Delhi Auto Expo 2012 (Pics and Awards)

Once again, the mela was set and being a student now, I obviously had the luxury to pay the fair a visit. This time I was with many; the auto expo visit was the first trip with my classmates.

The article also carries some awards as last time. Hope, they are funny (like others)

Special mention: The ticketing seemed better especially with the scanning process in practise (the first time @ Pragati Maidan). It was smooth to get in unlike last time (read here Delhi Auto Expo 2010) where I got in, thanks to the efforts of my brother.

We entered the expo around 1 PM (the start time for general public to witness the sexy beauties inside).
The first pavilion was my all time favourite.

Mercedes-Benz –
They will never disappoint you. Glittering beauties with the three pointed circle (symbol) all around you. Luxury from them is always unadulterated (even though they are behind BMW in competition). Mercedes showcased its ‘wing car’ outside their standalone pavilion (crowd puller; it was the most attractive car in last edition of expo, the AMG SLS). The entry to the pavilion had 2 M-class (standing in quite some pose).
The best car from Merc was their concept ‘Flow’. Majestic…speechless. She looked like a lady wrapped with the sliver silk (seductive). The feel after watching it was ‘nothing can beat a good luxurious Merc’. It therefore gets the ‘style-statement-award’. You will love it.

“Racing is a state of mind” – liked the quote outside Merc pavilion...awesome

BMW –
Didn’t like their display last time around. This time around BMW had a larger pavilion with an elevated view for visitors (quite unique). Mini Cooper was ok (definitely not better than Volkswagen’s Beetle). Can’t say much on it.
BMW in between showed one of their concept visions here in CP, Delhi. It was used in MI4. Really missed that one here. It is a wonder car, the one you drive in fantasy. Pics of that car are here (must watch).
However, they came up with another one. Awesome and speechless. How can you come up with this kind of stuff again? Brilliant. Sadly, I was very far to appreciate it to the full-heart level (mere pass business pass kyu nahi tha - regret).

BMW gets the ‘GAWK-award’ for producing yet another fantasy model after BMW Batmobile.


Volkswagen Das Auto –
Simple, Spacious and display concept similar to that of Expo 2010. Background included their recent blue campaign (likable). Expo 2010 (here) saw very heavy advertising of Polo. This time, it was subtle. Full product line was on display. VW concept car XL1 was also displayed (but didn’t have that pull when compared to offerings from BMW or Merc).Amidst white, the new Beetle in red was their best display. VW gets the ‘naam-bade-darshan-chote-award’ for their showroom like display pavilion.

Audi –
Audi was one of the best pavilions in the last edition (expo 2010). Audi went with a similar way of display (the white Audi sedans and a R8 in front). The only difference this time around was the colour of R8. Shiny Red (in last edition here, it was shiny orange).

Audi wins ‘best-body-colour-award’ for their sense of colour combinations. Crowd loved it, making it one of the most congested and crowdy halls at the Delhi Auto Expo 2012.

Tata Motors –
One of the biggest pavilions at the 2012 expo. Tatas showcased their product line width with the display of trucks, buses (normal as well as elongated), sedans (normal as well as hybrid) and their famous minis (Nano, Iris, Ace and PIXEL). Pixel was the show stealer this time around. Small & Cute (same adjectives used for Nano previously). However, the informative eyes would have appreciated the Indian car giant had the concept Pixel being developed with a right hand drive (the one on display was left hand drive raising speculation whether it was developed indigenously or elsewhere). But still the crowd loved it like they did at the time of Nano. Being a witness of expo 2008 when Nano was launched, it was a similar feel seeing Pixel. But Pixel is a concept car, far from production.
Tatas for their love of producing cute babies is henceforth given the ‘small-innovator-award’ for Pixel.

The other end of their pavilion had J&L series. The white Land Rovers were kept the same way as displayed in last edition. But the highlight was the two Red defender concept cars (open-roof & jeep look). The Jaguar display looked a bit off-coloured when compared to display of other luxurious car makers. The last edition display was better and definitely more luxurious.

Toyota –
Quite a larger pavilion for them, but it was justified after witnessing their intentions. Bestsellers Innova is reworked (looks more high-end, less like a cab). Fortuner is reworked but looked quite similar to me. The centre of attraction at the Toyota pavilion was the twin ladies at the centre along the racing versions of Etios Liva. Racing cars in red and white are quite standard, nothing exceptional in terms of looks. Toyota gets the ‘most-well-behaved-award’ for best crowd management.

Ford –
After Figo, Ford has geared up to fight in the SUV segment. Ford revealed a new SUV to India – Ford EcoSport. The car had the catchy looks with bright orange and mammoth front grill (trend these days). Liked their blue ambience; distinguished them from others. They are given the ‘big-grill-award’ for EcoSport.

Skoda –
Green and white are there hallmark colours. Very standard pavilion especially when you have the luxury gaint Audi right opposite you. Poor choice of pavilion. The cars were known except RS 2000. Strange looking car; though must admit it was stylish. The front look seems like somebody is stretching the car ears (the idea can be used in the next franchise of animation movie CARS).

Award for Skoda, Not this time. Guys, you need to improve your display (layout).

Chevrolet –
Chevy is all time favourite. Only reason being Bumblebee (Camaro). Expo 2010 (here) had a yellow one, coming right from the Transformers movie. This year, it was in dark orange (yellow was better). It unfortunately will not come to India, because right hand drive is not developed nor the company seems interested in developing one soon. Chevy has some handsome brands with them – Volt , Cruze (racer version in display). Captiva, SUV will be soon launched in a new avatar (earlier version was boring). The flying Beat was a fluke to many eyes (Guys! It was a gas balloon). Chevy pavilion is always impressive but has some standard stuff (this time around - Sail and Tavera).
Chevy gets the ‘Eyeballs’ award. Why? Read on…

DC –
(Disclaimer) I personally don’t like his stuff; it looks over-worked, pricy and lacks the royal classiness in terms of luxury.
Dilip Chhabria franchise is known name (his client list includes many famous stars of Bollywood). He also designed the car for the movie Taarzan (flop). He is introduced Avanti (reminded me of his car in Taarzan) and a modified Jeep (fantastic looks in yellow). Can’t say much on DC.

