Caste Cloud over India

All over the news channels, there have been only three bits of news for the past one week - The IPL (for obvious reasons), the Aarushi murder case (don't know how a murder case can be made so sensational in a country where hundreds of people are killed daily) and the Gujjar Crisis. The third one was according to me the most important one.

Even if you read just a tad bit, its difficult not to run into articles about the caste equations and the reservation policies in the country. Just my luck or maybe some unintentional blog searches, I just happened to hit a number of blogs with some people's views on this issue.

The Supreme court judgment on the OBC quotas in the educational institutes raised a very valid and important question. It said that in the past 60 years of reservations, the number of castes in the reserved category has increased manifold. So, does that mean India is getting more backward. I think someone should ask this question to the government which claims that under its rule, India is progressing. If this is the definition of progress, then the country is better off being backward.

And I realized one thing, that this issue is affecting everyone, no one is ready to step up to have an open and intellectual discussion on the issue. I just a read sarcastic joke in some random blog:
A Question paper in an Exam
For General Category : Answer All Questions
For OBC : Answer any 3 questions
For SC : Read the questions
For ST : Thank You for coming
Others joke around by saying that there should be 100% reservation.
The important thing is not whether these jokes are good or bad, the issue is whether anyone is ready to do anything to improve the situation.

The situation is turning so bad that the Gujjar community just for the sake of reservation is ready to hold the country to ransom by blocking roads and railway lines hence cutting off the supplies to an area.

The youth of this country is trying to fight back through forums like the Youth for Equality. Any person ,even the most staunch supporter of reservations, if coming with an open mind would have difficulty in answering the questions posed by them.

You might have guessed by now that I am totally anti-reservation and pro-merit. The point I would like to raise is that ultimately all the people need to compete in the world, the problem facing an engineer or a doctor would not solve itself easily just because that person is from a deprived sections of the society so to say.

The reservation policy that was brought about by the great visionary Dr.Ambedkar had intended to dissolve the caste barriers in the country, rather it has widened the cracks in the society. Dr. Ambedkar would have been deeply saddened if he saw that the step he had proposed to break the barriers in the society has divided it further.

The government is just cover its failure of providing basic education to the people by providing sops in the form of reservations. It always shys away from the question of primary and secondary education system in the country. Enough people in the deprived classes of the country are not even able to complete their basic schooling. The important thing is not to alleviate just a handful of people in the backward communities, its about uplifting entire communities. That can only be done if the lower levels of education are strengthened rather than breeding mediocrity in higher education.

If the situation doesn't improve, then the agitations of the present Gujjar agitation kind would become a common scene across India.

Now, I am totally for the upliftment of society and the backward classes but I am not in favor of the method being adopted to do the same. The injustice caused to some classes a hundred years ago should not be the reason of them getting an unfair advantage now.

I have a lot of friends from different sections of the society. And I guess all of them know that this is not against anyone in particular. I never saw who is from which section before befriending them. This is the thinking of the progressive new generation of India and I think this is what should be encouraged rather than trying to divide the new generation.

Its the moral responsibility (if the politicians understand this word) of the leaders of this country try and remove the barriers in society rather than deepening them. This can only be done by awareness and education which the government has put on a back-burner for a long long time. I sincerely hope that a miracle takes place and the country truly and inclusively progresses.

Rudderless Life

As I prepare to enter another phase in my life, sometimes I look back and see at what I have done till now. Did I ever have a direction where I wanted to go or did I just do what the others around me were doing.

Going for IIT-JEE was one such thing I had done as all of my friends were doing the same. There is always a lack of knowledge for the students as to their career choices when they are in school. The situation isn't too much better in colleges either. At least here in India, people generally tend to follow the crowd rather than make informed and well thought out decisions.

Even I was the same, having no idea what I wanted to do, I also followed the crowd and prepared for IIT. Though I didn't crack the exam, I performed well enough to get into IT-BHU. When I was in college I always felt that even though I had achieved something, I still didn't know whether that was what I wanted to become.

Then came another bit of information, that it doesn't matter what you studied in your graduation, everyone (at least the majority) goes into the software field. It was also a popular choice because it saved you from the rigors of the field job and also supposedly paid you well. So, a software job it was for me too(but I really feel that if you don't want to pursue higher studies, then getting into software field for a non-CS engineer is a BIG mistake).

Even though my decisions were always dependent on what the others were doing, but I always wanted to do the things better than everyone else around me.

