In Hindsight - NaMoMania : Mirage or Reality ?

Most candidates credit their losses or wins in 2014 elections to Modi Wave. What exactly is this wave and how did it start? Read on to know all about NaMoMania - the Modi Magic!!

There are over 1600 political parties in India out of which 47 are state level and 6 are national parties. One of them last week won an election after securing 282 seats on its own and 336 along with its allies. This for a country which has for last 30 years, seen a coalition government. A government depending on regional parties carrying enough weight to earn a veto power over the central government. However we as a nation spoke – enough is enough. Today we need a stable, strong and decisive government. Now we do not know if the government would be strong or decisive, but the electorate cannot be blamed now. All they could give to the government was stability and that they did.

However, one would need to wonder how did this party called the Bhartiya Janta Party rose up to such a marvelous performance. Many do credit Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister designate today, with this success and there is no doubt he did have a very big role in driving this election to BJP’s doors. He came out as a unifying figure for the cadre, a symbol of development, a proponent of progressiveness and a ray of hope for the country. All this combined with the dismal performance of the incumbent Congress government and lack of an alternative gave boost to his image and made masses incline towards believing in the dreams and aspirations he showed. When I look behind last few months, here are some of the observations which clearly seem to be the foundation of his campaign.

Hard Work – tirelessly and tersely

There is no substitute of hard work. This guy has tirelessly stretched himself to the core to reach out to the electorate. 440 election campaign rallies covering over 3 lakh kilometers across the breadth and length of the country is not an easy task. Compare it to the second largest such number which is something around 150 by “Yuvraaj” of the party with the incumbent government. Working continuously over long days and short nights (mostly limited to 3-4 hours) is one of the critical reasons how the guy took his message directly to masses. All this was done while ensuring that he is in the state capital every night to attend to the business as a Chief Minister.

Foresight – know well before it happens

It was in 2002 when the opposition started the campaign to put up the communal tag on this guy. It was definitely an unfortunate incident and NaMo did fail a part of the society by not being able to do enough. He tried to clear the air that it was not an intentional act but the situation that led to what happened. However within a couple of years, he realized that he could not fight the communal battle and probably would have to live with the tag. It was then that he decided to go the development way. When the sole point of opposition was his communal image, he took on the taking Gujarat on path of development as he foresaw that this was the only plank which could take him further and could dampen the tag stamped on him.

Perception – the mirage

The guy is simply a master of creating perception. Though I agree that he has done a lot of great work in Gujarat but in today’s world just doing good work is not enough. Taking that good work to the masses is an art and this guy perfected that art. When the opposition was oblivious of his intentions or was busy spending energy in “communalizing” his image, he started selling the image of Gujarat – a progressive state with industry friendly environment. This caught the fancy of business and masses equally. No one even considered raising question on his claims for quite long and by the time they woke up, it was actually very late. People of this country by then had accepted the image of Gujarat as NaMo showed it to them and story of development of Gujarat was written on stone. It was this perception he built his entire image on and en-cashed it during the national elections. While the opposition had to work hard to challenge his claims which by now were considered a gospel’s truth, the guy was busy selling aspirations of India becoming Gujarat. And for this use of short catchy one liners was definitely interesting when “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” and “Achche din aane wale hain” caught fancy of young and old alike and became words of use in everyday life.

Oratory Skills – how you say it matters more than how you do it

Just being clear on what you want to do and say is not enough. You need to be able to articulate it well enough that the people understand your vision, relate to it and are ready to rely on it. In all his speeches, interviews and interactions, NaMo showcased clarity of thought and will to convert thoughts in action. He may not have told people his implementation roadmap or list of activities but he highlighted the end goals. And the way he told that was perhaps convincing enough. No person opposing him was as great an orator as he was. Leader of the main party opposing him was pathetic at best and when the electorate compared their choices, they were not left with much of an option.

Feedback - seek and imbibe

Trusting yourself to be the best is good for self-confidence but one must realize that being perfect is only a notion. NaMo realized this and hence trusted his core research team to give him real-time and fruitful feedback. While he may have rejected many of the propositions, he definitely picked up the ones that were meaningful. Post every speech, he would take a view on which areas were strong and which needed work. Areas on improvement were identified and sorted out well before he was ready for his next speech which in best cases was only couple of hours away.  When a survey revealed that people loved Modi but did not relate him to the election symbol of BJP, he made every BJP spokesperson use the badge of symbol –lotus - on their shirts. He went in to the extent of flouting election rules to ensure media could use his name and lotus in the same sentence.