Aukaat se Bahar (Outside Monetary Reach) – Not surprisingly, the super duper multi Crore cars saw the longest queues. In display were the Porsche 911, Porsche Cayenne S, Ferrari California, Maserati Gran Cabrio, Maserati Quattroporte South Delhi gives you a chance to see these on its roads quite regularly Except Maserati. Maserati Q was best among them.

Bajaj –
Extraordinary pavilion. They came out with a new 4-wheeler (don’t you dare call it a car). RE60. Aisa naam, why RE, why 60? Re is borrowed from REVA (closest competitor in terms of size). 60 because it claims to half CO2 emission to 60gm/km. It is basically a solution to combat pollution (tagline). So, buy only iff you care for environment. Bajaj is the largest manufacturer for 3 wheelers in India. This is a desperate attempt to upgrade them to 4-wheelers. That is the only rational positioning I can understand. Else, it is very small especially with a price of around 2 L (Nano is cheaper than RE60).
The 3 wheeler on the Indian road is quite spacious and can accommodate 6-8 adults (some may call it over-crowding, but it saves you a hell lot of money). Replacing them with this is unlikely. Re60 usage on mass scale is some topic to research upon. Hence, Bajaj gets the curious ‘Y’ award.

Renault –
It has been in India through Logan but has never grown. Once my cab driver complimented Logan with words “lambi deir tak chalti hai, isliye taxi hai”. Logan went the taxi way, which too was limited because of its price and service. Renault here displayed Duster, another SUV attempt. But prices are said to start from 6, which are attractive for high volumes.
Another offering for Indian roads is Pulse. Catchy name but priced on the higher end at above 5 Lakh (above Maruti Swift, Hyundai i20).
Renault has been awarded the ‘fighter-award’.

Mahindra & Mahindra –
Compliments to them for showing Ssangyong to India. XUV 500, Mahindra’s latest offering was displayed in pale yellow and pale purple colours (fantastic). XUV 500 has stellar looks (both front as well as back). Nice to see Indians producing such stuff. Mahindra acquired Reva and thank God! They changed its look (looks are more sensible now, less kiddish). It deservingly gets the ‘Car-of-the-year’ award for XUV 500.


Nissan –
Nissan revealed Evalia, another SUV attempt for the Indian market. Others on display were GT R and 370 Z.

Missed Maruti –
“jo dil mein ho, usye aakhein kya dekhengi”

Two-Wheelers –
Quite a strangler to these at Auto Expos. Still I visited them (thanks to Saurabh Bakshi, Abhishek Garg). The top brand in superbike segment was Ducati. Dream machines to say the least. Haven’t seen much of them on Delhi roads, but all I can observe is that they are damn classy.
Next chapter of awesome-bikes belongs to Harley Davidson. The length of bikes is an admiration in itself. Awesome. Love the style they carry; unique and speaks loads of attitude (respect to their designers).
Others include Yamaha glittery pinky scooty, Vespa white scooter, sand coloured Royal Enfield, Triumph’s Bonneville, Hero Impulse, Honda’s patient answer to Hero’s Impulse, etc (Somehow can’t generate much interest in bikes).

Trends & Analysis –
1) SUVs are the next big thing
2) Red is the hot colour
3) Sexy girls besides cars does not guarantee a good pull. Eg - Mercedes
4) Increase in presence of local brands and manufacturers (signs of confidence)
5) India is opening to superbikes (and not just splendours)
6) Car manufactures still want to show less of their R&D here, in the form of concept cars & more sellable cars
7) Lucky draw is only for prospective buyers

‘Chicks’ n ‘Girls’
Must thank Bakshi for the drag race and his vision and mission towards identifying the sexier talent. Auto Expo 2012 showcased a much better performance compared to its preceding exhibitions. The Chevy pavilion had the best models if not the cars, it wins the male-magnet award for the having the highest attraction load factor.

Kuch bhi (just anything) – heard people/new reports saying the venue is expected to be shifted. Don’t really agree if any venue can replace Pragati Maidan with the kind of location it has (central Delhi amidst the most affluent newsmakers). However, with whatever operations management I have understood, layout of the expo has the scope to improve.

ps: plan to revive the category ‘college life’ initiated. Cheers

YOU can find all pics at Facebook (here) and on Lafango (here)
Drive safely…incase you need any full pic, leave your email id in comments

Convocation of my Graduation

Can’t forget the day…can’t afford to forget it…so lets move on from start:-

Prelude –
Like always my university processes involves a mandatory form (photograph compulsory). Invitations were mailed only to some fortunates. Shanky was the only one whom I know to have that invitation – wonder what made him so special. One day before, while surfing Yahoo I got to know that our chief guest was Mr. Omar Abdullah (Chief Minister – J&K). Our convocation was taking place 1.5 years after our leaving from college. Henceforth, it had to be nostalgic.

