Ye Meri Life Hai - Chirag Mehta

Be Good & Do Good!

Tag: India (page 2 of 18)

Deutsche Bank : Gujarat offers the most favourable outlook for growth

Gujarat is the Topmost Investment Destination of India:

Deutsche Bank: “Gujarat offers the most favourable outlook for growth of demand for infrastructure projects”.

Be truthful, be confident, and go bell the CAT

Following is a story of an IIM topper. I received this as a forward email, but it is inspiring and funny too …. Why not have a look at it .. may be it help you to grab the CAT

Preparation 2005:
In March 2005 the CAT 2005 fever picked up in IIT. A lot of people starting doing multiple choice questions, lots of banners were put up, everyone was giving tests, topping at some coaching or the other. Initially I did not want to give CAT but the herd mentality is hard to break and hence I also joined Roots Education near IIT for CAT preparation (Roots definitely is a great place to go, not just for CAT but for overall development). Summer break came and I went to Yahoo! Bangalore for my internship and prepared for GRE there (Yes I am an extremely confused soul). After coming back I gave GRE prepared a little bit for CAT and went to give the exam.

CAT 2005 Exam:
The funniest thing happened during the exam, I wanted to start my watch so that it starts at 12 and I can measure the time precisely. The exam started and I forgot to start my watch. After 10-12 minutes I realized my mistake and started my watch and started rushing through the questions. I gave too much time to the English Section and barely gave enough time to Quant and Data Interpretation. When I came out of the exam I scored something in 50s. I attempted around 34 marks in English and scored around 24, I attempted 17 marks in Quant and scored 15.66 marks, and I attempted 17 marks in DI and scored 15 or something in it. Most coaching institutes told me not to have too much hope for callsII.

IIM Interviews 2005:
I scored 99.45 percentile and got interview calls from all the IIMs. I remember little details but I will try and capture them here. The IIM Calcutta interview was the worst. They asked me about my favorite course, I said algorithms. They asked me what NP Complete is and I did not answer it correctly. Moreover I argued that I was correct. The professor told me to go and read my books again. IIM Kozikode was a funny experience and in the end I told them that I do not want admission at IIM Kozikode. IIM Ahemdabad was again okay. In IIM Bangalore we started discussing about India and I said that in India things happen by chance and are not planned. It was a nice hot discussion. IIM Lucknow was also quite decent. In the end I was not expecting anything from IIM Calcutta and quite hopeful from IIM Bangalore and Calcutta. The result was that I got through IIM Calcutta and Lucknow and did not get through others. Quite Funny.

I did not join IIM since I wanted to work (and at that time I was supposed to go to US). However that is a different story.

Preparation 2006:
I was almost in no mood to give CAT. But since some friends were going to get the form I also asked them to get the form for me. I remember while filling up the form my mom asked me why am I filling the form but the person I am I just said just in case (I know I do have some OCD)

Exam 2006:
This time I did not take any coaching. Did not take any practice tests basically did nothing. In fact I landed back from US on 18th November at 2 a.m. in the morning. I came home and slept, ate a lot of Indian food on 18th and went to exam on 19th. I think I was somewhat jetlagged. I also felt really funny and stupid while giving the exam having cleared it once. I don’t know how it happened but I did pretty well. I scored well in almost all the sections.

