A million bucks to anyone who can guess what the title of this post really means. Hmmm...I guess, I could give one million and I'll need Katiyar's money to pay the rest. Anyway jokes apart, it's a movie title, and that too a Hindi movie.
Now for those of you who haven't watched this movie, watch it right now! I mean it. It is the best piece of advice I will have given for a while now, and it'll be the best you will have taken for some time. Of course, after that do come back. It's not that this post is a spoiler, I'm not cheap to spoil what could be your life-changing experience, but I finished it at 4:50 am Tuesday, 16th September 2008, and my windows time keeper shows Tuesday, 16 September 4:53 am. So I guess I needn't say any further.
So what is it about this movie that makes someone who usually enjoys going to sleep at 2 am watching objectionable content and then waking up at 10 am, sit up an extra 3 hours awake and blog about it.
Now I will not go into how good the "movie" was, that's something a critical reviewer or the guy who gets paid by both TOI and movie production houses does. I'm not going to analyze the acting, direction.. blah blah blah. I never do it and hate people who repestedly (now thats a spelling error that's not a mistake)crap about how oscar-deserving a negative role was or how well the actor was able to portray the hidden nuances of a hitherto enigmatic character. (References to any person living(or dead) are purely coincidental) Not that I don't do that sometimes, just that I disapprove of it.
A movie or for that matter an advertisement or even a comic strip succeeds in it's purpose if it is able to convey it's message unambiguously, tell it's story unwaveringly and with clarity. It's not about how short or how long it is. The portrayal may demand a seven thousand three hundred and sixty two pages or 10 seconds of recorded video, the length is irrelevant. It is the responsibility of the movie-goer/reader to be patient and willing. Here is where this 95 minutes 45 second-movie nails it. I was captivated, enthralled and engrossed, totally oblivious to everything else around me, transported for those 100 odd minutes to suburban Mumbai (which, the ones who have seen the movie will know and those who did not pay heed to my advice will have guessed, is where the movie is set)
This wasn't because of the direction or the acting. Mind you, both, I felt were top notch, but that's beside the point. It was because there was one storyline and the focus was on it, the direction was clear. There was no unnecessary song and dance(please stress on unnecessary, if it is necessary I'm game for it), no wanting to please the audience. What needed to be said was told, and the fat lady was called. (I'm not sure of the usage is appropriate, if you feel otherwise please keep it to yourself)
This is where a lot of movies fail. There is no direction, no focus, whatsoever, the storyline has loopholes a 5 year-old can identify, the actors overdo themselves, the actresses are busy 'out'doing each other and the audience for a lack of better things to do or rather an excess of time to pass, watches and revels in the inadequacy of it all. It is here that, 'A Wednesday' stands out.
The message was so well portrayed that for a minute after the movie I felt, "Saala, maa c#($@ye jaaye job, MBA, MS. Let me join IAS or IPS and change the system."
Thing to note: If you've noticed there are two instances where the actors swear or pseudo-swear. The first is cleverly disguised but the second is as clear as the straightness of Hugh Hefner. Now I am usually against the usage of profanities in movies. But the effect was electric. Who says only bad boys use bad words, vulgarities are used to vent one's anger, and by God, they're efficient at it.
PS: No animal was harmed during the writing of this post, other than the frog that has just hopped into my room, whose future looks uncertain to me. :)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
How I made a job.
This may seem a curious thing to post about right now, especially since I am probably not going to join the company where I am currently placed...(which, for fear of a lawsuit by the company, and my batchmates' murderous intentions I will hereby name as ABC) However the fact remains that I made my job in such non-congenial and weird circumstances, that its something I have to share with others.
So here goes: It a couple of days before elections, tensions mounting, worrying incidents happenning, me totally confused as to what to do, and to top it all, ABC comes for recruitment, and I haven't made a single job.
I give the first test, aptitude, 40 mins, 40 questions, it goes well. I then go to the Dean's office for updates.. apparently he was out of station and just returned. So while I am with him discussing the issue, I get a message, second technical test in 10 mins. SO I excuse myself, and go up to 2201 again. This time 40 mins, 70 mcqs, and around 45 guesses(...really I am not lying). So I return to the office and now its a meeting between lots of people, so I don't need to talk much here. Meeting adjourned, lunch missed, message reads "technical interview at 3pm" I smile, but not for long. I run, tear open my packed shirt(yet another twist, 'twas my first interview so the white shirt is still in its original package) I look in the mirror, then my wrist watch. Unshaven, 8 minutes remain. 5 minutes to walk to VFAST. I decide to risk it, and go unshaven. I reach with a minute to spare, sweating from everywhere, the volunteer tells me that things are going about an hour late. First piece of good news all day! I walk back slowly, shave, relax, google for what ABC stands for, write it to my memory(too many CS apti papers, I guess) and walk back to VFAST.