The ‘C’ day –
Owing to our professional and business etiquettes, Sandy and I reached the base camp (our faculty) right on time i.e. 10 A.M (as stated in Form A). Not many were seen there. Chedi came in next and started talking about the same things in same tone that was expected from him – first signals of nostalgic moments.
Our trip to ground floor toilet (allocated to Civil Engg Dept.) was again memorable. While coming out, and seeing the tap from which we used to drink that drinking water made us laugh. Now, both of us in reputed (?) IT MNCs drink Bislery and Aquafina (without that FUN). The huge H-styled faculty building had some revolutionary changes in it – our building had got a lift now (a non-functional one). Back in my thoughts I was happy for Dr. Wali M Choudary (the famous and only rockstar teacher of my university). He had once wished a lift in our faculty. That day was our Database Management sem, the longest one of my graduation. All those who were present in that room with Dr. Wali dude, will cherish this new gift – the lift.
The building also wore a new paint combination – combination of purple and muddy checks. A new staircase was there to greet us. Rest of the ecosystem was same – spacious parking lots, green lawns guarded by bamboo stems. Dean office and the attitude of people inside it were unchanged. World most arrogant and stagnant soles sit in that office and they still had that elite royal self-comfort feel in them…sarkaari mehekma

Slowly everybody started to turn up. Surprising they were not much late (blame professionalism). Among the crowd, there were (Civil friends – Harkesh, Himanshu and Puneet), (EC friends - Apoo, Atanu, Avinash, Varun), (dear Elect. friends – Anshul, Vineet, Praveen), etc. Random greetings from/to known faces came in plenty. Compu batchmates also started to arrive – Anku (still a baby), same old Deepu, lean and fit Hi V (surprisingly in sandy shape), airtel sponsored Nana (Amit Singh), ‘stray’ Shanky dog, fatty ‘soft-toy’ Tau, Baba Ather (coming from Hyd especially), topper Alan with black eyes gogs, Shuja, Akif, Atyab, Asad, naughty ‘Naveen’, IITian Jeetu (from videokaun), study sexy ‘Sharma’, Balloon Bobo ‘Ambuj’ and Bhaskar along with Vikram and Shankar. The girl gang of our class also came in.
(Customary line but with a very true and honest feel inside my heart – some of my very close friends were not available owing to their work - Niloo, Sahil, KP, Ieesh, Devi, Akshay, Sumit, Varun, Jeetu…phir kabhi sahi)…कर्मनये वाधिका-रस्ते, माँ फलेषु कदाचना

Next in line was another form to be filled - perhaps the last one for my graduation. Form was related to hiring of robes and the scarf. These were being given from newly constructed workshop, which gave a visible feel of jail and us being the judges (thanks to the black robe). Canteen was the same, though the rates were hiked by Rs 3 for lunch thalli. Same vendor, same style of servicing and the same taste. The famous Kauwa Biryani was still selling in name of Chicken Biryani…and…students were still a fan of that. Ironically, price of thalli at my college canteen is same as that of lunch buffet at my office (but will the food @ college canteen ever match with food @ office, will the ambiance of canteen ever match with ambiance of cafeteria, will the lunch at cafeteria ever match with lunch Enjoyment at college canteen)…No ji

We all got our robes and scarfs. Robe was shinny black in colour whereas scarf was shinny maroon. All were looking like life descendants of Batman. Maroon coloured scarf on boys would have taken us on another level of fashion; Bhaskar along with Vikram and Shankar creatively converted that scarf into a bow (which looked wearable). All it needed was a shinny sword to become a dictator (dreams fulfilled).
Photosession @ faculty was mandatory. We went to our department to get clicked. Unfortunately all classrooms were locked (planned), but the multi-functional lab was open. Mr. Baashear Alarm was in the lab with a lot of students who had that feel ‘agar-aaj-program-nahi-dikhaya-to-fail-kar-dega’. Sympathies to them. There were minor changes in the corridor too. Shoe racks were in place with a new notice board (which I presume would be used to display attendance -> sessional marks -> sem pass/fail result -> SPI). We also went to other beloved sites like staircase and the toilet allocated to our department. The second floor’s GT played host to more than 80% of our class’s boys on the last day of college (major project viva) who went inside it with an intention of getting themselves clicked but soon all were found wanting for space after our examiner came out suddenly out of one of the toilet closets. Some posed for nature’s call, some realized it, some ran, some started thanking him and some even posed for drinking from those toilet taps (pyaar aur darr aadmi se kya kya karwaate hai). Subsequently, we all got the same grade in that course.
We also met our HoD was the same man – Dr. MMS Beg (control your imaginations). He was roaming in the corridor and we exchanged some ‘Hi’s and ‘Hello’s with him. He informed us that there was something planned for us at 6 PM at the faculty auditorium – the mini convo.

Now I will have a break and explain you the planning of convocation. Ours is a very big university with a lot of velle courses. So, the official convocation involves all faculties, all students, VC and a chief guest. Students don’t get the degree in the official function, rather deans of respective faculties receives the degree as a lot from the VC. In our case, because ours is a flagship course (yo yo), our faculty organizes another function at the faculty to give away the degrees (thank you thank you sirji).

Back to our ‘C’ day…

Around 3 P.M., we all assembled at Ansari baba grounds for official convocation. Nice bright setting sun behind us made the convocation extremely picturesque and pleasing. The function started with chaos (as usual) with around 2000 students indulging in gossiping and BC baarzi. Teachers who have no respect for their voice started to monitor the crowd. Finally the prayer was all it took to make the morons (us) silent. Then there was our university official tarana (song) - “Dayar-e-shauq Mera” sung fabulously by our ‘saree-kurta’ chorus. I was hearing it for the first time in my life. Wow!! Address from our new VC (Mr. Najeeb Jung) was next in line. Our past VC was educated, and this one too sounded educated. And educated administrators are always appreciated. After his address, he formally presented the degrees to respective deans. Official convocation also saw VC conferring the degrees of doctor of letters on Marshal of Indian Air Force ‘Arjan Singh’, former Chief Justice V.N. Khare, our university’s former VC Lt. Gen. (retd) Zaki and Prof M. Amin. This year, I saw the interview of Marshal Arjan Singh on 26th Jan and knew he was over 90 years old; consequently I was quite amazed and frankly quite astonished to see a man more than 90 years old saluting 5 times with full power, flexibility and adeptness (now this automatically brings dignity with respect). Finally the chief guest addressed the youth of tomorrow (us). Omar Abdullah was very candid in his speech. He openly disclosed about his prepared speech. He was given one by our university, next two were prepared by his personal staff and the last one was derived from first three. He rejected the prepared versions as our VC had already spoken his words…same quotes and same lines and same couplets. My university is champion at that. However, what followed was a candid lovable sober short impromptu speech. He admitted it’s easy to get into ancestral occupation be in acting or politics. He also advocated and appealed to US to join public service. The official convocation ended with national anthem. A total of 137 gold medals were conferred on toppers and 3279 degrees/diplomas and 112 PhDs were awarded.