Opportunity - accept it on first knock

The guy did display a quality of grasping each opportunity to strengthen the mirage that his is. Manishankar Aiyer’s jibe of his background as “Chaiwala” – a tea seller – boomeranged badly. NaMo built up an entire channel of dialogue with public on that jibe when he started his famous “chai pe charcha” – talks over tea. Every session of that charcha reminded people of humble background of their PM candidate and took him a step forward. Priyanka Gandhi would have never thought in her dreams that her comments on way of his politics would somehow be twisted to extent where they would have a caste based context. If we look a bit backward, Sonia Gandhi’s “maut ke saudagar” – trader of death – remark was enough to create an entire state election campaign around it.

Technology – embrace with open arms

While there was a 40 year old Yuvraaj of a political dynasty put forward as a youth leader - one who was allegedly Harvard educated and son of a PM who spearheaded introduction of technology – who could not use the social media to interact with public. On the other hand was a 63 year old, graduate through correspondence and weak in English, used the media with such a vigor that he seemed more progressive than the former. Be it using audio/video conferences to deal with district administrations, using technology for e-governance or 3-d conferences for conducting extended rallies, the guy leveraged every option available to take his mission forward.

Tactical – not averse to what helps

While most of the aura around this guy is built around his progressiveness, he never forgets what worked in classical politics. He uses the issue of Ram Temple in areas where it helps, sends Amit Shah to probably polarize electorates to certain extent and exploits confusion around his caste to the best of his ability. He is not averse to responding to his opposition in the language they accuse him and still comes out of it gracefully. He is ready to agitate our minds with aggressive stance on Pakistan and Bangladesh while extending an olive branch to other neighbors. He was pro-active in coordination with the RSS to mobilize their cadre to support his cause. He joined hands with the right partners to balance the caste equations and to carry his message of Hinduism. He was ready to pull in leaders with somewhat grey background if they could deliver what mattered – seats. In short he used every trick in the book to ensure that the classical style of politics is not forgotten and best of it is carried forward.

It was all this that worked for NaMo towards creating a persona which was larger than the picture itself. BJP as a party was left behind and people came out to vote for one person – Narendra Modi. It was not the local candidates that people voted for. Many of those candidates were not known and may not be known today. It was this single man who asked for 300 lotuses and was given 336 instead. Yes the seats of NDA were swept on a large extent because of this guy. It was he because of whom people in states of Assam, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and many other states voted seats for BJP where the party had negligible presence. The general elections of 2014 and how they were fought are definitely going to be things to study about and many case studies would take birth on how to handle a marketing campaign. There are lessons for owners of brands to learn on how they can take their appeal to masses.

Most of these views are based on the media coverage and discussions with my friends and colleagues. So, if you disagree or think I have missed any points or have areas of improvement to offer, the comments box below is what you are looking for. If you agree, appreciation is always welcome. 

Picture References:

Modi Magic Cartoon - http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=114982

Modi MBA picture - http://insideiim.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/modi-marketing.png

Publisher: Unknown - 23:14

Kathmandu – The Spiritual Hub : Enchanting Nepal Part 1

It had been quite some time since we had visited a place purely for a purpose of tourist interest. This thought coincided with my project ending and my bro Amit’s upcoming birthday. This was what seeded the plan which finally decided a trip to Nepal – our friendliest of neighbors. We booked our package with Makemytrip and flights seats on Spicejet. 

The trip started at home on 29th of March 2014 with celebration of Amit’s birthday - cake cutting and an early lunch of Chola Bhaturas. Post this we left home at noon for a 3:50 flight as it was bros first trip on air and wanted him to see the magnificent terminal of Delhi Airport T3 and also to get a seat on left window to see the mighty Himalayas on the way – so asked for the same with request for it to be in front to give a view uninterrupted by the wings. Got the boarding pass and then proceeded to the immigration where a departure entry was stamped on the passports. The guy on the desk was curious about my Guwahati origins from the address on the passport and on some queries he really was astonished to hear that there was an IIT in Guwahati, and though I am not new to it but after 20 years of its existence, I would hope it gained some name for itself. Once into the departure areas we roamed to almost each nook and corner of the airport and had some light (second) lunch at the food court. This was followed by some window shopping and start of our activities to preserve the memoirs of the visit – picture taking. We reached the departure gate right at the time and boarded the plane after a short wait.

Meanwhile here is a video providing a glimpse into the city developed from our photographs of the trip.

