Viva PhotoShop!!!

There are loads of softwares out there claiming to make the world a better place to live. Humans often bond to these necessary evils so much that they can't live without them. Especially for my profession MS Office package is gonna be the lifeline and I cannot imagine people to have managed to do business without these tools to aid.

At this Information Age its quite weird if you do any activity without a computer to aid. If you ever came across an avenue in which computers haven't played a role, you have just stumbled upon a huge market opportunity and we might have some serious business to talk :))

Enough of that, today I am gonna write about a fascinating creative suite that has transformed the world of Desktop publishing and Raster graphics totally. Yes I am indeed talking about Adobe Photoshop. I ain't gonna brief about who created it and what you can do with it. If I said, "with Photoshop you can do Anything and Everything", It will still be an understatement.

Lets save some time. You can quickly come back after getting some perspective from Wiki, for we have a tutorial to get you started right away.

Start your software and study the various windows available on the screen, you'll find picture editing tools and brushes to the left and a window with layers and channels to the right( layers are indispensable components for any raster editing tool.)

You'll also have a blank sheet from which your masterpiece is gonna take shape. Today we'll learn how to deal with layers and add detail to an object. In fact Photoshop is all about placing the right layers in the right order with right settings. Although it ain’t as easy as it seems.

Now we all need a base to work on right. Let’s use a typeface to work on. My intention is to mimic the “e” in Internet explorer and make it look like a plastic.

Step 1:

Click the Type icon on the left and enter the letter “e”.
Choose Times New Roman and Bold Italic.
Choose some dark blue color. I have chosen #1A68AF and size as you wish.

Step 2:

Hold Ctrl and click on the type layer to select it's border. Next, create a new layer and contract the selection by about 16 pixels.

Select > Modify > Contract... 16 Pixels

Step 3:

Select White as the foreground color, and fill the selection. Alt+Backspace

Remove the selection Ctrl+D, and Gaussian Blur the layer by 16 pixels.

Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur... 16 Pixels

Then, Gaussian Blur it again by 8 pixels, and then by 4 pixels.
Set the Layer's Opacity to 50%, and the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.

Step 4:

Now, hold Ctrl, and in the Layers window, click on the type layer, to select it's transparency.

In the Channels window, press the Save Selection as channel button. Now, click on the new Channel it created.

Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur... 16 Pixels

Then, Gaussian Blur it again by 8 pixels, 4 pixels, and finally 2 pixels.

Invert the selection Ctrl+Shift+I, clear the selection with black Del, and finally Deselect.

Step 5:

Go back to the Layers window. Hold down Ctrl, and click on the Type Layer, again, to select it's transparency.

Create a new layer, and drag it above the Inner Glow Layer.Select the new layer, fill the selection with black, and rename the layer Highlights.

Check on Preserve Transparency, and set the blending mode to Screen.

Step 6:

With the Highlights layer selected, go: Filter > Render > Lighting Effects...

Set the Material Properties to:
Gloss: 79
Material: -37
Exposure: 56
Ambience: -100

Change the Texture Channel to Alpha 1, or the channel you were working on before, and it's Height to 100.

Create a directional light, Intensity 32, so that the lighting covers most of the “e”, but the brightest parts are still on the edges.

Step 7:
When the Lighting Effects is done, Gaussian Blur the layer by 3 pixels, to get rid of the levels.

Now this is the step where you can use your own artistic freedom.

Image > Adjust > Curves...

The curves window will begin with a straight line. Click any place on the line to create a new point, and drag the points to move them.

Step 8:

Throw down a blue drop shadow (since the light is flowing through the clear plastic), and voila you have the plastic!



I don't claim to have invented this method. Although this was the first tutorial I had tried out 4 years back when I learned Photoshop and it does a good job at introducing all the features of PhotoShop.

Will soon come back with some of my originals.

Doctors vs Engineers

A couple of weeks before I went to meet my doc friends back from school days. It has been ages since we met. I had gotten busy with my work and career plans. While these guys have been chasing their dreams of making it to AIIMS. Dr. Gautam is an M.B.B.S from MMC and Dr. Guruprasad is a B.D.S from the same college. Both of them were my closest pals at J.G.V.V., the place I have spent my entire school life in.

I still distinctly remember the endless chats we used to have about our careers.

Me: "Guys. I just can't imagine myself sitting in a small clinic and cashing in on others diseases. I want to become a great scientist and spearhead some new technology." I would proudly say

Guru: " I love Biology and I don't understand how you ppl manage to mug up those formula in physics and math. I have always dreamed about being a doctor and thats it". This guy would get 199/200 in physics and still make such pathetic statements no one believes in.