Snacks (same canteen quality) were arranged for us. Man! I love them. It was now time to get the degrees. We all assembled in our faculty auditorium. Dean was also same – Mr. Humpty Dumpty. He was removed from his post in between our years of graduation studies due to corruption charges. But back came he like a phoenix…yo baby yo. He organized a mini but more important convo for us. On stage were HoD of various engg disciplines (Civil, Mech, Compu, E&C, Elect), Dean and a chief guest for mini-convo CRRI director who did his doctorate from Canada. Toppers of various courses got medals and appreciation from the chief guest. Then degrees were conferred to various courses – B.Tech (Civil), B.E. (Civil), B.E. (part-time Civil), M.Tech (some Civil course), B.Tech (Mech), B.E. (Mech), B.E. (part-time Mech), M.Tech (1st batch, some Mech course), B.Tech (E&C), B.E. (E&C…don’t even dream about any other course in E&C), Diplomas (polytechnic guys), B.Tech (Elect), M.Tech (courses of Elect) and laastly B.Tech (Comp. Engg). After the long wait and agonizing courses calls (all of whom were pre-emptive to our course for some reason), the batch of Computer Engineering 2004-2008 got the nameless envelopes. Surprise surprise!! We all were given empty envelopes rather than our degrees here. The writer of this article was the last one in his faculty (or university?) to be given the empty envelope in person by his respective HoD cum major project mentor (Berkley returned Dr. MMS Beg). Just for a thought – my parents named me with an ‘A’. No more words here – it was a different experience to go onto stage, shaking hands and getting snapped with him with a Gold medal in Batman dress. Can’t say whether, it will be a long standing memory, but it did bring me some ephemeral happiness. The process of becoming a complete engineer still had to go through the last stage. ‘Go and get it from your dept. office’. We all rushed towards our department. There too B.E. guys were given preference. Wonder and wait, both coexists (never mind). Finally, I, officially the last person of class present on that day entered into that scared room (the dept. office) and took the degree from Mr. Nizam. Man! he still has so patience – he sits on that throne of the office signing forms, collecting forms, distributing forms, receiving forms, filing those forms – actually one of the most efficient, calm and rumour-less guys of my university (unlike dean office duds).

Robes were returned and degrees were earned that day. There was a feeling of accomplishment in body movements but never a feeling of victory though. And it’s a true feel. There were some last talks, some last conversations may be…last greetings, last naughty lines and last jokes...last minute pics…

Cannot forget the college, have so many memories of it. Have cursed it to extremes, have cribbed about its processes, all getting me that important dose of nirvana in life. Have earned a job (yack!); have earned some friends (yip!)…have said so much in my COLLEGE life…it all can be summarized in one quote (borrowed) which is so relevant to my current life…

The crowded Highways are often a pain
but nothing is as crowded as memory lane

Customary thanks have to be given – thanks to Billi, Bobo, Tau, Jeetu and Deepak for taking pics in their cam (half of them are ‘blurred’ – read some of them ‘cult’). Thanks to Vineet for having me my share of Gold fame. Guruji (now in videsh) deserves a special thanks (or xie-xie in local language) for his motivational talks and even more motivational visuals. Thanks to Bobo for giving me a lift after witnessing what I can do to a car. Billi deserves an add-on apology from me as I got impulsive with him; giving varying threats to getting him endangered and extinct. Class topper Alan should be credited with thanks as soon as she reimburses toppers-party-bill which is lying with Bhaskar along with Vikram and Shankar.

May all my batchmates of Jamia (2008 batch) find luck and success in all their future endeavors. God bless you all. Any wrong doing from my side to anybody (countless they are) should be forgiven [now that’s by order]…

This is it; the end of chapter ‘Graduation’ in my life।

Rendezvous @ IIT Delhi

Rendezvous is the annual cultureal fest of IIT Delhi. It is known to be one of the grandest fests across Northern India colleges and has a footfall running into lakhs.

I was fortunate to attend all days of this mega extravaganza with my friends - Sandy, BVS, VJ and Jeetu (from Videokaun). There were more than 70 events spread over 4 days (24th Sept 2009 to 27th Sept 2009), however due to some limitations like working hours and inability to create multiple physical entities of our bodies at a given instant of time, we weren’t able to attend all the events.
Our dedication and efforts made our presence possible for the mega event on each day. Details:

Day 1 - 24th September 2009
Event – SPECTRUM (inter college dance competition)
Value of our efforts – Our friend, Jeetu (from Videokaun) is doing a non-B.Tech course from IIT D. He loves taking risks and has therefore daring risk management skills, which got us all inside the OAT (open air theater). Kudos to him! Dance competition was among 9 colleges - IIT D, IIT K, NIEC (Delhi), Murthal (Haryana), LSR (Delhi) and more. Winner – NIEC which had 9/11 and third umpiring as there themes were the clear winners. Crowd appreciated the pelvic thrusts by the girls and the foolish movements by the boys. Choreography was highly innovative and movements of limbs were in sync. Henceforth they were the clear winners and took 56k as the 1st prize.
(due to the explicitness, more pics are not being uploaded)

