Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Bell the CAT

It's not the ordinary CAT. And to bell this CAT you need to be smart, hard-working, having the quality of good time-management, planning, perseverance skill. One more thing that you you need to have is LUCK. Yup, it's very important because, luck could put you in either side of the fence.
Till now, you have never been tested on LUCK. But, this time it's one of the factor and you have no control on it.
Yup, i am talking about the CAT 2009 - a prestigious exam to get into IIMs - the world class business school. There are more than 2 Lakhs of candidate writing the exam every year, and only few get through it. It's not the end, you need to clear the interview as well, wherein there is no dimension defined against which you might be tested. I would like to restrict myself with the CAT, 1st round only.
CAT went online this time and you have mouse to bell the CAT. It's very first time that the government body initiated the technology adaption in one of the biggest event. Kudos to the CAT Management and Govt. of HRD. CAT, always known for it's management skill, did experience few hiccups during the event. The paper was saved or should i say greenery was preserved but, a lot of pressure and luck was put upon the cat aspirant writing the exam.
The technology part of it was outsourced from India to the US firm prometric. Prometric, who conducts the exam for GRE and TOEFL and many other bodies, is one of the best in this. It happened to be a bad luck for prometric as well this time. Things went wrong starting from filling up the form to writing the exam. There were so many glitches in the software.
I think, it's ofcourse the management failure. I really appreciate the way the process was defined and being executed throughout the process in the event. What went wrong was the collaboration with the Prometric, which caused all this. Few glitches scared the Lakhs of people. The other reason being, there is no good infrastructure here to support so many candidates writing the exam. One needs ample amount of time to closely look at different to promise that, the show will go on perfectly.
The candidates during the exam are into so much pressure and any small thing could put one into trouble. Even if the re-schedule happens, the candidate doesn't feel comfortable and get into a huge amount of pressure.
What could have been better is the Organizer's planning and forcasting would have been better so that they get ample amount of time to get everything ready and nobody runs into trouble. I hope, CAT and rest all learn from the mistakes done and do care for the sentiments of people attached with the event. I wish best of luck to CAT organizers and prometric.

Thank You.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Sachin R. Tendulkar & Rahul Dravid

I remember those days, more than 5 years back, when i used to appreciate Dravid, Mr. Wall, a lot. I was a big fan of Dravid. He was and is a class player for sure. Sachin is the God of Cricket and anything talking about him would be less. Those were the days when people used to appreciate the team and the members of the team for what they were good at.
Of late, i have been hearing a lot about something like...Dravid not getting recognition as that of sachin. Dravid always gets overshadowed by Sachin. Media covers dravid more than Sachin. There are more no. of wins for India, when dravid scores century than when sachin scores century. Media covered a lot when sachin completed 20 Years in crecketing career and they didn't, when Dravid scored a century and brought India in a good position from the worst position just the other day. Where is it coming from? Why are we linking dravid with sachin for every event, especially when we see that Dravid is not getting much appreciation? They are two good players, playing there bit for themselves and the country. I would never think that, they would have ever felt of being in competition with each other. But, what are we doing? We are saying that sachin is the reason for Dravid not being as famous as he could have been.Hearing all this a lot, to be frank, my support for dravid has decreased, because, to me both were and are the great player. But, when you keep saying that because of one great player, the other great player is not getting recognition and all, it actually decreases the popularity of the other great player.
I would request you guys to please get out of this mindset. Look at the root cause. It's not like dravid is not getting much recognition because of Sachin being there. What i feel is, it's the media fault to an extent. But, you don't always agree to media, for whatever they say. So, listen to media and have your opinion with you. I also believe that, to an extent it's the fault of IPL as well. You know, the IPL brought in the regionalism feeling in the Cricket and also in the People attached with cricket. Cricket, which used to unite the nation. Nobody ever wanted to know, from which region Dravid or Sachin belong. We just knew that they are Indian, playing for India. I loved it, Cricket brought the nation together. But, after the IPL, we have been sparked with the feeling of regionalism. Delhi folks would favour Shehwag, Karnataka folks would favour Dravid or Kumble and so on.
I think, we should respect both the players. We should respect all the players, whatever region they belong to. Don't start favouring dravid a lot at the favour cost of sachin, because of Media or the IPL fault. And please, don't start finding out faults in sachin, just to show that dravid is better than sachin for so and so thing. In someone, your extreme favour for dravid at sachin's cost might reduce the favour for dravid. Let's take them as the national player, playing for nation. Either sachin does well or dravid, if the Country wins, we win. That's all.

