Books I have read

85. Narendra Modi: Yes he Can
84. Spouse: The truth called marriage- Shobha De
83. The town called Dera: Ruskin Bond
82. Kushwant Singh's unforgettable women of my life
81. Bringing Down the house: Inside story of 6 MIT Grads
80. Night
79. Ugly Americans: Ben Mezrich
78. Goddess of Troy
77. Almost Single

76. The book of unforgettable women

75. Tinderbox: the past and future of Pakistan

74. The upside of irrationality

73. Alex Fergusson Autobiography

72. The diary of a Wimpy kid: The last straw

71. The secret of Nagas

70. The diary of a Wimpy kid: Roddrick Rules

69. The diary of a Wimpy kid

68. The wisdom of Whores

67. Da Vinci Code

66. Revolution 2020

65. Hello Bastar

64. Confession of a Mullah Warrior

63. Cloud of Sparrows

62. Quest for Nothing

61. Fernando Torres Autobiography - El Nino

60. Train to Pakistan

59. Imran Khan's Biography

58. The Winning Way: Harsha Bhogle

57. Mafia Queens of Mumbai

56. I too had a love story

55. Just Friends

54. The monk who sold his Ferrari

53. The immortals of Meluha

52. Whistleblower

51. It happened that night

50. Angels and Demons

49. Open - An autobiography of Andre Agassi

48. A pack of lies

47. Bombay Rains Bombay Girls

46. Football-Bloody Hell

45. Accidental Billionaires

44. India after Gandhi

43. Keep off the grass

42. David Beckham: My side

41. If cricket is a religion Sachin is god

40. Freakonomics

39. Kiss the girls

38. Sanjoy's Assam

37. Keep the change

36. India Unbound

35. Every second counts

34. It's not about the bike

33. Ladies' Coupe

32. Ricochet

31. Joker in the pack

30. 2 states

29. Everything you desire

28. The Apprentice

27. Cross

26. Disclosure

25. Sons of Fortune

24. Arsene Wenger's biography

23. A time to Kill

22. The Prodigal Daughter

21. Kane and Abel

20. The other side of the midnight

19. The sky is falling

18. Shall we tell the president?

17. The Listerdale Mistery

16. Not a penny more not a penny less

15. False Impression

14. A thousand splendid Suns

13. Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories

12. Where are the Children?

11. The Innocent Man

10. Deception Point

9. Three mistakes of my life

8. Q & A (Vikash Swaroop)

7. Men from Mars women from Venus

6. One night at call-center

5. The google story

4. Malgudi days

3. Kite runner

2. Anything for u ma'am

1. Five point someone

Sharad Poor :P

Got the above snapshot in one of the forward mails; Found it really hilarious for obvious reasons.

Yaar maana ambitious hona achi baat hai, still Ambition ki bhi hadh hoti hai :P

Technology can change one's thinking :)

Flashback: (10 years before)

You sitting on the bench in a park and spotted someone blabbering some arbit non-nense: The thoughts that can come to your mind:

a. He is mad. (Paagal hai sala)

b. He is drunk. (Bewda hai sala)

c. Chutiya hai. (conservatives please excuse me here)

Present:

You sitting on the bench in a park and spotted someone blabbering some arbit non-nense: The thoughts that can come to your mind (strictly in order :P) :

a. Does he have a ear phone plugged in?

b. Does he have hands free plugged in?

c. He must be meditating (Sometime this thought doesn't come to many; so can be avoided)

d. Kapda kaisa pehna hai; Smartly dressed ho to, he must be concentrating hard on some topic.

e. He is mad. (Paagal hai sala)

f. He is drunk. (Bewda hai sala)

g. Chutiya hai. (conservatives please again excuse me here) 

Technology can seriously change one's thinking :)

IIM Bangalore beckons :)

If you have read my previous post, then you must be knowing, the big "B" rejected me and I had started my ride on a highway to hell. I was not even in the wait list the B had put in their website. And the dream of to-be-at-B  got shattered in no time. But, picture abhi baki hai mere dost.

There came the twist in the tale, a phonecall from a stranger :o (filmy!!!) An unknown BSNL local landline number flashed on my screen. In normal circumstances I wouldn't have picked up the call but I am so vella these days, I had nothing better to do. Tada, it was the call from the IIM B admission office. 

B: May I speak to Ashis Nayak?

Me: Yes you are. phew! phir se koi credit card wala hoga!

B: I am calling from IIM B admission office

Me: Yes sir (excited by now, but why!!!)

B: Your waitlist is cleared...Interrupted!

Me: Wait a second, but I don't think I was wait listed even...(doubt hone laga, kahin ye mere koi kamine dost ka bhasadbazi to nahi hai)

B: Well your waitlist number was 66 and we had posted the waitlist till 65 (phew! so near yet so far) and our 1st waitlist is exhausted, so we are offering you the seat @B

Me: (speechless, Is it happening for real!) So, you mean you are confirming my admission or just informing me about my waiting status? (Silly me!)

