M I C A - L A L

No im not , just that today was Mica Test n gd pi . When i first got the call letter , i wondered how they called me as my percentile in CAT is pretty low , but then im not complaining . Got up at 6 ( hate it as always ) ... centre Jamnalal Bajaj , churchgate ( not a bad place :-) ) ... find a couple of known faces here and there , chatting around laughing , discussing champions league , soccer , much to the dismay of people studying around me for MET n gd n pi ( god save me from such people ) ... again usual , parents accompanying "children" ... i and my friend were lauging our asses off and people were wondering whats up with these guys.

First thing i notice around is Guys in Suits ... WTF , am i at the right centre ... MICA ... advertising ... cool people, an alumni had told me you might find the panelists in jeans , t shirts and some students too dressed up in shorts etc ... girls , always at their revealing best ...
Head over to the test seating area ... 1.5 hrs test , me had gone totally unprepared , i saw ppl studying some test from IMS ... again WTF ... anyways , MET was totally different ... psychometric analysis .... wowie . it was totally crazy psychoting and psycotesting me royally ( no puns intended ) ... all kinds of weird stuff ... and in the end , lot to write on slum development ( ummm , sorry no experience in that , had a tough time ) and last q'n was fun ... write a speech of 200 words ... how would u advice 5 -7 yrs olds in slums to drink clean drinking water

From there , waiting time for gd pi's , me hungry as usual , but was told not to leave the premises ... they served Tea ( umm im hungry , buiscuits pls dammit ) , getting to know the junta there , as soon as i mentioned am Puneet i hear arrey Pagalguy ka Puneet ... LOL , Respect ;-) ... i had ppl asking me , hey what u think abt MICA , what is ideal specialization , im confused as to what to do ... hello , WTF are you doing here then ... anyways ...

GD --- Case Study based but not exactly one .. it was about development of the India 21st century ... they had given 10 areas where development is necessary and asked us to rank in order of preference . then discuss with the group on these areas and finally reach a consensus as to which should be the top 3 ranking areas , me made entries quite a no of times as the gd was long 25 mins ... great group ... no fish market , everyone got to talk excepting 2 ppl . great discussion with good points being discussed and the grp managed to reach a consensus . thankfully , no hitler in the grp to mess up the gd , very cool gd.

PI -- aaha , now we are talking ... to be at the recieving end for a change ;-)
same gd panelist interviewing ... 2 guys G1 and G2 n a lady L ( G2 never spoke , just looked at me for the whole PI :-?

G1 and L : hello Puneet
Me : hello , hello.

L : so mumbaite , whole life
Me : yea , its a great place
L : ya , i know

L : Ever lived in a hostel ?
Me: umm , NO , why mam.

L: See if you get MICA , you would have to move to a hostel , would you be comfortable with it ?
Me surprised by the q'n : sure mam , ive heard hostel life is very cool and it would be a great experience and i have lived outside mumbai during fieldwork in various parts of India ALONE for months , so no problems.
L1 smiles

G1: so what you do , job kya hai
Me : Market Research

G1: Acha , great ...
Me thinks : Gaya , looks like he's MR prof

G1: Blabbers about MR stuff , fundae , questions me abt my job profile , what kind of projects i handle , role in the company ( at one point he says , intresting ... i like to hear more )
ME : blabbers about MR stuff , fundae ... ( when he says i like to hear more , ok ... ill blabber more ;-) ... 10 mins he and i discuss MR

L : So Why Mica
Me : Why Not Mica .... then more blabbering on my part

G1: Hobbies
Me: Gutiaring , My band
Everyone smiling :-)

L to G2 : you want to ask anything
G2 nods firmly NO and continues staring ( is there something called facial analysis :? )

L: Ready to leave your job and everything and join Mica , justify
Me: Answers yes , how it will help me , how will i contribute to Mica ... more fundae

L: So what u thought abt the GD , the group , your personal performance .
Me: Answers ( what i wrote above)

L : Thats it i guess , thank you Puneet.
Me : Thanks everyone , hope to see you at Mica smile.