Wish you Good Positive Luck !!!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

India & China - The Road dispute

Hello Folks,

Recently, there was a hot news on India stopping the road construction in Laddakh, inside the Indian Border, because of Chinese Army's objection. My room-mate told me about it. I replied back saying, there might be some concern from our neighbour, it's our duty to listen and clarify if there is any doubt from the other side. I have seen it happening in villages, where the land for eveny man is not clearly defined and hence, whenever, once creats some boundry or house, the neighbour might have an objection saying if you are capturing any bit of land. So, one needs to clarify with the neighbour and get it sort out. I extended this concept to a nation and thought china might be having some doubt on land getting captured or any other things such as military deployment.

Later after reading some news and getting into the depth of issues, i found out that, the road construction which was going on, was completely inside indian territoy and it was not for the military deployment. The village, where it was being constructed was the last village in indian territory. The raod was being constructed under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, under which, the villages are getting connected through good road, which solves the problem of commute as well as the Employment. But, china might not be aware of the policies that india has and that too at this level. So, to an extent, i didn't feel that bad about china's concern. And, as a neighbour it's our responsibility to keep a good understanding between china or any other neighbours.

Later, after reading some more articles about previous relationship with china, i found out that, Chinese have these concepts of concentric circles from the early days. Wherein, they consider the immediate neightbour (Circle) of Chinese (king's) territory as the enemy and the next to the neighbour (next circle) as an ally. And, this cause China to always have a suspicious relationship with India. I agree, that China has no rights to stop any work which is going on, in India's territory. Some say, India should have kicked them out using our great army. But, i believe, war is not the solution and words is. From my perspective, the reason for Indo-China relationship, a little bitter, is the perception that is there in both the countries about each other. I hope, we (especially China) could think in a fresh perspective and understand each other better and live a better life than to live with suspicious mind for each other and keep the relationship bitter.

Wish you all the best India & China.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

We hold our future!!!

Hi everyone,
We know what's in news these days. The terrorism act that has shaken our Nation. I was having a conversation with one of my friends, the other day, on why should we (innocent people) suffer when we didn't do anything wrong and what can we (innocent people) do to stop this act of terrorism being it external or internal. And, that's when i thought, lets pass on something that i think on this terrifying act and what we, as an individual or as a group, can do to make our nation a safer place to live in.
We Hold our Future!!! As an individual, i feel, an individual can influence/manipulate each and every moment of it's own life. An individual is responsible for it's act done in the past or being done in the present or will be done in the future. But, there's always the exception, that's where individual would need to collaborate and a group or team or society or Nation comes into picture and then, we as a group or team or society or nation would be able to influence/manipulate each and every moment of our life and so, we as a group or team or society or nation would be responsible for our act done in the past or being done in the present or will be done in the future.
I am gonna start with something that i learned during a session in Infosys training. If we hold this concept close to our heart and mind of course (I trust mind more than the heart :-)) , everyone of us would be the king of our own castle, and on top of this, after applying a bit of our brain, there won't be any regret ever for any act but, just a learning which is good always. Yes, i am talking about COC (Circle of Concern) and COI(Circle of Influence).
A Circle of Concern encompasses the wide range of concerns we have, such as our health, our children, problems at work, the amount of government borrowing, or the threat of war.
A Circle of Influence encompasses those concerns that we can do something about. They are concerns that we have some control over.(-courtesy: http://www.idea.gov.uk/imp/aio/1033448).
The idea is to expand the COI so that you could totally enclose the COC. What it means in simple term is, you have the control over all your concerns and so live life the way you want to live. To give you real life scenario, i would ask you a simple question. Here it goes...
There is this guy called Ram working in an MNC. He needs to walk for one KM. to reach the office. One day, he got late for the office because, it started raining on the way. So, what would be your reaction on this situation? Now, most of you would think, may be you too that, it's normal...not a big deal...There was a problem i.e. raining and so, he got late for the office. But, i would say, he could have avoided this situation easily and reach the office on time if he would have made the COI bigger or closer to COC. To say few, he could have carried an umbrella or overcoat or he could have taken auto for a day. He could have left early if it was gonna rain. He should have always kept some time as a buffer time in reaching the office to handle these kinda situation. I hope, you understood i am trying to convey.
Alright, let's consider a situation that terrified India as a Nation. Let's talk about our nation. We saw many unfortunate acts of terrorism by those inhuman being in the past. We had the anger against the politician, navy, etc. for not being able to stop it in the first place, which is obvious. But, what i want to convey is, these unfortunate acts can be avoided if every citizen of india becomes little proactive and concious on these matters. If we do our duties as a citizen of India with all our heart and mind of course. If, we feel as responsible as the police dept. to make the nation a safer place to live in. But, what we usually do is we blame the Govt. the police etc. for anything that happens to us in terms of all these unfortunate acts. Complaining the Govt. or the police or the navy is totally ok as they have the responsibility of making the Nation a safe, secure place to live in .
But, i wanna ask you (all the citizn of India) one thing. Do you deserve to blame the Govt. or the police for these unfortunate act? Do you think that you are doing your duties as a citizen of india? Do you think, you are as proactive as the police or the Govt. is for your safety? Do you choose the right people as the Leader to serve you? Do you always abide by the rules such as the traffic rules etc? Do you always do things which are legal and try to stop any illegal activities simply by informing the concerned people? Do you try to keep the Nation clean and green? Do you have the feeling of helping others in need to make the Nation a better place for all of us? Do you have the feeling of being a citizen of the Incredible India? Now, if you answer "YES" to all of these questions, you difinitely deserve to ask the Govt. for the explanation of any unfortunate act. But if not, please don't just play a blame game.
Now, don't tell me that you alone, being proactive and concious, doing things right won't make a difference. we, an individual grouped together makes the nation. If each individual does the right thing, the whole country is doing the right thing and we will achieve what we want to achieve as a nation. Don't bother about whether others are doing the right thing or not. Everybody takes different amount of time to react on different issue. You should be on your on and wake up as an individual doing things right. You might be the reason to wake some1 up for good. And, have patience, "Rome wasn't built in a day". It will take time, but gradually, we would be reaching at better stage.
At the end, i want to say. Before, blaming some one for any situation, ask yourself, did you do your part of duty with your heart and mind? Ask yourself, if you could have done something differently in the first place, it would have avoided the whole goddamn thing. Most of the time, it would be "Yes" and that should be a great learning.
U control Ur life.
U r what U r coz of the decision made by U.
U have achieved all this coz of all ur good work.
U r responsible of all Ur act.
U can influence every moment of Ur life.
U can make the difference.
U can make the whole Nation a better place.
U have a great power.