Me: "OK fine what about the endless slogging that is required. I will start earning in 4 years You ppl will have to study till you are 35. Ready for that? hahaha "

Gautam: " No comments" (He is one of those silent kinds who never speaks up. but does it instead)

So they went on the take up the obvious choice and I ditched a precious doc seat to become an engineer.you see i am still proud of that :))

Were we really mature enough to take our decisions in the first place? I mean what were the tools we used to short-list our career options? We were probably being carried away by other's advises. weren't we?

Waidaminnittt!!! That was 6 years back. And we were supposedly proud of our decisions. But what do we think now.?

Me: " While I cribbed about working in a small 12x12 ft clinic, now I am apparently sitting in a 6x6 ft cubicle staring at a machine craving for freedom. Intherrrsting..?? :)"

Me: "Well atleast if I had been a doc I would have been rendering services for a person who trust me and who I can see. Now I work for a client who never trusts the Indians and never gives a damn about knowing us. The worst part is I am earning $$$ for the company just to carry home a bag of peanuts."

It might seem an exaggeration for my fellow doc friends who haven't started earning. But ya dudes my salary is still just peanuts for the ppl running the company.

Gautam: "I have never seen a guy from software who is satisfied with his job. Every profession has its pitfalls. I face a lot of hassles in GH everyday. People take it for granted that these doctors at GH only work for money. Its very sick when someone show me a recommendation letter from dean instead of his transcription to get admitted. "

He started unraveling the mind of a physician slowly. It was so nice to know how docs really felt about their profession. He will have to sacrifice most of his personal life in the formative years. We discussed about the lack of proper rooms, ICUs being occupied illegally by politicians, deaths due to poor infrastructure, frivolousness of nurses etc.

Its indeed true that the problem is not with the profession but the kind of work we do, the place we do it in and the people we do it for. With that thought we found salvation. :)

Slowly our discussion digressed towards another important facet of life. Making money. I had once stated him, "At the end of the day its all about making money. And I don't want to confuse that with rendering service to the society. The inherent nature of a doc's life is so that he will always have to live among such ethical dilemmas. Whereas I can make a lot of money and still manage to serve for the society and I can do that without losing integrity" Seems a pretty hard statement to refute right??

My doc friend didn't seem to have a perfect answer for that. But one thing's for sure. All these thoughts about money haunts you only till you earn a decent living. Once the food,cloths and shelter are taken care of its only the human might that decides what it wants to chase next. Search for more money or otherwise.

The story doesn't end here. I will be joining IIMA, a place synonymous for making huge money in this world. Lets see how my life takes shape and whether I take back my words of wisdom soon. :))

Monty Python Hysssteria

Yesterday was yet another deja vu. It reminded me of those good old school days when we had finished all our exams and we would proudly say "I don't have to study for next two months." I woke up only to remember that I don't have to work for others anymore. Atleast for the next two years. I am quitting TCS finally to join the Big League.

I have been giving treats back-to-back and my schedules are already running out of time, not to mention orkutting and chatting throughout the day. Yesterday I was supposed to meet Viju, my fellow cegian and a serious IIM aspirant. We had my treat at Pizza corner and were planning to go for a comedy show by Evam, a small drama group based in Chennai. It is conceived by Kandanaal Mudhal famous Kathik. Not many would forget his guest appearance as 'America maapilai's thambi' in Alaipayudhe.

I stopped having fun at variety shows from 2005 which is when I passed out of college. I was just wondering whether there was something seriously wrong with me. I had been completely confining my social life to orkut off late and the fact that I went to this show shortly after I was set free is something not to be overlooked. I feel so thankful to my friend for having dragged me to the good ol' days.



The show was indeed spectacular. It was a classic British comedy with dance sequences interspersed. We also managed to catch few celebrities including Trisha and Radio mirchi Suchi. It is so sad that I won't be able to catch their second episode of Monty Python Hssssteria since I'll be slogging hard at Ahmedabad. If you do find time log into www.evam.in and block your tickets asap. Fortunately, they aren't still popular so you can directly walk-in and enjoy the show as I did :)

Quake III Arena I miss you...

We all miss so much fun that we had during our undergrad days. Quake III Arena is just one among that endless list. I took up gaming soon after joining college. I would do anything to lay my hands on a piece of software that possesses a potential to flaunt skill and mastery. Be it Adobe Photoshop or MATLAB or Quake they have thrilled me a lot and continue to thrill me as I get better and better at dealing with them. This piece of article is a tribute to Quake III Arena that brought me fame and name while in college.

To the uninititated, Quake III is a game developed by id Software and released in 1999. The company was founded by John Carmack and three others. They scaled the gaming industry with their famous titles Wolfenstein 3D (1991), Doom (1994), Quake (1996). But even though many games have been released including Quake 4, Q3A continues to provide the best gaming action across multiplayer competitions and Quake fans worldwide.


