An Evening in IIM-Trichy

It was around 5'O clock when, I decided to go for snacks and then possibly loosen my muscles by playing something. " Svaroop come to tea " called Uday. We went to the mess and saw the mess person serving bondaas. "Is it good" asked Uday to one of our classmates. Not Bad he said. We decided that we shall eat one each, have coffee and go to play cricket. We had the snacks and coffee(In fact we had 2 bondaas as it was good) and we went towards the ground.

"Chetan for me", "Satish for me", " Bibhash", "Karthick"  .................. The captains had already started calling the teams. We too shall join we said.  Chalo batting karte ho ya bowling Abhishek asked me. "Bowling" I told. To chalo yaar tum batting team me aajavo..

Within a minute the match started. And since close to 2 years this was my first cricket outing. The first over was a fearsome one( I forgot who bowled it) and the same continued over after over. I was very surprised to see the cricket talent in our class. Within about 8 overs I could see at-least 3-4 very good bowlers any many more better than me and given the fact that I was among the best bowlers in my class (and sometimes in the whole college) since my school days, this was pretty shocking for me. I had heard from many that IIM generally have very good all-rounders( I mean multi talented people) and I was happy to see quite a few of them here with me. 

 We finished the batting with a moderate score and went to field. Uday was the opening batsman. And Phew .. there were a lot of good bowlers in our team too. The competition for bowling was so high that I had to beg to bowl an over( just kidding guys). Finally with some luck could clinch 2 wickets. By the end of 8 overs Uday had already scored bulk of the runs and still going great. But a twist in their tail meant Uday had fought the whole innings for a loosing cause.

After playing, everyone started to do some discussions. The discussions spanned from plan for a booz party to discussion about a case study which was discussed in the class. After some chit chats, a few of us decided to go and have some juice .Cold Juice after sweaty play was really awesome and coming to know that the lime juice cost only Rs6 my love for the juice doubled. And after having quite a few glasses of them we all left.

These are only the starting days and perhaps the evenings are not going to be all masti for sure. But guess what..? They are going to be better and great and the pleasant memories which we shall be preserving for ever.

NE India trip day 2..

Svaroop- Svaroop my father knocked the room. I looked beside to see my brother sleeping. Papa 5 mins, I said, it was a bit cold as well. After 5 mins, my father called me again and said it is already late, I got up and saw the watch, which was showing a time of 6:00AM. We got up and did all the necessary things, had breakfast And were waiting for our vehicle at around 6:45.

 Our first visit for the day was the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, which is situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River. There are twelve shrines which are dedicated to Shiva—Kali's companion—along the riverfront, a temple to Radha-Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. There is  chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples( near the exit), is where Ramakrishna spent a considerable part of his adult life. The temple is packed with lot of devotees( well some say even thieves) almost every day. Since there were a lot of people standing in queue we coud'nt go inside the main kali temple. However we just had a glance of it from the outside and moved towards the shrines. Each shrines consisted of Shiva-linga and lots of devotees were offering their prayers there. Photography was prohibited, but then, that is when we all try to do it more... We then turned to the bathing ghat, where we had an awesome view of the famous hoogly bridge, the mist covered morning was perhaps an embellishment to the view. Then after clicking lot of photos we moved towards the exit where the room in which ramakrishna had spent most of his life was situated. After seeing it we moved out and got into our vehicles.

An view of the Hoogli bridge.

Belur math was our next destination ,it is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda. It is located on the west bank of Hooghly River, Belur. The temple is quite famous for its achitecture and style of construction. The Sri Ramakrishna Temple, Swami Vivekananda Temple, Swami Brahmananda's temple are located near by each other. The view of the hoogly river is also quite fascinating. By the banks there were some women washing clothes. We could see a lot of boats and motor boats carrying different goods and people all around. Then after taking some snaps, we headed towards the Ramakrishna Museum. The two-storeyed Ramakrishna Museum contains artifacts and goods used by Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and some of his other disciples. Actually it was quite boring for me and my brother( particularly after getting to know that we shall be going to another kali temple in the afternoon, perhaps there was a lot of excitement to follow.)