At the time of placements I was lucky enough to have four job offers. Now I had to choose. Since I knew that the top two choices for me were paying me about the same, I decided to go for a job that would make me stand out i.e go for a company that recruits 3-4 people rather than 30. So, I finally joined Fair Isaac.

Again, since most of the people around me wanted to go for an MBA in the near future, so even I tried for the same. I had decided that if I were to do an MBA, it would only be from IIM-ABC or FMS (I always had a fascination for FMS being from Delhi). This may have been because I knew that I can achieve it or because I wanted to prove that I could compete with the best.

Personally I believe, most of the people from my college don't have the confidence to wait for a couple of years as all of them have felt the failure of just missing out on the IITs and are maybe satisfied with something below the best. That is one thing everyone should try to overcome - being satisfied with what you achieve. According to me, its all about confidence and self-belief. Everyone in IT-BHU has a good aptitude to crack the exam and everyone has the capability to achieve the best.

If just doing an MBA was my aim, then I could have got through a top-10 ranked B-School last year only, because i had a decent percentile. But this time, I did not want to compromise. So, I planned to wait for two years. But due to parental pressure, I gave the CAT exam, and luckily I cracked it with an amazingly high 99.98%le and got calls from all IIMs and converted all the calls except Ahemdabad.

Although, I don't know whether i would make all the right choices while I would be there in IIMB, but one thing is for sure, I would never regret any decision I have ever made in my life. Making mistakes is a part of life and you need to learn from them rather than ruing your decisions all your life.

I still don't know what I want to do in life. I am still as rudderless as i was before, but I know one thing for sure, I would certainly enjoy the journey as I have up to now.

Is this the Silicon Valley of India

Since the days when Infosys and Wipro became brand names, there is only one thing we have been hearing - Bangalore is the Silicon Valley of India. But is is really so?

For starters, Bangalore does provide a huge number of employment opportunities to people. Such is the boom in the software sector. And Bangalore lies at the heart of that boom. Although I am not too sure of the figures but my guess would be that a major share of the software revenue in India comes from Bangalore.

The all-year round pleasant weather of Bangalore has also been a factor which has helped to attract a huge number of multinational software firms to set up their bases here.

But that is where the good news ends. There are a HUGE number of problems crippling the city.

Ever since the software industry has grown in the city, there has been a complete lack of vision by the city developers/government to upgrade the infrastructure that would be required by the city to cope up with the pressure of its astronomical growth. This is where the planners in the NCR and Maharashtra have done their bit or have been lucky enough by having Gurgaon/Noida and Navi Mumbai at their disposals respectively so that the city infrastructure isn't crippled any further.

This era coinciding with the politically most unstable period in Karnataka hasn't helped the cause of the city either. There has been no political will in developing Bangalore as it just contributed less than 10% of the seats o the state legislature.

The present situation of roads in the city is very bad right from the quality of roads to its capacity to handle the amount of traffic. At peak hours it can take any person up to an hour to cover just a couple of kilometers. Even the public transport system is in shambles with very few number of buses coupled with auto-rickshaws being the only modes of transport available. And here too over-charging of passengers and refusing to go to a particular location has become rampant. Even the construction of the metro rail has come of more as an afterthought.

Bangalore was a city where power-cuts were unheard of but nowadays a number of areas face regular power cuts. The demand for power in the city has grown exponentially but the supply has remained constant and if anything is not done soon enough, Bangalore would soon face a huge power-crunch.

Now, everyone must be thinking I am bashing the city too much. But there's a long way to go if Bangalore is really to become Silicon Valley.

The infrastructure needs to be improved. A number of satellite towns need to be developed so that any further growth which takes place does not put any additional pressure on the already overused resources of the city. The companies must be given incentives to setup at the outskirts/suburbs.

The public transport system which is in shambles needs to be overhauled. People must be given alternatives to travel in their private vehicles.

Although saying all this seems to be too simplistic, but tough situations needs measures to be taken and I sincerely hope that the next government does take those measures so that Bangalore becomes a truly World-class city.

College Memoirs Part II - The First Year

All the years you are in your school, only one thing is fed into your mind, that after school, going to IITs is what the brilliant people do. So, even I became a part of this rat race. I worked my ass off during the last two years of my school for that elusive dream of clearing the IIT-JEE.