So what makes Quake 3 the King of all First person shooters?? Is it the Unique openGL platorm, the technology that introduced vertex animation and spline curves in 3D modelling? Or is it the novel gameplay where people meet in an Arena and frag ( an euphemism for "killing" in the virtual world ) anything and everything that moves?

To me the endless opportunities offered by multiplayer gaming appeals a lot. I would say the LAN connection in our hostels attained its purpose of existence only after I introduced this game to my friends. There would be deathmatches at midnights for which people would gather to merely spectate the battle that lasts not more than 5 mins at times. Doesn't it feel great if someone just gawks at you and says " How do you do that !!"

The game has five difficulty levels. The nigthmare level forms a technical barrier to the extent a computer can think and react. We were a couple of hardcore gamers who were bored of continuously taming the bots at their toughest levels and often resorted to multiplayer mode for some nerve racking, relentless action.

I went on to organize gaming competitions as part of Vision, a technical symposium of our department. Thats when I came to know there were too many crazy people who played it full time. My friends from engineering colleges in and around Chennai had already formed professional clans. This is not just a patronizing blog. Although I would seriously recommend you to play this game if you call yourself a die hard gamer.

Now it has been two years since I played this game the way it ought to be played. I can't wait till I could con some of my fellow b-schoolers into this. I am sure I will find atleast a handful of buffs like me. Hoping to take it forward to the next level.

A useless post - Just to keep my blog alive :)

Sometimes I wonder if my last two years can be permanently deleted from my life chronicles ? First of all why am I thinking of such rubbish ? Is it because I have gotten head weight after securing admit to the Best B-school in India? Was my tenure at TCS so bad that I can never mention it anywhere? Definitely No.

And why does these two years specifically seem insipid to me? Is it because I haven't accomplished as much I did during my academic life? If that was it, is it a problem with me or TCS? Or is it simply a compatibility issue that I find it difficult to plug-in with my fellow TCSers?

One thought led me to another... and another... instead of rubbing my past two years, if i could rub off my four years @ Anna University? Would that have made a difference?? voila! this question holds the key to all the answers... If it had been this way, then I might have struggled a lot to get the same job with TCS. May be I wouldn't have had big dreams right away and appreciated every small things that TCS had to offer an entry level graduate. That would have pushed me to perform better and look for every opportunity to prove myself. I learnt this valuable lesson from some of my mates in TCS.

I realised that how much ever I want my life to be ordered, that much it gets deviated. So why plan it ahead? We have all wasted our precious time before.. I mean whatelse could we have done when we were one-year-olds.. :) does anyone repent for that? So no matter how much ever time I may consider wasted I still have enough to make a difference in this world. There's something to be learned from every moment in our lives. Its called EXPERIENCE.. And I have had enough of that in TCS. The future has got much more to offer and there's no time to crib over the past. Anyone with the passion and determination will no doubt rule the world. What say??

Why I wanted to blog..

I came to know of this culture of personal journalism pretty late in my life. When I began googling about this new art I was instantly drawn towards it. Not because I am a great writer or like reaching out to people. Infact I have tried hard not to flunk in my English II papers but in vain. But then why take the risk of wasting other people's time?

Firstly, I believe good written skills is gonna be a vital part of any successful individual in this world. People have to reach out to others more often than ever. These bloggers are already the driving forces behind the information revolution thats still happening. Secondly, We ponder over many things that happen around us. But the thoughts get a structure only when we pen it down somewhere. This platform offers every freedom to express all your weird thoughts. Thirdly, there has been many friends asking me what I have been upto these days. While its always possible to call them and stay in touch, I also feel indebted to inform them about every important thing happening in my life. When they are taking every pain to visit my blog I shouldn't dissapoint them. Can I?

With these purposes in mind I seek to reach my long lost friends and loved ones with this journal. No matter how hard the syllabus of IIMA hits me I will continue to post everthing thats happening around my life and mind.

PS: Please consider this as my first post :)

Was it all clockwork carefully wound by Him???

Two years hence life was so different. Try this... I was one of those fortunate kids who graduated from College of Engineering, Guindy, Asia's oldest technical institution. I had no regrets for missing out on the IITs probably because our college was ranked in the Top 10 and our Alumni held equally prestigious positions worldwide. Yet little did I know that our college had been losing its sheen in the recent past and that the onus of putting our college back on the world map was solely on us students. By the time I realized the changes in the New World Order, it was too late. The so called IT boom had taken its toll and was successfully luring some of the best talents for 'virtually' well paid jobs. Needless to mention I was one of its victims too.

