Yet, its not done...!

"Life is a stage where everyone has a role to play", as said by Shakespeare and there goes the name of the blog. Its pretty surprising to see things around us changing very soon. Three years after my graduation when I look back, I have lot of stuff to carry throughout my life. We never know what is going to happen. We expect to do something and sometimes land up in doing something else.

Four years back I have attended an interview, for a job in an MNC. The person who recruited me asked only one question- "Tell me about yourself!" Well I told him about me, for about half an hour. I have faced the person with an open mind. The result is that I am one of the best performers. I didn't even imagine that I can get an eligibility to earn my bread and butter by one question. All through my graduation, I have gone through many downs. The only ups that I have, are the appreciation certificates that I received on the college annual day. A thought that is always ringing in my mind is- Whatever happens will happen. I am destined to this role. I have to give my best.

I have entered the MNC with a closed mind. I am trained on a technology which is completely unknown to me. Yet, I have learned it without much difficulty. Hey, its Mainframes. Two months of training is like playing a game. Its one of the best trainings I have ever attended. I can say that those days can be put into my store of 'Happy Days'. I am put into an application oriented testing project after my training. In the project, I am not applying the knowledge that I have gained in training. " What is the need? Why am I trained on this technology? Why did you put me into an application oriented project? First of all, Can you out me into a Data Warehousing project?"- These are the questions running through my mind. I wanted to shout at my project lead. I have come to a point of realisation. Man proposes but God disposes. I have to accept the reality and move on.

Nine months down the lane, I came to know that there are never ending releases for the project that I am working on. Finally I had a conversation with my project load regarding my work. I asked him to release me from that project and allocate me some other project where I can do some innovative stuff. Its literally like the climax conversation in the movie Bommarillu. Believe me, I repeated almost the similar dialogues in my context. The final result is that they didn't want to release me form that project. Their decision is against my thoughts. Oh God! What is this? Why is this happening to me? If this is your decision, then I abide by it. But, give me the strength and courage to undergo this.

After few weeks I felt like- God sees the truth but waits. My prayers are heard and my project lead and manager proposed me to the client, for a new role. Its the Business Analyst role. My Lead, told me that is will be different from what folks do in development and testing. I thought that it will be better that I take up the offer so as to come out of the current as soon as possible. Finally I started working as a Business Analyst till date. By the time I am writing this blog, I am done with my second allocation as a B.A. Now I am waiting for my third allocation. I know that there is lot more in store for me. Lets wait and see what's going to happen.

Epilogue
What am I graduated in? - Electrical Engineering
Where am I working?- With an software MNC
What am I trained on?- Mainframes
What is my first allocation after training?- Application oriented testing
What is the nature of my current work?- Business Analyst role

Looking at the five questions that are listed above, I don't think you see any relation between each of the answers. Each and every answer is in some way different from the other. At the time of writing this blog, I felt like Shakespeare's saying has a lot of meaning into it. This is my realization: We may not get everything that we want in Life. But whatever we do and wherever we are, we have to give our best. We can't halt at one stage and worry about what has happened. We have to move on, until we reach our destination.

When I met her.... Part II

Yes, someone among the girls has named me MP. They are saying MP means Member of Parliament. I know these girls are making fun of me. I very well know that there is something behind that name. MP doesn't stand for Member of Parliament. Swetha is the culprit here. She is the person who named me MP. MP stands for Mudha Pappu. Here is the back ground behind the name. Swetha has explained the reason behind the name. - One day I have visited my friend's house in order to get lab record from him. I am returning from to my house after taking the record. Its noon and the sun is shining very brightly over my head. I am in a hurry to escape the scorching sun. In the same street, I haven't noticed one of my 'friend' who is just returning home from college. I haven't even looked at that person and hurried to my house. There is something running in my mind. Just before that in college, my physics lecturer warned me for not performing well in the lab. That is the reason why I visited one of my friend in order to get suggestions, to perform well in lab. I didn't know that I have to face serious consequences due to this incident.

Here is the consequence. The person whom I have encountered in the street, is Swetha. She is returning home from college. It seems that she has noticed me and tried to talk to me. Its bad on my part for not even looking at her. She is literally jumping on me when she is narrating the incident.

Swetha: Look Vijay! We have been studying in the same class. After all we are friends and we know each other. What's wrong if you talk to me when we meet outside the college? Well, even if you don't talk, I would have felt better if you have just looked at me and given a smile. I felt very bad at that time. You didn't even care about me. Why do you boyz behave like this? Don't you value others feelings?