20 mins PI ( 2 guys before me got out in 5 mins , so they took jolly good time with me )

Good thing was i was in the 1st group gd n pi so got off by 1 pm , hungry as hell ... met up with a friend . she's a JB student , so knew what to order ... so had nice canteen food . stayed on there , chatting with jb students , trying to see what kind of ppl are there and what has 1 yr of JBIMS done to them , sadly nothing great came out in the discussion and me was like hmmm , so this is the kind of students jb has , just 4 of them i talked to , so wouldnt generalize . Left Jb at 2 and went to office .

PS : Me personally thinks I wont get it ... several reasons
1. 120 seats ... approx 1000 - 1100 ppl would be interviewed ... odds aint helping
2. Percentile on the lower side , ppl were shocked when they heard my percentile ;-) ... way to go mica .
2. I was questioned why mica n leaving job , ur current pay and investing 2 yrs etc etc .. to which i responded , dont think they were convinced but who knows . lets see what's instore ...

Mumbai And Mumbaites

Today was another weekend at NASEOH Community Service . What was special about it the reality check of the kind of different profiled people who land up here and work towards one goal of Community Service.This was more evident today at the Treat Party given by One of us for her getting admitted to Duke Fuqua ( Awesome ) . 8 people and the kind of people ... interesting would be an understatement ;-)

4 people working in Top MNC's
1 Well Established Entrepreneur
1 Bubbling Engineer soon starting up who makes great choclates :-)
1 Engineer with experience of workin in 3 companies
1 Engineer With BLACKI calls

Now where in the world will you see and get to meet such people every sunday here in India and the interaction is amazing and one gets great perspective of the different industries around , the kind of work handled , gyan abt MBA n future prospects here and outside the country , ( People have applied and got " calls " from likes of Wharton , Duke ,Stanford , Oxford , ISB , IIMS , XLRI , NMIMS , SP JAIN , MICA etc ) , managing a buisness and so on . Apart from this we have an IITian and many others who arent able to make it every week but do drop by whenever possible . This is one hell of a group which makes visiting NASEOH well worth the effort along with the CS which is our 1st priority . And when it is time to enjoy n let loose , the other side of us shows up , creating hell at coffee joints , vada pav stalls , basically wherever we go , we are noticed for some reason or the other ;-) . Mumbai ROCKS n more over Mumbai Wala's Rock More :-)

PICS OF TODAY's TREAT MEET :-)

http://community.webshots.com/album/278115772fMIBib

14th Feb of a Different Kind

14th feb , yes its here . already said what i needed to say couple of days back . now to say what the heart used to say :)

Im damm sure youre not gonna find V day cards with these lines / poems in them , so
1. If this is the day you thinking of doing something totally outrageous OR
2. Youre finally convinced about the circumstances surrounding you OR
3. You have been in pain due to someone

Say it to him/ her , pour ur heart out but dont blame me for the consequences of your actions , im a mere messenger.

1. Against the walls of my heart I throw the spears of hate and rage
An attempt to find the exit from my lonely cage
To break away from all the feeling caused by you in my life under pressure
Takes the fear of change from a mind lost tonight
I feel a tear inside my soul and growing insane
With each passing word from loving haters of my beautiful pain

2. Yours may be not to always question why, yours may be to do or die...
Mine is not to do or die mine is to once and for all question you why...

3.I was left alone to die
Alone in the limits of my mind
My footsteps don't leave marks anymore and make no noise
I walk to you, who i thought was my loyal friend;
Are you happy now?
It's been a long time since we met
Silent pain
Worthless tears
Let me live
Cant you see I'm dead?

4.

I used to feel Your presence everywhere
To believe in Your words and kept them next to my heart
In my mind You were the only real truth
Where did you go? Why did you abandon me?
Now I can only see lies in Your truth
Glory is only reserved to You
Ignorance is what You are seeking for
I cant be like you, I’m not perfect
I would give anything I have just to understand You
To make Your words mine again
Such a hopeless world without You
You betrayed me
Every time I open my eyes, You punish me
I’m exiled from You
This is Hell
I'll never Forgive you.
I felt I’m an excuse to you
As if you can wash the memory from your skin
Your eyes cry tears that don’t fall
Your fears ordered in lines of nothing
Outside rains illusions remains
And its shadows color your wall
As if they were frustrated trophies
Far away a blurry image
Dances with the death's tune
And your failed dreams
And hear that I’m drowning in the emptiness
I wait for your fall too.

