actress who acts in movies that relate to topics or events which sensitize or affect her the most. So that all poignant situations have an happy ending. Most of my day dreams are composed of this and yes as I already mentioned in one of my previous posts there is always an entry and a dramatic role of a hero. Sometimes, my dream asks for the entry of my parents or, for that matter, anyone whom I know in reality but I stubbornly do not let that happen because then I will really fall under the category of a completely insane person. For this reason, at times I am provoked to write a short fiction story but never ended up doing so in spite of repeated promises to myself of one day implementing my wild imagination on a piece of paper. While at school, I never participated in any stage show. Leave that alone, I never even talked to anyone properly and I personally do not think that I have it in me to act out even a planned lie in front of anyone but even then have acted out various scenarios in my head with perfect expressions. 
I never thought that I will ever write about such a fantasy but suddenly getting reminded of my orkut days I felt like writing my heart out for no reason. Somebody has rightly said - Your world seems so bland after watching a beautiful movie and you just want to stay engrossed in that world hoping nothing but happy endings.