After a flight of about 50 minutes which involved some light snacks and a cup of tea, we were served a view of mighty Himalayas all clad in white snow. While this had us excited we had no idea yet about how much more and better of this view we were going to have for ourselves for the rest of the visit. It was also about then that we began our descent towards Kathmandu and as the plane loses altitude we have a great view of the city to which we are headed to and of the great valleys amidst this mountain country. Finally the plane touched the runaway of Tribhuvan International Airport and we disembarked at 17:20 exactly. On first look the airport seemed to be located amidst the beauty of the nation surrounded by hills and with evening breeze it felt welcoming.

Soon we boarded the bus and were taken to the arrival bay. We filled in the arrival forms which they had in English for foreigners and in Nepalese for locals and then proceeded to the customs desk. It was a smooth walkthrough flashing the Indian Passport. It is seldom that you feel respected for being Indian and today was one of those days. As we moved out to the baggage collection area, the scene was similar to any of the airports in a non-metropolitan city in India. However an interesting thing to note was that as you come out of the airport building, there are people who actually cross-check the luggage you take out with the tags on your boarding pass to ensure that you pick your own luggage. Once we were out of the airport there were counters of Nepal Telecom and NCell which sold simcards for the respective telecom service providers in Nepal. The absolute emptiness of the Nepal Telecom’s stall which is a government entity tempted us to move to the NCell counter which is only private service provider in the country. The crowd there made us believe that they had better network and though I don’t have points for comparison, in absolute terms the network was pretty good and kept us connected throughout the trip. We got a simcard (they had a micros-sim available at an extra price of 40 NPR) and decked it up with a voice and data plan. In all we payed 450 NPR (Sim – 150, Voice Recharge – 150, Data Pack for 40 MBs – 150; call charges were 3.55 NPR to India, .5 NPR local and some free minutes to NCell network). We were now looking for some currency exchange but the counter at airport kind of laughed us off and other shops expressed inability and so we deferred that for later. Now in hindsight we know that it is absolutely unnecessary and Indian currency is accepted everywhere with a conversion ratio of 1:1.6 standard across the country. Just be sure to note that they call it IC and at times quote rates in IC so be sure of the currency you are negotiating prices in. We finally moved out of the airport and found a person from our Hotel waiting with a name card and we were taken to our accommodation – Hotel Indreni. The bell boy takes our luggage as we check in after filing out the required forms and enter the allotted room – Room 914. Entering the room was a pleasant surprise as I always had apprehensions with the Makemytrip service in terms of accommodation. It was a nicely set up room with two individual fairly large sized beds in a room which itself was decently sized. The room set up was modern and well facilitated with LED television, small refrigerator, hot tea kettle and contemporary ambience. The only dampener was that the wifi was only available in the lobby and the restaurant. However, there was a great the view of the city from the large window of the room.

We freshened up and went down to have a first experience of the city. We strolled around the area surrounding the hotel and interacted with a few locals and shopkeepers to gain some knowledge of how thing were. With everyone we interacted we felt a sense of inquisitiveness and connection they showed and overall the treatment meted was more of elderly brother. They considered us as if it was our own country, went out of ways to help, were eager to guide and were interested in conversing. It was after talking to them that every shop big or small across Nepal would accept Indian currency at a conversion rate of 1 INR to 1.6 NPR without hesitation. Though not technically allowed, in case you want as souvenirs or to make calculations easier they were willing to exchange some currency too. We picked up some snacks and returned to the room. As it was a special day, we ordered pizza from the hotel room service which came in soon. After the dinner we retired for the day looking forward to the five days of Enchanting Nepal ahead of us.


Next morning, we woke up relatively early and went down for the complimentary breakfast which had a decent spread of items. After the breakfast and calling home about our well-being we got ready for our day tour of the Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu Valley is collective name given to the city along with surrounding suburban areas including those of Patan and Bhaktapur. The entire valley is kind of spiritual hub with multiple places of religious importance especially for Hindus and Buddhists. The Kathmandu valley has in all seven monuments / areas declared as world heritage sites which includes two temples (Pashupatinath and Changu Narayan), two Buddhist stupas (Swayambhunath and Boudhnath) and three historical palaces (Durbar Squares of Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu). We had read a lot about these places as part of the preparation and were looking forward to have a taste of the country and were really happy to hear from the reception that our driver was there to pick us up. Our ride for the day was a 1990 model Toyota Corolla and was driven by a gentle guy Shukra who was friendly yet reserved.   

