One FunDay this Friday, the 27th of Novemeber 2009!

Before the habit of blogging degenerates in me I better re-kindle it. Let me pen down atleast a chronology of events that I did today as a starting bet.

Today I got to participate in the first group outing at Microsoft after I joined the organization. It was a great day out there at Runway 9. Moved to campus in my car, to find an email that said that buses are ready. So hurriedly rushed from my desk to the bus bay to realize that we follow Indian timings in Hyderabad. Well, no disrespect to the organizers, I fully understand how such morale events begin in a lazy fashion. With about 40mins delay than the scheduled time we set off to the venue, in the mid-way picking up folks who were waiting on the bus route. Reached the place, had a welcome juice and went on an indoor gaming spree for a while until its lunch time. It was a decent lunch with two N-V dishes (just that no fry item :( ) and an ice-cream+jamun dessert. Post lunch it's the all-hands time, with Nagesh creatively engaging the crowd in a useful-to-leadership-yet-activity-filled event. It was 3.15p.m by then and the long wait to go do a ride on the motor karts ended. Karting was on and me with the additional coupon that Dhana lended me was ready to do double the sanctioned lapses (12 in place of 6). After a bit of painful wait in the red hot sun, my turn came and I thoroughly participated in the race, punching up my andrenaline all through out the 12 lapses. Then briefly spent playing air hockey before go grabbing few bajjis and juices as snacks. Post snacks it's one half hour of quality fun in a game of Laser Combat before it was time to hit back to campus. All in all, quality funday this Friday has been. Thank God I attended and recharged myself and poor all who had the opportunity to attend but decided to stay back and laze at homes!

Vehicle Registration Process under Kondapur RTO region

Of late, despite having free time, I've been away from blogging. What was I really doing in all that free time I had between jobs? Answer is... I adventured to get our car registered myself without paying a penny to any broker (YESSSS I did it!). In the process I gained a lot of IP that I would like to share to help fellow enthusiasts looking for such information.

(Assuming that you bought a new vehicle from an authorized dealer and made all payments to him and are in good terms with him, blah blah blah...)
1. Ask the showroom/dealer to give you a docket of documents that include Road Tax payment receipt, Invoice original, Insurance paid receipt, Form 21, if you got it financed then a couple of documents financer shares with the dealer etc.
2. If you plan to get a special number, then

a. Go to Attapur RTA office (RTO activities are computerized in Hyderabad, and Attapur is the regional hub in this part of the city to make any special entries into the system like blocking a number against an applicant etc) – address is to the left side of road at Pillar number 143 of PV Narasimha Rao Expressway flyover when going towards Shamshabad from Mehdipatnam side
b. Collect the application (costs Re.1) for special number reservation just at the office entrance.
c. Go into the office and spot the charts that are nailed to the pillars which tell what is the price of each special number. If you had a number in mind, see what it’s price is, any unlisted number can be reserved by paying a DD for Rs.5000/- (for car) and 2000/- (for bike) I guess.
d. If you want to chose a number from available numbers. Find out in another notice board where on that particular day what all numbers are available for reserving (it will be a list of 1000 numbers with some of them being already reserved and marked as unavailable). In that list itself the series prefix (viz. AP 28DC or AP 28 DD )that is applicable to those number will be mentioned on the top.
e. Take a DD on the name “Secretary RTA, Rangareddy” for the amount applicable to the number you chose.
f. Fill the application form with the temporary registration and the desired permanent registration (running series number followed by the chosen number), the DD amount and DD particulars.
g. Submit the application before 1p.m at Counter 1
h. Wait until 3p.m if anybody else on that same day requested for the same amount, in which case an auction sorts will happen at 3p.m and if you desperately want the number then you bid more than the other contestant and secure the number.
i. If there is no clash to the number you requested and or you secured the number by bidding more than the others you would be given a letter confirming that the permanent number is reserved on your name.

