Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
MONSOON NOSTALGIA
Nostalgia can be a cruel reminder, sometimes. It hits you like a whiff of breeze while sitting in the rickety old KSRTC bus. It caresses you while wading through waist deep waters on the roads. It teases you with thoughts of the good times gone by. It takes you back to your childhood. It brings an involuntary smile on your face when you see students of your alma mater trying to stay dry in the torrential rains. It nourishes your mind like the first drops of the monsoon does to the parched Earth. It touches your heart in a way only it can. It brings back memories that you have hidden deep within you, reminding you that those times will never come by again, whats gone is gone, and that every human being always carries the burden of the past along with him. It gives a new meaning to your future. It reminds you of the cyclicality of life. No matter where you are in life, where you end up, one day you will end up face to face with your maker. Thats life. A journey from Birth unto Death.
Its really strange how the monsoons are related to Nostalgia. Well, for anyone who is from the part of the country I hail from, its really a very important phenomenon. many peoples' lives revolve arount it and its vagaries. its time for sowing your next round of crops, mainly rice, Kerala's staple diet. It brings with it the holy month of karkidakom, also the beginning of the festival season. And most recently, it brongs with it Chikungunya, Viral Fever, Rat fever, Dengue and malaria. Its always associated with schools reopening after the summer vacations, advertisements of umpteen varieties of umbrellas, droplets of water racing against each other to form a puddle in the smallest of deppressions in the soil, and what not. Its always associated with life, always with fresh energy and vigour. But there is more to it than mere nostalgia and a feeling of exhilaration.
The monsoon is a huge natural engine, driven by the temperature differences over sea and land; in summmer the air around the alnd grows hot, expands and rises, so cool sea air must flow in to equalize the pressure. This sets up an aerial current from the Indian Ocean. It heads for india, and th evaporating water it picks up over the oceans falls as rain when it reaches the land. This vapour cpndensation releases latent heat which warms the air, pushing it upwards and allowing even more wet air to come in from the sea. But it also cools the land, always driving that heating and upward convection further into India. That is why the monsoon is a travelling phenomenon, always folllowing a stringent path, very much like a train following an itinerary.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE AS AN INTERVIEWER
The best part of doing summer internships is that sometimes you end up doing something that you have never done in your life. My internship was in Mumbai. Apart from doing other things, I got the chance to don the cap of an interviewer. (YES, interviewer, not interviewee). So this was how my first time as an interviewer pannned out:
I was sitting in my hotel room (paid for by the company, of course),after having a healthy breakfast of Sandwiches and Pineapple juice (paid for by the company, of course). There was a knock on the door and in came the first candidate, Mr. Bolti Band (name changed to maintain privacy).
BB : Hi, I come for interview.
Me : Yes, Good morning, Mr BB. Please come in and have a seat.
BB : Thank you. (Sitting) Actually you should not be interviewing me.
Me : Im sorry?
BB : I having 27 years of experience. You give me direct appointment.
Me : (Yeah, right). I understand, Mr BB. But we have a process in place and I will have to follow that. I wont take too much of your time. Let me start with your experience. You have 20 years of experience in Naphtha Cracking. So could you explain me the process.
BB : Explains some shit in totally broken English that I dont understand. I play along and nod my head as if I have understood each word. I even manage to ask a couple of intelligent questions. He is surprised. He thought that I knew nothing about his line of work, and started talkink as an all knowing authority. But being a Chemical Engineer has its advantages, after all. Then sudddnely, out of nowhere, he changes the subject.
I am expecting 10,000 USD per month as saving.
ME : I beg your pardon? (Did you just say $10, 000? Do you even know what the hell that means?)
BB : Yes, I have lot experience. So I am negotiating now. I want saving atleast 10, 000 dollars.
Me : (Seeing where this was going to head) That is not really in my hands. We can discuss that when you have your final interview with the techincal and HR heads.
[In the meanwhile, Im going through his credentials.Diploma holder, did engineering for one year (then dropped out, I guess), first salary was Rs 100, 27 years of experience alright, but in unknown companies and that too for not more that 4 or 5 years in one organization. Add to that terrible English. And you want 10, 000$ in svings. You must be kidding me.]
Me : (Realizing Im wasting my time) Anyway, good talking to you, MR BB. I think I have all the necessary information that I need. If you could fill this travel reimbursement sheet, we can credit the amount in your account.
He fills it. Its an axis bank account. But there are only 6 digits.
Me : Doesnt Axis bank give 15 digit account numbers? You have written onyl 6 digits written. The amount will not be credited into your account, this way.
BB : You are young. You dont know anything. the last 6 digits are enough for money putting in account.