Interviews 2006:
I scored 99.56 percentile and got interview calls from all IIMs again. This time the interviews were much more interesting. At IIM Bangalore they asked me a lot of things, few of them I remember. They asked me that “I want to enter management now leaving technical side, how can they be sure that I will not leave management later?” I just could not think of any answer and in the end I blurted what was coming in my mind that “There is not guarantee, in fact most probably I will leave management as well after 10-15 years as after that I should have enough money and would like to work for an NGO after that.” They also asked me “How do I justify government funding on my IIT education since I am leaving it now?” Again I was stumped and I became philosophical and said that “Nobody said life would be fair, IIT has an exam and on that day I scored more marks and was able to get in and there is no guarantee that another person would not make the same choices as I have made.” I did not expect to get selected at IIM Bangalore. In the IIM Calcutta interview they asked me why I did not join last year. I was able to convince them well. Overall a nice interview. IIM Ahemdabad was quite interesting. The professor quized me over testing and quality assurance. I explained what I had learned in the past one year. They asked me about my thesis project on having automated surveillance. They asked me why it was required and I said that because humans are expensive and can make more mistakes. At the end of the interview they asked me that I said machines are better since humans make more mistakes but a software is also written by humans and hence can have errors right? and I answered that because of this we have testing and quality assurance teams. We all smiled. IIM Lucknow was okay again. The result was that I got through IIM Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow.

This time I also got an H1b with my company but somehow going to US did not feel right and hence I am joining IIM Calcutta ( I know I am terribly confused person).

This has been my rendezvous with CAT. Overall a great experience. My advice to others, don’t study too much for CAT written test. If you study too much then you get tensed and that makes things worse. If you don’t study then no tension and better performance. IIM Interviews are a completely different story.

Prepare every portion of your life, specially college life and academics, and try and have a good reasoning of why you want to do an MBA. Most of all don’t lie, always say the truth because I feel when you say the truth then you say it with full confidence and that makes an impression on people. Be truthful, be confident, and go bell the CAT.

Swiss watch makers develop Indian astro based watch(showing Rahu Kaal)

Swiss watch company, BorgeauD watches has come up with a unique watch based on the Indian Astro Calendar – The Panchang. This watch collection is the first of its kind worldwide.

According to the Panchang, every person has 90 minutes of rahu kaal each day. Rahu kaal is viewed as having a profound effect on all decision-making. The Rahu period is a moment when activity does not cease, but time for action takes a pause. It is generally avoided when key decisions have to be made.

To demonstrate the rahu aspect, the dial of the watches bear a droplet or a window which fills up with a colour at the start of the reflection or Rahu period and gently empties itself in real-time for 90 minutes, inviting you to take a pause or craft a sense of personal time.

The watches are high-end premium watches priced between Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakhs and are currently available at Helios in Bangalore, and at Ethos, Swiss Watch Studios in Bangalore, New Delhi and Gurgaon.


Unlimited India/International calling & messaging @ just 5$(Five Dollars) : metroPCS

Hey I got a new Nokia 1006 phone today with metroPCS(CDMA) as the provider. The feture which I want to share is not about Phone, Phone is good but the most exciting features are not of phone but are of cellular provider …

First Month Free
No Signed Contracts
One Flat Monthly Rate
No Activation Fee

Unlimited Local
Unlimited Long Distance (48 US States)
Unlimited Text Messaging
Unlimited Global Text Messaging
Unlimited Web

and here goes the best features for we Indians out here in USA
International Calling Unlimited @ just 5$ FIVE dollars …. yupss

There is a new $5 unlimited international calling plan that caters to over 100 different countries, although that will require you to subscribe to an unlimited national monthly calling plan of $40, $45 or $50 beforehand.

Little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind every piece of Technology

Sergey Brin (Google co-founder) grieves and honors Rajeev Motwani in following pen-notes manner …

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. In fact, I have been doing some research for what I thought would be my next post.

Unfortunately, life does not always give you the luxury to plan what may be close to your heart next. It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of my teacher and good friend Professor Rajeev Motwani. But I would rather not dwell on the sorrow of his death and instead celebrate his life.

Officially, Rajeev was not my advisor, and yet he played just as big a role in my research, education, and professional development. In addition to being a brilliant computer scientist, Rajeev was a very kind and amicable person and his door was always open. No matter what was going on with my life or work, I could always stop by his office for an interesting conversation and a friendly smile.