My exams went well and I expected a 3-figure rank. IIT-Delhi, the institute of my dreams was looking more within reach now. But lightning struck on the day of the results. I was really disappointed to see a 4-figure rank and that too with three being the first digit. The only thing we ere taught at Vidyamandir was that you should take everything in your stride and never be tense in any situation. But that day I couldn't control my emotions and anyone could see the disappointment etched on my face.

I had never even contemplated joining any institute other than IIT-Delhi. But now I had to look for alternatives. And there stood my IT-BHU. I started gathering more information about IT-BHU because according to the trends of the preceding years , I had realized that I only had a realistic chance of making it here. What I heard about the institute was encouraging. People told me its the unofficial IIT and that the standards there are almost the same as IITs. Even at the councelling, one of the IIT-D professors told me to prefer IT-BHU over IITG. Although these claims of IT-BHU being academically equal to the IITs need much debating but I dare say that the things I learnt here, I could never have done in an IIT. IT-BHU made me a more complete person and this may have been the best decision of my life.

When I entered the institute for the first time it was a gloomy day giving the institute a far older look than it already is (and it is about 90 years old). The hostels and buildings resembling those spooky villas in horror stories. It looked more of a heritage site than a university where supposedly more than 15 thousand students stay and study.

Since the name IIT was so revered all around, I had expected state of the art technology and the infrastructure comparable to the best in the world. But alas, I was to be disappointed. When I got to my hostel, I had expected decent rooms as shown in the movies. But the rooms were tooooooooo small and the icing on the cake was that in the first year, two people had to share that room which I thought was small for even one person.

Next was the day of orientation and registration. The Swatantrata Bhavan where the orientation was held didn't disappoint me. Our registration was to be held in one of those ED(Drawing) rooms. I had expected modern classrooms but those rooms resembled the classrooms and courts shown in pre-independence era movies like Bhagat Singh. Even the classes were not very impressive either. It may also be due to the fact that after preparing for JEE each and every person expects to start learning Rocket Science on the first day itself.

But I had the will to let go of all such expectations and begin the journey in IT-BHU. Everything thereafter went uphill for me. The first year especially was a roller coaster ride.

Each and every one of us was so afraid of getting ragged that we went to bed at sharp 10 in the night and followed the famous dress code of Shirt and Trousers religiously for the first few weeks. All the students would go to class in huge groups resembling a the supporters of a political leader. Since all of us were afraid of getting ragged all of us used to assemble in one room (more than 10 in that dungeon) and do BC(hostelers would understand this term) i.e talk and have fun for long hours. This is the time when the foundation was laid for some amazing friendships.

Even though everyone tried to avoid getting ragged, all of us invariably ended up getting ragged. The ragging session ranged from seniors coming down from the first floor just to have some plain fun to the organized ragging when all the first year students go to the senior's hostel where everything from stripping to abusing goes. That feeling is particularly not a very good one but once that is over, you feel that you have broken all the shackles. People undergo a revolutionary change especially the shy introverts.

Then started out outdoor times. Then onwards this is what my daily routine was: getting up, attending classes(yaa we did in the first year), going to play volleyball(which became such an important part of my college life) and taking out our cycles and going out to explore the university campus at night. The campus was huge (it is the one of the largest in Asia), so it took us some while to get hold of the routes inside the university.

There were a lot of memories attached with our first year: the movies we used to watch at night in the common room, the hooting of other teams in all out inter-college events - be it sports or cultural, or the way everyone used to make ED sheets the whole night just a day before the submissions.

One thing we got to learn was that studying a lot did not lead to being the topper in class. So, most of us took exams more as a ritual rather than a means of survival. That was the really the reason we enjoyed the first year as much as we did.

The amount of fun all of us had in the first year may only be rivaled by the final year. The friendships I formed then were the strongest I had ever formed in my life. The transformation of many people from being protected children at home to being independent young men was amazing. At least for me, the first year was the one which taught me the most and one which I would never forget my entire life. It made me a more complete person.

College Memoirs - Part I (Placements)

Now, since I am still so hung up on college, I'll write some posts about the most memorable things for me in college which would include some incidents, volleyball, the BC at LC, the computer games we played(read AOE), the videos we made etc. So, gear up, there would be 4-5 parts to this.

In this post I'll concentrate on our placement times. According to me it was the most interesting time of our college life. It may not have been the best for all but it had all the ingredients - joy, sorrow, despair, sense of achievement, under-achievement, good luck ,bad luck and what not.

