enjoying myself

Its the 'Chaos' time out here

Dates : 26 - 29 January
Venue : IIM Ahmedabad
Scene :'Chaos', the cutural fest of IIMA

'Chaos' is not about lawlessness or anarchy . Its represent a moment....the time to break free, mak merry, listening to a number of national and international singers, making new friends from different campuses around the country, and also about winning cool prizes. some get a chance to enter into new 'relationships',others keep trying to remove their name frm 'i am still trying' list :p

Preparations are in full swing. This year, around 30,000 people are expected to swarm the beautiful campus of IIM Ahmedabad during this four day cultural extravaganza. Dozens of events will be organized and prizes worth more than rupees 5.5 lakhs would be won.

Star cast : International music bands Strings and Jal from Pakistan - Performance by Indian Ocean - ace drummer Shivmani, sitar player Niladri Kumar, and the jazz pianist Louis Banks unleash their magic - And that’s not all; the event would be inaugurated with a classical performance by the ‘sarod brothers’ Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan.

Other attractions : The events include dramatics, fine arts, choreographed dances, musicals, fashion shows, literary events and workshops on dance, theatre and grooming. To add a distinct B-school flavour to the proceedings watchout for some management games as well.

Foreign participation : This year participants from Asian countries such as Pakistan, Hong Kong, Singapore are also expected to come down. so if u really want to give a shot at a foreign 'chick' this may be place to be at this time.

So frnz its time to chill n enjoy. I m currently working in Logistics and security team fr the same. n one of the duties wud be to catch hold of any 'intruder'. Totally reversal of roles for me as compared to my engg days. Those days we were a bunch of guys who used to 'barge' into a lot of fests in delhi. name any college, any fest, we wud hv been there. n usually it was without any pre-arrangement of passes fr the entry. try all kind of 'nuskhas' fr gaining an entry. acting relatives of any students (acting relative of any girl studying there was a sureshot way of gaining entry, fr the security volunteer could always later impress upon the bewildered gal ' look, i let ur cousin in despite all security taam-jhaam :D )), jumping over the wall ( tried this in AIIMS fest 'Pulse', by arranging a ladder from sumwhere in vicnity in 12 at night), posing as sons of profs there( name of prof Verma seems to be so common tht it used to work everywhere u used it). At sum places we tried catching som gals without passes n then the entry as a group was really breezy. hazaar nuskhas n wht we call in mgmt -'Just In Time' ideas.

looks like ' making the naughtiest boy of class the class monitor works sumtime' funda is getting applied here. n i wud try to tap all my 'experience' in 'similar acts' to prevent people from making unsolicited entry. But fr all u people posting a comment here wud be given free passes....:D. So in case u decide to make most of the coming wekend just tell me a bit in advance n i wud try to arrange passes fr u.

posted by amit @ 3:38 AM 12 comments

A nice fwd....

When I was working as a software engg, around 20-30% of my time was spent on one particular task - reading the fwd sent by other friends working in different software firms and then fwding these fwds to other friends. My official job responsiblities changed time to time during the year, but the time spent on executing the said task remained the same. It was fun, first waiting fr the fwds, checking mail after every 10 mins, after every coffee break, complaining n cursing when u dont receive a mail fr sumtime, n smiling . n it happened many times tht a fwd sent by u comes back to u after doing many rounds, sometimes on the same day...... n i cud not do much except smiling about those mails n wondering, ' comunication hv really become faster thesedays'. I was planning to write on a broader classification of those mails, but ships somehow managed to stole the thunder by posting her classification a couple of days in advance. Next time i hope to beat in her own game. i wud be writing or try to write something on the topic which she may be planning to write. Beware ships, i wud hv my revenge soon. :p

After coming to this place the quantity of fwd sent n received hv dipped a bit. My friends still dont miss a chance to send me a lot of junk...:). n i too loooove fwding the same junk to others. But in last couple of days i got 2 gud poems, one of which i wud like to share with u

MAINE POOCHA
MEIN NE US KO SALAM LIKH BHEJA,
HAAL-E-DIL TAMAAM LIKH BHEJA...

MAINE POOCHA TERE HONTH KAISE HAIN,
US NE IK LAFZ JAAM LIKH BHEJJA...