Technical interview: The guy is around 45ish, balding from every perceivable angle, looking as interested as a five year-old looks at his dinner plate filled with greens. But I smile like I am advertising for a new brand of toothpaste. He sits me down, and asks me to write code. Now I'm no programmer, but its an IT profile:-(, so I take the pen in hand and start. Factorial normal, factorial using recursion, fibonacci using recursive, sum of geometric series. I look intrigued but smile from within, same questions as to the guy before me. Now the real test, what do you know about OS, DS, and some more abbreviations. I answer, "Sir, I am an electronics graduate, and during the course of my study I was not exposed to these concepts. However, if I have the good fortune of being shortlisted to your esteemed organisation, I assure you that I will acquire the requisite skill sets during this semester." I guy actually looks impressed. :) Some more questions, again answers that any 12th pass could answer. But always with a smile and with sang-froid..(this one's for those preparing for GRE). The interview finishes, and I wait for HR.
Now as I wait for HR, the whole situation, as though reveals itself to me. As of now, I had too many things on my mind, but now its like.. By God! I may actually get it.. and an IT job too. Life's weird man. I enter, and the guy starts with the all too famous, all too overhyped, all too cliched, "Tell me about yourself, something not on your resume" I act as though I wasn't expecting this all so suddenly. I then switch on the tape recorder. Perfect answer, no hesitation, no stammering, no nothing. Cool as cool can be. Then things about my family and stuff. Then the question that I think they gave weightage to, 'coz they stressed it a lot, "Are you willing to work anywhere during the training". "Yes sir, I love travelling and seeing noew places". And then the question that could have screwed it up, "Why do you wan to join ABC?" Now how do I answer that, I just heard of the company a week ago, I don't know what they do, by God, all I know is what ABC stands for. Now as all this is going through my mind and my processor just starts thinking up a brilliant answer, he looks me in the eye and says "You don't have an answer, right?". Now for a moment I am cought unaware, like a novice swimmer who realizes for the first time how high 8 metres really is. But I risk it and shrug honestly. Fow more questions, and later we shake hands and I leave.
Before I can even fathom it all, I get a call, and its urgent. Now for purposes of not wanting to deviate much from the topic at hand to an altogether different and probably more interesting topic, I will not divulge any details. All I will say is, 2 hours later, in the middle of a tense SU meeting.. well not tense but one with a potential for serious consequences, I get a call, no message this time. I got in. I smile to myself, look around and tell the nearest fellow in the ear, "I got a job" and the meeting carries on.
Now what I wanted to do here is just share an experience. Not to show off my pressure handling ability, or my presence of mind or my good..(maybe weird) luck, or my writing skills :). No, the purpose is none of these, but if you do think I need to be applauded for these or any other aspect of my experience, do leave comments.
So here goes: It a couple of days before elections, tensions mounting, worrying incidents happenning, me totally confused as to what to do, and to top it all, ABC comes for recruitment, and I haven't made a single job.
I give the first test, aptitude, 40 mins, 40 questions, it goes well. I then go to the Dean's office for updates.. apparently he was out of station and just returned. So while I am with him discussing the issue, I get a message, second technical test in 10 mins. SO I excuse myself, and go up to 2201 again. This time 40 mins, 70 mcqs, and around 45 guesses(...really I am not lying). So I return to the office and now its a meeting between lots of people, so I don't need to talk much here. Meeting adjourned, lunch missed, message reads "technical interview at 3pm" I smile, but not for long. I run, tear open my packed shirt(yet another twist, 'twas my first interview so the white shirt is still in its original package) I look in the mirror, then my wrist watch. Unshaven, 8 minutes remain. 5 minutes to walk to VFAST. I decide to risk it, and go unshaven. I reach with a minute to spare, sweating from everywhere, the volunteer tells me that things are going about an hour late. First piece of good news all day! I walk back slowly, shave, relax, google for what ABC stands for, write it to my memory(too many CS apti papers, I guess) and walk back to VFAST.
Technical interview: The guy is around 45ish, balding from every perceivable angle, looking as interested as a five year-old looks at his dinner plate filled with greens. But I smile like I am advertising for a new brand of toothpaste. He sits me down, and asks me to write code. Now I'm no programmer, but its an IT profile:-(, so I take the pen in hand and start. Factorial normal, factorial using recursion, fibonacci using recursive, sum of geometric series. I look intrigued but smile from within, same questions as to the guy before me. Now the real test, what do you know about OS, DS, and some more abbreviations. I answer, "Sir, I am an electronics graduate, and during the course of my study I was not exposed to these concepts. However, if I have the good fortune of being shortlisted to your esteemed organisation, I assure you that I will acquire the requisite skill sets during this semester." I guy actually looks impressed. :) Some more questions, again answers that any 12th pass could answer. But always with a smile and with sang-froid..(this one's for those preparing for GRE). The interview finishes, and I wait for HR.
