" Tell me about yourself "

I've had some wonderful opporunities to meet people sitting on either sides of an interview. A few anecdotes which really leave behind some traces in the mind-

1. When I was interviewed - Final HR interview at UST

Murali and Kishore were seated across the table, busy typing away on their laptops.

Murali - "Ok Aravind, tell me about your college."

I started talking abt my college, and they kept "Hmm" ing in between.

Midway they stopped me and asked - "Hmm, so calligraphy is a hobby for you".

"Yes, it is"

"Good, so do you believe that people with a good personality have a good handwriting?"

"Yes I do"

"Interesting...why do you say that?"

"Because I have a good handwriting and a good personality"

"Hahaha..great" {I to this day dont know if it was sarcasm or just my cheeky answer that made them laugh}

Murali immediately took up a piece of paper and scirbbled something on it (utterly illegible) and said...

"There..take a look at that. Do you think you can read that? No right? So any change in opinion?"

"Wow..thats great...It now confirms the fact that every truth on this world can have an exception"

"Hahahaha...Ok Aravind. thanks for your time"

I knew my last answer got me the job

2. When I interviewed

There was this guy in hyderabad. Anything you ask him, he just had a smile on his face. 5 minutes , all smiles and no answers, and i was done. I politely asked him to leave. At that point he asked me to tell him the answers to the questions i asked him. I patiently did so, during the course of which, i saw his eyes getting moist. I knew he was a lil daft in the upper storey...at the end of my explanation he said.."Sir, I have attended a lot of interviews, but till today, no one has ever explained the answers"....I guess he had made it a hobby of attending interviews and giving the interviewers just a smile

3. Telephonic...

After the initial exchange of pleasantries, i started asking him questions...answers not satisfactory...until when i asked him a question and he replied with "Please give me four options" I guess he is brought upon a lot of KBC...

Ambitions

What drives men?

Dreams? Ambitions?

I've wondered recently as to what different people dream to be.

What does a thattukkadakkaran want to be? A hotelier?

What does a taxi driver want to be? A pilot?

What about a rag picker? {I dont know, my imagination cant run that wild}

But then, is he still a rag picker because he did not dream enough? Or does he not dream because he is a rag picker? Is it a vicious circle?

Probably not...lots of people who made it big in this world started off pretty low in society...it because they dreamt big that they are here. But dreaming is not enough. The passion with which you strive to achieve them is important I guess. The stories of the Ambanis, the Birlas and the Gates' of this world are inspiring...humble starters, but look where they are now.

At this point, I am thinking about my previous post where i ranted about the moolah. Am i contradicting myself here? No. It is just that i was talking about dreams and ambitions, and for all of these people, making it big, meant money. So, in a way, it augments my thoughts...nowadays, people think only about money.

But you be damn sure, if you have an ambition and the passion to achieve it, you sure shall.

Emotional Vs Professional

Growing up in this industry has its own troughs and crests.

On the one hand, u make a lot of money, u have a great lifestyle and the adrenalin rush it brings is quite enjoyable.

On the other hand, you grow more and more machine like...devoid of human emotions like sorrow, anger, and for that matter, not even love or hatred. You become PROFESSIONAL. You cannot afford to be angry at someone for not doing something u wanted him to. You cannot be sad that your manager is not happy with you. Whatever the case may be, you put on a smiling face and accept it...and all of tht gets pent up within ourselves; unkowingly we might release everything upon our families...they often suffer the brunt of our frustrations.

English films like terminator have portrayed a tomorrow which would see machines thinking like humans. My take on this is different; tomorrow we might see men thinking like machines...and the start of that is here for all to see. We stop laughing at jokes, at small moments of happiness; we stop crying when something goes wrong. We are forgetting to be emotional. The world has put on a facade.

IT majors keep speaking about values and culture being the foundation of their businesses, but fundamentally, isnt everything about money? And time? I believe the very axes on which the world used to revolve are changed as well..they are no longer X and Y, they are Time and Money.

Hey NEO, is the matrix still there? Morpheus, where are my pills???

3 point something

Three years gone by on the 3rd of November, and i still dont know where I am headed in my career. I had always wanted to quit at the end of three years in IT, do my MBA and take on from there. The industry is hyper-dynamic, but i never dreamt my life would be one as well. Suddenly I am burdened with the task of making money. And, an onsite opportunity is my only way out. I am torn between emotions...Should i go, leaving behind all i cherish; leaving behind what motivated me; and embrace an option that is at loggerheads with where i want my career to head? I guess i must make that difficult choice. At this point, I must think about my family, and not about myself. It is pay-back time...not that they have asked for it, but just that i realize it...

I cannot now afford to play for time...the game has just started...and god give me the strength to see it thru