B: We will confirm once you accpept;

Me: Accepted, kar lo kar lo :P :D 

Few more info and thank yous exchanged :)

The first thing I did was "checking the caller number with the IIMB Admission office number" hurrah! it was the same :)

That moment reminds me precisely of the Vodafone ad; I was looking around to explode my excitement; I punched the air with all might; Ran all the way to give the news to someone very important who was craving for this piece of news ;)

All these years, I have been feeling proud in saying others that my this friend is in IIM A or that friend is in IIM B etc; Now time has come to feel proud of myself; Well done dude, Pat on the back :)

I am running sort of words to really express my elation in words :( But trust me, it's a cloud 9 feeling :)

Surely, things can't get any better, any sweeter.

IIM B beckons, or as they say "B" is the place to be :)

The Final Jinx :(

I have been a vivid cricket fan and follower since the time I understand there is something called "Passion".  I was four when I started watching cricket (and guess what, it was the very series in which Sachin God Tendulkar announced his existence to the cricket world). Since then (a year after actually) I have followed it religiously. During this, I can proudly say I have garnered the expertise as a cricket viewer to understand and opine on all cricketing aspects. All these years I have heard this word "choking" associated with cricket quite very often. South Africa were always considered to be the perennial chokers. "Su

ccumbing in '96 WC after sweeping everyone before that" , "Losing out to India in the Titan Cup final", "Again faultering in the '99 WC semis" did nothing other than boosting their infamous Chokers image. But among this overhyped "Chokers" tag, junta forgot about the ruthlessness, Proteas had showcased in belting everyone before that final hurdle. 

Till then India were doing considerably well in the finals (May be India was never a consistent winner to qualify for the Chokers tag). Then all of this India's image changed with the change of captainship. Sourav Dada Ganguly brought the essential change that every Indian success-hungry cricket fan longed to see: "The winning attitude", "The ruthlessness". And India started winning consistently to come in that infamous yet elite "Chokers" league. India won only a single Final during his tenure but people forgot the fact that under his captaincy India reached all but 2 (that is 15/16 in total) finals (and mind you that includes the 

WC, Champions trophy finals twice).

Hmmm, alright, I have a point, but why I am barking all these all of a sudden now? May be, I qualify as one of them if not individually but surely as a team.

Episode 1 :- IPL 2008: Hehe, No, I am not that good to play for one of the "Pretty Preitys" or "Sensuous Shilpas" or "Lavish Mallyas" or even "King Khans". I am talking about the Intel Premier League (Intel's very own IPL). We formed a team rather squad of 15 players thanks in large to our dynamic enthu captain fantastic. All of us looked potent but Unknown. Then we started practicing almost daily and in process built up an a

wesome rapport among us. We were young (comparing to the average Intel junta, u see; the rest used to call us Under 19:P), ruthless who take their cricket seriously. And all those qualities were on show during the games. We crushed each and every team in the practice games (15 in total). Oh yea, did I forget about sledging? This was an integral part of our game, we used to play hard and it helped a lot in overcoming few tense games. Plus that adds to team spirit too. Finally the real tournament started. To no one's surprise, we won most of our matches easily and a few after some tussle. You see, we were the red hot favorites, the dallal' choice. Till then we hadn't faultered in any of the games. And probably did almost all the things correctly as we could have done. Then came the D day, the finale as they say. We had come a long way. From one of the 64 teams to a place in the "top two", not bad. 

It was pleasant to see the typically aalsi Intel  junta gathering in numbers to see the game. We bowled first and bowled well till that last over (25 runs). Still 105 was not difficult to chase in 15 overs for a team who till that point had the habit of scoring in excess of 80s, 90s in 10 overs. We started well and were clearly cruising till 87/3 in 11 overs. Then the lightning strike us. We lost the plot, lost the game (by 3 runs) and the trophy. In cricketing term, we CHOKED. But WHY? We clearly were a much better side than our opponent, phir kyon? May be our high standard, high expectation, high desire bite us back. We knew we were unlucky, hard-done. We consoled ourselves by saying coming 2nd in a group of 64 is actually not a bad thing. But inside we knew we CHOKED. Period!

 

Episode 2 :- It will seem as the reload of the last story, but I have to write to intense my point; people these days are difficult to convince, ain't they?

So IPL '09 it was. It was a different tournament, different format. 6 players-a-side with a mandatory lady in every side. 5-overs a game. Something which we were not very fond of but it suited us very nicely considering 4/5 of our prominent members were no longer with Intel. We started well, won all our matches comfortably (baring 1 or 2 in which we got some scare). I must honestly say, we were no longer invincible, but were doing enough to stay a foot distance from others. We were no longer ruthless yet had enough quality to see off the opponents with ease. We no longer sledged, but looked as arrogant as any winners. In process, another final loomed. Again in "top two" among 101 teams. A record even Australia would have been proud of. This time we seriously hoped to erase that memory of yesteryear. We were facing a really good team. And as always, the Intel junta had gathered in mass to cheer the two surviving gladiators. We bowled first yet again. Will it be another of those days? The worst started happening right from the first ball. And the memories of that painful day of the last year started flashing in front of eyes as if it happened yesterday. We bowled as pathetic we could have ever done in our nightmares. They belted us for 78 in just 5 overs. After that there was nothing left in that game apart from playing out our 5 batting overs. We lost it badly. Yes alright, this was not as painful as the previous one. We knew we were not unlucky, we were not hard done. Finishing in top two among 101 teams is not bad feat, you see. But inside we knew we CHOKED. But kyon? WHY?