Now as I wait for HR, the whole situation, as though reveals itself to me. As of now, I had too many things on my mind, but now its like.. By God! I may actually get it.. and an IT job too. Life's weird man. I enter, and the guy starts with the all too famous, all too overhyped, all too cliched, "Tell me about yourself, something not on your resume" I act as though I wasn't expecting this all so suddenly. I then switch on the tape recorder. Perfect answer, no hesitation, no stammering, no nothing. Cool as cool can be. Then things about my family and stuff. Then the question that I think they gave weightage to, 'coz they stressed it a lot, "Are you willing to work anywhere during the training". "Yes sir, I love travelling and seeing noew places". And then the question that could have screwed it up, "Why do you wan to join ABC?" Now how do I answer that, I just heard of the company a week ago, I don't know what they do, by God, all I know is what ABC stands for. Now as all this is going through my mind and my processor just starts thinking up a brilliant answer, he looks me in the eye and says "You don't have an answer, right?". Now for a moment I am cought unaware, like a novice swimmer who realizes for the first time how high 8 metres really is. But I risk it and shrug honestly. Fow more questions, and later we shake hands and I leave.
Before I can even fathom it all, I get a call, and its urgent. Now for purposes of not wanting to deviate much from the topic at hand to an altogether different and probably more interesting topic, I will not divulge any details. All I will say is, 2 hours later, in the middle of a tense SU meeting.. well not tense but one with a potential for serious consequences, I get a call, no message this time. I got in. I smile to myself, look around and tell the nearest fellow in the ear, "I got a job" and the meeting carries on.
Now what I wanted to do here is just share an experience. Not to show off my pressure handling ability, or my presence of mind or my good..(maybe weird) luck, or my writing skills :). No, the purpose is none of these, but if you do think I need to be applauded for these or any other aspect of my experience, do leave comments.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
General Secretary: Why? What? How?
Quite a lot of people have asked me one of these questions, multitude of times. Both before and after the elections. Thinking back I realize that it wasn't a well thought of decision. Yes! I admit it. I put everything at stake and that too for an election, wherein whether I won or lost, the rest of my BITSian CDC/UC life would have been nightmarish. It is a good thing that I couldn't think this clearly then :D
So why did I do it? I do have a bunch of prepared reasons to throw at your average interviewer, but I have to be honest here. It just felt like the right thing to do. That's it. It wasn't like I was convinced that I'd be the best there ever was, ever will be. Not that I didn't want that, but that's not the point. Was it ambition? Was it the the cliched "I want to change the system". To an extent yes.
The thing is one can never know for sure, in a situation like this. One cannot say whether one's convictions will fail, whether one will give in to temptation, whether one will be complacent. If you had asked me then, my answer would have been HELL NO! But if you had asked me then, whether after a year, I would remain true to myself, and I had given you an honest answer, it would be, "I hope not."
The point I want to make here is that no matter how good or how bad a person seems, one can never be sure whether he will change, whether he will be the best President/General Secretary, because he doesn't know it himself. He may be the best candidate, but the best post-holder?? You can't say. Now this is a property of democracy, that the person who seems most confident, most suitable to the people gets elected.
So finally it just comes down to convictions.
On a lighter note:
The irony of the whole matter is that I had initially wanted to contest for President and then due to unprecedented circumstances, I withdrew and filed for General Secretary. But the most eventful, the most testing period of my tenure was when I was a stand-in President during the election time.
Another weird thing is that for the first month I was handling both these posts. Later after the elections, Ravi Teja was handling both, and now when finally things seem to have settled, Ravi gets injured and Vijay handles both. Is there a jinx that I'm not aware of here?
So why did I do it? I do have a bunch of prepared reasons to throw at your average interviewer, but I have to be honest here. It just felt like the right thing to do. That's it. It wasn't like I was convinced that I'd be the best there ever was, ever will be. Not that I didn't want that, but that's not the point. Was it ambition? Was it the the cliched "I want to change the system". To an extent yes.
The thing is one can never know for sure, in a situation like this. One cannot say whether one's convictions will fail, whether one will give in to temptation, whether one will be complacent. If you had asked me then, my answer would have been HELL NO! But if you had asked me then, whether after a year, I would remain true to myself, and I had given you an honest answer, it would be, "I hope not."
The point I want to make here is that no matter how good or how bad a person seems, one can never be sure whether he will change, whether he will be the best President/General Secretary, because he doesn't know it himself. He may be the best candidate, but the best post-holder?? You can't say. Now this is a property of democracy, that the person who seems most confident, most suitable to the people gets elected.
So finally it just comes down to convictions.
On a lighter note:
The irony of the whole matter is that I had initially wanted to contest for President and then due to unprecedented circumstances, I withdrew and filed for General Secretary. But the most eventful, the most testing period of my tenure was when I was a stand-in President during the election time.
Another weird thing is that for the first month I was handling both these posts. Later after the elections, Ravi Teja was handling both, and now when finally things seem to have settled, Ravi gets injured and Vijay handles both. Is there a jinx that I'm not aware of here?
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