And something universal for the millions of people ;-)

5.Those that simply do are merely a tool...

Because they who do not question why, do not think...

They who do not think are merely a tool...

Because a tool does not think...

It merely does...

Like all in this world and they.


PS : Happy Valentines Day , folks . Even im going out to have fun , you can too :-)

D R E A M

Silence sounds peaceful to soothe the violent mind
Negate from everything to feel the beauty, one of a kind

Day dreaming lost in a mosaic of thoughts
A new world to explore, complex maze not to be lost
Different facets merged as one for a final story
The characters are me and my darkly shadow
We exchange our roles because it suits us better
Another excuse to get me a sorry makeover
Sweat trickling forehead, confused wandering between two states
Consciously asleep to slow down mind’s pace
Awakening to reality sounds disturbing
Dominatrix control of my slave alter ego
Jealous of freedom of thought forces me to loose my mind
Rewind to an unknown time
Little arms and feet dangling free looking up to an open sky
Listen young man, who are you and what are you doing in my dream
Share your secret to your happiness n glee
Slap me to remind me of forgotten childhood memories
What happened to you, you used to be so happy he says
Don’t you remember, you were the happiest one around
Now look at you, searching your destiny wandering dumbfound
And then it transforms into this monstrous alter self
Got you again, dumb self portraying being
My life is just going to end, death doesn’t induce fear
Wake up from your dream boy; you still have a world to face here
Eyes open to this thought of burden
At least my darkly shadow will give me company, wont you dear
How can it, we had exchanged our role
Then I realized I had slept with a mirror in my hand, I hold

Let the Mind Games Begin

The grand day of 14th feb is right around the corner . The V day , Love Day , Couple's Day etc etc etc . Ive recieved mails from the likes of fabmall , bazee , amazon , sify to buy something for your valentine like cutlery ( for beating later ) , cakes ( to get smeared ) , cd's ( bah , who buys those anyway ) , flowers ( they die after sometime u see ) , lingerie ( hmmm , what if i get the size wrong ) and what not . Lets start pressurizing those customers out there by bombarding them with emails ... BUY , BUY , BUY ... if you dont , u r a loser , moron , you will have a sad valentine , she will be angry BS shit and the prices , wowie , no wonder guys always crib about being cashless and empty wallets . Living close to lokhandwala , it seems a different part of the world , with decorations on the entrances of shops , special offers , buy 1 get 1 free blah blah and then to see vunerable kiddos ( 18 n above ) falling into the maze , . I aint against V day , we have all sorts of stupid days , this is another 1 , big freakin deal , but i am against the marketing aspect of it for just 1 day , blame my job for being critical and my ideologies on this right from the time i had to give a V day gift , i never gave one and never accepted one ever cause i dont believe in the fact of giving it for the sake of it ... give a gift when the other person least expects it , give the person that is useful and meaningful and last give it with the worth MRP of your heart .
One of my colleagues ( female ) who recently got married asks me , hey dude what should i buy for him for V day ... i was like , huh sorry i didnt date him so i wouldnt know , wrong dude to ask . i told her , if you really want to buy something for ur husb , give him what he wants REALLY from you and trust me it would be a good gift , introspection time , lady .

And my friend ( and many others soon to follow im sure ) asks me to make a custom cd for his gf , cool i say , i make the cake and you enjoy the desert ;-) anyways , i told him ill see what i can do as im no expert in washed out , recycled love songs ... so generated a list , comments welcome from all the love songs listeneres as to any other songs i can put or should i remove some from this list .