As electronics engineer I had short-listed four career options. While an IT job was almost guaranteed, searching for a core job was still a herculean task. Realists gave their GREs and managed admits from America’s famed institutions. A handful of geeks even decided to do it the tougher way dreaming to do research in IISc and IITs. There was a fourth kind who took over their father’s business or joined b-schools. While I had no interest in doing research I was damn sure that taking an IT job was suicidal. So I decided there was no harm in giving GRE as a backup plan. But within a month's time the placements season started and I was destined to convert my very first interview with Tata Consultancy Services. I distinctly remember the way I felt about my first success that I often cherish and laugh my ass over it till now.

It’s very interesting to see how your career decisions get skewed when you realize you have a well paid job in your basket of options. Thank god I didn’t get placed with Biggies like Microsoft for I wouldn’t have realized the real ‘me’ then. Hailing from a not so wealthy family I can understand how many Indian dreams get buried under a pile of cash. Suddenly GRE seemed a costly affair and too uneconomical at least for my family situation. I didn’t want to join TCS either. It was at this juncture I had to do a serious self-introspection and was surprised why I had ruled out going for a b-school. I could ascribe three reasons for not having considered it. One, no one in my family lineage was a businessman. Two, I didn’t know what MBA can do to a person and Three, securing a seat in IIMs is the toughest of endeavours one can fancy(At least that’s what people think). I was also aware of the fact that from now on whatever silly decisions I took was to decide my entire life. So I had to be careful and swift enough in making decisions. After serious deliberation and consulting from well wishers it seemed that I was way behind from what I would do with my life and an MBA would be a professional way to identify my real passion.

Everyone knows that a work experience can always come handy and is mandatory in the west for getting admitted in a b-school. But having decided to work one has to decide what kind of experience will add value for an MBA. Now that explains why TCS suddenly became a god sent gift. I believe the kind of learning a prospective MBA aspirant gets in a services company like TCS is no less than what I would have gained in Microsoft except for the technical excellence which is of no importance to me. Of course I don’t deny the fact that a Microsoft in my profile would land me better jobs even after MBA.

Two years have gone past and when I deliberate on the events that have shaped my recent past, I am overwhelmed. I couldn’t have asked for more from God and I am about to embark on a historic odyssey to discover myself shortly. After having decided my career there was no reason to turn back. I went on to enroll myself for the best coaching available and I made sure I left no stone unturned since it was a make or break situation to me unlike my friends who had been giving CAT from college days. There was no room for second chance. The good old preparation days are unforgettable. Now I am all done with my hardwork and its upto the institutes to say whether i am worth it.

If you didn't know, companies like TCS and Infy are the breeding grounds of future leaders. One won't be astonished to find someone from the next cubicle sitting for CAT. One gets to meet different people from different cultures and different walks of life with different needs and wants. TCS is the place to understand Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. You get to decide what you want to be there. You will find achievers yearning for big things in life and poor souls dreaming for onsite( no intention to hurt anybody) co-exist with seamless integrity. The corporate experience has indeed been earth shattering and enlightening as well. In the sense, it has given me a taste of the real bad world out there.

Was it all clockwork carefully wound by Him?? Or is it a mere coincidence that things have been getting better and better? According to Second Law of thermodynamics things left undisturbed should get more unordered everyday. In short the entropy should always increase. If my guess was right the day Murphy wakes up should not be too far. By the time he does I should be inured enough to take on any uncertainties in life.

A detailed dissertation of my encounters with the third kind in TCS will be followed up in the following blog.

IIM Calcutta

The GD was a small business situation. About the entry strategy to be used by Sumo Inc , a digital camera giant in Japan, while entering India.

Interview:

1. Lots of questions on work ex which I don't want to elaborate again and again. They asked me on innovative applications for datawarehousing in Governance. I talked about farm sector reforms and education. How can we integrate DW and AI. It was a nice discussion for me.

2. Recently your college was in news regarding banning od cell phones and imposing dress code. What do you think of it?

3. You have mentioned your interests in entrepreneurship. Do you have any business plans yet.

4. Don't you think many people who have shone in this field are technical genius.

5. You are from a good college. why don't you go on to do an MS? Or an ME here?

6. How do you think IIMC will help you get what you want? You know anybody who are already entrepreneurs from IIMC?

7. Do you think the entrepreneurship cells in technical institutes are a success models. Did your college have one?

I am not able to recollect many questions exactly. Probably I got too bored of posting the questions. I remember talking more than what he asked for most of the times. It was the coolest ofthe interviews not only for me but for everybody.