Me: Come on Swetha. There is something missing out here. I didn't know that you are coming the other way. I haven't noticed you. I was completely disturbed at that time and was thinking about something else. I went to Madan's house and discussed with him regarding lab proceedings. I faced serious scolding from our physics lecturer. If I have noticed you, I would have definitely talked to you for a while. And, please don't misunderstand that boys don't value others feelings. You are thinking very narrowly. Be positive. This is not the way you think. Anyways, as I haven't noticed you- its my mistake on the board. I am sorry if I have hurt you, that day.

This is the discussion between me and Swetha. Do you call this a fitting reply to a fitting question? Whatever it may be, the bottom line is that I seemed to be very much disturbed for becoming a laughing stock. I would rather say that I am acting as if I have felt very bad at the comment. By the way what is meant by this word Mudha Pappu.You might have by now, got the meaning of this word. Mudha Pappu- One who doesn't talk to a girl. This is how the girls defined MP. From then on, I didn't involve much in the party. I am sitting lonely in the back bench not caring about what is happening in the party. I have noticed that a few are observing me. Swetha is one among those. After ten minutes, I started to leave. Swetha noticed me leaving. She is coming running towards me. She is apologising for naming me MP. Well, its all part of a game and we have to move on. My answer is as simple as that- 'Its okay'. I didn't pay much interest to what Swetha is telling. I have left the party abruptly.

From then on, I have started avoiding Swetha. I didn't even turn my face towards her while entering the class room. She is seated just in front of the door, in the first bench. Whatever she has told me I began doing the same. This is the aftermath of what has happened on the day of the party. Believe me, I am furious for what she has named me. I am talking to all the other girls in the class doing the lab hours or during break time. I didn't talk to Swetha at all. This happened for a week. I came to know that she wants to talk to me one on one. But, I didn't give her a chance. I am always hanging on with someone or the other in the classroom. I am not giving her a chance to find me alone. One fine day, I am rushing downstairs to the canteen for my breakfast. I am all alone. She came running behind me, along with her bench mate. She shouted my name- Vijay.

Swetha: Vijay! I am sorry for two things. One- for naming you MP. I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just a matter of misunderstanding. I deeply apologise for that. You seem to be avoiding me now a days due to that. Please be as usual. We both are good friends rite? Come on, I don't want you to be disturbed due to all this. Second- I have entered into your area in 'Programming in C' lab without your knowledge and have written a program. The program name is 'SW.EXE' Run this program when you go to C lab.

Me: That's OK Swetha. I understand that. I left all this stuff on that day itself. Of course, we are good friends.

All of us are supposed to create an account and start writing the computer programs in C language according to the syllabus. We are supposed to write the programs in a stipulated time and execute them successfully. I entered into the Computer Science lab and logged into my area. The latest program that is written is SW.EXE. It read like this:

main()

{

printf("I AM SORRY. PLEASE EXCUSE ME");

printf("\nI AM SORRY. PLEASE EXCUSE ME");

printf("\nI AM SORRY. PLEASE EXCUSE ME");

}

end

I felt a sense of pleasant feeling running through my veins. She is very innocent, soft,cute and a clever girl. Yes, she is my first crush.

When I met her.... Part I

It is the first year of my graduation. Just a couple of months have passed on from the college reopening day. We are just about to be buried in the seriousness of the engineering subjects. It's totally a new atmosphere. New friends, new environment, new classrooms, new subjects and totally a new life. We are just tuning to the frequency of the engineering life. By then, I am acquainted with at least half our class members. Or, I would rather say half of the boys in our class.

Oh! I forgot to say this- Stepping into graduation, I have entered into another new experience. It's the co-education. I haven't studied with girls until my plus two. I really didn't know how to react, if any girl talks to me. Getting acquainted with a girl is a tough thing for me. I have never talked to any of them for about two months. Ahh... We have the so called labs- Physics lab; Chemistry lab; Computer Science lab etc. In those labs people are divided into groups. Each group is asked to work on a single experiment. Yes, during that period I have started talking to them slowly.

Well, within few weeks I came to know a few of them. Within due course of time I am acquainted with each and everyone in the classroom (boys and girls). In the beginning, there is no interaction between boys and girls. Later on as the days rolled by, the class would be a fish market if the lecturer is absent. Believe me, it is worse than a fish market. We are asked to sit according to our roll numbers due to miscellaneous reasons. Moreover boys and girls are seated separately. My place is next to girls' column. We are going to celebrate the birthday of one of our friend. Nine of the girls and fifteen of the boys agreed to stay back on Saturday. Hey, don't forget me. I am one among the fifteen boys. Here comes the meeting place.

