Sleeping - An Expensive Luxury

I had gone to Chennai over the weekend to visit my sis and niece. For the onward journey, I had train (Courtesy - Indian Railways) as my prefered mode of travel. The onward journey was pretty eventless, and I had the best two days of my life.

Now, for the return journey, I had chosen "A Luxury Sleeper A/C Bus" (courtesy - KPN Travels). I personally prefer trains and flights to bus traveling any day. And that too for good reasons:

1. I can stretch my legs and wander compartments checking out the "scenery".

2. Trains travels leave you faaaaaaar less tired than bus journeys.
3. And the most important reason - Trains have toilets, whilst buses don't!!!

Reason 3, although might not sound a big deal to many, is indeed a BIG DEAL!!!


(Picture this - Its 1.00 AM and you’re in the middle of nowhere, and you want to use the restroom! If you were traveling by train - there are no problems at all. But, if you're traveling by bus - Govindaaaaaaa ... The Govindaaaaaaa thingy escalates to Govindaaaaaaa Gooooooooooovinda - if you’re a lady who’s going through this dilemma!!!)


Anyways, moving on ... So, I get to the bus stop at 10.00 pm, and board the bus by 10.30 pm (thankfully, the bus was on time!)

It’s when I got in that I realized that my seat was the last one on the bus - Lower Berth 30. "It’s Volvo ... The vibrations at the back can't be that bad!" is what was going through my mind. But, when I got to my seat - the vibrations were the least of my concerns!!!

Ok ... Let me take a break here to describe myself... I am good 120 kilos and sport a 173 cms frame. In short - I am pretty beefy!!!

And, what I saw in front of me - was a seat (berth actually) designed for a guy who was 20 kilos and maybe sported a 73 cms frame (Ok ... Ok ... I am exaggerating ... The berth would've barely been sufficient for a person with a 70 kilo/5' 5" frame).
Its not the first time I have traveled by Sleeper Bus. But generally, I get seats somewhere in the middle of the bus. And also, I make sure that I get one of the double berth seats. This way, all I need to do is squeeze my poor co-passenger to get that "extra" space I need!

But, heck - this time - I was done for. I tried my level best to adjust in that meager space, and I guess the right way to put it is - "I was spilling out of my seat"
:(

Somehow or the other, I managed to get some shuteye. But, it was already 2.30 am. "At least I'll get a couple of hours of shut eye. Its better than no shut eye!" I thought and continued sleeping.

Yet another mistake!

I woke up to the conductor prodding me - "Sir ... Get up ... Last Stop - Kalashipalayam!!!"

Still half asleep, I told him - "Can you wake me when we get to Madivala boss???" - turned to the other side, and continued sleeping!

"Get out you stupid idiot ... We crossed Madivala long back!"

The force with which he said it kinda jolted me out of my sleep. And with no further ado, I got off the bus - clutching my bags, with my eyes still shut!

I ended up paying an autorikshaw driver Rs. 120/- (I reached that price tag after a lot of haggling) for a journey that would've cost me a max of Rs. 20 - HAD I WOKEN UP AT MADIVALA!


Hopefully, next time - I wont oversleep!!!

Job Interview at Vendio

Today (20/03/2008), I had a job interview at a IT firm called Vendio. For those of you who don't know about it - please refer www.vendio.com. Honestly speaking, I don't have much idea about the organization except for the fact that they are into E-Commerce and E-Auction related products. So, anyways, lets move on to the more interesting aspects of the interview!!

I had 4 rounds of interviews - all of them technie rounds, each of which I was able to clear with panache. Basically, from my extensive experience in giving/taking job interviews, one thing I've realized is that - all it takes to crack an interview, however tough/techie it be, IS THE ABILITY TO BULLSHIT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE!
Seriously, that's all it takes. The more straight faced and confident you sound - the more un-nerved the interviewer gets and will move on to the next question. And the best part is - he/she begins to think that you are right!
:D

But, I must warn you in advance. There are people, like one of my good friends Ravi Ramachandran - who interviewed me for my opening at Oracle, with whom you should not try this trick. It will simply back fire. The reason is pretty simple: They're technically very very very sound (read as - they are geeks with no such thing as personal lives!) and on top of that - they are pretty rude to strangers!

Anyways, let get back to main story - So, I was put through four rounds of interviews, each one testing a different skill set:
1. Java/J2EE Concepts, Web Application Design and Standards, Best Practises.
2. Algorithms and Logical/Analytical reasoning Puzzles.
3. Database Concepts, SQL Tuning, Schema Designing, Load Balancing Databases
4. Scenario/Caselet Analysis, Performance Tuning, Applications Scalability Architecting/Designing.


Anyone reading this - would probably feel that I went through some really intense interview panels - Right?
Well - now you know I can bullshit with a straight face!
:P


Anyways ... With my "skills" I navigated each of these panels very successfully - right until the point that the 4th interviewer asked me - "Why do you want to leave Oracle?"