The nightmare blues before the D day

I know I should have written this way too many days back, but Procrastination is my middle name; better late than the memory erase permanently from my head.

It's the story of the night before the D day, the day when the IIM results were supposed to be out. For the people who don't know or who haven't read my earlier posts, I had managed to get calls from IIM B, I & L. And I was expecting B & L to call me for their coveted program after satisfactory GD/PI. (Indore being a disastrous experience for me)

That very weekend I was out of town and more importantly devoid of a PC and Internet connection. So I had to rely on my friends to see my results and inform me back. As it happens so regularly in India, the results generally get published hours before the supposed-to-be time. Quite naturally, everyone was expecting the same this time around. "You don't know when the results will be out" make the wait more agonising :( I had told my friend, yaar agar na bhi hua to bata dena hogaya hai, don't spoil my vacation :)

ASA the clock started ticking 12 midnight, the wait became more difficult and difficult. Called friends few times to find out, but not yet! The process continued till 3, when friends (read: I didn't) ran out of patience and I had no other go but to wait till the kuku-du-ku happens. Yaar, sabse jyada fatti hai with the thoughts of "your nice friends will cordially say the result hasn't come when they see you are not selected" huh! (I am a complicated thinker, ain't I?)

Called up bacha to find out about the results, wo to sala ghoda bechke so raha tha n finally the news came, "beta IIM L ka results aa gaya hai n tera hogaya hai". 

I can't describe that feeling, that was so fucking awesome; worth of the whole night spent in nothing-short-of-nightmares :) 

Well the rest two results also came and both of them were surprises; No convert from B and Converted I. The later part of my B story will follow in the future posts :) Till then cya!

Matchday 3: Showdown with IIM Lucknow

Date: 25th March

Venue: Hotel Monarch Luxure, Bangalore

I had an afternoon slot of 2PM interview, something which perfectly suites a nishachar like me :P. I took the Volvo from my place to majestic and from there on by an auto. Autowale ne phir mujhe thak di and 30 k jagah 60 ki thukwai :( Anyways, I wasn't in a mood to argue just before the all important final tussle. Finally reached the venue 10 minutes before, not bad!

There were like 70-80 people waiting in a big hall. All were divided into 8 panels (almost 10 people in each panel). I was in Panel 4. Surprise: there were 2 other people who I already had in the same GD panel of Indore. So, 2 known faces in a GD. Probability of that happening hmmm... dangerously close to "0", ain't it???

GD Topic: "God help the rich, poor can take care of themselves" :weird!!!

20 minutes to write about the topic in some 2 pages. I could finish 1 1/2 of it. No point in filling the rest for the heck of it. The discussion was smooth, almost everyone were zeroing on the same points. I was average that day, much lower than my usual standard. Twice I literally felt like listening to people than to put forward my ideas. Then it striked, aisa chalta raha to L me L lag jayenge (Courtesy: Welcome hehe). There was a suit-boot wala banda who was trying to come to GD every half a minute. I thought he must be a street-smart guy. But phir post-GD interaction verdict: Must be one of those barking funtoosh (UG in NITC lingo :P)

During the break, had good time-pass with couple of people. Then finally my turn for PI came, was 6th person in my panel to be interviewed.

PI: It was a 2-member panel. An old man "must be in his 50's", smart! & a young guy "looked like a student or a recent alumni at max", even smarter!

I will refer the Old person as "O" and Young one as "Y" and myself as "A"

I greeted them and took the seat. 

Y: Give me the certificate files. I did!

O: Ashis, introduce yourself!

A: Usual intro starting from native to schooling to extra-currics to engineering then some more extra-currics; By this time, I felt both of them were already bored and tired. The old man was literally holding his head right from the beginning of my interview. Then came out the trump card: my last line of the intro-I follow football a LOT and I am a religious supporter of Manchester United. As if they were waiting for something different, both looked charged up hearing this!

Y: How much religious?

A: Obsessed :)

Y: So, you guys gonna win EPL this time around?

A: Of course we will :) (Ye bhi koi poochne ki baat hai :P)

Y: What's ur prediction for top 3?

A: Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea

Y: When was the 1st world cup held?

A: 1930, Uruguay

Y: Who won it?

A: Uruguay, the home nation

Y: losing finalist?

A: Argentina...gosh!!! I wish they had won it :(

Y: Scoreline?

A: (I was expecting this) 2:0 (answer came in nanosecond)

Y: You, sure! (He must be thinking, how can a guy give a wrong answer with such a confidence :P) (Ye bhi 1 kala hai Sir :P)

A: Excuse me Sir, but I feel I am confusing with the scoreline of a later WC final! Can I have one more chance?

Y: Sure!

A: 4-2 :) (thank god, i remembered at the right time)

Y: That's right. Half time scoreline?

A: Huh! Not sure :(

Y: Will give you a hint: 2-1 it was, tell me who was 2 and who was 1?