Our first stop for the day was Pashupatinath Mandir – The Shiva Temple - which is supposed to be one of the oldest temples and is visited by huge number of devotees from across the world to pay their homage. The temple because of large number of visitors is also called as “The Temple of Living Beings". Pashupatinath Temple, with its astonishing architectural beauty, stands as a symbol of faith, religion, culture and tradition. Regarded as the most sacred temple of Hindu Lord Shiva in the world, Pashupatinath Temple's existence dates back to 400 A.D. The richly-ornamented pagoda houses the sacred linga or phallic symbol of Lord Shiva and is situated beside the sacred Bagmati River. The courtyard of temple is also a renowned cremation site for Hindus. One interesting thing that we learned here was that the police force has a special group established to ensure security for temples which probably highlight the history of the country as a declared Hindu state. We picked up a souvenier at this site which was a five faced idol of Lord Shiva – the original idol is four faced and additional face is put up during aarti which marks the prayer time. On our way out we also witnessed the Batsleshwari Mai yatra – a procession where devotees sang hymns, chanted slogans and danced behind the deity’s idol mounted on a vehicle.

Next place we visited was the Boudhnath Stupa (entry fee of 40 NPR) which is one of the most important places of pilgrimage for Buddhists and is located amongst the hills which seem to form a natural mandala - store of sacred energy. It is one of the largest and most important Buddhist monuments across the world and in old days when trade routes to Tibet were open, traders and travelers prayed for safe passage across the mountain passes and gave thanksgiving on their return. Nowadays, the stupa towers over a small Tamang village which houses large number of Tibetan refugees. The main dome of the stupa is approximately 120 feet in diameter, 1 hectare in width and 43 meters in height. Within the area there were a few Gumbas – large rotating cylinders – which catch your fancy. The area around the stupa’s circumference has been developed as a market for souvenir. We had been out for a while and it was time for some quick snacks. A small restaurant called Flavors caught our attention because of Lonely Planet recommendation board and we chose it for the break. It did not disappoint up with its friendly though a bit slow service. 

This was followed with a visit to Swayambhunath Stupa also called the Monkey Temple which was another site of religious importance for Buddhists. Reaching this stupa involved an effort of climbing up more than 350 stairs but it was all worth it. Tourists like us may not have so much interest in the history and significance of the monument but the splendid view of the Kathmandu city was definitely something to look out for. The nickname of being a Monkey Temple was further strengthened by presence of hundreds of monkeys around the premises with a small pond for themselves designated as swimming pool for monkeys. Before climbing back down from the place, we bought singing bowl, a metallic bowl which produces various tones of sound suing a wooden stick and if properly concentrated, you could create a resonance effect which increases the tones based on how long you remain concentrated. We had seen this a-lot through various stops and were really intrigued so buying that was definitely on our list by now.

Next on the itinerary was the Hanuman-dhoka Durbar Square (entry ticket of 150 NPR). Located at heart of the city, it is a complex of beautiful temples and shrines important from Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Most of these are built in pagoda style and are embellished with intricately carved exteriors. Two of the things that caught our attention were the Durbar Museum (the palace) and Kumari Ghar. The palace was the residence and seat of administrative power in ancient time when king ruled the country and houses a lot of collection of things used by the rulers including those of the King Tribhuvan. The second place Kumari Ghar was much more intriguing though. This was a big brick building on Durbar Square and houses the Kumari - living goddess of Kathmandu. There are about 11 kumaris across Nepal, but the Kumari Devi (or Raj Kumari - royal goddess) in Kathmandu is the most important. There is a well laid out process for choosing a Kumari which is followed religiously. A 3-5 year old girl is chosen after confirmation of 32 specific signs of spirituality, matching of horoscope with that of present king and assurance of her bravery by placing in a room full of freshly severed buffalo heads. The girl thus chosen stays in this house being worshiped as a living goddess and all needs of hers along with her handlers are paid in full by the government. Besides for religious ceremonies and yatras, she only leaves the place on attaining puberty and returns back to her mortal life.

We followed this with a walk through the freak street which extended further to a visit to the Thamel area which is kind of a tourist hotspot. By then we already had lived a very long day and headed back to the hotel. Next morning we left the city for Pokhara, our next destination which was a promise of natural serenity and formed second leg of our journey. 

We visited Kathmandu again on our way back and spent a day. This time we had decided to tour the city on our own and experience the life in general. We visited several malls across the town especially those on the Durbar Marg and were pretty surprised that amidst the impression of this weak economy affluence was evident in certain sections. On this endeavor we also had a chance to put our hands on most awesome momos I have ever tasted. We also got chance to visit the China Town, which one could relate to any similar part of town in many European and American cities. After this mall-hopping, we realized it was finally time to big good bye to this visit. We came back to the hotel, packed and left for airport. After 6 days of non-stop fun and travelling we were back at airport to board our flight back to Delhi on 3rd of April.