I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight - Cutting Crew
Sweet Child of Mine - Guns N Roses
Wicked Games - Chris Isaak
Something About the Way you Look Tonight - Elton John
With or Without You - U2
More Than Words - Extreme
Nothin Gonna Change My Love FOr U - George Benson
Everything I Do , I do it for you - Bryan Adams
You're a God - Vertical Horizon
Love Will Keep Us Alive - Eagles
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Nothin Gonna Stop Us Now - Jefferson Starship
I Need You Tonight - INXS
Your Body is a Wonderland - John Mayer
Faithfully - Journey
I'll Be Right Here Waiting For You - Richard Marx
Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden
Forever And For Always - Shania Twain
Angel - Aerosmith
Cant Help Falling in Love with you - Elvis Presley

So to a day of utter chaos , huge gimmicks , cash lowering wallets , more plants being harmed for those huge bouquets , monsterous almost alive teddy bears , house full crap love movies , and yes more traffic on roads and best part , It's a Monday so another big weekend fiasco excuse ... Have a Happy Valentines Day :-)

The Movie BLACK - My Perspective

Today i saw the movie BLACK thanks to uncle who had Complimentary tickets and mum really wanted to see it and dad isnt in town . so i had to take her and all i can say
Brilliant Movie.

The movie is a cinematic brilliance . small movie 2 hrs 15 min , no songs ( my kinda movie ) . This movie is not like anything seen or made before . Classic movie and will go down as one of the best hindi movies ever Critically but Publically i have doubts . The movie goes into something we dont see nowdays in movies . All the actors n actresses did their job well , Amitabh n Rani very good , the little girl - superb performance. The director took a huuuge risk making this cause I feel such kinda movie wont work in India , it might be infact a so so movie for many but I personally liked it .

5 stars out of 5 . Definite Watch .


PS : Girls n some guys too , do remember to take lots a tissues n hankies , u might cry a lot at least thats what i saw in the theatre.

Destiny knocked and I Let Her In

Jim Morrsion Once Said

There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors.

This door(s) is highly uncertain and u never ever know when it opens to let the known or unknown enter your life to shock you ( for good / bad ).

Something took place today which took me so offgaurd and by surprise that I thought I need to get CPR from a Baywatch Babe to bring me back to life. Just another same old office day like any other day , sippin coffee on a cold morning in mumbai ( yes folks , it cold down here ) ... I get this call from my boss , Please come right away to my cabin . Uh oh, where the hell did I screw up? The walk of uncertainity seemed quite long. Boss tells me good news man , it seems one of the projects you had handled around 8 months back somehow had reached Malaysia , Asian Headquarters and they were impressed with it . That project I remember was a success and had boosted sales of the particular drug unlike anything before and to everyone's liking. For me, if u ask, it was just another proj like the ones I have handled before, nothing special. However, folks in Malaysia thought otherwise (yeah baby), it seems they have decided to use my whole research as a Model to use it on similar lines in 4 South East Asian countries.

I was then told to immediately start working on the project right away as there's gonna be a teleconference in the evening. I had handled quite a no of proj's after that so much so I had trouble finding the file [ hope I didn’t loose it :-( , at last found it :-) ] and then after working on it and breaking my head trying to recollect minor details of the proj( 8 months is way too long ) all day , headed for conf room 4 ( the elite huge room ) and there it was , my first international teleconference . On the other end, director market research and director marketing in Malaysia. A 45 minute experience to remember.

At the end, they asked me MY opinion as to whether I thought this same research could be implemented and if so, what all changes are needed to it, for each specific country. I paused for a moment to think ...

1. My proj being used for 4 countries, hello ... someone pinch me.
2. This thing is HUGE in terms of everything for the company and myself ;-)
3. I have to decide right now as the final outcome would be dependent on my decision, whether my answer is a simple YES or No and trust me, I was nervous like hell .

After 30 mins of consultation with the people in the office, The answer - Hell Fucking Yes ( i mean it was just a Yes at that moment ) to which they said OK , go ahead with it and good luck.

What this means is I have now to work my lazy ass off and do everything possible given the tons of data I am going to receive from market research groups of the 4 countries and rip the whole thing down to countable slides and present the whole thing finally to the respective country heads to implement it in their region , not bad eh ;-)

Always be prepared and take very project SERIOUSLY and be prepared for anything to happen (for good or bad) and be ready because you never know when destiny knocks unknowingly and out of the blue.

PS: After this is done, Boss I think we need to talk about my Salary ;-)