A: Ohhk. Argentina 2, Uruguay 1 :) Uruguay later scored thrice to win it...Bingo!!!

Y: Goalscorers?

A: (WTF! Now, that is too much of expectation, huh!) I don't know sir!

Y: Alright, last WC?

A: Germany, 2006

Y: Who won? 

A: Italy, beating France

Y: Score?

A: 1-1 till fulltime, extra-time. 6-5 in the penalty

Y: Who scored?

A: Marco Materazzi and Zidane the great :)

Y: Materazzi was in controversy during that time!

A: Materazzi has always been in controversy throughout his career :P

Y: No, something happened during the WC final.

A: The headbutt incident.

O: Explain (Finally the Old person asked something)

A: Materazzi sledged, abused Zidane and Zidane in turn head-butted him!

Y: What was that Materazzi said that Zidane got provoked?

A: Sir, can I be blunt here? ;)

O: You of course can

A: Then came out the usual ma-behen ki story :P (for those who may not be knowing: Materazzi was pulling Zidane's jersey; Zidane said: Mate, I will give it to you after the game; Materazzi: I will rather prefer that of your ma or behen :P) Zidane: dhishoooooooooooooom!!!

Y: Who was at fault?

A: Zidane, gave him a good reason on sledging is part and parcel of game; physical contact, out of book; then something on role-modelship

O: But he provoked and said bad about his ma and behen; (then came the bomb) tujhe raste me koi behenchod bole to tujhe kaise lagega (trust me, this is what he said me; that to be in shudh hindi) (btw, i had put asteriks for the celebrated word; now revoked it to original on public demand)

A: I will be angry of course and will react; but then came back to the topic and talked about Zidane's responsibility towards his team and nation; Marna tha to khopche me leke maarta; who cares after the game :P

O: Some more counters on morals, ethics

A: I was very much staying on the ethical part (contrary to my natural stand)

Y: Tell something on ur responsibility in Intel!

A: Explained in 3, 4 sentences

Y: Intel has this punch line Intel Inside! 

A: It had. Got a new one some 3 years back!

Y: Yea, what does the punch line convey?

A: Talked about "Every computer has an Intel chip inside it!!!"

Y: So, you from Rourkela? Tell me about the similarity between this Intel's punchline and SAIL's punchline (the ad is very famous)

A: (Phu!!! I dint know). I don't know about the particular ad, but certainly can co-relate the impact of SAIL on life of a Rourkelaite :P

Y: Then he told about the punchline "There is SAIL in every man"

A: Then I explained it.

Y: Tell something about Rourkela you like the most

A: My favorite pass time topic :P Maza aagaya!

Y: Ashis, what all calls you have?

A: Bangalore, Lucknow and Indore

Y & O: All the best Ashis

A: thanks Sir :)

So more or less, quite a satisfying interview after a not so good GD. That puts the curtain on my IIM showdown. Waiting for the results. I hope, I will make it to the best :) Fingers crossed!!!

Now, it's FUN time!!!

Bhootiya Makaan & Anjani Maal

Statuatory warning: Weak hearts please avoid; Weaked hearts, you are more than welcome :-) Kidding!!!

Last night I was seeing this movie "Vastu Shastra", where Sushmita Sen was living in a huge bunglow inside a jungle some half a KM away from the streets with only couple other guys to live with. Sometime I do wonder how people stay in such houses; Aise ghar dekhke hi to sala bhootiya feeling aake G fat jati hai :( Then this thought came to my mind of writting about such a house in my neighourhood.

This makaan is the 1st one on our street. It's a 3-storied building with some weird architecture which even Da Vinci will find hard to name. Har taraf kaanch ki khidki; It has a power station of its own; A separate house outside for 2 security guards again kaanch ka; some char panch phadu cars (Mercedes, Skoda, Civic!!!); 2 darawne kutte who are bigger than human unless you are great khali. But the number of inhabitants: God knows. I still haven't seen anyone staying in that house in last 1 year even if I stay hardly 10 feet away. The only person who I have seen sometime is a chic (a hot one too!). But, you got to be awake till 2:30 or 3 in the night to get a glance of her lovely long legs (I guess, she has this fascination for micro and nano textiles :P) For some reason she always seems to be in hurry even at that remote hour that she fizzles out from the car to reach her house in absolute no time. 

In short this has been nothing short of an enigma for me from last one year: Bhootiya Makaan & Anjani maal...Still no idea, wo ghar kiska hai, wohan rehta kaun hai and wo ladki dikhti kaisi hai :(

RGV, are you reading this!!!

The Boka***** Kalkutta conductor

It was an incident of last week. Myself and Chunnu (aka cobra, tiwari, uff, whatever) were coming back from Dalla's (Ashok Mazumder) wedding. We had decided to take the 10 AM wala bus from his place (bethuadahari, Nadia: Some 3 hours journey from calcutta towards N-E) to the airport and then catch the 3:30 spicejet to Bangalore. 

Fortunately we dint have to wait too long before we got a WB govt bus (Malda-Calcutta). We got in and told the conductor that we will go to the airport, jab aayega bata dena. Us bhale insaan ne biiig smile deke kaha "jaroor" and he even arranged seats for us considering we are the long journey passengers for him. Main socha kitna acha aadmi hai unlike the usual kamina bus conductors (Pardon me Mr. Rajanikanth & his infinite bhakts :P).