3. If you have a Form-20 prepared by your dealer annex to it the docket of documents given by dealer (if you don’t have Form-20, collect a new vehicle registration application form and fill it and annex the documents) and submit at the RTO Kondapur office counter, along with Address Proof (telephone bill) and ID proof documents (PAN card/Voter ID card) of the vehicle owner and a self addressed envelope in which you would be receiving your RC card. The clerk will verify and ask for any missing documents. He will ask the vehicle owner to sign on an electronic pad which will appear on RC card.
4. If you have secured your number by reserving it earlier (refer Step 2) attach to the set of documents (as the top most document) the Attapur RTA given order letter.
5. Applications are received at Kondapur RTO office only till 1p.m for new vehicle registrations
6. All the applications received on a particular day are arranged serially in alphabetical order and given registration numbers as per the rolling series. In case you’ve reserved the number (refer Step 2) that number is allotted to you.
7. Your RC card is prepared and couriered to you using the self addressed envelope you annexed along with the application documents
8. Show the RC and get two number plates (one for vehicle front and one rear) from “Veerigaadu & Co. Art Works and signboards” and put them on your vehicle and ... dummu repuko po!

A page from a successful lover's diary!

I always dreamt of whom I can choose as a life time partner. I came to know of a girl some 9 years ago and in the first five years I remained a silent observer of her conduct and increasingly began to feel that probably she is the one with that right mix of modesty, intelligence and traditional values that I was searching for. End of five years of silent observation I decided that if there is one person I’d put a tough fight for in my life then this must be her. This is the goal I set for myself – I must marry her!
But given my own complex criterion of choice, I made my own life miserable in trying to impress her as a suitable match. The journey was long, tough but in the end all so satisfying. I knew, given how traditional she is at her conduct, she won’t do a thing that her parents will not approve of. So I made all efforts to get into the good books of her parents while ensuring that I don’t appear desperate all at the same time (even if I hear a ‘NO’, there should be life beyond for me, isn’t it?). Having a more or less similar cultural background enabled me to assess what would be apt and what would not be apt to do when interacting with her or her parents in social settings. However, during several of the interactions I had with her parents I came to know the importance they are levying on the nature of qualification of a potential groom. With just an under graduate degree identical to the one she has I seemed not to be at any worth mention advantage in being considered seriously by her parents. This expedited the need to take a quantum jump into a reputed college’s MBA program. Nothing more convincing than an entry into IIM to convey my capabilities in her parent’s minds! In all earnest I mustered my abilities, attempted CAT and made it to IIMB (small clarification: An MBA from IIM also had several other personal reasons, this being one of the key catalyst reasons). Only post that achievement I dared to propose her.
While so much I endeavored to impress her parents, I had to equally keep her engaged till I came out with flying colors in my higher studies preparation. Since the path I chose was a long one, if she lost her patience any earlier and said a ‘Yes’ to any other marriage proposal at hand I’d have failed in my mission. At the same time I have to also put in tremendous efforts in gaining that individuality at my home to be allowed to choose my life partner as against the prevalent norm of parents deciding the match in the region I hail from. All in all after two and half years of diligent efforts I put together my act to propose and get an acceptance. But that is only half the efforts, a successful marriage of both of us meant bringing two heterogeneous families together. Mindsets are different, regional backdrops too are different while I hail from a village she is born and brought up in a metropolitan. I spent time to drill down the commonalities in values and beliefs that both the families hinged against and connect the customary traditional differences in a way both the families could comprehend. Add to all this, I had to do much of those things while continuing my hectic schedule at IIMB. It was a marathon effort of one and half more years for many of us involved, and as recently as this November all aspects were set in place and we both married each other. Not to mention that I had to fly in from my exchange university in Germany to marry and return back. As mentioned it was a tough trek all through, but the accomplishment in the end was worth every single calorie of effort.

A sweet thought for fast pacing pairs!

