A friend's experience in my words

With a notepad to take notes and ipod to record the conversation, it was like an interview, my attempt at expressing my friend's experience in my words.

Kung fu panda ring tonne of my cellphone woke me up from a deep sleep, it was my friend from RV, I answered the call, on the other side was an excited and an elated tonne, "Maga place Aadno" (Dude, I got placed ), my sluggishness was erased after hearing this awesome piece of news. My reaction was stereotypical, " Congrats dude, great achievement". After hearing the whole experience, I really had to put this on my blog. Will be addressing this friend of mine as "Mr  Oathla", this is his twitter name.

Mr Oathla woke up in the morning and through his smartphone, browsed for a company named " Air Watch" on the wikipedia app, read through all the relevant details. He was feeling good that day, an air of hope and optimism. It was placement day, the previous day he was informed that a company named "Airwatch" would be coming down to the campus to hire students. Mr Oathla was unsure whether his department i.e. Instrumentation would be allowed to take up the test. But he was ready, both mentally and intellectually to take on the arduous task ahead of him, even though there was ambiguity whether his department students would be allowed to take the test.
       
              Morally  Mr Oathla was down, after he didn't get placed in the 4 companies he wrote, he had almost no hope of getting placed. Amidst such negativity, there was hope though it wasn't burgeoning. He left home as usual and reached college at around 9. At around 10.30 he learnt that his department would be allowed to participate in the recruitment drive. Relieved, he geared up for the first round, an aptitude test. The test was scheduled at around 12.30. He reached the test venue just about ten minutes in advance along with a few of his friends. He wrote the test like any other aptitude test. ( Mr Oathla has a clever mind, an erudite he was, a lucid quizzer ). He completed the test and headed off to his department premises, where he had to attend lab. "Ok, not bad he told himself" and forgot about the test. Engrossed in the lab work, he was interrupted by his depratment placement co-ordinator, "Dude you got through the aptitude test", you have to attend the interview, which will be starting any minute. He was nowhere near to "ready" for an interview. Unshaven , no formals, this was his attire, he had falsely convinced himself that he wouldn't be to going to the interview round. But then here he was, selected for the interview. His mind was running like a jet engine, millions of thoughts, he told his mind to shut up and get ready. Luckily the placement co-ordinator exchanged his shirt and shoes, this helped Mr Oathla put up a formal look for the interview. Then began a wait that seemed like Pandavas exile period, never ending, from about 2.30 to 6.30, this dude waited for his turn literally in the dark. At around 6.45, he gathered all his courage and went to the interviewing room and asked whether the interview would be held today or not. On seeing him, the officials there cross checked his name in the list of candidates selected for the interview round and asked him to sit down at the room across and get ready to face the interview. All charged up, the dude was ready. In came a gentleman, as a mark of respect, Mr Oathla got up. The interviewer courteously offered water and some biscuits, to which MR Oathla politely refused, thinking this could be a hideous plan to check the mindset of the interviewee. Questions were being shot at Mr oathla, he handled them like Rahul Dravid handles swing bowling, "easily and elegantly". Some notable questions being,

• Interviewer : What's your view on the Apple Vs Samsung court case
  Interviewee : Banning devices is not the right way to go, the companies should
  learn to co-exist in an environment where healthy competition is necessary.
• Interviewer : Tell a short story about yourself.
  Mr Oathla, quickly told a story, which included his accomplishments and all
  other positive things that one could tell in an interview about himself. Some
  "Cool Bull-shit".
  
  By this time, the interviewer was quite impressed, he threw a rather tough question!
• Interviewer : What's your sales pitch??
  Interviewee : I always back my instincts,I am good quizzer, I can participate in extracurricular activities/corporate competitions on behalf of your company.
  Also, I know German, I could help establish an office in Germany.
• Interviewer : Give an example which indicate your entrepreneurial skills.
  Mr Oathla gave an awesome Business model he had thought of a few years earlier.
  The Interviewer was more than impressed. 