MAINE POOCHA TERE BAAL KAISE HAIN,
US NE QUDRAT KA INAAM LIKH BHEJA...

MAINE POOCHA KAB HO GI MULAQAAT,
US NE QAYAMAT KI SHAM LIKH BHEJA...

MAINE POOCHA ITNA TADPAATI KYON HO,
US NE JAWANI KA INTIQAAM LIKH BHEJA...

MAINE POOCHA TUJHEY NAFRAT KISS SE HAI,
KAMBAKHAT US NE MERA HI NAAM LIKH BHEJA...

I really liked the poem.... represents feelings of a lot og guys being rejected by gals..... though urs truly hv never been lucky enuf to be counted in this list of guys....... oh, i forgot, i too had my same share of this 'misfortune' when i was in school, but thts a different story altogether. may be on some other post sumday

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P.S. : meanwhile i m really busy on a sting operation. More details in next post.....keep waiting.... shor naa machaana otherwise usko pata chal jayega...:)

posted by amit @ 1:27 AM 10 comments

Some GD tips.....

CAT results are out and I have been receiving a number of mails regarding GD/PI prepn in these days. Since it is not possible to send a individual reply, i thought i would put a post on the blog regarding the same.

Following are some of the tips for GD from my experience:

* GD is usually not an elimination procedure. The evaluator evaluates you on skills like communication in group, leadership, assertiveness and most importantly listening. Remember you have one mouth and two years. So the communication should also be on similar pattern. A group discussion is your chance to be more vocal. The evaluator wants to hear you speak. So you do not have to sit quitely and hope that someone would give you a chance to speak up. Stand up for your opinion.

* Regarding the content- TIME told us a strategy which I found very useful for every topic -SPELT. Think about a topic from five different prespectives -Social, Political, Economic, Legal And Technological, u wud be able to generate a number of good points.

* Take time to organize your thoughts. Think of what you are going to say.

* Don't start speaking until you have clearly understood and analyzed the subject. Seek clarification if you have any doubts regarding the subject.

* Work out various strategies to help you make an entry: initiate the discussion or agree with someone else's point and then move onto express your views.

* Opening the discussion is not the only way of gaining attention and recognition. It is a high risk, high return strategy. The move can backfire badly if you make any goof up. I personally preferred being second or third speaker.

* Your body language says a lot about you - your gestures and mannerisms are more likely to reflect your attitude than what you say. Gestures like pointing a finger or pen, sitting cross legged, playing with pen, tapping with feet needs to be avoided. Maintaining an eye contact, smiling faces are always welcomed.

* Try to know as many as people before the GD. This helps as familiar faces may not interrupt you as you speak.

* Language skills are important only to the effect as to how you get your points across clearly and fluently.

* Be assertive not dominating; try to maintain a balanced tone in your discussion and analysis. Don't lose your cool if anyone says anything you object to. The key is to stay objective: Don't take the discussion personally.

* Always be polite: Try to avoid using extreme phrases like: `I strongly object' or `I disagree'. Instead try phrases like: `I would like to share my views on;' or `One difference between your point and mine' or "I beg to differ with you"

* In case of a ‘Fish market situation’, first and foremost- make sure that you don’t contribute to the mayhem. If the group is too disorderly wait for the right opportunity to make your point. Also a valuable tip - If a GD/Case study is more than 15 mins duration, it would not turn into a fish market. So act accordingly. IIMA case studies do not turn into fish market. There is a lot of time and people are really hesitant to create fish market kind of situation.

* Brush up on your leadership skills; motivate the other members of the team to speak, and listen to their views. Be receptive to others' opinions and do not be abrasive or aggressive.

* Read a lot for generating content. Go thru newspapers like Hindu, mags like Businessworld etc to get a familiarity with current topics.

* Modulate the various aspects of your voice viz. volume, pitch and tone so as to suit the nature of the point you are making. Make sure you don’t sound rude or arrogant.


Apart from the above points, the panel will also judge candidates for theiralertness and presence of mind, problem-solving abilities, ability to work as a team without alienating certain members, and creativity. An old cliched but valid adage says -'Practice makes a man perfect'..... n GD is one of the places where it is most apt.

posted by amit @ 2:26 PM 27 comments