Friday, October 31, 2008

Beginning of the END????

The hottest topic nowadays, everywhere is about the ongoing India Australia Test Series. To be fair no one had expected India to beat Australia so comprehensively. Everyone had thought that Indians would do well against them at home but looking at the way they are playing they have all the ingredients to become the No1 team in the world. This Indian team reminds me about the late 90’s Australian team where team’s success was not dependent on one individual. The only reason why they are doing well is because of the fact that the team is no more dependent on Sachin. In the late 90’s and almost till last year or so winning or losing would depend on how much Sachin would score. On top of that bowling attack was so weak, I should not be calling it an attack:-) Now if Fab four fail to score runs people like Bhajji, Kumble chip in with the bat. Also there is a lot of variety in the bowling department. But the only thing we have to see is how consistent they will be. Indian Premier League has helped India s cause which many people would think otherwise. They argue that there will be early retirements and huge unnecessary pay package. Why do we have to care about early retirements when youngsters are getting a very good platform to compete with world class experienced players and will help them in the future when they represent our country. And about the pay packages I can say only one thing to those people….. GROW UP!!!!

Australia has been hit real hard with the greats like McGrath, Gilchrist, Warne and Langer retiring at almost the same time… It’s really difficult for anyone to fill in their shoes. Probably with the success rate they had during their period no one thought about the future. They were very happy with the present and did not want to think beyond it. A smooth transition in the team is absolutely necessary, which we can now see in our Indian team. With Ganguly retiring after this series we will see more of this but it will not affect the way it has, for Australia. It’s really difficult to find replacements for players like Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly, but there s lot of talent in the youngsters and playing under them, they will learn a lot and a person like Dhoni leading them, I feel we are heading in the right direction.

Australia s problems won’t end here; in fact it has started now. They still are not able to cope with the retirements and I feel they have not yet thought about the future.Imagine players like Ponting, Hayden, Hussey and Lee retiring at the same time, i guess they will all be around for another two years and they have to look beyond these great players or else they will be in deep trouble, in fact they already are. One has to learn from the mistakes they have committed and I doubt Australians have. Is this the beginning of the end of Australia s domination over other teams???

Saturday, October 4, 2008

College placements

The worst thing that can happen to us at some point of time will turn out to be the best thing that has happened to us at a later point in life.

This is how I feel after going through a very bad phase in life, probably the worst that could happen to anyone. For me personally, two years back when I was in college, not getting selected in campus was the worst thing that could happen to me but now looking at it I feel that was the best thing that happened. Life has taught me so many valuable lessons in that period. I am now a completely different person to what I was two years back. Now I look at problems in a different way. I can feel the change within me.

Before attending any campus interview I was like pretty confident that it would just be another interview. I always knew the result before attending any interview. I guess around 20 companies had come to the campus, out of which I attended only 6 companies if I am correct. I always used to turn up late for the interviews and they would not let me in. I lacked that something - लक्ष्य and for those 6 companies which I attended; I never used to get past the first round. There was no preparation whatsoever from my side, going to the interview was like going to some movie.I used to know the outcome before the written test itself but still I used to get dejected afterwards….I always used to blame my fate for that rather than analyzing the reasons for the failure. Negative feelings used to take control over me. I used to feel the pain for two days max and after that I would forget everything as though nothing really happened. Again after few days I used to attend another interview and the cycle used to repeat similarly and eventually placements had become a big joke. With all this there was a funnier side too; I still remember we were all waiting for Accenture’s results. Hr from Accenture was really hot. I still remember her, she was really one hot babe and also we knew that there would be more beautiful girls like her in that company. So I was desperately hoping that I would be selected. They started announcing the results. There were around 20 names in that list and I found my name in that list. I was overjoyed, started shouting and dreaming about all the beautiful girls who would become my colleagues one day. My happiness though was short lived. So many people had cleared the first round that day, they decided to announce only the people who did not clear the first round as the number was less and my name was in that rejected list…..all that I had dreamt…. shattered into pieces.. That was probably the worst day in my life.

I could understand the gravity of the problem only when I was once out of the college. I started to attend the off campus interviews. I applied to a number of companies through some job portals , I have really lost the count. Every day on an average I used to apply for around 15 companies and continuously for a period of 8 months. Out of which I received call letters for interviews from only 5 companies. For those companies which I attended there was one question which used to haunt me in all the interviews…” I heard campus placements in your college are very good, why ,were you not selected? “ The answer was obvious and still they would ask me such kind of ridiculous questions. If I had been selected in campus I would not have gone to their company in the first place. Not only in the interviews all the people whom I used to meet used to ask me the same question repeatedly. That part of life, when I was jobless i have had a number of bitter experiences, but on the other side it taught me some valuable lessons in life and I feel that those lessons will take me a long way ahead.

Initially nothing really changed, I was on the similar path. The same cycle used to repeat for off campus interviews too. I had the fear and confidence of failing every single time. I could not take it anymore. I had to come out of depression. So I decided one day to change everything around and started studying and make my basics right .It was not so easy. Literally I had to start from a scratch, focus both on the technical aspects as well as HR, which I did. I guess this part was the turning point in my life.

After some real hard work I could see some major change,and finally I was successful. Three companies offered me a job, and getting it was not so easy. The present company in which I am working was the toughest. There were three rounds- written, technical interview and interview with GM, the final round being the toughest. I feel there are only two things that can happen to a person…. Good or Bad….when everything that is happening to us is bad then there is only one thing that can happen after that…GOOD. So if you are going through a rough patch then get prepared to enjoy for the good things coming your way.

If I had got placed in campus, I would be working in some company and I would not have got a chance to work in the Worlds No 1 Company.Not getting placed in college was bad at that particular moment but what happened was really for good. This part of my life, now is called HAPPYNESS ;-)