Hoogli river as seen from Belur Math.

NE India trip day 1 --- Visit to Kolkata

I had heard a lot about Kolkota, especially in my history classes and had a lot of mixed opinions about it. It is only after I visited the place, I got a true picture of the same. One of the oldest cities in India, Kolkata still looks almost the same since probably 40-50 odd years, safeguarding its history. The Trams, old Buses, the Tonga and not to forget the buildings, lot of which are very old. However there have been keen improvements in several aspects such as the underground Metro Rail which was the first underground metro to operate successfully in India.

We( my father, mother, brother and I) started by Plane from Bangalore at 11.30A.M and reached Kolkata at around 1.30 PM. I had expected a tough time since I was of the opinion that the people of Kolkata were reluctant to speak anything other than Bengali. But it was a comfortable going. We caught a taxi which was really cheap compared to the prices in Bangalore, and moved to our Hotel( I forgot its name) which was booked by Nirmala Travels, the tour organizers. After having a good lunch-snacks at 4.00 PM we left for purchase.

An areal view from the plane.

Sree Leathers was our first destination. My mother was told by a lot of people about this Leather shop, so we definitely had to go there. Suddenly we saw the Metro station and just made a to and fro Joy ride( Actually even the girls were quite good looking so it was really a joy ride). Then we went to Sree Leathers, the goods were good with fair enough prices. We bought some leather goods. In the mean while my mother saw a saree shop near by and couldn't resist the temptation of buying some. We were returning home while we saw a whole line of road side sellers selling some jackets. These were actually good and we bought quite a few of them. Finally we went to our hotels where all the group members had arrived. I was also happy to see a few guys from our age group. Then had a good meal and a good sleep( was very tired after walking).

NE India trip day 2...

My IIM Rohtak-Trichy-Raipur GDPI Experience

I had my IIM Rohtak-Trichy-Raipur GD and personal interview on 2nd march 2011( Originally was on 3rd march , but since it was clashing with IIM L interview, I got it rescheduled). My center was Hotel Monarch Luxor Bangalore,  this was my first IIM interview .

My PROFILE:

Acads
X %   89.4 , CBSE Board, year - 2003
XII%, 83.17 Karnataka state Board, year - 2005
Undergrad Stream (BA, BE etc), Specialization (CS, mech etc), Percentage, Year, Institute : E&C, 72, 2009

Work-Ex:
Sectors, Company - Number of months : Software Engineer - 18 months.

CAT (2010):
DI         : 93.8
Quant    : 98.85
Verbal   : 99.25
Aggregate : 99.56(281/450)
(category if applicable)  - General

Extra acads : Cricket n Table tennis.

Interview & Essay :

Essay  Topic: Should we allow elders to stay at our homes or in old age homes.
  
Number of Ppl present : 8

Brief Snapshot of the attempt: GD was for 12mins. The discussion was a healthy one and no fish market. Came in around 3-4 times and gave some good points.

Rate your preparation(0-5): 3
Rate your performance(0-5): 3.5

Because of the reschedule, mine was the last interview.

PI:
Panel Members Intro: 2 middle aged guys P1 and P2 and an aged guy P3.
Questions:
P1: What should we ask you. Ok tell me about yourself?
Me: Told.

P1: Tell me about niche websites( had told about it) ?
Me: Gyaan.

P2: what are computer viruses?
Me: told.

P2:  Wanted more info?
Me: Told, but they were not fully convinced.

P3: Asked some questions in engineering?
Me: Told.

P3: More on the engineering topics
Me: More gyaan.

P1: Tell me about your work.
Me: Told.

P1: Tell me some management techniques in your work.
Me: gyaan.

P1: Difficulties in your work.
Me: gyaan.

 P2: I think we are done with you.
Me: Fine sir. Thank you.