Saturday classes seem to be very boring. We are all waiting for the first birthday gathering, in our graduation. It has been decided to celebrate in the class room itself, after the college hours. The time has come. Those who wanted to leave home have vacated the room. It is Shravan's (name changed) day. Shravan is blowing the candles on the cake with a lot of enthusiasm. He distributed the pieces of cake. We are having the snacks that we have ordered along with the cake. People are having fun, cracking jokes on others, belittling the lecturers in the college. One of us asked the birth dates of all the other girls present there. In turn, they are asking our birth dates. Finally, Shravan prepared a list of DOB's of the girls and among the girls, She noted all the DOB's of the boys.

Her name is Swetha (name changed). I didn't speak with her one on one until now. Taking the list from Swetha, I am reading out all the dates. Suddenly I noticed that my name is missed out. May 18th is my birth date. Then I have come to know that none of the others DOB is same as mine. I can see May18th in the list, but there is a different name written against it. I have sensed something fishy is happening. Swetha has written MP against May18th.

Swetha! You are the one who noted the names rite.
Yes Vijay.
What is this MP, buddy? May 18th is my DOB. Is there someone by the name MP. I think you have missed out my name.
No. I know that May18th is your birth day. You are MP.
Come on. What do you mean by that. Is there a nick name for me? What does it stand for?
All the other girls in the class suddenly burst into laughter. Oh yeah! Here is the solution. These folks are hiding something.

To be continued in Part II.... Stay glued for the main episode...

My First Interview

Prologue
Interview- We will be very much familiar with this word. This word makes many of us excited. We will be having some experiences to share when it is the topic of discussion. All of us might have gone through the experience of having been interviewed and some of course, interviewing others. Well, I am going to share my experience which falls into the first slot mentioned above.
Experience
As already mentioned, this is the first interview that I have attended in my Life. My trainer has high belief and confidence in me. He thinks that I will be the best one among the contestants. I am very much thankful to him for having such faith in me. He has groomed me well. He is the person who provided me all the necessary resources to do well in the interview. Frankly speaking- I myself don't know about the process. I don't know what an interview is all about (because this is the first one for me). I didn't know regarding this process until I was supposed to undergo one. So, the credit here goes to my trainer who provided me all the necessary information.
Its noteworthy to mention at this point of time that the interview that I am going to attend is going to decide my career. These are not my words, but those of my trainer. I have prepared well for the interview. Since day one, my trainer told me that I will go through this process, I have worked hard. I prepared well for all the probable questions that would be asked. I am not sure whether I will get through or not. But, I prepared well. My strength is- Hard work (which gave me confidence); Support from trainer; Mom and Dad's love; belief in God. Having all these in my kitty, I have completely forgotten that I am going to attend to the first interview of my Life.

Alas ! The day has come finally. We all generally call it as the D-Day. Of course, it is the judgement day for all my effort. My Mom woke me up at five 'o clock, early morning. The place of the interview is located at about forty kilometres from my house. Dad has told me that we have to start early, so that there will be no huss and buss at the last moment. After all he is the one who is more worried about my career, rather than me. Mom has made things ready for me and Dad. She has given me the tonic to do well (i.e) her kiss.
Dad and I have set out on our so called expedition. We have reached the place of interview an hour before the scheduled time. They have conducted a written test. This would be basis for the final selections. I have gone through the written test comfortably.Next is the interview.
I have been thinking about the questions to be asked in the interview. There are quite a good number of persons waiting to perform their skills. My Dad is sitting beside me. He is looking keenly into my eyes. He is whispering in my ear- You will be the best performer out of all. You have my blessings always. Believe in your knowledge, believe yourself. You can do it. These words are ringing in my mind. Finally my name is announced.
The interview facilitator has told us that each aspirant can be accompanied by one guardian inside the room. Dad came in along with me. I have faced the interview quite well. Dad is proud of me. The interviewer seems to be very much satisfied by my answers and the score that I have got in the written test. There is a hidden smile in his face. I know the meaning for that. Finally the results are out displayed on the notice board.

Reality
Trainer- School Teacher
Interviewer- Principal
Place of Interview- School for which I am seeking admission
Aim- To get admitted to 3rd standard
Age- Seven yrs

Epilogue
The school principal is surprised to see me. It is because, I am just two feet tall. I am top scorer in the written test that is conducted earlier. Moreover he is very much convinced after talking to me. He has told Dad that if he hasn't seen the written test performance,he would have admitted me into 1st standard.
The first two years, I have studied in an elementary school. There are no proper amenities in our native. My teacher suggested to my Dad that my future will be secure if I get admitted into a public school.
I have seen tears in my Mom's eyes, when I told her that I got admission into a public school. There are two reasons for those tears- One is for my success and the other is that at a very tender age I am going to stay away from her (in a hostel). So, I have been staying away from home from the age of seven.
This is my first interview that I have attended in my Life.