Me : Fine.(Its your money,I dontn give a damn) Okay then, I think Im done. Do you have any questions?>
BB : Yes, I want salary 10, 000.
Me : Yes, I know. Apart from that.
BB : When I wil get admitted?
Me : (Admitted? Hospital or school?) That would be decided by our HR head in discussion with the techincal head in the site. We will intimate you through e - mail in the next two or three days. Is that okay?
BB : OK. But you losing very good employee if you not take me. Salary can negotiate. Give me job. I do very well. I am a good experience.
Me : (Sure you are) Yes, Mr BB. We will have that in mind. Have a nice day.
To this day, his salary is under negotiations. He has come down to 5000$ now. But the poor guy doesnt know that we have closed his process. And as to his travel reimbursement, well, the Axis Bank lady just gave our peon a huge stare and tore the cheque into pieces when he went there with the 6 digit account number to deposit the amount. So we are still wating for his "Full" account number. I dont think its going to come. His pride is hurt too much in front of a "young" guy.
This was only one candidate. There were more.But more on that later. I am just happy that when I go for my next interview, I know what all NOT to do. It was a real summer 'training', indeed. I thank my college for this lovely experience.
I was sitting in my hotel room (paid for by the company, of course),after having a healthy breakfast of Sandwiches and Pineapple juice (paid for by the company, of course). There was a knock on the door and in came the first candidate, Mr. Bolti Band (name changed to maintain privacy).
BB : Hi, I come for interview.
Me : Yes, Good morning, Mr BB. Please come in and have a seat.
BB : Thank you. (Sitting) Actually you should not be interviewing me.
Me : Im sorry?
BB : I having 27 years of experience. You give me direct appointment.
Me : (Yeah, right). I understand, Mr BB. But we have a process in place and I will have to follow that. I wont take too much of your time. Let me start with your experience. You have 20 years of experience in Naphtha Cracking. So could you explain me the process.
BB : Explains some shit in totally broken English that I dont understand. I play along and nod my head as if I have understood each word. I even manage to ask a couple of intelligent questions. He is surprised. He thought that I knew nothing about his line of work, and started talkink as an all knowing authority. But being a Chemical Engineer has its advantages, after all. Then sudddnely, out of nowhere, he changes the subject.
I am expecting 10,000 USD per month as saving.
ME : I beg your pardon? (Did you just say $10, 000? Do you even know what the hell that means?)
BB : Yes, I have lot experience. So I am negotiating now. I want saving atleast 10, 000 dollars.
Me : (Seeing where this was going to head) That is not really in my hands. We can discuss that when you have your final interview with the techincal and HR heads.
[In the meanwhile, Im going through his credentials.Diploma holder, did engineering for one year (then dropped out, I guess), first salary was Rs 100, 27 years of experience alright, but in unknown companies and that too for not more that 4 or 5 years in one organization. Add to that terrible English. And you want 10, 000$ in svings. You must be kidding me.]
Me : (Realizing Im wasting my time) Anyway, good talking to you, MR BB. I think I have all the necessary information that I need. If you could fill this travel reimbursement sheet, we can credit the amount in your account.
He fills it. Its an axis bank account. But there are only 6 digits.
Me : Doesnt Axis bank give 15 digit account numbers? You have written onyl 6 digits written. The amount will not be credited into your account, this way.
BB : You are young. You dont know anything. the last 6 digits are enough for money putting in account.
Me : Fine.(Its your money,I dontn give a damn) Okay then, I think Im done. Do you have any questions?>
BB : Yes, I want salary 10, 000.
Me : Yes, I know. Apart from that.
BB : When I wil get admitted?
Me : (Admitted? Hospital or school?) That would be decided by our HR head in discussion with the techincal head in the site. We will intimate you through e - mail in the next two or three days. Is that okay?
BB : OK. But you losing very good employee if you not take me. Salary can negotiate. Give me job. I do very well. I am a good experience.
Me : (Sure you are) Yes, Mr BB. We will have that in mind. Have a nice day.
To this day, his salary is under negotiations. He has come down to 5000$ now. But the poor guy doesnt know that we have closed his process. And as to his travel reimbursement, well, the Axis Bank lady just gave our peon a huge stare and tore the cheque into pieces when he went there with the 6 digit account number to deposit the amount. So we are still wating for his "Full" account number. I dont think its going to come. His pride is hurt too much in front of a "young" guy.
This was only one candidate. There were more.But more on that later. I am just happy that when I go for my next interview, I know what all NOT to do. It was a real summer 'training', indeed. I thank my college for this lovely experience.
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