Then we slept off feeling relaxed and ascertained of at least we won't miss our destination point. But the conductor had some other idea, i wonder why! Now, I was awake by 12:30. We reached barasat by 1(It's like 15 minutes from airport: pre-fetched info). Sensing we are nearing the airport, I asked the conductor guy: Bhaiya, airport aur kitna time lagega. And surprisingly a rude reply came, jab aayega bata dunga. 10 minutes gone, I again asked. This time, an even ruder reply, jab aayega bata dunga. For a second I thought, what the fuck did bite this guy, man; whyTF did he bark!!! I didn't enquire again (couldn't have handled the rudest reply now). 40 more minutes gone (2 o'clock by now), he started shouting sialdah, sialdah, last stop! 

I: boss, airport kahan gaya?

Conductor: Wo to gaya

I: bulaya kyon nahi?

Conductor: Bulaya tha, 1 number 

I: WTF!!! Now, how on earth can I know these bokas (aka bengalis) call their airport ek number when they had fought so hard to get their airport renamed to netaji subhash bose international airport.

Now all this while if you were wondering what chunnu was doing! No prize for guessing, he was still dozing on that ass-hurting seats :P. Finally we took a taxi from sialdah and reached airport on time (some 45 minutes journey and 170 bucks). Thankfully, we started early that day (which normally happens once in a blue moon)

In essence -

All conductors are assholes and kalkutta conductors: "the real boka*****s"

A date with IIM Banglaore

I am going to write this in a very plain simple english (huh, as if I am a vocabs fundoo; gurrrrr that is the section which screwed me in CAT)

Pehle some background sequence : The night before my interview I came to know the trouser which I so proudly boast of being the only formal I have is actually considered a casual wear. So, the whole evening was spent in chosing the right formal pair for me. 

Query for IIMs: Why don't you allow the guys to appear for the interview in T and jeans. Does the formal also convey some gyaan!!!

Date: 3rd March '09 - Got up at 6:30 (one of the earliest morning i might have seen in B'lore :P, even 30 minutes before my customary alarm: huh!! was I so excited!!!). Naha dhoke taiyar hogaya ache bachon k tarah. Then came the hardest part: Tieing the Tie. All the 10 years of my schooling couldn't teach me this chhota sa task. Worse, my ullu ke patthe roommates also dint know either. Finally thanks to Dicky, 1 challeable knot bangaya :) Prayed to god for a good session, perhaps exams are the only time when I part away from my agnostic belief :)

I reached the spot at 8. Saw some more anxious faces, not many pretty ones though (read lack of chics :( )

The GD started by 9. There were 2 invigilators, a young man in his 30's and a lady in probably her 50's. We were 9 members in the group. 

Topic: A case study on the aging politicians It was something like this: "The prime ministerial candidate from the ruling party is 76 years old and that of the opposition is 81. So, a young guy's concern was how they can understand the needs and requirements of the youth. Another old friend of his was rooting for the experience. If there will be a prime minister for the youth, there should be a prime minister for the genders also. something of that sort."
The Problem Statement: should there be an upper age limit on the people who is contesting for the higher office? and what should be the criteria in selecting them?
Discussion: It went really smooth, absolutely NO fish market. Everyone got a fair amount of chance to speak. Overall a peaceful GD. Everyone went for the experience. I gave the proposal to have a change in the constitution to make an amendment for the political parties to put at least a certain number of youths in the elections so that they can be promoted. then i spoke about having a cabinet minister someone who is experienced and his understudy the state minister a youth, which normally happens. I spoke around 10-12 times i guess. In the last 3 4 minutes we ran out of new points, somehow i got a feeling we are nearing the 20 minutes mark, so i quickly pointed out saying, i think we have discussed enough to come to a conclusion. then we 2 3 persons summed it up. Pleasant surprise was the time we finished out the conclusion part, the time got up!!! I was more or less happy with myself, but still felt I could have done better. I for some unknown reason have an affinity towards the fish marketish GDs :D

I always thought my name can fetch me an early slot for PI considering the alphabetical order, but soon that vanishe when I discovered that I will be the 7th person to be interviewed. Let me tell you, waiting is the hardest thing to do just before an interview when you know you can't get any significant gyan whatsoever from the persons who had preceded you.

PI: The normal flow in the panel was "the WorkEx, roles and responsibility of the individual, what's the special thing about u". 1 or 2 guys were asked about their hobbies.