Imagine a situation where everyday evening you rush to open up your inbox to find that short but sure communication from your beloved. Nothing different from what you read 24hrs ago, same kind of message with just a few different words and sentence constructs used. But the message is that of sharing love and concern, an evergreen special, from that special friend, beloved and spouse.
In a fast paced world of pairs (married or in a relationship) both working at different geographic places each... wouldn't such a communication help them curse their fates less and continue to feel bonded and together. I believe it definitely does. What do you think?

sick and tired of material well being and caste system

All around me I get the feeling that there is a pressure situation thickening about material well being. I just finished watching a touching movie and later an intimate chat with my best friend and then reflected back on how things are going in my life and in the life of my friend. Everyone you seek advice to keep advising only one thing... earn money. Their wisdom boils down to money can fetch you any happiness, so earn loads of money. This is the typical left brained thought. But sorry, now am no mood to think left minded. I for once felt like giving my heart a chance and see what the whole thing appears to it. As expected, it is complaining. It is posing some tough questions that are eluding my rationality. When did I feel most happy, is it when I relaxed in the most luxurious cars an ibanker can or is it when I played holy happily with the kids in the orphanage home. Certainly while doing the later.Till when should I earn, can someone please tell me. I'll start with at least a 12hr a day job. I spend in that job for some 2years to find that I'm promoted (read materially more well'd off) to work in more responsible roles for another 5 more years, another uplift in my material well being and another 5 more years. By then I'd be nearing my 40s. And can I retire then? I'd be told - 'No way, kids are coming along how could you renounce your responsibilities at such a crucial time'. So another at least 10 more years. By then I'd be in my 50s and all those cherishable moments I could collect will all be long lost by then.A peek into my friends plight tells me more worry is due even later. Hoping you slough all till your 50s and build a stock of 'material wealth' you would then not want your kids to go marry someone they like but rather try to find a match into an equally 'materially well off' or even more well off families. Anything they would do to find a match for themselves on the contrary (read love a creative mate but not so well off) would be treated as a sin. To make things more worse society norms of caste creep in. Is it not more important to lead a life of love and happiness with a person who can understand you and stand by you in the thick and thin, rather than ignorantly select someone of your caste and of equal material wealthiness and sob for the rest of the life. Why do inter-caste marriages get treated so meanly and parents of kids who committed them behave so defensively as if they are ashamed of themselves? Purely irrational in the end, isn't it?

సలహాలు కావలెను...

మొదటిసారి పెళ్లి చేసుకొంటున్న వరుడుకి లగ్నాలకు మరియు పెళ్ళికి సమకూర్చుకోవాల్సిన వస్త్ర సముదాయం గురించి మంచి సలహాలు సూచనలను ఈ క్రింది చిరునామాకు పంపగలరు


కేర్ అఫ్ - మర్లీనీ హోమ్బుర్గేర్ , ౩ లోరెంజ్వేగ్ , క్లుఫ్తెర్న్-లిప్బాక్, ఫ్రీద్రిక్సఫెన్ , జర్మనీ.

update

చక్కటి సెలెక్షన్స్ చేసిపెట్టినందుకు దీప్తి కందిమళ్ళ కు Special Thanks!!!

German Student Visa - A big pain! (part 1)

Watch out folks if you plan to visit Germany as a student. Getting Visa can be a pain all over the body. To ease the pain what you can do is start your visa process good 4 months before ur travel date. I started mine 3 months before and I got the visa stamped just on the day of my flight to Frankfurt. I’m penning down here the whole episode just in case it might help any of you looking for the same. To cut the story short, I’d write what happened after the receipt of invitation letter from German university.