It all starts with all the people going through the puzzle books like Shakuntala Devi and Summers just to prepare for the written exams of Infosys (though I still feel people in IT deserve a lot more than Infosys, its just that they get satisfied too easily in most cases).

As soon as you reach back to college in the final year, you can almost sense that anticipation and tension in the air. There's almost a month to spend in college before the actual placements start. The attendance in the classes fall a lot below the already abysmal levels. Then comes the times of the announcement of the companies visiting. The TPRs going to the TPO trying desperately to get more companies to open for their batch.

Then comes the filling up of the forms and the meetings in the hostel discussing about the companies and their requirements. Then comes the D-Day when the written exams are held. The selfless friendships come to the fore here when people sit in the exams just to get their friends through the written exams(this may seem unethical but what the hell!!!!). Then begins the wait for the shortlist. You see the same faces who are selfless enough to wait in the TPO for the results while the other guys are preparing for the final phase of the process. I did make some very good friendships there.

Once the shortlist comes out, then begins the frantic search for White Shirt, Black Pant and the Institute Tie. Its an amazing sight watching the people waiting for their interviews to get done with which sometimes stretched to 2-3am in the morning or began at 6 am in the morning. The actual interview may be only 5 minutes long but the wait might be more than a couple of hours.

Just after the results are declared, came my favorite part, the job bumps. Even though being the TPR , I was the person who was given bumps almost every second day. It gave me a sense of satisfaction that I have contributed, maybe not in a major way but in my own small way. The better the job, the worse the person was beaten black and blue. It was just a way to show our happiness or maybe just a way to show our jealousy although no one would like to accept that).

There were people who I feel that deserved a lot more than they got. But I think thats life, sometimes you under-achieve sometimes you get what you deserve. Its just about keeping your foot on the Pedal. Ultimately, everyone gets what he deserves. For some it comes early, for some a bit late.

I would conclude by quoting some famous quotes used especially during the placement times:

"Arre yaar CV kaise banaye, batao zara?"

"Meri weakness kya hai batao........... teri hobby bata, mujhe bhi likhni hai"

"Abe form jama kar diye?"

"Maine PPT attend nahi kara, kya karti hai ye comapny?"

"Saale tu PPT me nahi aaya, free T-Shirt de rahe the."

"4-5 log exam hall me jaldi pahunch jaana, sab apne log saath me baithne chaiye. Writtem me sabka hona chaiye"

"A,B aur C shorlist ho gaye hain, inko jaldi TPO bhejo."

"X aur Y ki lagi hai job, sab chappal tayar rakho hostel me." and after reaching the hostel "Maaaaaarrrrrooo, bachne nahi chaiye"

(frustration) "Abe yaar ab 5 comapny me nahi hua hai, ab baithne ka koi fayada nahi hai"

(endurance) "Ye meri 10th company hai, isme to ho hi jaayega"

(desparation) "Meri dream job lagwa do"


It then all ends with all the people giving their job parties to their closest friends. Generally those party become those senti types because all the people start realizing that in a very short time, everyone has to go their separate ways leaving four years of friendship behind. I think and sincerely hope that these friendships I formed here would stand the test of time overcoming all the distances.

Finally I would like to say, I'll never forget those times

An interesting and important day

As mentioned by me in my previous post, God planned to test my decision to attend my Convocation by scheduling my IIM-Kolkata interview on the afternoon of 13th March when my Convocation was scheduled on 14th morning.

As soon as I had this information, I decided to find ways to get to Banaras in time as there was no direct flight to Varanasi from Bangalore. So, after a lot of research , I concluded that there were just a couple of ways to reach for the convocation in time. I had to catch a flight to Kolkata (one was at 5.45 and another at 7.15) but that would have depended on whether i would be free by that time or not. Then, from Kolkata, there were 2 trains to Mughal Sarai (30kms from Banaras), one at 10pm and another at 11.30. So, I booked tickets for both the trains and didn't book my flight tickets taking a huge risk with the fares. I thought that I would catch the earliest available flight according to the time I get free.

So, on the D-Day, I arrived at the spot for the interview an hour early. And contrary to other IIMs, IIM-Kolkata had put up the list of the candidates and the panels they would be in. As luck would have it, my name was 7th out of 9 people on that panel. I hoped that they would call the candidates in random order as was done in IIM-Indore. I thought that after the Case Study got over, I would stay back and request the panel to take my interview early.