Thanks,
Kumar Pritam

p.s. I apologize, if i hurt anyone's sentiment, if i said something wrong against someone. It is all my perception based on what i have seen till now. Please, let me know if i put anything incorrectly or if u have any suggestion or any comments in this regard. The whole idea of this blog was to make u feel that u r the one who can do anything, u can make a difference, u can make the nation a safer place. U have a great power. Thanks for reading. Do post ur views. Thanks :-)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Taare Zmeen Par (What more u want??)

Hey guys,
After lots of days of planning, we (My colleagues n ofcourse myself) watched the movie "Taare Zameen Par" (MUST C) in PVR on Sunday paying 300 bucks (worth it man).
Aamir khan is superb n so the Darsheel Safary. Superb acting....superb script, superb presentation...Everything was totally superb...

Touching movie man....

U know, its really important for the parents to let the child decide what he/she wants to do n do encourage their talent in whatever field they have. Usually, most of the parents dream of their child to be able to stand the world. N what they think is, its possible only by getting good grades in schooling n then getting a good job typically doctor/engineer/govt. jobs. They don't let the child proceed forward in his/her area of interests by restricting for those grades n all. And, ofcourse, it becomes tough for the child. At the same time, the parents doing whatever they can by putting the child in different kind of schools/getting their child the tuitions, being anware of the child's real interests. Finally, what happens is, both remain unhappy atleast not that happy. Sometimes, the disaster might happen.
What i feel is, the parents should always try to find the area of interests in the child n encourage/support in the same. Parents must give the "advice" n they shouldn't try to enforce it. The parents should try to find the root cause, if there is any problem than to punish the child for symptoms, n resolve it finally.
Life is all about understanding self, each other, system and accordingly take the required actions in intelligent way for the benefit of the concerned people.

Live Happily n let others live happily...

p.s. I m sorry, my English is not that good...but, m happy to share with u guys that m improving continuously. Do comment...I ll be obliged if u let me know if i was wrong anywhere in any aspects.


TNX 1.0E9 :)

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

hi again!!!!