IIM Ahmedabad

The case was about a restaurant chain which is successful in Ahmedabad is moved to Chennai. It claims to have two separate kitchens for veg and non-veg. But one day a chicken piece is found in a veg dish. The restaurant's reputation is under grave danger. What should the owner do?

Interview:

It was the best of the interviews in my basket.

1. What do you do in a typical day?

2. What is Business Intelligence?

3. Don't you think its a high profile job? Why do every software engg curse his job? Have you considered working in a manufactuirng or sales job?

4. So if you already love the job why do you want an MBA?

5. Will you join TCS after MBA then?

6. What kind of profile do you expect for an IIMA grad there?

7. Can't you get there without an MBA? Differentiate an MBA and Non-MBA in the role you just mentioned.

8. You have all six calls. anyother apart from that?

9. You gave 6 exams? Don't you have confidence in you?

10. What is the probability that you will make it to atleast 1 IIM? Work out in steps.

me: Answered in a complicated way and made a blunder. He kept on giving clues and i finally corrected.

11. What are P-type and N-type semiconductors?

12. Do they carry charge by default? Are they free electrons?

13. You have heard of Bohr's model. The electrons are infact revolving around the nucleus. Then why do we draw a line between two electrons in a covalent bond. How is it physically present?

14. You should have gone through the Budget? What are major two kinds of taxes?

15. What all comprise of Indirect taxes?

16. Is CST an indirect tax?

17. The cost of collection of indirect taxes has been very high for the govt. Can we scrap off the indirect tax and collect everything as direct tax from end customers?

18. You have mentioned about TAS as your other option. what is that?

19. Only one from TCS makes it? Why is it so tough?

20. What are your interests?

{ We discussed about "The world is flat", "Thomas Friedman" and "Stiglitz".

21. What is Stiglitz's claim to fame? Is he an economist?

22. Can we give him a Nobel prize?

23. How many Indians have got nobel prize?

24. What are the various categories for the prize? Which was the last one to be added?

25. There are two who have got Peace prize while residing in India. Who are they?

26. Who got the Peace prize last year?

IIM Bangalore

I finally was there living the life of an IIMB student for one day. It was held in the campus. There were three panels with two profs each.

The GD was a case as usual. It dealt with a conflict of two values of a company and the protagonist had to decide upon compromising one or none in order to pitch a huge deal. It was a cultured GD on the whole. I would rate myself 4th in the group of 10.

Interview:

1. So what are people discussing outside?
me: They are very much happy they are being questioned on their work ex and current affairs and not on academics.

2. Guess we have to change the trend then. Where can we start?

3. { The IT Prof started questioning on work ex then} tell me your profile exactly?

4. What technologies have you learnt till now?

5. How far have you explored UNIX?

6. What is the difference between C Shell and Bash Shell?
me: Answered the basic differences.

7. Have you done Kernel programming?
me: No. I just use is as a platform. We use it to schedule jobs. My major forte is in SAS.

{ SAS is an important business package that is used is IIMB research lab. I thought it could come in handy. But it never did :( }

8. Have you used crontab while scheduling?

9. Describe the business logic you have developed in the project.

{ Over to the Strategy Prof }

10. What is your stake on the Kaveri Issue? { Hailing form Tamil Nadu and sitting in B'lre, it was indeed a sensitive issue to discuss. I had to be as equivocal as possible. }

me: A 5 minute speech encompassing History, truth according to Karnataka govt. and TN govt., politics involved and my suggestions to solve the problem.

{ I seemed so convincing atleast to myself ;) }

11. What things would you consider if you had to move TCS to J&K?

me: Answered about the history, business climate, few things to be done on the govt. part before Tata's can take their first step.

12. You seem to be poor in maths. You have got D grade in two papers in math.

me: Grades aren't indicative of a person's talent.

13. But they do indicate how you have performed in the exams. Don't they??

{ I answered about Fourier transforms and cauchy's integral theorem being so tough for me intially. But they form a vital part of many other subjects and I pointed out a few in which I had scored A. The least I could do. }

14. Last quetion. Why should we take you?

IIM Lucknow

GD Topic: "Politicians are the same all over the world. They will talk about building bridge even where there is no river."

We had to write an essay about the same topic for about 10 mins. The idea is to evaluate the content of the student even before the GD.

For a moment the topic seemed to be vague. But it had lots of fundamental questions to be asked. Ofcourse we were supposed to talk about POLITICIANS. Is 15 mins ENOUGH???

I and another gentleman were donning the discussion. Hailing from Tamil Nadu I was never short of examples. Kalaingar's "A TV for every household" did the magic.

Interview: It lasted for 13 mins exactly. But was I really unlucky?? I should wait untill the results are out. This was clearly my worst performance. But everyone felt so. It was a cool interview for many people and never lasted more than 15 mins. I personally felt bad because I fear they could have hardly judged me by the answers I gave.