After a good HR round, Mr Oathla had a final Tech round. He was up for it!
It was a lady, she seemed to be a tough taskmaster.
After formal greetings, the interview began.

Interviewer : What do you mean by NFC?
Mr Oathla was enthralled, he knew the answer and he nailed it.

Questions were shot at him and he responded gracefully and honestly, to a couple of questions that he didn't know the answer, he honestly accepted.

One more memorable question was,

Interviewer : What is Geo fencing?
Oathla didn't know the exact answer, but he was clever to have derived it!
"Madam, I know what Geo tagging is. I guess Geo fencing means to secure a network in
a particular geography". The lady in command was impressed, this kid is smart!

The interview got over and the interviewer wished him luck for the results.

Oathla headed out with an aura of joy and accomplishment, he knew he'd get the job. By the time he came out it was around 7.30. The results were announced at 7.40 and
Mr Oathla who saw the notice board with his name on it was not surprised, his instincts had told him that it was his day.. His day it was!!

“Instinct is a marvelous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored.”
― Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair At Styles

An elated, relieved and joyous Mr Oathla returned home all smiles. Informed his near and dear ones and slept a satisfied man.  

He was sure that the time was his and his instincts turned out to be right.

Congrats Mr Oathla. An apology from my side, this incident happened a few months ago, I am posting this blog now, but then, "Better late than never ". 

Mr Oathla is my good friend and the Quizzer pro "Varun Athreya". 

Keep rocking Varun!

Consumer experience, product judgement, well that's about it!!

I am not a B-school grad, nor am I a Product designer but, I am a consumer who walks an extra mile before buying a product. This habit of mine has made me into a not so mediocre consumer (I don't want to call myself an intelligent consumer cause the company fools you in some way or the other) . This post is my attempt in admiring(in my view) some products/innovations the industry has thrown to consumers.

“We want consumers to say, 'That's a hell of a product' instead of, 'That's a hell of an ad.'”

- Leo Brunett

It was a busy evening for me, I had to go around town insearch of a vital component for my project, I was searching all over town for this particular component. During my quest for this component I happened to pass by an area where my friend was put up too. We made a quick plan to meet up to discuss something for our final year project. We decided to keep the meeting brief as my friend had to head to swimming classes in a short while. We had some thought provoking discussions on the nature of the project we intended to do.

Our meeting ended, both of us waiting for my friend's cousin to arrive in a grey Honda City, to pick up my friend and head to the swimming classes. Two headlights showed up at a distance and my friend said, “ There he comes”. The dude got down the car, the light in the car turned on and he closed the door and the lights turned off!!,well they didn't turn off immediately though, they gradually dimmed down. Damn! They were amazing to see, the interiors of the car gradually merging with the darkness as the lights faded out. My first reaction was, WOW!!, why couldn't the folks at Maruti Suzuki think of this, both are Japanese, why the difference. I was in awe of the car, not because it was the best engineered car around me, but because it made the consumer who owned it feel special, it made the owner feel special everytime he got down and got off the car, that's how the consumer experience should be according to me. Everytime we use something, it should make us feel special, it should make the owner feel he is a class apart, it did make the owners feel great, here are some stats to support it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_City

               Sometimes you become part of some amazing discussions that your view towards some simple things change forever. I was lucky enough to be a part of this particular discussion with two great engineers, the discussion was all about consumer experience.

                     A sunday morning, me my bro and my parents headed to my aunt's house, where my cousin and his wife had just returned from a holy voyage to the divine “Maanas Sarovar”. A topic came by where my brother and cousin had a discussion on the functionality and the restrictions that Apple imposes on it's users. My cousin who is a Phd and director at IBM brought up a very interesting point when he asked my brother to get his laptop's battery adapter. He said, “ Dude, go get my laptop charger, it's in the room on the table”. My brother got the adaptor and handed it over to my cousin. My cousin continued, “ See this adapter, most of us with laptops have it. But then, this here is the adapter of a macbook, how is this different from other adapters? We all wind up the wire and then always wonder what we have to do the end of the wire which has a socket, we wonder what do with it? We tuck it in between the wire. But the blokes at Apple had a different idea, they have given a small hook to tuck this particular socket, this is Consumer experience!!”. I was awestruck. I really asked the questions why didn't any other consumer electronics maker think of this. I really didn't like Apple as a company till then, I really felt their products were not value for money and the restrictions  they imposed on users were just meaningless. My views changed from that day onwards, it's not just the functionality and the value for money that a consumer should look at, but also consumer experience aspect that one has to look into before judging a product as a whole.