Day 2 – 25th September 2009
Event – KALIEDOSCOPE (fashion parade)
Competition was among 7 colleges – IIT D, Insitute of Home Economics (Delhi), PEC (Chandigarh), Hansraj (DU, Delhi), Hindu (DU, Delhi), NIFT (Delhi), Lady Irwin (DU, Delhi), etc.
Value of our efforts – This talented event always attracts more specialized talent than needed. Sandy had this intuition and arranged for our entry to heaven. Kudos to him!
Fashion when seen live looks like fashion. We saw gender of both denomination dressed in various geometrical shapes, sizes, curves and cuts. NIFT team dressed themselves in materials which can be recycled (innovative). Surprise package was Institute of Home Economics, which had an all girls team dressed up in circus style (nicely compiled). Also, with the help of IITians, we were able to draw a very important conclusion i.e. size zero is not charming (matter of concern). The event ended without any wardrobe malfunction.
(due to the explicitness, more pics are not being uploaded)

Day 3 – 26th September 2009
Event – SAAZ (instrumental music)
Value of efforts – This event saw low representation from our side. BVS decided to sleep after the event which happened the day before. VJ skipped the event to get a piece of paper, which looked liked a post-graduation degree. Jeetu (from Videokaun) was attending his non-B.Tech course at IIT D. However, I decided to utilize my free time by getting some peace and went to see the performances by the twin duo of Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan with appropriate persons (again thanks to Sandy for arrangement). The duo took time to get into form and after a while started juggalbandi sessions. Towards the end they played songs of Bengali and Assamese genre. One of Bengali songs they played was ‘Ekala chalo’, which was a pleasant surprise for me.

Day 4 – 27th September 2009
Event – DHOOM (feat. a totally manic lady, rock band – ‘Faridkot’, Mohit Chauhan)
Value of our efforts – All of us made ourselves available for this mega event. All of us even skipped our evening sleep for this. Reason - Mohit Chauhan (former lead singer of band ‘Silk Route’). After our successful entry, we were terrorized by a girl who wanted to ruin the evening by her voice. She was distorting famous bollywood songs by her voice and was doing her best in that. Even after the best efforts from crowd to boo her down, she was adamant to perform. The more crowd shouted, the louder she shouted. They call themselves ‘Groove Adda’; beware of this for the sake of your welfare!
Next in line was Faridkot, a band which got fame from channel [V]’s ‘Launchpad’. They brought energy onto the terrorizied faces of crowd. They are a mature band and look experienced and professional than their precedessor. Band lead vocals is a sardarji who has a great long standing voice…you will like it. Do listen to ‘Laila’ and ‘Mahi Ve’.
Finally was the turn of Mohit Chauhan. He has emerged as a hit-number-giving-singer in the world of popular Indian music with some fabulous songs to his name. He sings effortlessly and has a gifted voice best suited of blues music. The OAT at IIT was packed to see him perform. The footfall must be around 10 000 plus. His performance included his old ones to new ones. Namely- Dosti, Dama Dum Mast Kalander, Boodein, Dooba Dooba, Khoon Chala (from RDB), Sabse Peeche Hum Khade (from Let’s Enjoy), Tum Se Hi (from Jab We Met), Dooriyan (from Love Aajkal), Masakali (from Dilli6), Pheli Baar Mohabbat (from Kaminey), etc. Spectacular stuff!!

yEpPiE
Last weekend was a bit off for me, but this whole weekend went fabulously and it proved as an inevitable evidence for one my philosophies. Life is like a sine curve. You have a low point, you got to have a high point. You touch the lowest point, you will touch the highest too. You see rock bottom, you will see the tip of iceberg. You see dusk, you will see dawn. You sleep sad, you wake happy.
That’s the ‘Law of Equilibrium’*, which brings life to stability.

* Same law prevails in Chemistry.

Cheers and Keep Rocking
AG

The 70’s music and today’s College life

Am standing on the edge of my graduation life (result awaited), and today went into the flashback of my college life (thanks to slam book of classmates). Somehow, got an idea to relate some of our old bollywood songs to the college life…so let’s draw an analogy between there lyrics and the life of a college goer.

NUMERO-UNO (the FREASHERS song)

“aaj unse pahli mulaaqaat hogi
phir aamne saamne baat hogi
phir hogaa kyaa, kyaa pataa kyaa khabar
phir hogaa kyaa, kyaa pataa kyaa khabar”

Looks like a ‘first-date’ song, sung by aashiqs for their Miss(es). But I have a different perceptive to this…for me it is a ‘first-day’ song of college life (sung by Mr. Fresher for his dear Profs). Song taken from movie ‘Paraya Dhan’

TWO (for the Girls)

“haseeno ne bulaya, gale se bhi lagaya
bhout samajhaya, yahi na samajha
bhout bola hai bechara, na jaane kis pe aayega
hai apna dil to aawaara, na jaane kis pe aayega”

This is dedicated to college girls esp. class ki ladies. Rest – no comments. Song taken from movie ‘Solva Saal’.

THREE (Paradox)

“haal chaal theek thaak hai
Sab kuch theek thaak hai
B.A. kiya hai, M.A. kiya
Lagta vo bhi ayeve kiya
Kaam nahi hai varna yahan
Aapki dua se sab theek thaak hai”

This song is dedicated to current scene of INDIAN IT industry. The lyrics speak of irony. Most of us (computer engineers) have two jobs, but no joinings. Some of the companies have deferred their joinings by one year, but still, most of us are enjoying and as they say “all is fine here”. Song taken from movie ‘Mere Apne’.