1. What make you feel happy?

me: Pat came a grandiose reply. Following my dreams and feeling a sense of control over life makes me Happy Sir.

2. Why are you so diplomatic? It was meant to ease you up. Are you tensed?

me: No Sir. I said normally I feel happy when I am with my friends. blaw blaw...

3. Why have you got such poor grades in maths? Math II - D, Material Science - D, Electronic Circuits II - D

me: {Jesus. It surely wasn't my day.} I wasn't actually prepared for that. Said the class performed almost in the same way barring few As and Bs. I pointed out how I worked out my weaknesses and performed well in the next two years. I had never got less than C after 4th sem.

4. Your University seems to be too lenient. You know in IIML if you get (2 Fs) you are out. or (4 Ds). or (1 F and 2 Ds)

me: I realised that D was mere pass in IIMs. In our college it is a little better.(60-70%). But he never seemed satisfied.

5. You have said you are the Team Lead. What are your responsibilities?

me: Answered

6. What can we do with a datawarehouse?

me: Thats from my work ex. Defined a datawarehouse.

7. Tell me two applications for it in Sales and two in Finance.

me: Talked about Performance tracking, Marketing strategy evaluation, data mining etc. Couldn't differentiate for Finance. Any Financial data can be analysed across geographies and timelines. I wasn't to specific.

8. Which management subjects you have studied in college?

me: Principles of Management, Engg Economics, TQM.

9. What is Producer's surplus?

me: Talked about demand and supply curves and if one produces quanity greater than what the market demands it will be a surplus. { That was bull shit. The actual answer is way different. Lemme explain now. Any quantity can be sold at a particular price. If the price increased the quantity demanded reduces and vice versa. Similary the supply increases, the price also increases. So the producers usually decide on the equilibrium price which is found at the intersection of demand and supply curve. Now if we look at the graph below equilibrium point the product could have been sold even at a lower price than the equilibrium price. The excess amount made by selling at the equilibrium price is the producer's surplus. }

10. What is TQM?

me: Told about Quality. Deming & Juran. etc { Should have talked abt TCS quality processes too :( }.

11. What is Deming's philosophy.

me:I remembered it had 14 points but I could recollect none. :(

12. What is the turnover for TCS?

me: Answered.

13. Who is heading it?

me: At last I felt insulted since the questions were deliberately easy. I added about the next potential CEOs also.

Two more questions which I am not able to recollect now.

Overall I wasn't too happy in comparison to my previous experience.

IIMI Interviews

It was held in People Education Society(PESIT) campus, Bangalore. We were again split into 10 per batch.

Case Study discussion:

The case for the day was about a clash in management styles. A young MBA in the marketing team closes two important deals but with crucial deadlines. The Operations team is headed by a senior person who always thinks long term and fears he would have to compromise on quality if he had to work with such deadlines. There comes the clash of egos and the production manager escalates the issue to the chairman and recommends for the young fellow's transfer.

I made decent contributions overall. Cases are my forte and let me skip the points.

Interview: Indore is known for its mimicking of IIMA. Right from the Data forms to the cases to the drilling in acads, they just love doing it the Latter's way. Mine lasted about 25 mins. There were two people, a lady about 45 and a techie guy about 30.

1. The lady started of with the cliched tell me about yourself.

2. What are your interests?

me: I started off with my favourite, gaming, graphic designing. Talked about team gaming back in college. My contributions during college fests and symposiums. { I had developed my department's wensite too.}

3. So you have your own website?

me: Of course mam. I had developed one during college but never hosted it. Then the emergence of freewebs and blogs made it simpler.

4. what is its address?

me: She noted it down as if she s definitely gonna see it. { Got lot of work to do now :) }

5. What books do you read?

me: I prefer self-improvement, science and non-fictions. I rarely buy some famous fictions suggested by my friends.

6. What was the recent non-fiction you read?

me: The world is Flat by Thomas Friedman

The interview went similar to IIMK. But much more deaper. Thank God I had done my homework after last interview. Was able to give a clear picture about Globalization, Glocalization, flatteners etc. I steared it into Stiglitz's views on TRIPS/pharmaceuticals etc.

7. What is a patent? How is it different from IPR?

me: Answered. Also mentioned that India had only process patents. I said i Wasn't sure product patents has been implemented in India or not. She mentioned it has been implemented recently.

8. How do you think product patents will affect Indian Pharma companies?

me: I said the basic business models of Indian pharma like Ranbaxy. How it exploits expired patents and cash-in on cost advantages.