Hey guys, how u doing?? Usually, when some1 is sad/depressed/happy, he/she/... starts blogging to share the thuoghts...But, in my case, none if those are true....Its like, i am just writing to communicate my thoughts.
U know, i saw a movie named "click" recently. I liked the message which was behind the movie. Which was really very true. For those who havent seen the movie, Its like this.....There is a man, who is not happy wid his life. When, there is a choice b/w family and the work(office), he opts for working. Still, he is not a successful person in the office. He tries to figure out what's wrong wid him. Why is his life so miserable. And then, at some point, he finds a UNIVERSAL REMOTE. Using which, he can stop the time, fast forward the time etc. Now, when he finds some situation not in favour for himself, he fast forwards the time. But, the remote was so intelligent that it reads the activity of the user, it tries to learn. N, later when the same situation comes it does the operation itself without the user's command. It happened such that, whenever there was d critical situation for him, the remote fast forwards the time, sometimes for 1 year/5 year etc. The man, became a successful person in the office finally when he became an old man. But, he wasn't able to find out what happened in his life everytime the remote fast forwarded the time. He gets divorced from his wife in the fast forwarded period, his father dies. Then, the man dies at the end. The man wasn't aware of of his own life. The man rushed towards the death of himself expecting the betterment of his life. I say, slow down, no need to rush through the things.

So, i don't know, how clearly i put forward the 2.5 hrs movie in 15 lines. May be, watching the movie once will help u guys understand. But, what i learned from the movie is, v should always enjoy the present. As we grow, the life becomes complicated. So, v shud always enjoy the present. It happens that v think of future to be gr8 and wanting to finish of the present asap. Because of which v don't enjoy the present and when v land up in future, v see the reality.

Guys, i was in the college enjoying my life. When, v got placed, i was thinking like, how soon i should start working. I will earn money. Later, when i joined the training, i felt like, oh man! clg life was better...Total bindaas....Here, the dress code, the time table etc...Its boring. At the same time i was thinking like, when i will start working after finishing the training, the life wud be better. But unfotunately, the same thing happens, i feel again that training was better than this place. Btw, after finishing the training, i wasn't given any work for 2-3 day, i was feeling like, what's wrong wid these ppl? why ain't they giving any work to me. When i got the work, i feel the previous situation was better. N, this is true for most of the ppl. Ofcourse, i enjoy my life in all of these timeperiods. But, somewhere in my mind, all these things were going on.

Now, when i realized that life is not so simple. I think, "once u step up, u have more responsibility". I enjoy or to enjoy each n every moment of my life. Coz, once the time is gone its never comng back. May be, i don't have what i want. I am not what i want to be. Still, i enjoy my life to the fullest. I never complain me abt myself. I think, i am what i am, what i deserve to be, what i shud be. N, i have gained a gr8 respect for myself. I feel, once u respect urselt, everything's on its way to u. Be proud of what u r, be confident of what u r doing. Human makes mistakes. But, please try not to repeat the same mistake :D.

In the end, I am sorry guys...I am not so good in writing. Please forgive me if u think that ur time got wasted. BTW, if u think a bit, u can find out that u have learned something. like where all one can go wrong. How u shud go ahead with the writing so that other wud like etc.

Please post a comment. that wud help me a lot....

Thanx guys for reading...........

Friday, March 30, 2007

Hey, its me

Hello guys, this is the first time i am writing any blog. I always wanted to own a blog and write something, something about me, my life or the technology, i m very much attached to. I was actually clueless before, like, what should i write. Btw, i m still clueless about writing the blog which could be read by anyone. Still, i finally m doing it. So, what am i gonna write here? First of all, i am gonna talk about myself or anything related to me. Here it goes...

Hmm, as a s/w engineer, i am very much attached to technology. When i see something happening related to computer/technology, i try to know, how did it happen, what made it happen as far as possible. I always try to be logical and find logic in other's words too, bit-effect. In the end, whatever i did, i haven't been able to see myself the way i want to be seen. But, i strongly believe that, one day, i am gonna be what i want to be.

As a citizen of india, i have learned to compromise, learned to make the work done(hey, don't think in wrong way, right. I mean, sometimes u need to bribe a bit to get d work done on time. :D). Neways, seeing the bright side of india, we have got loads of intellectual people in here time by time. Now a days, when technology is what makes our country strong, our life comfortable, we have got loads of hackers, enthusiastic technical people. And i believe, these people are self-educated(College is just to get the degree). The other engineers are just like a govt. service employee, whose work is to stay in d office n do the work. Whereas, the hackers/enthusiastic technical people always try to innovate, which will make our life more comfortable. Basically, 100% comfort is the term we are trying to achieve and that's good.

Innovating/Improving/Inventing Technology is the necessity for our lives to make our life better. Globally, we have done well to achiever our goal of making our life easier and safer.

I am gonna stop writing now. I guess, there would have been many mistakes in dis verbalizing. I apologize for dat. I am gonna keep on improving myself after writing more and more. Thanks for reading.