Well ... Truth be told - I kindda forgot that Vendio, like Oracle, was a product company. And so, instead of giving them a concocted answer, I gave them my honest reason for wanting to leave Oracle - because I wanted to move into Business Analysis/Development related of roles in the next 2 - 5 years. All I can say is - this proved to be the most disastrous thingy I could have said at the interview.

The 4th interviewer - who was till then smiling at my excellent "performance" - suddenly started giving me a stern face. He went something like - "We are a product company like Oracle. And the chances of moving into BD is not impossible. But, at your experience level - I think it will take a lot of time. But, yes, you have mentioned a time frame of 3 - 5 years. I don't see any reason why you should not be able to move into such roles in that sort of a time frame - provided you have the right skill sets and talent and showcase the performance needed for the same! Anyways ... How the process works here is - we will give our feedback to the HR and if all goes well, they will get in touch with you in another 2 or 3 days. It was nice talking to you. Have a good day!".

With this he stood up to indicate that it was the end of the interview process per se. Heck - he even escorted me to the reception area.


Well, for the uneducated (read as Non-IT crowd), the above statement might have not sounded "bad" per se. But, since I've been in this business (and I mean interviewing and not IT) for long - that above statement, translated, means this - "Awwwwwwwwww ... Big mistake man ... Just when I was beginning to like you and thinking of offering you a job, you blew it. Now, I'm sure a couple of months into your joining my team - you'll realize this role is not a fit for your career goals and will throw your papers. So, I better go back and see if I can find another person to do the job I want done. In the meanwhile - do you want to leave my office premises on your own, or would you prefer me, to tell security, to throw you out?"


Anyways ... That is a closed chapter. There is nothing much I think I can do about that.


Thinking about it right now - I'm not at all upset at not having got an offer from Vendio, because, if I had eventually gotten an offer, I would have ended up in a job profile that wasn't exactly what I was dreaming/yearning for, and ergo, I wouldn't have been very passionate about it!!!
(Although, I must confess that it is a Big Hit on my ego - that some company turned ME down!)



Guess this mean - The Hunt Is Still On!

Looking Out For A New House

Today (18/03/2006), out of the blue, my roomie Sajith said that come 1st April he is moving out to another house. That leaves me with a meager 12 days to find another house - or else - bear the onslaught of splitting a 12K rent between (just) two people.

I've been on it since morning, and one thing I realized is - Home hunting sucks big time!!!

Finally - I'm Going Home

The last time I hit Cochin was to appear for the XAT exam sometime during the first week of January. I wouldn't take into account that visit as a holiday as my itinerary pretty much went like this -> Reached Cochin around 3 pm on Saturday - Did some last minute Exam Preparation - Wrote the exam on Sunday morning through noon - Headed back home - packed my stuff - caught the bus to Bangalore.

So, if I discount that visit, then, The last time I went home was sometime in early November. That makes it 5 full months since I last went home for a holiday. Maaaaaaaaaaan ... That is a looooooooooooooong hiatus!


No wonder dad is all senti over the phone!!!
(Last time he called - he was like - "Do you remember there are two poor old souls called your parents back here in Cochin? It'd be very nice if you'd come to see us once in a blue moon atleast!")

I know that dad is a very sentimental person, but he generally contains his emotions pretty well. But, yeah, given the scenario above, in all fairness - Its justified for him to have have that emotional pandemonium.


Anyways ... I'm happy that I don't have to live with this guilt anymore. I'm going home next week. And that too - for a loooooooooooooooooooooooong weekend. I'll be in Cochin from 4th - 7th April (both days inclusive).
Hopefully - this will cheer dad up and maybe even raise his spirits!
(In case that doesn't work - I've saved enough money to buy him a bottle of some expensive Scotch Whisky. Now that should definitely raise his "spirits"!!!)

:D

Making A Lot Of New Friends

Today (16/03/2008) I made a few new friends at the Empire Hotel on Churchstreet. They're work as the bouncers (official designation - Captain) at the hotel!
Although bouncers are portrayed to be a mean and nasty lot, these guys turned out to be really nice and friendly.
(One of them "advised" us not to order the Paneer Butter Masala at the hotel - as the paneer was "Not Good")


The way I see it - Its a part of my efforts at Social Networking. You never know when you need/could use someone's services/help!

Partying @ HINT

On Saturday night me and my friends hit the disc called HINT (Its on the Top Floor of Bangalore Central). It is by far the best nightclub I've been to in Bangalore. Wait - It's by far the best nightclub I've been to - Period!

The crowd rocked, the ambience was amazing, and the music was mindblowing. The drinks, on the other hand, were extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemly costly. I ended up shelling out 800 bucks for 2 Mojitos's and a snack.
But you know what - I have absolutely no regrets about that. It was money well spent!!!


Pallavi - Thanks a lot for getting all of us on the guest list at that place!!! I owe ya one - Big Time!!!

My Team - A Sinking Galleon

This blog is temporarily on hold !!!