8. What else do you do in free time?

me: Hope she was looking for movies and music stuff. Said i watch movies of all genre. I am a die hard fan of steven spielberg. I Also mentioned that i have the full collection of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and watch it often.

9. What was the latest movie you saw?

me: Blood Diamond.

10. What does it mean?

me: It is also called as war diamonds/conflict diamonds. The movie brings to light the illegal diamond smuggling in some of the crisis ridden countries of Africa and how it is used to fund the war in the region. Sierra Leone, Angola, congo are some of the countries linked with it. I also mentioned about the links with Liberia, Kimberley and Europe.

11. Who were the cast?

me: Di caprio and Connely. Not sure about the african.

12. What is the next big thing almost similar to diamonds? It is also called a Blood something.

me: I was clueless. Guessed it could be Ivory since there is lot of poaching. Also said oil could be another but not as much as middle east. Its found only in gabon.

She said Ivory was a good guess. But its cocoa. Blood choclolates was the answer. { Gosh she knew everthing i brought up }

{Over to the techie} :((

13. Ok we'll start with electronic devices. Tell me how potential energy is converted to kinetic energy in an electronics device.

me: I started of with a diode and later realised i couldn't pluck anything with that. Then decided to use a simple voltage source to explain how it has potential energy. Basic law from eletrostatics. Then how its is converted to kinetic energy when the terminals are shorted or a network is connected to the source.

14. Have you done soldering? what is it made of?

me: Said i had done during a mini project in first year. It had 50% Tin but forgot the other half. { It was lead }.

15. Why is tin used?

me: Said because it binds easily with copper.

16. Is it just binding? There is something else.

me: Not sure sir { of course it was its low melting point.}

17. I will give you pure iron, copper and aluminium. Which of these transfers heat faster?

me: { Material science sucks }. I said I had forgotten the physical properties of metals. There must be some coefficient for that. Tried explaining how heat is actually transfered through collision and constant emission and absorption of EMW by atoms in conduction band.

18. It was a simple GK question. you have complicated it.

me: smiles

19. What is a microprocessor?

me: Phew at last . Blasted off with all i knew about uP an uC. Said I had done two projects in uC itself.

20. What is MRI?

me: Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

21. Thats it? How does it work? Why some people are adviced not to go for it?

me: Said I haven't read about it anywhere. It is used for brain scans and tumours.

22. You have got an 'A' in Medical electronics and you say you haven't read about it???

me: ( poor me. we definitely didn't study that. but when i said that he gave a harsh reply that he knew evertything in AU syllabi. :((( }

23. Explain microwaves using some application.

me: Talked about the obvious microwave oven. Its functioning. How water molecules are oxidised. Why we cannot heat food without water content. Caution to be taken while heating pure water etc etc.

24. This anybody using oven will know. What do you know as an engineer from a premier institute Sir?

me: { great insult } I described the freq range. Its uses in communication. Adv: Directivity and high energy. Disadv: Multipath fading etc. { I forgot to mention the whole concept of waveguides and applications. may be he was expecting it }

25. Thank you. Do you have any questions?

me: I had already got up and collected my file. So decided to leave peacefully. :)))

Lesson learnt:

1. Acads, acads, acads.{ Why didn't I give CAT back in college.}

2. I was saved only because the interview focussed on my interests. If it were to be current affairs i am royally screwed.

IIMK interviews

February 14th - Valentine's day. For the first time in my life this day had a significance. It was my first attempt at selling myself to the IIMs and I could already feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I was supposed to be at The Monarch Hotel, Brigade road for the Kozhikode interview. There were around 30 people who had turned up and three panels waiting for their preys.


GDs at Kozhikode are usually a small piece of article about which we are expected to discuss for about 15 mins. The article was about whether panchayats have to be brought under the constitution and their roles in public works, education and health.


I couldn't recollect even a gist about the panchayat raj reforms. So I chose the defensive and tried defining panchayats and their nature. I went in three times with valid points and went with the croud rest of the time. I contrasted the pros and cons of having a local administration. The possibilities of a village head actually being as efficient as a trained IAS officer. Issues involving the powers that can be vested and not vested. I brought about the dangers in enabling the panchayats to have judicial powers since it could sometimes even violate the constitution. I finally talked about how it can and has helped in local infrastructure development and education.


Interview lasted for 30 mins. It was a well balanced interview that didn't spare a single area of testing. There were two profs one who knows everything under the sun and another a techie. It started off with a comment about my funky specs matching the tie.


1. Tell me about yourself? -

me: I answered. {I could hardly finish my third sentence when the other person interrupted}


2. I am bored of asking technical questions for the previous junta..tell me about your interests.

me: Gaming, Computer graphics designing, watching hollywood movies, reading non-fiction etc.