Rate your preparation(0-5): 3.5
Rate your performance(0-5): 3.5

My IIM Lucknow Essay/GD/PI Experience

I had my IIM L GDPI on 3rd march 2011. My center was Hotel Monarch Luxor Bangalore,  Having gone through the IIM Rohtak-Trichy-Raipur interview on the previous day , I had an Idea about the same.

My PROFILE:

Acads
X %   89.4 , CBSE Board, year - 2003
XII%, 83.17 Karnataka state Board, year - 2005
Undergrad Stream (BA, BE etc), Specialization (CS, mech etc), Percentage, Year, Institute : E&C, 72, 2009

Work-Ex:
Sectors, Company - Number of months : Software Engineer - 18 months.

CAT (2010):
DI         : 93.8
Quant    : 98.85
Verbal   : 99.25
Aggregate : 99.56(281/450)
(category if applicable)  - General

Extra acads : Cricket n Table tennis.

Interview & Essay :

Essay  Topic: Should we provide sexual education for children in their primary classes.
  
Number of Ppl present : 9

Brief Snapshot of the attempt: First 15 mins essay. Then had GD on the same topic for 10mins. The discussion was a healthy one and no fish market. Came in around 5-6 times and gave some good points.

Rate your preparation(0-5): 3
Rate your performance(0-5): 3.5

PI:
Panel Members Intro: 2 middle aged guys P1 and P2.
Questions:
P1: Why did you opt for ABM while filling the prometric form and why are u opting out now?
Me: Accepted that it was a mistake from my part ( or else would have got grilled on that only).

P2: Why has your engineering marks in the 3rd year gone down?
Me: Gave reason and they looked some what convinced.

P1: What is the weight of cricket ball , what is its diameter, what is the dimension of the ground?
Me: told.

P1:  Asked me about engineering acads?
Me: Gyaan.

P2: More questions about engineering acads?
Me: gyaan.

P1: Asked questions on management.
Me: More gyaan.

P2: What do u do in your company?
Me: told.

P2: What are the management techniques used in  your company.
Me: Told 

P1: Tell me some more.
Me: more gyaan.

P2: You seem to like your work, then y do u want an MBA?
Me: Told.

P1: Asked questions on acads.
Me: gyaan.

P1 to P2: Do you have anything to ask.
P2: No. I think we are done with you.
Me: Fine sir. Thank you.

Rate your preparation(0-5): 3.5
Rate your performance(0-5): 3.5

TRIP TO HOGENAKKAL FALLS FROM PP

Hogenakkal falls is located in Tamil Nadu on the banks of Cauvery river . It is located in the Dharmapuri district, about 45 Kms from the town of Dharmapuri and about 180 Kms from Banglore City.

I woke up at 6 in the morning today, did some jhat phat packing, bath etc etc and went to PP. We had hired a mini bus for 21 people and had planned to leave by 6:45 -7:00. But as it always happens, we started late at around 7:30 picked up colleagues on the way , and by the time we started with our full strength from silk board it was around 8:30PM( We were at least an hour late) . Our planned path was Banglore-Hosur- Krishnapuri(Breakfast)-Dharmapuri-Hogenakal(Lunch Parcel). We played lots of games en route  mauj masti was obviously there. All the things except time, went as per plans. By the time we reached the falls it was 1.30( 2 hours late than planned!). Changing clothes was our obvious concern, people generally book lodges there nearby, keep their belongings , change their clothes and then go towards the waterfalls, but since we had the mini bus we managed things there.

We went to the water falls and came near the boating spot(It is sort of a must do , without which we cant enjoy or rather go inside the tittus as well). The local coracles operate the round shaped boat( teppa). They actually ask huge amounts, bargaining is advised and appreciable. At last we settled for around 200 per head. It was good fun and  lots of play for 3.5 hours so and then came out at 6:00 Since we had'nt had lunch we were starving for food, the food which we had parceled from Drarmapuri tasted awesome( Dont know  if it was due to the hunger).  We then started our journey back to Bangalore at 7:00PM and here at 11.00PM.
The trip was on behalf of Tej. Thank you Tej and PP friends for the wonderful time. 

Thus my first travel blog ends. Hoping for many more.