Publisher: Unknown - 04:43

We communicate more than what we say

We have all faced instances when we have wondered if a person really means what he is saying. This is because they fail to back up their words by their actions. This thought made me delve more into the subject after which I did some research to realize that actions do in-fact talk louder than the words in more sense than one.

Communication consists of three major elements. The words we use, our tone of voice and our body language. According to a research, the total impact of our communication consists of words (7%), Tone of voice (38%) and body language (55%). For an effective communication to take place, all three parts of the message must be congruent and consistent with each other.

Body Language or “Kinesics” is the study of nonverbal communication. Body language is a combination of eye movement, body orientation, hand movement, head position, and leg activity. When messages from all these parts are combined there is a lot ones body speaks. Although not an exact science, the serious student of body language can gain an extraordinary advantage in both social and professional situations. The idea that certain forms of nonverbal communication are universal to all humans dates all the way back to Darwin – documenting that interest in body language goes as far back as the early 1800’s.

In more recent times, interest in body language first gained popularity in the early 1970s when Fast wrote the pivotal book, appropriately titled “Body Language”. Since then, it has gone on to become the topic of dozens of books and a specialty subject of psychologists around the globe.

Well-chosen language, said in the right way and with body language that is congruent, can touch the heart and soul, find a common ground, tear down walls of division, foster powerful new relationships and move people to take action. If there is lack of congruency, the receiver will be confused and will have a tendency to accept the predominant form of communication rather than simply the literal meaning or words.

For example, someone can say, “I love you very much.” However, the tone of voice can dramatically distort the meaning of these words. By placing an emphasis on different words or by “coloring” the statement with emotion rather than making it cold and distant, the meaning of these words can change significantly.

Some major components of communication can be highlighted as below –

• Body movements and posture
• Eye behavior
• Facial expressions
• Space 
• Touch
• Para-verbal/ Paralanguage
• Verbal communication

7 Cs of Communication

Effective communication, hence, can be considered to be hinged on what many call as 7 C’s of communication. These have been listed below.

• Completeness - Message is complete when it contain all the facts the reader or the listener need for the reaction you desired.
• Benefits.
• Achieving desired result without further expense on messages.
• Building goodwill.
• Turn away costly Law suit.
• How to apply
• Answering Five W’s – what, why, who, when, where
• In reply of inquiry, answering all questions.
• Give something extra, when desirable.
• Conciseness - It means to be point not brief but in fewest possible word or relevant according to subject matter.
• Benefits
• Save time and Expense.
• How to apply 
• Eliminate wordy expression.
• Include only relevant material. (Avoid long intro, unnecessary explanation, excessive adjective, phrases)
• Avoid unnecessary repetition.
• Concreteness - It means be very clear in thought and expression and must base on facts and figure during writing a message. 
• How to apply
• Use specific facts and figures.
• Put action in your verbs.
• Choose vivid, image –building words. 
• Clarity - Using words that familiar to the message of receiver. 
• How to apply
• Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.
• Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
• Courtesy - Being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their feeling. It stems from sincere you-attitude.
• How to apply
• Be Sincerely, Tactful, Thoughtful and Appreciative
• Use expression that shows respect.
• Choose non-discriminatory expression.
• Correctness - It is proper check on grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Furthermore it is important to ensure that information in the message is factually correct.
• How to apply
• Use right level of language.
• Check accuracy of figures, facts & words.
• Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.
• Consideration – This involves putting yourself in their place. Focus on “you” in place of “I” or “we”.
• How to apply
• Stress the positive in your message.
• Focus on you attitude instead of I.
• Show audience benefits or interest in the receiver.
• Emphasis positive and pleasant fact.

I guess this all just forms theory and many of you are already wondering of what it means for you. I would agree with whoever says that I have not followed most basic concepts of presentations and reports by not providing how to actually put to use. I fully intent to continue working on this research and identify something which would apparently be more "valuable" for you as a reader !!

So keep signing in and watch out for more that is yet to come.