When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.

— Steve Jobs

At the end of the about two incidents, I really changed my view towards judging a product. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I'd certainly like to bring in the above mentioned things when I venture into making a product for the consumer.

passionately passionate

“Macha oodi oodi bore aagogide, enaadru different aagi maadbeku”( bored of this studies dude, want to try out something different ), a line from a conversation that I had with a person who has shown me the power of Pure Passion. This blog is about the power of true passion and where it can take you in the journey of life.

             It was 1 A.M.and I was awake just like all my other collegemates to study for the upcoming exams. The exams were to start in a few days. I got bored of studying. To take a break from studies, I called one of my friends. During the conversation, I got to know that he is ill. The dude stays just nearby, I dropped by to check on him the next day. To tell you more about him, he is a very passionate photographer, very easy going ( More than required :P) and a man with Obsessive compulsive disorder. He happens to be my senior too. Coming back to the visit to his house, I was there for a very brief span of about twenty minutes, during which we had a conversation of what next after Engineering, as he was passing out of college in a few days. During the conversation, he told me his plans for the future, during which he hinted that he would not be opting for a normal life, on my curious questions, he just replied “ Wait and Watch!”. The conversation ended there and I returned home. I thought I'll address him as “The Jr Kamal” in the blog.

Life moved on, I became busy studying for the exams and I had totally forgotten about this conversation I had. On the previous day of my fourth exam, I got a call from the “Jr Kamal”. On hearing his voice, I was able to sense a feeling of joy and satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment was clearly visible in the tonne of his voice. The talk began in usual style and he enquired about my preparations to the exam. During the conversation, he asked me, “Lo ninge Rajiv Menon gotta? (Do you know, who Rajiv Menon is?), to which I replied, “ Illa maga, gottilla”. He told me who Rajiv Menon was and for those who don't know who he is, kindly check out the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Menon . During the whole description of “Rajiv Menon”, I was wondering, why the man is telling me about him so much. Realising that I was puzzled with this sudden description, he enlightened me about the reason for emphasising so much on “Rajiv Menon” it was about his future goals, a question that was unanswered the other day, had clear cut answers. He had decided not to work in any sort of a company, instead he chose to take up something that many would call the biggest risk or biggest mistake of his life. He chose to take up a course in cinemataography and decided that he would take up cinematography as a profession. Many people decide upon something in life and then give up on it, but this dude is different. As they say fortune favours the brave and fortune did favour his bravery. He got selected for a course in cinematography at the prestigious “Mindscreen Film Institute”, the film institute started and run by the acclaimed cinematograher, Rajiv Menon. To tell you more about how difficult it is to get into the institute, only ten students are selected from all over India and the selection is done personally by Mr Rajiv Menon. It's a different league altogehter.

So rarely do we see “gems” like these, who decide to make their own path in the road of life. We often dream about what we truly want to be in life, yet our dreams go astray because of our mediocre thinking. Inspiration needs to be drawn from dudes like these, who not only decide to set sail in a storm, they are determined to crossover the storm and reach the horizon. As one of the famous companies taglines say, “what dreams drive”. They definiely drive their dreams. But what is that fuels their undying spirit to chose something that the wiseman warn them from.