My PI: The same profs were present. 
I handed over the form to the lady. By that time they had gone thru my SOP, recos and other forms. I will refer them as G (guy) and L (lady). and myself as A (ashis)
L: Ashis Nayak, NIT Calicut haan!!!
A: Yes Ma'am
G: Ashis, which all games do you play?
A: (That came as a pleasant surprise to me as it was against the flow and i hadn't mentioned anything in my SOP about it; i had written these in my form; but who cares, I was loving it) Sir, I play Football, used to play cricket, I play Tennis, used to play TT before.
G: Which court do u prefer in Tennis?
A: My office has only a cement court (All laughter). I have started playing this from last 4 5 months.
G: Which position you play in Football?
A: CAM (central attacking midfielder)
G: Cricket?
A: 1 down bat, 2nd change bowler.
G: all rounder I see.
A: Smile 

G: What do u do to relax yourself after a hectic day of work in Intel?
A: (It is all falling in place feeling) I sometime play and mostly watch football; I follow all the leagues, mostly EPL. Then I read a LOT about football. I am a religious supporter of Manchester United. 
G: What made you a fan of Man United
A: Talked about the history, grooming the talent policy, attacking play and loyalty shown by players. told him I have been a fan since a decade now. gave the quote of "We don't buy stars, we make them here"
G: But then you are a fan of the manager Sir Alex not the club?
A: I explained it well stressing upon the point of the grooming, training, academy policy. And now Man United has this culture which will surely not change even if Alex leaves. Then talked about the support of the owners
G: what u think will happen to the club when Alex retires?
A: talked about the talent pool, support staff, the blend of youth and experience. talked about few players. admitted it will be difficult to fill up his shoes.
Then few counter questions on the attacking football, talent and all.
Answered them well with examples.
G: I have heard this word killer instinct quite a few times. Many people have told me, Indian team lacks killer instinct, Dhoni's boys lack killer instinct. I personally find this weird. Do you know, what is the killer instinct?
A: answered well i guess, the ruthlessness. gave the example of australian cricket team. then a comparison of ManUTD and chelsea.
G: who won the I-league?
A: Dempo
G: Santosh trophy?
A: Punjab

G: what is the style of football they play?
A: to be honest, i haven't watched much of them to comment about it. It comes in the afternoon, so difficult to catch up. i just follow them in paper.
L: (finally she joined the party) who is more important, manager or player in football?
A: Manager, talked about their respective roles. gave example of Beckham and Nistelrooy. Gave one quote "no player is bigger than the club"
By now easily 10 minutes would have passed with me speaking for some 8 minutes 
L: enough of football, let's move to different sector?
A: Alright Ma'am
L: How these 2 1/2 years in Intel have made u a better person if at all you have become? what all you have learned?
A: talked about me becoming more disciplined, responsible that has come with the accountability in job (My manager will be proud to listen this duh!!!)

L: So you were not disciplined during college?
A: Smile, No ma'am i wasn't that disciplined, used to study before 1 or 2 days. devoted more time in time-pass, hobbies than the education 
Then i continued with the works, the responsibility i take in job. told about the global teams i work in and the standards i had done (i had mentioned that in the SOP)
L: Are you happy with ur tech job?
A: I am happy but i strongly believe i can do more and lot better.
L: don't u find ur job challenging?
A: I won't say, it's not at all challenging, but to certain extent it is not that challenging. talked about few instances. I think i was convincing.
then G asked many counter questions on these challenges, standards and a talk on My own desire and overall company desire.
I think, i answered them to my satisfaction, they look to be satisfied.
G: i see you have done all these proof of concepts.
A: talked about them and how i convinced the customers to take it when initially they were not ready for it.

By this time, I guess they were more or less happy with my answers, so decided to move on.
L: So what after IIMB?
before i can open my mouth, she only read it from the SOP. (be in a strategic management team taking crucial decessions)
A: talked a little. She had spoken almost everything.
G: but by seeing your attitude, your style of talking and your talks in GD, I think u can give ur 100% only in ur own company coz u need freedom, more space, no barriers (barriers, this is because the answer i had given for the challenges i faced in Intel question)
A: Sir nothing like that, i think if i reach that position, i believe, by that time i would have gathered enough skills to influence the concerned people which will give me the chance to fix the roadmap of the firm where it will head to. and my MBA study will also help me a lot in that regard.
G looks at L and said we are done, any questions: 
A: Sir, can I know the names plz.
G: Anil
L: Malathi.

Smiles exchanged, good day gestures. I asked if i should call the next person In.
L: No that's ok, just close the door.

Relief...I was amazed by the way they make me feel at so ease. I think I did well in the PI. but again, B is having these feel good interview thruout India. So can't make out much. Fingers crossed till 10th April (That's the date, IIM results are expected)

Interviewer profiles: Anil: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/html/m-frames.jsp?ilink=111&pname=allfaculty.jsp

Malathi: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/html/m-frames.jsp?ilink=111&pname=allfaculty.jsp

Quite a Happy Diwali it was :)

Much like every festivals away from home, I was expecting this Diwali to go in the same boring fashion. But quite contrary, is baar Diwali acha bita. For some unknown reason that I am yet to figure out, South India celebrates all the Indian festivals a day before its original date. Same was the case with Diwali this season.

Part I:

Bangalore's Diwali day: I was with my age-old friends "The Awara Pagal Deewana Sid, the slumdog Su and the Lusty Hawasi Aswini". We had stocked a sizeable amount of "TCS sponsored Highly discounted" phatakas courtesy Slumdog. Nevermind, they proved "Highly effective" quite contrary to its associated tags "TCS & High-discount". It was refreshing to see the Darua (the Odia wala) family man showing the courage to fire the crackers albeit with the help of some 100cm length of Paper :P . Su was at his very best that day and I was mediocre :( And fattu Aswini was out of equation engrossed over phone with a certain pretty lady ;) Then we some mards had Vodka and some impotents (Sid, u listening to this) had breezer ;) Sometime I wonder why Smirnoff always tastes good on special occasions :) I stayed at their place whole night and went to office directly from there.