Publisher: Unknown - 04:01

In the lap of Aravallis - Mount Abu

It was during my summer breaks during under-graduation. I was visiting home during May 2007 for my semester breaks.That summer I had the opportunity to revisit the pinnacle of Rajasthan - The Mount Abu. One of those usual futile days at home during the semester breaks - I was flipping through boring magazines and trying changing those useless channels. Finally i abnegated to the idea of finding a solution to my idleness. I was soon to be lost in my usual daydreaming sessions when my sequence of thoughts was interrupted by the acrimonious sound of the doorbell - Dad was home after office. Seeing the dismal look on my face I had at the moment he quite understood that his words would definitely be welcomed by me and guess what he wasn't wrong. After having the customary snacks he broke the suspense. Dad had to go on tour to Mount Abu and he had planned for all of us to go with him too....Wow...Wasn’t that great!! And When??? The next day... After all those hurried preparations we were on the train to commence our journey. And yeah the journey itself was fun being in one of those royal saloons that dad gets for his trips.

After an overnight journey in the luxury of the saloon we reach our base camp – a small town called Abu Road. It is the last train head before the road journey begins. Landing in the city was enough to bring back the memories of those old times when this was home for me. Those three years of our stay in Abu Road cannot be easily forgotten. The next two days of my life were absolutely full of fun and masti. After a light breakfast and freshening up we embarked on climbing up the slopes of our destination.
The place really has something exceptional to offer to everyone I don't even remember how many times I have visited the place but every-time I visit, the vivid serenity and mesmerizing beauty offers a thoroughly refreshing experience. The spellbinding surroundings you find around you are sure to engulf you in a feeling of tranquilization. One of the few, or probably the only, hill station in the desert state of Rajasthan, Mount Abu is situated at height of around 1200 meters above sea level. The attraction of mount is not only as a hill station but the fact that the place has witnessed various memorable instances of history give it a special importance in itself. And what is there that the place lacks...The grandeur of Delwaras , the state of repose at Peace Park, the devotion at Bharamkumaris' and the adventure of climbing to the acme of the state, Guru Shikhar, everything is so be-charming. It’s here that you reckon the adages describing nature as an actuation of writers and acquiesce in to their aptness and believe me this isn't mere adulation.
Well let’s cover things one by one. Our first destination at the hill city was the Guest house. It’s no less than a picnic spot in itself but that description is for a bit later. We are here in Mount Abu and there is no time to waste. We relax a bit and start onto the first spot to be covered. It was the Delwaras – famous Jain temples. The entire structure is a combination of five different temples based on five Jain Tirthankaras. Built before 13th century AD, marble walls with fine carvings and amazing architectures in the temple offer a marvelous picture of human craftsmanship. Outside the temple, we witnesses special art in people to write our names on a rice beans. It was late evening by the time we were done with the temples and hence we headed straight to the sunset point.  The place situated at a high point provided an awesome view of the sun setting behind the Aravalis into the river Banas.
After this, we were back to the guest house for a quick dinner and then visited a man made lake – the Nakki Lake. It is believed that the lake was dug by humans using their nails. We enjoyed a good boating in the lake which itself was quite refreshing. Tod Rock – a frog shaped rock over a peak was visible in the night light.  This was end of our day and we retired to have some rest before another day of enjoyment.
We woke up early, next morning, to enjoy the cool mornings at the guest house. It was beautifully maintained place with sprawling green gardens and a few kid-rides. After breakfast, we visited the 2500 year old Achaleshwar Mahadev temple. The temple is famous for the worship of God Shiva’s toe and the five metal idol of Nandi – God Shiva’s carrier. The holy pond nearby has idols of three bullocks which have a story of their own. The fluency of the story of small kids around the place is simply attention grabbing.
Next on our list was the Guru Shikhar, the highest peak of Rajasthan with a height over 1700 meters above sea level. After a tiring climb up the stairs we were there at the top and the feeling was awesome. There was a small cave temple there and a big bell to ring. We stayed there enjoying the cool breeze and then climbed down.
But advent of everything is always paired with its extinction. Our happy days were there to end too. We lived there for two days and at least for the time being that was really a worth remembering part of my summer breaks. And that’s why I have here written this blog to refresh those wonderful moments in my memory. Hope you people too could trace some hints of the exquisiteness that this hill station has on offer. Keep waiting for more and revisiting the page… 

Publisher: Unknown - 13:49

Meaningful education - Is it still relevant ??