FOUR (Hard-Work)

Placement time is a critical phrase. Some of us are selected and some of us not. Wordings like “duniya ki is bheed mein sabse peeche hum khade” and songs like
“"Khoon Pasina ki milegi to khaayenge
Nahi to yaaron hum bhuke hi so jayenge"
these, tell you the harsh truth and are really uncomfortable to deal with…Song taken from movie ‘Khoon Pasina’

FIVE (oo la la – STYLE)

“hai apna jeena, yahi jeena
TASHAN mein TASHAN mein TASHAN mein
TASHAN mein”

The way we move our cars on roads….got it!! Catch me if you can. Song taken from movie ‘Tashan’

SIX (Help Needed)

“oo aaj mausam bada beimaan hai
Bada beimaan hai aaj mausam
aana wala koi toofan hai
koi tufaan hai, aaj mausam”

Looking out of window into the GODs for their help. But when?? When you are in the examination room. You stare at sky, you curse weather and you start predicting cyclones, tycoons, hurricanes (you just turn to satellites) and then you go to toilet for passing that exam. Love live college toilets. Song taken from movie ‘Loafer’

SEVEN (Some Dedications)

“dil ko dekho chehraa na dekho
chehron ne laakhon ko loota
dil sacha aur chehra jhoota
dil sacha aur chehra jhoota

jo apni sachi soorat dikha dein
aise nahin duniyawale
sab ne hi apne cheharon ke aage
jhoot ke parde hain daale
meethi honthon pe baat, dil mein rehti hai khaat
dil ka honthon se naata hi jhoota
dil sacha aur chehra jhoota”

Dedicated to all hypocrites and liars of college. Song taken from movie ‘Saacha Jhootha’

EIGHT (Sleep Motivator)

“Ek Din Sapne Mein Dekha Sapna
Kya???
Arre Woh Jo Hai Na Amitabh Apna
Bachchan???
Haan!
Markit Se Out Hua, Logon Ko Doubt Hua
Meri Vajah Se Woh Gaya Gaya Gaya Gaya
Kismat To Badali, Kya Kahoon Really
Main Amitabh Ho Gaya
Ho Sapne Mein Dekha Sapna

Daaye Mein Hema, Baaye Pe Zeenat
Saamne Rekha, Peechhe Jo Dekha”

Incase you thinking where to fit in this song…someday try to attend a PDS or DP class. You will automatically be transported to a different world (dreamland) and once you land there…can anybody stop you!! Song belongs to Golmaal (old).

NINE (Optimism)

“Chhodo kal ki baatein, kal ki baat puraani
Naye daur mein likhenge milkar nayi kahaani”

This song is an important one. It signifies the power to excel in future despite our weak past (hmmm…I mean our poor grades). Song taken from movie ‘Hum Hindustani’

TEN (Hidden Love)

“Bhole bhale,
Bhole bhale dil ko behlate rahe,
Tanhai mein tere khayalon ko sajate rahe,
Kabhi kabhi tho, aavaaz dekar, mujhko jagaya khabon
ne,
Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune,
Sapne, surile sapne”

This is song is from the movie ‘Anand’ and speaks about how can a lover sacrifice something like ‘Sleep’ for his/her loved one :P. One of my personal favorites.


ELEVEN (Carefree)

“Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya
Har Fikar Ko Dhuen Mein Udata Chala Gaya

Barbadiyon Ka Shok Manana Fizul Tha
Barbadiyon Ka Jashan Manata Chala Gaya”

Take life as it comes and be Happy always. Song taken from movie ‘Hum Dono’ (1961)

TWELVE (Plz Don’t Go)

“rukhja o jaane wali rukja
Main to rahi teri mainzil ka
Nazro main tere main bura sahi
Aadmi bura nahi main dilka…”

'A loved one going away from the lover' song…bakwaas analogy…Well this song, I dedicate it to a special teacher who went to Microsoft. Sirji, I have improved !! Song taken from movie ‘Kanhaiya’

THIRTEEN (the Viva Song)

“kishore : sa re ga maa, ma sa re gaa, ga sa re maa, ma ga re sa
rafi : pa dha pa ma ma pa ma ga ra pa ma ma ga re sa
dono : sa re ga maa, ma sa re gaa, ga sa re maa, ma ga re sa “

I call it the viva song. Student ‘ONE’ says something. Student ‘TWO’ says something. And then they both start to ‘blah-blah’ and it result in something ear-pinching!! basically the examiner passes you with this strategy. Song is from the movie ‘Chupke Chupke’.

FOURTEEN (Waiting Song)

“din Dhal jaaye haay, raat naa jaay
tuu to na aae terii, yaad sataaye,
din Dhal jaaye”

This is a waiting song esp. used when one has to wait for his project mentors and guides. Song belongs to movie ‘Guide’

FIFTEEN (Bbye)

Farewell time…and a brilliant way to bid adieu to all classmates…song (slightly modified) taken from ‘rangoli’

“choti si ye duniya
anjaane raaste hai mere
kahin tum miloge
to poochenge haal
choti si ye duniya”

Cheers
AG

The JOB tale @ the great INDIAN IT sector

(naukri-e-nautanki ki daastan)

11th class...provisional admission to XI class...and I asking myself...”ANKIT science lena chahiye ki commerce”...
confused: a short MENTOS break...
panic mode 'on' and hence took a blunder - took science with bio (left after board results), took comp sc. instead (SUPW period in senior-secondary)
(all I can say, me had a very wrong perception that taking the process ‘science in XII -> an engg. Degree -> an easy job in hand..’.)
though now its a paradox...sab BAKWAAS, and can be strictly avoided

Anyways, this tale talks about “yeh hai meri kahani” w.r.t placements regarding two-sitting-IT-office jobs. Though personally, I do feel working within defined boundaries in an AC office will ruin your originality but I guess nobody is that BOLD to reject jobs these days. I hope a read through this write-up will give you an idea about the entry into IT sector.
Me belongs to a central university located in Delhi (passed by an act of Parliament), hence it has decent placements. For all readers, here is the first hand experience (the following includes: the companies that visited our campus in chronological order, packages offered, written test difficulty, tryst with interviewers and the lovely experiences from the merriment interviews)

Keywords used (for the sake of yourself PLEASE do not try to Google them, there exposure is dangerous than that of carcinogenic substances) – DS (data structures), CN (computer networks), OS (operating systems), OOPS (object-oriented programming), C (don’t confuse with the English letter ‘C’ or as a short-hand for sea or see; it is much vast than that) and lastly, CS guy (a computer science student)
Itinerary :-
NOTE: since am a former CS student, I was eligible in IT firms only. This write-up should be read in light of a personal experience (only).