Some time in mid June, I guess, I received an e-mail attachment of my invitation letter to spend one fall term (Sep-Dec) at Zeppelin University, Germany. The letter mentioned that while the university would like to help in whichever way they can, Visa procedures are solely the responsibility of the candidate. What that means is, it’s upto me to figure out all the modalities starting from what all documents I should procure and submit to till collecting the stamped visa.
A little web browsing gave the info that VFS is also the facilitator for Germany embassy, much like US case. In Bangalore the VFS-Germany centre is located in St.Mark’s Road, in a commercial complex named Sophia’s Choice, right opposite to Hotel Nandini. Good thing is that the complex has a free bike park area. [It is always full, but if you look hard you would find just enough space to move existing bikes and shove in yours in between.]
Many friends say many things about what documents to furnish, but what VFS center folks tell would be the most reliable info (they in fact give you a check-list with appropriate things tick-marked as per your visa requirement, if you visit their office and explain what your need is). At the risk of undermining my earlier statement I still am listing down the essential documents I could think of for a German student visa. Ah! I forgot to mention one thing, which appears now trivial to me but wasn’t that trivial when I began my visa formalities.
“Any person who wants to stay in any Schengen country (browse internet for what all countries of European Union form the Schengen region, Germany is certainly part of Schengen area) for a period of less than or equal to 90days can avail a Schengen Visa from any of the Schengen country consulate. If the stay is going to be for more than 90 days, one has to apply for the long-term/residence permit type of Visa.”

List of essential documents for German Student Visa:
Passport
Invitation Letter from University (English must, nice to have in German also)
Bank Statement for past 1 year
Letter from Bank mentioning the balance in your bank account both in rupees and equivalent euro amount (as per that day’s exchange rate)
German translation of above letter
Cover letter by candidate to Consulate seeking Visa
German translation of above mentioned cover letter
Filled long-term stay application form (application form can be downloaded from chennai german consulate website, or picked up free of cost from VFS-Germany center)
Bio-metric photo (have at least four in number)

With these in hand, I went to VFS-Germany center in St.Mark’s Road to book the mandatory appointment with consulate. Some one said the visa fee is 4100, but did not mention the 776 rupees of service fee. First time I tried to book my visa appointment I was short of 60 rupees and had to go the next day and book the appointment.

After the first personal visa interview in Chennai, I was told to collect my passport end of that week. I felt glad. Alas, the received passport doesn’t have any visa stamping on it. In the meantime I found out that the Visa stamping is not any near, and it’s a long way later to happen. From July 21st when my first visa interview was over, the executives whoever they may be, Germans or Indians, took their sweet long time to approve me a student visa after verifying with my german university and bank statements. While for my friend who was interviewed on the same day, who is from my college going on exchange to the same university the approval came before July end itself, my approval letter was generated only in the second week of August (15 days of delay for no conceivable valid reason). More comedy is yet to begin… for the executives in German consulate, Chennai it took 6 days to courier a piece of paper that I was repeatedly mentioning that I badly need to schedule my second personal interview (yes, it’s two rounds of personal interviewing for Germany, though one would argue it is not worth the salt when even for U.S it’s just one personal interview only).
Back home I mentally made up my mind that I would have to reschedule my flight dates (which would mean not just monetary loss but also a lot of personal disadvantage) as I waited eternally for the visa approval letter. Days passed by and my end-terms began. In he midst of my exams, on 23rd August when I had two exams 9a.m to 11.15a.m and 2.30p.m-6.30p.m, after the first exam was over I got a call from VFS-Germany center informing me that my visa approval letter arrived and that I should collect the same. When inquired what was the earliest date I could get if I have to book a second personal appointment, I was informed that it was 3rd September, which is the day I’ve my flight scheduled. I requested if a slot on that date can be blocked for me, but I was told that it’s not possible. And on top, I was fortunately or unfortunately, informed that the interview slots can be grabbed away by anyone from any of the other VFS centers as they speak. What this meant was – “JC! You better rush and book the appointment in person NOW, or else you risk rescheduling your flight”. I looked at my watch and it showed exactly 2hr 10minutes for my second exam to begin. I took a very risky call and started from my room towards VFS centre. Did I get my interview scheduled on 3rd? Did I miss my exam? (… know in my next post)

You gotta do it!