Finally the taxing endterms come to an end today...Actually am supposed to be logically sleeping right now but for this early morning flight that leaves me with no option but to spend another night sitting if I don wanna risk missing it. And wandering on the internet to quench my thirst of information I stuck at some articles and news items related to educational reforms in India. The path being followed seemed intriguing.
The thing started with making compulsory for the private schools to accommodate some students from poor background. But then when actually these students reached those posh places they found themselves a misfit. They could neither match the affluence of the richer lot nor could they save themselves from continual jibery and mockery. In all we have created a frustrated mass of students and parents who find themselves guessing their faults. The fault that actually is of the government. The body who is responsible to provide basic education to all. Shredding their responsibility into these banal legislation is not going to address the problem. This actually reminds me something I have been taught recently. The funda of unintended consequences. I believe that intentions behind the actions were pure and if idealism prevailed these would have in fact improved the level of education in India. but then expecting idealism seems to stretching the demands too far.

Next has been optioning out class X boards exam. We have been living with this for all our generations and now government wants to put an end to it on account of pressure creating activity. Agreed !! it creates pressure on students. Again the logic seems sort of illogical. It is for the first time students are exposed to the competition in true sense. After all they have to see the pressure and competition. or some political still planning some miraculous method of eliminating competition itself from the society economy and all other spheres? Seriously scrapping an examination which has over the years developed into a benchmark in itself. What fails my understanding is the way scrapping it would help reduce pressure in first place. You may relieve a proportion of students from the stress of failure at that stage but then what would they do for class XII boards or for that matter competitions ahead(May be bringing down the standard of JEE was a part of this strategy..) And all this would be done at the cost of some of the meritorious students. Just try to think what would be impact of someone supposed to score 89.4% (no points for guessing who is being talked about :) But the point is there is no end to stress, pressure and competition especially in today's world and atleast not by such frivolous attempts. Unintended consequences again it seems. Now I realize how important those 8:00 AM lectures were that I simply ignored.

The fact of the matter is when we should be actually improving our education system, we are scrapping out some of the better elements of the system. At time when Mr. Obama envies India for its education systems and calling to emulate from it, we aren't concerned enough. I bet government and the HR minister should broaden their focus of outlook and should try bringing wholesome improvements inclusive in character. GLOBE GLOBE GLOBE he he yeah it is but then public policy can never be specific or particularized. Thus we elected a set of white dressed executives to take care of our woes and in them we keep our faith that one day they would steer India to become how we should envisage it to be(.)

Publisher: Unknown - 13:52

Thoughts - Cleared for take off !!

Aptness of the title can only be recognized by someone who has to bear four years at an unidentified place in realms of concrete buildings, monstrous professors, regular examinations and subsequent quest for grades. Well it's not exactly so bad but still. With the submission of the No Dues Form, the toughest job of the ultimate semester, I have been relived of all my duties towards a BTech Degree :) and so as the title says I am......
Looking back at last few weeks at life in this paradise,as in my own words, I realize the extent to which a BTech degree can be farzi yet authentic, the later representing only the literal meaning. The pre-endsem period when everyone was haywire about submission of the undergraduate thesis, most of us finally rested on some or other manipulations of truth :P for the final dissertation.

Our very own case presents the best of examples of this earthly reality. Devoid of an reliable approach a week before the due date, we finally end up getting a perfect grade is a living testimonial of hows the way to go about and around. Few strokes of trial and error, slight modifications on good old MS PAINT and finally a bit of pursuations with regards to impossibility of certain tasks is enough to convince some unsuspecting Mr. Guide to realize how hard two innocent looking (subject to perceptions) souls have worked and that the results truly is outcome of that work. Hiding the existing work on the same topic is only a cherry on the ice-cream. And these realizations manifest into professor vehemently (exaggerations accepted!!) supporting these two beings at the presentation where a Mr. Villain was bossing around leaving everyone flummoxed. And since he expects to get a journal paper out of that crap of 4 nite-outs, I guess that's a win-win for everyone :).
And as if that was enough for the day, the clearing came with the news of another AA and an AB, in courses where the syllabus for the examination was presented the night before.
And with this I rest my case that "nothing is impossible" is something not said arbitrarily. When you can be passing as a BTech department rank holder of electronics and communication engineering without knowing the directional arrows of a MOSFET there's nothing in the world that you can't achieve!!
But then the only fact to know is Who Cares. As in words of Director, we are just one more passing batch for the faculty who is ready to embrace a brand new wagon with similar apathy. We or for that matter some of us like me going for a hands on with new fields and realities, the technical knowledge rendered was just a means to the end..the end being the document I am supposed to receive on last working day of May with huge fan-fare. And so its just a moment to relax and enjoy my last day ..or infact the only night that is left...at this campus. Signing off now with a hope that atleast people who have been indicated in this declaration do not visit:) well atleast untill I am safely gone....