Part2:

Rest of India's Diwali day: I returned form Office. To my surprise, found phatakes at my house. My roommates are generally agnostic not so coz of belief but so coz of aalas :P By that time my roomies were on high with G (kamino festival k din to break le liye hote) Seeing Dia at everyone's house humara sota hua vivek bhi jag gaya & we bought dia and threads. But sala, ab tel kahan se layen :( Tab idea sujhi, sabke die se thoda thoda tel chori karte hain lol. 

We were on 5 yellow cards (read warning from the apartment people for all possible reasons) and our days seem to be numbered in Kanaka Sadan :( Then came the plan leke bhagwan k naam, there can't be a better occasion than Diwali to get some pride back. Khoob mithai leke aaye n sabke ghar me baante. That day our khallu was at his very animated best and saala pata nahi kitne charnon me gira hoga ;) gira hua insaan :P. I got the strategy right to stand in the rear where u have the least chance of pushing urself to find a place at the charans :D Jo bhi ho, the ploy really worked, and since then we haven't recieved any further complains :) 

What an IDEA sir ji :D

3's Company: TF, Football & Guinness in an Irish Pub

Cast: Ashis Nayak as True Fan (TF)

2007 autumn: and also the autumn of TF's life; his first and so far the only Videsh bhraman. TF was in Irish land on a real short one week business trip.

It was a Sunday evening, ideally TF should have been site-seeing (this being the only weekend TF had had before a gruelling one week of training). But as he is the TF, his religion always pulls down all the other endeavour he might sneak some interest in. It was the battle between the two EPL heavyweights "Manchester United" and "Chelsea". The venue was "Theatre of Dreams OT" for players and "Temple Street" for TF :P. Yes, it is in fact Temple Street where the pub is in. In fact, every 3rd building on that holy street is a pub, how apt!!! The pub TF walked in, was a roadside 2-storied small building. (Please forgive TF for not noticing the pub's name, afterall he is TF; the only thing he was thinking was, football). The pub was decently filled and TF managed to find a very high chair (jahan se uske paaon zameen pe nahi lag rahe the :P). 

TF went to grab a beer and thought of trying the well-famous Irish "Guinness" beer. TF was getting frustrated at the time the barkeeper was taking to double-pour the Guinness; but as they say "good things come to those who wait". The beer tasted ultimayyte.

Finally the action began; the reds as always playing crisp and Chelsea the dull ugly boring football...as always. The crowd inside the pub was amazing, of all age ranging from 50 odd to even "hardly 10". TF mingled with an old man and a pretty lady (mother of the "hardly 10 kid"). Goshhh!!! those guys knew so much about football, this considering TF rates himself very highly in footballing knowledge. An awful tackle earned the X-united (at least for some hours) now Chelsea (for some cheap oil $$) Mikel a red-card; and up popped our "hardly 10 pumped-up kid" upfront the LCD, screaming "Come-on United, Fuck Chelsea, Fuck their ass, screw them" (all this in front of 30+ junta which included his pretty mom). For a moment, TF had to agree, there do exist bigger TFs than him.

The match had so many firsts: Lion Carlitos' first goal for red devils, Chelsea's first match post-mourinho era, TF's first  experience of Irish pub, TF's first experience of catching up a live game in a pub, TF's first instance of agreement that, there are bigger TFs also do exist :P

The match ended up 2-0 to United and TF was delighted :)

3's company: TF, Fooball and Guinness: An evening can't get any better than this :)

Kick-Off !!!

Well well, I am such a late entrant to the blogging world; but again they always say "Better late than never".

There are 2 reasons why i eventually am blogging.
- Many many years from now, I want to look back at these chronicles and see what I did back then. Its an effort to remember all those beautiful people i have come across at some point or other in life.
- During this 2 years of jobless job @Intel I have read enough of interesting blogs to pursuade me to have a go at it.

Hope my blog will be worth the pain u will endure reading it.
Bahot hogayi nautanki, let's kick-off!!!

Nickies for the Freakies: Wo beete din yaad hain

This being my first real attempt to post something on my this portal, i will try to scribble what naturally comes to me: "the non-fictional humour" :D

The Y2 Compscies (read: my branchmates) boasted some of the most hilariously creative nicknames u can ever come across. They were so widely used that, if someone asks u "hey buddy, what is ur real name", one was not surprised. A "Chunnu" was more famous than "Varun Tewari", a "Director" was more famous than "Anurag Singh", a "Billi****" was more famous than "Jaiprakash Verma", goshhh i still remember JP's full name.