When my interest turned to data mining, Rajeev helped to coordinate a regular meeting group on the subject. Even though I was just one of hundreds of graduate students in the department, he always made the time and effort to help. Later, when Larry and I began to work together on the research that would lead to Google, Rajeev was there to support us and guide us through challenges, both technical and organizational.

Eventually, as Google emerged from Stanford, Rajeev remained a friend and advisor as he has with many people and startups since. Of all the faculty at Stanford, it is with Rajeev that I have stayed the closest and I will miss him dearly. Yet his legacy and personality live on in the students, projects, and companies he has touched. Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it.

Source : http://too.blogspot.com/2009/06/remembering-rajeev.html

Jana Gana Mana – Revised …



Lyrics …
Jana Gann Mana Rann hai
…is Rann mein
Zakhmi Bhaarat ka Bhaagya Vidhaata

Punjab Sindh Gujrat Maratha
Ek doosre se ladd ke mar rahein hai
Is desh ne humko ek kiya
Aur hum desh ke tukde kar rahein
Dravid Utkal Banga

Khoon bahaa ker, ek rang ka
…kar diya humne tiranga
Sarhadon pe jung aur
…Galiyon mein fasaad danga

Vindh Himachal Yamuna Ganga
Mein tezaab ubal raha hai
Mein tezaab ubal raha hai

Mar gaya sab ka zameer
Jaane kab zinda ho aagey
Phir bhi Tava shubh naame jaage
Tava shubh aashish maange

Aag mein jal kar cheekh raha hai
Phir bhi koi nahi bachaata
Gaahe tava jaya gaatha

Desh ka aisa haal hai lekin
Aapas mein ladd rahein Neta
Jana Gann Mangal daayak jaya hai

Bhaarat ko bacha le Vidhaata!!!
Jaya hai – Ya yeh – Marann hai
Jana – Gann – Mana – Rann hai

This song reinforces and urges citizens to respect India, its greatness and it’s National Anthem.

If anyone thinks that it is a crime to ask Indians to stand up and help India be the glorious Country that it was, then I have only one thing to say…
“BHAARAT KO BACHAA LE VIDHAATA”
– Sarim Momin (Lyricist of Jana Gana Mana RANN)

GMail in Indian Languages

Chandramouli Mahadevan shares his experience about Indian Language usage in composing emails …

It’s hard for me to imagine going without email for a day. It’s such an easy and convenient way to communicate with my friends and family. However, there was one limitation that bothered me: my family members and friends who prefer to communicate in Hindi did not have an easy way to type and send email in their language of choice. I am extremely happy to announce the launch of a new feature in Gmail that makes it easy to type email in Indian languages.

When you compose a new mail in Gmail, you should now see an icon with an Indian character, as the screenshot below shows. This feature is enabled by default for Gmail users in India. If you do not see this function enabled by default, you will need to go the “Settings” page and enable this option in the “Language” section.

When you click the Indian languages icon, you can type words the way they sound in English and Gmail will automatically convert the word to its Indian local language equivalent. For example, if a Hindi speaker types “namaste” we will transliterate this to “??????.” Similarly, “vanakkam” in Tamil will become “???????.” We currently support five Indian languages — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam — and you can select the language of your choice from the drop-down list next to the icon.

We built this new feature using Google’s transliteration technology, which is also available on Google India Labs, Orkut, Blogger and iGoogle. I hope you find this feature useful to communicate with those of your friends and family who prefer to write in their native language, and it will be available soon to businesses and schools using Google Apps. Now back to replying to all those Hindi emails I got from my family and friends today!

Oscars : Eight on ten for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ sweeps eight Oscars at the 81 st Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Direction and Motion Picture. Indian music maestro A R Rahman brings home two awards with his Jai Ho… composition.

THE OSCAR WINNERS…
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire. “It has been collaboration between hundreds of people. All of us are here to share this moment. This was an extraordinary journey,” says the Slumdog… team.