You gotta dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they tell you - you can't do it. You want something, you go get it. Period. - The Pursuit of Happyness

IIM interviews help

Hi there,
Though these days I'm not having time to pen down content to post on blog, what I thought I could do is scout for useful content existing on my hard-drive already and post it verbatim (no time to do the editing job either. sounds like a bit too much, but that's the fact). In the process I found a recent chat that involved advice on IIM interview preparation. Given the time of the year when many interviews are happening, I thought I should host the same here as it might someone out there seeking advice. So here you go... [standard disclaimers on typos, grammar etc. hold :)]
**** Begin of chat ****
11:20 AM Amar: hi..
me: hello
Amar: do uremeber me .. i was a st yr when u graduated in IIIT just had a small clarification
1st r u busy ?
11:21 AM me: go ahead, if u think it doesn't take much time
Amar: i got shortlisted for this yr for iim b could tell me about ur interview
me: ok... congratulations, that's a great news
11:22 AM Amar: thanks.. but gp p iis still htere there
me: gimme 1min
Amar: no prob.. i could ping later.. if u want
me: I'd sure respond
11:23 AM hi amar, I had B, I and L shortlists
11:24 AM I and L intvs preceeded B
Amar: oh same for me..
me: so in once sense i got some warm up how has the prep for GD and PI been for you so far. Did you take help of any coaching insti in this regard. It does help
11:25 AM at least for me it did
Amar: yea.. i took time classes
me: good GD and PI
Amar: all my interviews have been very short.. infact k lasted for less than 10 mins
yea
11:26 AM me: are you a fresher? don't worry about the timing
Amar: no 2007 passout
me: ok
11:27 AM i feel the appropriate advice for you would be... list down 3 significant learnings at your work place, that you'd have in your kitty to talk confidently about
11:28 AM Amar: k..
me: if you managed any crisis, accomplished significant success against odds etc. for a 1yr or less person technical details will be thorough quizzed also
11:29 AM Amar: oh..
me: choose some 3 topics/subjects of your graduation are you the ECE grad or CSE grad from IIITH?
Amar: ce ece
11:30 AM me: in which case, I feel in the light of ongoing telecom players spectrum allocation row, u might be quizzed on fundamentals of what spectrum means what CDMA is , what GSM is
Amar: oh..
me: the person who asks you this question, mind you, need not be a guy with any technical knowledge on it in depth.
11:31 AM but take it for granted he has loooooooot of behavioral knowledge on the same
11:32 AM Amar: wow.. the interviews are really that thorough ?>
me: He might not know what CDMA full form is and what GSM full form is, but would know that CDMA is the best technology to use in a region thta has lot of particular disturbances like dust, pollution etc.
11:33 AM but don't panic
what you can cleverly do is
Amar: my fyp was on cdma :(
me: I did this. It helped me. Take each topic area and be the interviewer for yourself
11:34 AM start darting questions one after the other one question based on the previous answer. make a list of 30-40 questions with google at handsreach, finding answers is not at all tough
11:35 AM Amar: yea..
me: when you are finding out an answer mind you, you shouldn't spend hours on one question. Enough content that makes you appear knowledgeable, typically 3-5 sentences is all that you need
11:36 AM Amar: i had the list of questions too.. for ece k
me: within these 3-5 sentences summary answer see if a leading question can be asked
11:37 AM List of standard questions that people compile based on some test-papers and guides frequently asked questions section. That is a good read, but the approach I'm suggesting is that of making you appeal to the interviewer
Amar: yes i got that part
me: having analyzed few topics from those many angles, you'd invariably begin to feel confident on the topic
11:39 AM Proving theorems level kind of quizzing, you know would not be there, all you need to come out is having general grasp till atleast two levels deep on topics
Amar: so concepts first and details later ?
me: it is very unlikely that you run into the hands of a electrical engineer who comes to quiz you on finer details of complex theorems
Exactly you hit the nail right on the head