TCS
Our seniors and ancestors have said no matter what happens TCS will be the first company visiting our campus.
Advantage TCS: huge turnover, job security, huge projects, onsite chances (sexy), nice training
Disadvantage TCS: less money, can place you anywhere, already a crowd there, less capita offering per B.Tech value
Package offered: 3.15 l.p.a (lakhs per annum)
Difficulty of written paper: GRE Barrons (12th edition), English section can be cleared by ‘right-clicking’ in MS word. Hardly 5% got rejected here (my class)
Experience: TCS booked 3 days for the whole selection process for a total 300 students (approx figure). First day, first five hours, the network problems mocked us. Finally, when I got a chance, the system said “you are not authorized to use this machine”. Next day, planned to tour the place again, so went again. Thank GOD, it was working this time. I passed the English section thanks to MS Word (trick – right click, synonyms -> answers in front of eyes). Maths was VIII standard. CR was from GRE Barrons 12th edition, though many had no clue of that book...but CR was do-able.
Interview: With no curiosity and perhaps no preparation, I went inside to meet the two interviewers (one aunty and one uncle). The 'about-me' question got finished in 20 min (from singing to blogging, I covered all with unmatched confidence). Can, even remember those self-composed words...

"Bandi nahi hai college mein
Padhai ne maar daala
Aur phir, hum me se kuch bhaage
Aur Bunk maar daala"

It was after all an interview for an IT job, so they asked 'what are classes, objects' type questions for judging technical abilities. Later, he asked about my fav subject in school and got the reply as 'MATHS'. Old memories revisited...integration by parts formula, differentiation of sin(x)cos(x), functions, volume of cone...and more past mathematical memories (adorable). Technical interview took 1 hr 15 min (snoozing). HR was shit. An oldie was there. Asked me “whats RDMS”. Replied. Post 5 mins, “Okie, thank you ANKIT. You have any questions for us”, he asked me with a stare. I developed an intuition that I should ask him something “Sir, actually I dunno want to go into developing, can I start my career on consultancy front”.
End Result: Took 61. The list had ANKIT GUPTA in it (but he belonged to EC, me belong to CS).


ARICENT (earlier known as FLEXTRONICS/HUGHES)
Advantage Aricent: worldwide brand in Telecommunications, a core firm status
Disadvantage Aricent: one domain work-culture, not into consultancy, late joinings
Package offered: 3.5 l.p.a
Difficulty of written paper: a series of 7 papers of 10 minutes each without break. In my view, DS was the toughest of all, but all were do-able. 34 cleared out of ~100. After TCS's HR mess up, devoted 20 hrs to refresh my C/C++ concepts. So, written wasn't a problem.
Experience: an absolutely professional cum impressive approach for campus recruitment.
Interview: was a bit nervous before the interviews and sadly, it did result some panic. The same 'about-me' question was done in 5 min and frankly, messed up it completely (first-impression lost). He then came to my fav topic DS (wow); and bang! asked me to code 'deletion in a B-tree' Phat li (GOD help me)!! My already pondering mind went into deep-shock-R&D state, and started penning the algo for it. Post 5 min, code was no-where (He knew this). Then, he asked me 5 more codes (relatively simpler – merging two LL without third pointer, inorder of binary-tree, deletion of middle node in DLL and one more) and all answered to satisfaction. My interview went for 1hr 30 min in which I was asked CN, OS, OOPS. Unfortunately, I blundered in OS and, I guess, said some absurd terms while answering :(...and got the FEEL of disappointment there only. Nevertheless, must say the interviewer was a nice humble guy and did ask some really relevant question like 'how will you develop a blogging site'..glad, I answered it...(would love to have a boss like him).
End Result: Though not selected, but the experience was affable. First time, encountered a real core technical interview and was fun actually. Took 11 finally.


BHARTI TELESOFT
Advantage BT: Delhi placements, chance to work on new wireless technologies, joining (July, 2008)
Disadvantage BT: package, a fear of ending up with call-centre technical work
Package offered: 2.8 l.p.a
Difficulty of written paper: cut off was 50%, marking with +2, -1. In all, 8 qualified out of ~100.
Experience: Frankly, the presentation was not good (rather some would rate it pathetic), but...
End Result: Took 5.


IMPETUS
Advantage Impetus: package, core products company, Noida placemnt
Disadvantage Impetus: job security, little onsite, deliveries of offer letters are pending
Package offered: 3.8 l.p.a
Difficulty of written paper: questions from last year papers were sufficient.
Interview: I had 2 interviews of 15 min each (technical and HR). First interview, where the 'about-me' questioned wasn't asked. All they asked in both 15 + 15 min interview was 'what happened in TCS/ ARICENT'. Don’t know what were they doing? Nevermind, a special mention about classmate cum friend Ieeesh, who went inside for the interview and came out with interviewer's drink. He made the day a laughing riot. Man...just love his attitude “if you want me for that peanut-job, earn me” !!
End Result: Took ~10 with maximum of them already having a job. Glad, I wasn't there...
Experience – Was disappointed but saw it as an opportunity to learn more…After Impetus, my views went strongly against ‘honest-is-the-policy-based’ answers, but now, after almost 1 year, I am forced to re-consider honest answers too.


