Another Love story ended without getting started

Courtesy: Google Images

Recently, I went to a restaurant with my friends in Mumbai in Marine Kolaba. 

A very sexy beautiful girl dressed beautifully perhaps in her most expensive dress starts looking at you like anything. You are also excited in one of your romantic moods by virtue of your company and other reasons. You are also single and ready to mingle. You starts drinking more and more. In order to impress her, you order the same brand that she had ordered and you are drinking by looking in her eyes. Your friends keep motivating you to talk to that girl. They convinced you that she is interested in you and you shouldn’t miss the chance this time. You remember the song, “Kabhi Ishq aur sharaab ko mila kar piyo” By Pankaj udhaas. 

Suddenly, a boy who face looked like actor Prem Chopra and hair style like Gulshan Grover comes and hugged the girl you are staring at. The girl felt embarrassed and look towards you in a manner like that she didn’t know that boy but somehow you felt hurt. Now, your friends give the examples of the hit bollywood movies to motivate you but somehow you felt withdrawn. 

Another Love story ends without beginning. This happened with somebody near. This happens with so many of us from time to time. Thanks to our friends.

An Art of Networking: An amateur attempt

In management, they talk so much about these PR skills and power of networking. By ‘they’, I mean professors and students. Even I fell into the trap, I read some of the papers of Harvard Business review and some of the small management tales about it but still I was not convinced. The crux of most of the papers was that whether you like it or not, one has to be good in the art of networking to be a successful manager. I am not convinced about it. Neither I am able to appreciate these papers. May be at some later stage in life,  I will realize it. Right now, as a student, I think I am not in a position or well qualified to comment but still can put forward my opinion on the subject. 

What is Networking? 

In simple words, it is to use your contacts to get a favor. But one thing what I feel about all this is that when you take a favor for someone, then you also have to favor him later on in your life. And think, if the person simply ask for something impossible, how would say ‘No’ to them then.

There is a race among managers these days to increase their networks. One of the research paper, I was reading states that every new relation you make will decrease the strength of your current relations by 10%.  To understand it better, if A and B share a very good relation with 100% bonding in them, then if anyone of them makes any new relation, then it will reduce their bonding to 90%. This is only a research paper. Exceptions are always there. But, I am convinced with this research paper.

Also, simply interacting with someone and making friend him on Facebook and following him on twitter will simply not add you in his network. It will give you only mentally satisfaction and I have seen that some of the relations survive till the time nobody asks the favor.

The only question I am confused about  right now is that, ‘Are relations are different from networks?’

Is Networking is only professional or can be personnel ?

Are relations are only personnel or can be professional?

I see people in my batch who are always busy in collecting the business card of any personality visiting our college and then don’t share these visiting cards with anybody. Every interaction, every greeting smells of motive. I wonders what they expect from them. I have seen my friends talking irrelevant things with them. This happens when you want to talk but lack content.  Perhaps, this is networking. I think what I need now is  another course in networking techniques and all that. I also want to use my brain. Heart does not always work. Sometimes, I too feel that I should talk to more people in my batch but another reasoning that justifies my present state is that I have enough number of friends and contacts. There is no point in numbers but what matters is the bond between the relation whether it is ionic or covalent(O just remember some concepts studied once in chemistry, read them as strong and weak).

The joy of living in small cities

Can we imagine our life without Dominos, CCD, McDonalds and movies at PVRs? 

I know it is very hard for a typical metro boy to answer. 

Saahil lives in a Mumbai. He was going to his home to Saharanpur, a small city. Travelling in train is one such thing which he really loves as it gives him a chance to introspect.

He reminisced his childhood days. On some occasion at his home when he was 7 years old, he met with some of relatives from Delhi, Mumbai. Never, they miss a chance to harass the people living in small towns. If he go to movie theatre with them, they comment on the seats. On road, unmanaged traffic. During power failure, on power problems. In restaurant, they start complaining about hygiene.  He was very possessive about the city but never said anything, because he was so unsure of life in the metros during his childhood days.