3. What games? cricket? football?

me: No sir. But i am a computer gamer.


4. Why computer games? {Said the stuff i had prepared. reasons, fav genre, my learning through it.}


5. Don't you think it is not good for your vision? what kind of games you play. { I tried to weigh the pros and cons and finally justify my stance. I also said i am good at FPS and RPG games}


6. So you love killing ohters? are you so cruel inside you?

me: { I was puzzed. Said it is not about killing others but the struggle for existence. I said I can't afford to lose my concentration even for a moment else i'll take a bullet on my forehead. Brought in the management skills of strategic planning, tactical moves, sensitivity and agility into conversation. I was convinced but he wasn't - probably he had never seen a computer gamer play before. A good lesson learnt.}


7. So where do you buy these game CDs?

me: {I could see something coming up} I usually buy them in landmark. But we do share games among our friends. I blurted out that i do buy some pirated games if i am desperate about a game.


8. So you don't find it unethical to encourage piracy?

me: { Now see that was my nemesis. I tried to bring in the current nature of piracy in US and India. I tried to contrast them and also how companies like MS are actually encouraging just to gain market penetration. But frankly he wasn't satisfied with the way I compromised my ethics. :( }


9. Do you watch movies?

me: {I said yes. But this time I was careful in saying that i like watching them in theatre. :) }


10. ( He questioned about why I had taken a course on C as well as NCFM.)

me: { I said they were taken at different stages in my life and it is not in chronological order in my file }


11. Few questions on NCFM - what module. what were the syllabi. what you learnt out of it. where are you strong. one question about equities.

me: answered everthing


12. (Finally acads). Your favourite subjects?

me: digital electronics and communication theory.


13. what is Frame relay? {bulll shitt}

me: {It was remotely communication topic. I said it was a protocol used in computer communication. didn't remember its layers or operation}


14. Is it related to ISDN?

me: Sir i think it is the backbone of the Integrated subsriber digital network. { I wasn't sure of the expansion though. So i said i have forgotten completely }


15. Have you studied satellite communication?

me: {A proud Yes.} :)


16. How many satellites are required for a GPS system?

me: I think it can be implemented with a geostationary network since its main objective is to track an entity at any point at any time instant. This can be accomplished with three Geo sats at 120 degrees apart along equator.


17. I don't want you to design a GPS. just tell me how many satellites are used in reality?

me: Definitely don't know sir.


18. Should it necessarily be a geo? what height are the geo satellites located?

me: It need not be sir. I forgot the distance sir.


19. Have you heard of GPRS.

me: { Thank god.I said its expansion. Its purpose. how data is transfered and services possible with GPRS.}


20. How to avoid packet loss in a GPRS network?

me: { clueless. Iterated the ways loss can occur. data corruption. complete packet loss. CRC. source and destination addresses etc. But never answered the question asked :)) }

We also discussed about LAN(ethernet). should it always be CSMA/CD or can we use TCP/IP.


21. What was the recent book you read?

me: I mentioned "The world is flat" by Thomas Freidman.


22. Who is he?

me: He is an economist from California Univ. { I think it was way wrong. He is a journalist and columnist from New york Times}

I talked about his views on Globalization. Its impact on the world economy, software and developing nations. Brought in Joseph Stiglitz and his anti-globalization views on WTO/TRIPS, pharmaceuticals etc. He had been to chennai last week and I happen to download his speech too. So that when was when I dominated the interview.


23. Has anyone of them got a Nobel Prize?

me: Freidman received one during 2001 sir. { Everything was right except for the name. It was Stiglitz. }


24. What is our GDP growth rate? How have the three sectors perfomed?

me: answered


25. What is inflation?

me: { I had read the yesterday's newspaper in and out. I defined it. How india has performed in the past. How it occurs. cost-push and demand-pull inflation etc.}

He went into the recent decision by RBI. { I said the CRR raise by 50 basis points. why it was done. What will happen because of that. I had a confident answer for that.}

But it was my bad luck that it wasn't a demand pull but a supply side scarcity that affected the commodities which were very inelastic. He asked me how increase in lending rates will actually bring down the consumption of rice and dal. It would rather increase the cost of money for industries thus spiralling the prices even higher in a vicious cycle. Obviously I had to say a humble don't know finally :))))


26. Is Reddy out of his mind then? what is thelogic behind it?

me: I had already run out of steam and said i didn't have enough theoretical backing to continue the argument.

He made a comment that YVR is indeed nuts and laughed. They were pleased about the way the discussion ended. I was more than happy since it being my first and not performing very badly in acads which I had never dared to touch.


Lessons learnt:


1. Games should be bought legally. Atleast thats how these guys want to hear.

2. Academics have to be revisited at any cost.