SAPIENT
Advantage Sapient: package, good onsite, good work, a lot of exposure
Disadvantage Sapient: - lots of work, lately fired 4% of its workforce, joinings extended to 2009
Package offered: 4.2 l.p.a
Difficulty of written paper: 1 subjective question (2003 repeat), shit!! am surprised how I missed it, easier than expected. Result was astonishing. 11 selected...though some expected and obvious names weren't there!!
Interview: I did not qualify the written but got feedback...that the whole process wasn't that tuff (emphasis on ‘programming in OO Environment’). A do-able on an avg. day.
End Result: Took 7


CSC (INDIA)
CSC is known as an extension to our college (one of fav teachers used to call it as CSCJMI). More than twenty of my immediate seniors are enjoying there. Dunno why, but they share a special relationship with our college.
Advantage CSC: Good paymaster, Noida placement, no hard work, ash-maaro type environment
Disadvantage CSC: type of work, largely depends on what you get (FSG/GTS/GIS), no joining date till now :(
Package offered: 3.6 l.p.a + some incentives
Difficulty of written paper: 2 written (apti + technical). Apti was easy. 56 shortlisted out of 94. Technical was full of C (55 ques) and EC (20 ques). C was of ok-ok standard. In total, 75 questions in 40 min. 31 selected for GD (bakwaas idea in my view)...24 finally went for interviews
Interview: technical interview was fun. The interviewer was an ex-student of our college and we started by discussing about route no. 507 and traveling in buses. On technical front, questions on DS, CN and OS were asked. HR was taken by a ‘smart’ lady and as I was informed that my technical written marks were highest (51/75...wow), I guess the statement was made there ;) Here, too she asked that irritating googly 'what happened in earlier companies', but this time, THE dude had a preplanned answer (lesson from Impetus) :p
End Result: All guys who weren't meant for compu. engg. landed up at CSC...”CHEERS” . Took 13.
Experience: was a hefty day BUT the night-out after my first job was one of the best days that I have lived so far in my 22 years.


SATYAM
Advantage Satyam: onsite, established brand like TCS, etc
Disadvantage Satyam: package, lot in crowd, Hyderabad placement (high probability)
Package offered: 3.1 l.p.a
Experience: got feedback that the whole process was ok (barring GD, the elimination round).
End Result: Took 11.


HUGHES SYSTEQUE
Advantage HS: a core firm, sexy package, perks, a good exposure
Disadvantage HS: headcount of 250 guys, you have to do work there, recently deferred joining to Sept (2008)
Package offered: 4.25 l.p.a + a lot extra (travel, food, etc)
Difficulty of written test: 2 written tests (apti + technical), Apti was of good standard, Technical was ok-ok. 18 selected out of ~64. Many top-rankers, geeks and good coders got rejected in technical. A lot of speculation spread regarding there marking strategies.
Experience: Sat as a dummy, n if he is reading, please say thanx the next time we meet (if we)!! Interview was not easy.
End Result: 5 got selected


ACCENTURE (INDIA)
Advantage Accenture: globally recognized, established brand, FORTUNE rank #1, job security, onsite chances, nice training
Disadvantage Accenture: less money, can place you anywhere, a crowd there, less capita offering per B.Tech value
Package offered: 2.7 (fixed) + .3 (variable) + .1 (relocation) = 3.1 l.p.a
Difficulty of written test: Entered into the room, and wrote jokes (even snapped them :P), very easy paper, ~98 selected out of ~200.
Experience: got feedback that interviews were easy 'Whats the difference b/t C and C++' types questions
End Result: 28 selected


NEWGEN
Advantage Newgen: core products company, good R&D cell, a lot to learn, joining (July, 2008)
Disadvantage Newgen: less onsite, very small building, some say gender-imbalance too [:p]
Package offered: 3.75 l.p.a
Difficulty of written test: I was using my second chance here. All the writtens (apti, tech, pycho) were very easy.18 shortlisted for final interview.
Experience: well once you are placed, you feel damn confident and can counter many ‘i-dunno-know-answers’ questions with smart answers (read ‘lies’). 2 interviews – one technical + one HR. Technical had questions of DS (coding of LL, DLL, recursive programs), CN, Compilers. HR was ok-ok.
End Result: 2 selected. Utilized my last chance at the right time.

ps: incase in interviews, you see your technical answers non-impressing, don't panic. What I take from experience is that, in every company there will be ample number of non-tech questions to assess your 'mind-thinking-speed'. Try to give them smart confident replies (doesn't matter incase you are using lies in these). Try to be original. An example -

If the interviewer asks - "What do you think! Why should I take you?"
Throw him a reply - "Why not" ;)

(once you are placed, you will feel cosy to reply in this fashion :))

There were more firms for recruitments. Since I wasn’t involved further, I can’t write in detail. Some of them – Google INDIA (non-tech), Servigistics, Abacus Software, Evalueserve, Keane Softwares, etc. Oh! There was MICROSOFT too (package of 8-9 L.p.a) , but it came for GIRLS only ;)…What is happening in the name of ‘diversity’?
Amidst the lowering IT industry, there were plenty core ones for electrical and mechanical brothers & non-brothers. Some of the biggies were – Ashok Leyland, Ansals Ltd., Voltas, DRDO, L&T Ltd, Schneider Electric, Blue Star, Lahmeyer, Unitech Ltd., ACC Ltd., NDPL, Lanco Infratech, ABB, etc.

IRONY - the IT sector is so down these days that only some of the above- mentioned companies have given joinings, seems rest all are interested in deferring.
We became engineers (somehow!!), we got an on-campus job (God blessed us) and then we got multiple jobs (Demons blessed us) and now, after the college completion, we don’t even know about the joinings. Hey guys, I can remember a class song for this irony – “Haal Chaal Theek Thaak Hai” from the movie “Mere Apne”, sung by “Kishore and Mukesh”…do listen