But after spending few years in a metro, He feel like to live in a small city. Even in his city , dominos came, CCd also came. People say, it is developing but however, He don’t like these things. Too selfish of him, He  didn’t want the development of his own city. But the truth is that, He don’t want it to be commercialized. Why he don’t want it to be industrialized. He perhaps don’t know the answer. Sometimes back, he thought how good it would be if his city was also commercialized and he lives in his home town while working. But due to lack of jobs, he moved out and now, he don’t want it to be industrialized.  He fear that the city will lose its peace. If all this development like sky rocketed building, MNCs, chain of American restaurants came in this city, then he fear, where will go when he wants to escape from the real busy and stressful life of a metro. Whenever, he go to home and meet his some  old friends, they planned a party at Dominos. But, he always resisted to go the Dominos of his city.

On reaching home, people living nearby became very excited. His cousins are also always excited about the life in the metro. The best thing is that Saahil never boasted that he now lives in a metro city. They give him a lot of respect. People living nearby also came and  bombarded him with their own questions about big cities.

 “What metros?“ Saahil said. “Have you ever think a day in the life of the people living in the metro? They hardly get any time for anything. They are so stressed out.”

People started looking at each other with blank faces. 

He tried to cool them up and change the topic. He told them few days back, he spotted a Amitabh Bachan in Siddhi Vinayak Temple. Everybody became excited. 

Later, he went on to the terrace and thought about his childhood days. 

“Yahoooo, power chali gayi, Ab hum chat pe soyenge……”(Power cut, now we will sleep on the terrace)

He thought how excited he and his elder brother Samar became whenever there is a power cut. How he and his elder brother Samar  looked at the Sky and try to count the stars, how hard they try to recognize the constellations that their science teacher told them about. Few days back, he get a chance to meet the Avantika malik, the love of the protagonist of the ‘Just mohabbat’, and the first childhood crush of he and his brother. But he no longer excited about her. 

In small cities, life starts at 6 with a morning walk where people meet their friends and gossips. Then they have  a tea with wife. After that, husband go to work and wife, if working, go to job else continue doing household chores. At lunch, they meet again. Mostly, there is teaching job for ladies only and none else. It is possible for ladies to cook the food after their day ends at work. Husband again went back to office and then came back in the late evening. Then assist the children in their homework and watched some television soaps together. They never thought of Audi and BMW, they are not very ambitious people and love their Nano.

 In metros, life starts at 6. People wake up and get ready to catch an office bus at 7. At 9 , they reach office after spending 2 hours in traffic. During this time, some sleep deprived peoples catch some sleep, some readers take out their novels and some observers just watch out of the window for 2 hours and do nothing. They come back home by 9. If they have the energy left, made the food. Else ordered from outside. Enjoying in weekends, is a new trend, in metros. On weekends, there are different rules and prices in every restaurants, disc and PVRS.

In smaller cities, people generally don’t use this word ‘Weekend.’

He was watching the sky and lying on the bed. Perhaps, he had fallen asleep although his eyes were open.

Placement time -Part-1

Placement tine had finally come. I had begun to feel that my journey in college is almost over. I had not write a post from long time, did not read something from a long time. It doesn't mean that I am doing very hard work for my placements but it is something always on the mind.

What will the HR ask?

Would they recruit me?

What happens if I didn’t get placed and so on?

Will I get a job of my choice?

Will i get a competitive package?

What my friends will think if I didn’t make it to a good company?

Would people think me dumb?

Such questions are really common and it is very hard to get rid of them.

 But life is beyond getting placement. Sometimes, we hide the things from our friends in such an environment and didn't help them thinking they are the one with  whom we compete. There are different arguments and perspectives to support this kind of thinking and everyone is entitled. Is this the competition? Competition is supposed to help us or create the divide. But, recently, i read a speech shared by someone on facebook and i was deeply effected by it. It says there are 4 balls in life. They are Health, Friends, Work, Family and we keep on juggling them. Work ball is made up of rubber and bounce back if fall but the rest 3 balls are made of glass, they get broken once missed. Just think accordingly and decide your priorities. I always prefer commitment over competency.

Everybody just talks about the placements everywhere. It is bit difficult to maintain your calm in such an atmosphere. First of all, i would like to make a point is that everything that happen happens for a good reason. If any company is not recruiting you, it is for your benefit. There is no point in getting selected in the company whose level does not match with ours. What happened if we didn't perform there, we will be sack there and let them decide. Interviews are for checking the compatibility. For example, before getting married both interact a lot to check the compatibility. There is no point in getting what you didn't deserved because in that case it will not last for long.

Just believe on yourself.