11:40 AM concepts general grasp (not too shallow either, at least two questions deep) you should have
11:41 AM now in the interview room what you do is the earliest you can, try to drag the interview towards these concepts that you have famialarized yourself with
11:42 AM Veer the discussion to your comfortable areas by annexing phrases or highlighting technical words that pique the interviewer interest to ask you a related question
Amar: they will see through that right..
11:43 AM me: if you bring in extraneous phrases quite not gelling then they might see through it
11:44 AM but in the very intro about yourself you highlight that while doing your FYP you had the best exposure of all the four years of graduation that might with great chance pique the interest of interviwer to ask sth about your fyp
Amar: hmm were u asked on al lthis in urs ?
11:45 AM me: i was asked about cdma and gsm some examples for countries using the both technologies that time hutch was being acquired by vodafone
Amar: oh..
11:46 AM me: try to show you have an opinion of yours on the contemporary issues that are happenign in the newspapers thta days newspaper is a must read, to be on safer side. if not at least the previous day's
Amar: doing that ..
me: in TIME you might have already been told about how important it is to have an opinion of your own, than merely stating facts
Amar: i mean not deep and all but..
11:47 AM yes...
me: i was asked do you think it's wise for vodafone to buy hutch
11:48 AM Amar: wooa
me: i didn't have that great an insight about the benefits entitled for vodafone in the deal, but in general i told given the growth story of indian telecom sector it makes sense to enter india
Amar: yea.. its biggest market the11:49 AM
me: and hutch is a sizeable player to make a headway in, rather than trying the route of acquiring stake in Airtel in bits and pieces
11:52 AM I think for answers like these which you get to improvise then and there, as in they are not what you planned and prepared for before hand, you can add in a humbleness element like "... while actual extent of the synergies is not fully known to me, but I think from a very aggregate view it makes sense to acquire hutch because...blah blah blah" they appreciate that you can admit that you have to learn more on things
11:53 AM Amar: oh..
me: but avoid obsequious phrases like "I don't know, but if you say it could be true, I'm willing to accept it"
11:54 AM Amar: agreable?
me: they want you to base your decisions on the reasoning YOU make for yourself good or bad try to come out as a person who has sufficient individuality
11:55 AM that's all the general fundae I can talk of
To summarize, the key points
Develop concepts at at least 2-3 levels deep
11:56 AM too much details is secondary
Phrase your answers so that whenever you see a chance to veer the discussion to your comfort zone, you would do that
11:57 AM Amar: k..
me: prepare template answers about your work and extracurricular and cocurricular achievements you did in college, that you can on the cassette and keep the flow for minutes at stretch
11:58 AM Amar: extra-currics are also asked uon i guess ?
me: If you got a question in the prepared domain, nothing like that. but even for improvizing sort questions, take time out to include some sort of logic of YOUR own before uttering the answer
11:59 AM yeah, extra currics was one of my strength point and part of my strategy was to veer them towards that area
Amar: k.. i have trekking as a hobby too..
me: excellent
12:00 PM Amar: i was on two of tem during college
me: these kind of things matter a loooot they'd love to pick people who have done something different in life than routine 'mugging'
all the best for your interviews
12:01 PM how many over, how many more?
ok, u seem to busy.
I gotta go too. bye
***** End of chat*****

All the best to all aspirants!

Who won finally is Arjuna!

At a place where it all appears as rat race... equations all seem to be framed faultily... a non-rewarding-yet-highly-taxing place... 'fairness' logic is propogated to be working but you just are not able to see it in action and especially in your case all appears unfair. What do you do, when winning is all that matters? You win and you can only win by being Arjuna and not Karna. Deep subtle logic holds all the above sentences together. I don't care if a passer-by fails to understand this. I'm writing this for one specific person who is desperately seeking a solution. Good luck dude!