So, the time arrived and all the members in my panel went in for the Case Study. There were four people present, two Professors of IIMC and 2 alumni. It was something about an employee who was working for a company, left it , joined a rival company where he worked for 4 years. He came back to his original company and was offered a higher post than his former peers which lead to a discord. It was a nice discussion where everyone made some valid points and everyone was given a minute to summarize at the end.


After the Case study, the panel asked us to come in the order mentioned on the list (i thought that was it). Then they asked us if we had any queries. I thought this is my chance. I told them that I had my convocation the next day and that I would be very grateful if my interview was conducted earlier than scheduled. The panelist told me,"We don't have any problems. If you can convince the other members to swap places with you, then well and good. That would also show your persuasive skills and if you are able to come in for the interview by the second slot, I'll not take your interview and will directly select you."

I had to get my form attested, so I couldn't go in at the first place. All the other panel members understood my problem, so ultimately everyone was nice enough to allow me to go in before them. I went into the room at the second slot.

As soon as I went in, the professor was shocked or at least acting shocked. Here's how our initial conversation went about:
P1(Prof 1): So, You've come. According to what I said, I should not take your interview and select you directly.
(i gave a smile)
P1: What do you think I should do?
Me: Sir, its all up to you.
P1: Do you think its fair?
Me: Sir, if that statement was made seriously, then I think its totally fair.
P1: Do you think its fair to the other candidates?
Me: No, not at all.
P1: So, if you were in my position, what would you have done?
Me: Sir, I would prefer if you take my interview.

(I knew at that point that this was the thing that would have made or ruined my interview)
Now the interview started (mostly only the alumni and P1 asked the questions ,the second professor was observing rather than asking the questions.

A(I don't remember who asked what so, A means one of the alumni): So, attending your convocation is more important than your interview here
Me: No Sir, it was a request from my side because I would have preferred to attend the convocation. If you would not have agreed , then I would definitely have stayed back for the interview and missed the convocation.
P1: So, tell me what have you contributed to the society?
Me: Nothing till now.
P1: Do you plan to do anything in the future?
Me: Sir, my family contributes for our village in Tamil Nadu, so will I may help them in that in the future.
P1: (here comes the Raj Thackeray issue) So, you live here and work in Bangalore and will contribute to your native place. I think that is what Raj Thackeray was talking about.
Me: Sir, I would help my family in that because, I would have guidance from them. In the future, I may also support local charities but that would be thinking too far ahead.
(there was some discussion on this issue in which I also mentioned that I am a Tamilian, born and brought up in Delhi, studied in Varanasi and working in Bangalore just to show my diverse background)

Some discussion on my work - About Credit Bureaus, Credit Scoring and what all should be done to improve the situation in India. (did well in those parts)

It was more of a discussion than an interview. I came out very happy.

Just before the interview, I had called up my friend in office asking her to book the flight tickets for the flight at 5.45. After the interview, I rushed to the office to get the tickets. As, I was collecting the tickets from her, surprisingly one of my college friends Vaibhav Jain aka Jaini came along smiling as if I was dating her on the streets. Luckily, he had a vehicle with him and dropped me to the airport.

My other friends(Puneet,Moti,Faisal,Baba and Tyson) were to catch a flight to Kolkata at 3.30 which was via Chennai. So, they were schedules to reach Kolkata about 75 minutes before me. Their flight was delayed by an hour. I caught the flight and when I reached Kolkata, I found out that their flight had not arrived yet. One of my friends working in Kolkata, Kapil had come to receive me. We caught a taxi to Howrah Railway station. He got down near his home and i continued to the station. We crossed the famous Howrah bridge which is located just outside the station and it does look AWESOME. I managed to catch the train with my friends. We had a blast during the entire journey rekindling old memories.

When we reached Mughal Sarai, Faisal's Local Guardian had come to pick us up with 2 vehicles for transportation to the college. As we were just about to enter the highway, a truck hit our vehicle and ripped the rear-left part. There wasn't much harm done as both the vehicles were at a very slow speed.

We waited there for some minutes to make the traffic police understand the situation and left for the heaven on earth - IT,BHU.

In this entire day, I realized that, I had taken the help of many of my friends and I take credit for making such friendships. I would like to thank all my friends who helped me that day and all the other friends who were with me on the journey that day. It is because of all of them that the day was so memorable for me.

P.S. - I also cracked the interview and got a final admission offer from IIM-Kolkata. So, for me the day was just perfect.