Best Direction: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song: A R Rahman for ‘Jai Ho…’ (Slumdog Millionarie)
The Indian music maestro, Rahman wooed the audience with ‘O Saya’ and ‘Jai Ho…’ the nominated songs from ‘Slumdog…’, as the nominees for Best Original Song were being announced.

Best Original Score: A R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire . “I have nothing but my mother and she is there with me. I thank her for making me coming all this way with her blessings,” said a proud Rahman.

Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Resul Pookutty for Slumdog Millionaire. “This is just not a sound award, but a history being handed over,” said Indian receiver Pookutty.

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire. “The cast and crew of the film told me so much about India and writing,” said a proud Beaufoy.

Best Documentary Short Subject: Megan Mylan for Smile Pinki

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn for Milk.

Best Actressin a Leading Role: Kate Winslet for The Reader. Breathless Kate confessed experiencing the fainting feeling just like Penelope Cruz. She shouted onstage and waved at her father. She said, “I want to thank my family as they love me the way I am and lets me do what I want to.” By the time she finished her speech she was already in tears.

Best Foreign Language Film: Departures (Japan)

Best Sound Editing: Richard King for The Dark Knight

Best Visual Effects: Eric Barba for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Documentary Feature Film: James Marsh for Man on Wire

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight . It was a special moment for actor’s family – mother Sally, father Kim and sister Kate who came to receive the trophy on Ledger’s behalf.

Best Live action short film: Jochen Alexander for Spielzeugland Toyland

Best Make-up: Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Costume Design: Michael O’Connor for The Duchess

Best Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Animated Short Film: Kunio Kato for La Maison En Petits Cubes

Best Animated Feature: Andrew Stanton for Wall-E

Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for Milk

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. “Has anyone fainted here, may be I will be the first one,” exclaimed Penelope immediately after receiving the award.

Every Satyam’ite is a Leader

Source : Forward Email

A Satyamite stating his views about Satyam financial turbulence and presenting a note on how good leaders Satyamites are

I(Satyamite) am deputed at client location and came across a very interesting conversation in cafeteria yesterday. One of my co-worker, also deputed with the same client through some lesser known two room company, mustered guts to ask me sarcastically in front of entire team, “So, Satyam is gone! What are you guys planning to do now?” In normal circumstances, I have a habit to not to reply to lose talks, but in front of entire team…. I thought I need to fix this guy’s thought process. I asked him, as my military training has imbibed in me the habit to fight till last breadth, “Who says Satyam is gone when I am very much alive here and committed to create value on behalf of my company?”. He shot back, “Hello Mr., your chairman has resigned, you guys are facing financial turbulence and you still have a face to say that Satyam is not gone!”

At this juncture, I thought of replying to this guy in his own language. I asked him, “Tell me, what will you do and where will you go if our country India was not there?” He was not prepared for this level of thought and asked back, “What a stupid question, How can India be gone, it is a country?” I asked him back, “Country! What makes a country? Land? Economy? Our Prime Minister? Our President? Our Geography? Or the PEOPLE? If our PM resigns, will you say India is gone? If our economy faces a slowdown, will you say India is gone? But yes, if the people of a country are lost for any reason, we will say that country has no meaning. Who cares of vast land of Antarctica today which has just one permanent resident, Father Georgy? Which country does it belongs to? Why does not it has any government? Why does not it has any economy? Or, how many countries were there when humans used to hunt for food in pre-historic times? Countries, Wealth, Infrastructures and booming economies are nothing but creations of efforts of PEOPLE, and they do not have any existance on their own. And the final blow was, “When one man can create Satyam as an organization of 53,000 people, why not 53,000 committed people can rebuild one SATYAM?

By now, I saw my point was well placed and he stood up and shook hands with me and murmured, “Yaar, when I used to hear from my roommate who work in Satyam that EVERY SATYAMITE IS A LEADER, I used to laugh it off. Now, I know why! ”

A.R.Rahman won the Golden Globe Award

Mozart of Asia’ A.R.Rahman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Slumdog Millionaire!



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