Publisher: Unknown - 07:01

IIM Interview 1 - IIM Indore

Though out my preparations for CAT and subsequently for my GD/PI/Interviews, experiences shared by seniors were of immense help. They were a crucial input in calibrating my preparations to align them with what was required to sail through this process. Now that I have leveraged those experiences, it is only justified that I repay back to the group.

So here I am to put down highlights of my first ever IIM Interview and this was for IIM Indore on 11th of Feb 2009. I had chosen Kolkata as center of interview for most of my interviews and there I was in Kolkata on 10th afternoon with another of my batchmate who was through for interviews too.

After reaching rest house we took a short break and freshened up. Post this we began the preparations for the next day which was supposed to be a big show off of our smartness, talent and aptitude. We did not want to be caught unaware at the last moment and hence prepared ourself of the logistics right then rather than waiting for next morning. We got out formals out of the bags to confirm that creases were sharp, knotted the ties to their right lengths and gave a fresh coat of polish to the shoes. Once this was done, we got to reviewing the documents and cross checked the certificates required were there in the folder. We gave a second look to certificates and forms to ensure everything was in order. After dinner we went through the talking points we had prepared for interviews and then took to bed early as it was going to be a early start next day.

Next day, as planned the alarms banged us up from our slumbers at 5:30 AM. Yeah, it may sound odd when one hears about waking up at 5:30 for an 9:00 AM interview and trust me that this was something I must have done for the first time that day. However, the excitement of the occasion made the timing irrelevant. The car which was supposed to take us to the center was there on time and we left the rest house with enough margin in hand to overcome any "eventualities". The center as per the admit cards was The Kenilworth Hotel in Palk street area. We were well before time and probably among firsts to land in this high profile location (atleast for us).

We were called in for a group discussion in a group of 8 candidates at about 9. The moderators were already there in the room. We had a discussion on a case based problem and were given 5 minutes for getting together our thoughts followed by 20 minutes of discussion. The case was related to a technology company known for bringing innovative products in market. Though the company was famed for their technological and marketing expertise, their recent launches had been a failure. As is true with any failure, the company faced blame game between various stakeholders and hence a solution was sought to resolve the deadlock between various wings of management. We all had a lot of views to contribute and none of us wanted to be left behind in expressing those. Moreover we were all trained to ensure that we had to gain the eye of the moderators to ensure we get through this round. However, in all we had a good constructive discussions if we leave aside a few highs and lows. After the discussion we were taken back to the waiting room, a well put up place to wait.

Then was the turn of the Interviews and candidates were being called in one by one. Thus the eager wait begun for our turn. The order of presentation being random contributed to anxious moments which in my case was further aggravated by the fact that I was the third last person to be called. The wait in the special room allotted was quite enlightening both intellectually and personally. All sort of knowledge based questions floated around covering the diversity of fields from politics, economics and other usual stuff to art, design and astrology. Fortunately there was someone or the other to give in an answer for most of them. Though the atmosphere in general was filled with anxiety and apprehensions, the presence of IITians in majority allowed for all sorts of useless gossip "bakar" (to say technically) to find its way. And this bakar was the only thing which helped everyone keep their nerves in control until the right moment.

Finally came the phone call for which I was waiting for almost ages now. Yeah you read it right - it was a phone call. Actually one of the panel was calling candidates on a landline phone provided by the hotel and this particular one was the panel which was supposed to judge me for my ability to join the institute. The interview in a nutshell radiated an sense of eager interviewee and bored interviewer. The interview started with my intern at IIT Bombay in signal processing. Actually the interviewing professor seemed to be a bit into filters (electronic) and I had to face some unheard of jargons on audio (my guess) filters. Once this professor was done grilling me with the technical stuff, another panelist, a lady professor pitched in with her inquisitiveness about Europe. Now this was a relief after the heavy knowledge based stuff. She picked on the significant incident question on the form and started by asking me to elaborate on my answer and then further covered basics of what I can say as "a senior advising someone on a foreign visit". The interview continued for about 20 minutes, each of which seemed like years.

Finally the interview concluded and I was offered to pick a couple of toffees from the bowl and was permitted to leave. And out came me guessing whether the chocolate was a consolation gift or an statement of congratulations (given the fact that they were offered selectively) !!!!

Yeah obviously I know my answer now.... :)

I have put up additional material to supplement this article. All related articles to help for CAT preparations are available at http://www.expressions-kt.in/search/label/IIM_CAT

Publisher: Unknown - 08:13