Below I am listing down all those nicknames along with the actual names (the name given by their proud parents to continue their root ;-)). I will try to comprehend the origin of these nickies along. For the newbies, I am sorry if you don't understand some of the things. But i feel it will be indecency in disclosing some of the pseudo-names and their origin in this public community considering i do expect some female viewers for my blog ;-)

There can't be a better person to start with than every northie compscies' god "the Bhagwan" Ajay Gopalakrishan: Bade bhaiya, BigB, Lambu, Fast bowler, JavaGuru, Massiah, MaaiBaap (All because of his fundooism coupled with ever-readyness to help everyone on their projects) i still remember our first formal intro in CSEA welcome when he had said "I want to be a geek in computer" n how apt that turned out to be. The most interesting nicknames of his: AjayPreeth, Coupicle (Owing to his gupchup with a gorgeous female of our class).

Anurag Singh: Director, Daddy, Hunk, Chima, Chimu, Bodyguard. The real care-taker of the
whole 20-odd guys. Funniest moment: (Siby Chacko (Hostel warden): Are u the director of the college??? Chima: YES Sir hahaha)

Arun Pullat: Pullat, Helmet-haired, Pulli, Palat, Pollot

Ashis Nayak (myself): Nayak, Khalnayak, Aaaapti, True Fan (a newly discovered name for my love for ManUnited), True, Hyper (I tend to get hyper when on mood), Chhotu messwala(thanks to bacha haramkhor owing to my messboy chhotu's look while in my fav banian during the class trip), Mr. Raj (Lambi aur thodi senty kahani hai un dinon ki), CL (Constant Lover), Mind Inside, Chatter1

Ashish Agarwal: Boka, Jasoos Boka (Aisi koi ghatna ghati nahi NITC me, jiske baare me inko pehle se khabar na ho, sabke orkut account k activity report rehti thi in k paas), Laddoo, Ghinau, Joey

Ashok Mazumder: Dalla, Dalaal (Tommy can answer how this name came up), Dolby, Dolby Digital, Low Pass Filter, Twelve (with his tone at its highest possible decibel), Bangladeshi Refugee, Ehsaan Qureshi.

Biswajoy Biswas: Tom Cruise (for his famous (later infamous) tom cruise akin hairstyle), Tommy, Doggy, Kutta, Shaina ka pati, Ganjedi, Paaro ki maa ki...

Gitesh Grover: Ghoda (I still don't know how this name came up, someone plz help me), Rajasthani, Gulshan Grover, Model.

Harshavardhan Chinchore: Motu, Jafar ka Dost, Jafar ka pehla shikaar, Chinchu, Thakur (He looks like)

J Vinod: J DOT Vinod (more like J DOT Asthana of munnabhai), Talli

JaiPrakash Verma: JP (That is the only respectful name of his; and quite obviuosly no one bothered to call him by this tag), Ghinau-prani, Billi**** (Was alleged of making a cat pregnant after the cat was spotted vomitting in front of his room), Bhak B*******

Kamlesh Chauhan: Bacha (for his posture), Chhota Dawood, Bacha Bhai.

Sagar Khichade: Dhanno, Chhammo, Chhamiya (Its still an unsolved mystery how all the NITC females were attracted to this tiny guy when there were many hunks around the corner waiting for slightest of attention)

Sachin More: More Sachin (Jyada wala more), Ghati, Giddu, Sudoku Champ

Jeril Nadar: Jerry, Nadar, Gujju, Aaao naa (Tum aao naa, nahi tum aao naa hahaha, hillarious), Gymmer, RCC (Red Chaddi Chor), Chatter3

Nasim Akhter: Dawood, D, D Company, Don, Terror.

Pravin Palladugu: Gulti, Palu, Rashi ma'am ka chahita, Gulti Hero, Muchhad, Good Boy.

Pranab Jha: Lover Boy, The days' special collectionist (The 1st thing any F-hostelite used to do on any special day viz: Diwali, Holi, Valentines day etc, was check the comp of this guy and njoy the special collections)

Praveen Moparthy: Moparthy, VVS Laxman, Mossad

Rahul Jain: Chhamiya, Chameli, Babuji (For his unforgettable Item Number "Babuji"), Behnon ka bhaiya.

Varghese Mathew: Topper, V4ever, Rangila, Vargheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese Mathew, Broad-shoulder lover (hahaha :D), PJ ka aashiq.

Varun Madhu: Common room man, Gamer.

Varun Tewari: It is believed, inke bhagwan sri krishna se bhi jyada naam hain. Chunnu, Dicky, SLT, LT, Lottan, Lingam, Lingisthaan, Shaina ka aashiq, Ghunghraale baal, Real Compsci k captain, Cobra, Saamp, Zehrila saamp, many more which i can't disclose it here for obvious censored reasons. NB: the origin of all these names is a single hindi word which of course cant be penned down here.

Abhishek Singh: His name should have been up front considering all the pain he had endured of sitting on the 1st bench in every exam. But it would have been a serious biological disorder if J doesnt accompany L. (Hope u got that): Jhatua, J-man, Jimmy, Jemran Jashmi, Jaahil Janwar, Hawasi, Chatter2, abhsex, haan-hello. NB: the origin of all these names is a single hindi word which of course cant be penned down here.

Vivekanand: The PR.

hmmm, very long post, but i feel it is worth every word of it. Guys, do add if have missed some of the renowned tags accidentally.