It's PURE Passion

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
– Albert Einstein,

There is no greatness without a passion to be great, whether it’s the aspiration of an athlete or an artist, a scientist, a parent, or a businessperson.”
– Anthony Robbins,
Speaker and Author

Passions have fuelled such enery in the past, they will continue to do so. From souls like these, we need to draw inspiration, Inspiration to do things that we are truly passionate about, even the legendary Steve Jobs said, “Love what you Do!”. Hope that like this Jr Kamal, me and many others fuel our dreams with the fuel called “Passion”.

Thats why the world admires Amercians!

My friends tease me as "American Lover" and often criticised me as being unpatriotic, this blog will strengthen their feelings I guess.

I have never liked or enjoyed watching reality shows.I have always disliked them for the too much of exaggeration and over dramatisation. I have even found them to be unreal and made upquite a number of times. But a few days back while I was channel browsing, I found one show on a popular TV channel, which did have all of the exaggeration and over dramatisation, but it also had an honest message that really attracted me to watching this. It is a show where the "decision makers" of a huge corporation/organisation like the CEO's, the mayor of a city all take up jobs at the execution level to learn more about the employees and what problems they are facing and what are the changes they expect from the top management so that their lives and work environment would be better. But the Bosses are undercover! I have watched quite a few episodes and I should say that I have been impressed by the swift and effective changes that these bosses bring after they have witnessed the problems of their employees. The bosses also gave away wonderful holiday packages to a few of the employees to honour their exceptional service to the organisation.
This is not the part that amazed me much, holiday packages or some extra cash is all ok. The employees at the execution level, took a lot of pride in the work they did. Be it garbage collectors, be it mechanics at the service department of a city, the firefighters, the window cleaners, the sweepers had one common thing which was so remarkable and wonderful. They took a lot of pride in the jobs they did. They all were so proud of themselves to do those jobs. Even the common people had immense respect for the work these people did.They felt they were responsible for making life of the public better. It amuses me, as why we can't have the same mindset of respecting the different jobs people do, why we tend to have scepticism in respecting other people's jobs. The show also showcased the CEO's, the Mayor, the Director all of them were kind enough to come out off their white collar jobs and work as ground level employees undercover. They also had the patience and the care for solving their problems.
So many people in India have spoken about the equality and dignity of labour, the concept of "work is worship", yet till today the society is biased and treats the ground level labours in a very unpleasant way. Hope this changes soon. Change is the only thing which is constant.

This is Vattam signing off.

Why do I Blog?

When I started blogging seriously about two and a half years ago, I didn't know whether I would continue to do it for a long time. I had written my first blog out of the sheer thrill that the incident gave, I wanted to express it so badly and tell the world what an interesting thing had happened to me. If I look at it now from a third person's view, I laugh at my action and wonder how kiddish of me to publicise something that didn't deserve so much of attention.I even remember, I had mailed my cousin in the US to see and comment on my blog.Since then my blogs have covered various aspects of life.I have enjoyed writing them and seeing others people's reactions for it.I have learned from credible sources that Writers always enjoy the appreciation from their readers appreciation.I have felt the same too.Many people mostly friends and relatives have come up to me and appreciated on blogs that I have written.I really felt on top of the world when they did so. After I started blogging seriously, my view in general towards the world has changed, I look at things in a more analytical way, a way which makes me question every incident/action of the world around me, which has helped me get answers to some complex questions. I have a rather strange habbit, whenever I write any blog,I always ask my brother to give his opinion about it, I feel he's my worst critic, he has always criticised me for my mistakes while writing.He has been very blunt about his opinion and sometimes his opinions have been very harsh and discouraging,I have been angered by his opinion,but they were all very honest. He even criticised me badly for calling myself the “Elite Vattam”. I was quite let down, but then I thought my next blog will keep him quiet. But that didn't come for a long time, until I posted my blog “What is humanity?”, he just said one single sentence in our very very brief conversation, he said “Eno hosa blog ella bardidya? It's good”( you seem to have written a new blog,it's good) these were his words.I was really awe struck, with no words,though I didn't express the joy inside me even a tiny bit, I just replied, “Hoon baribekalla, thanks”(Ya have written,thanks). Though my reaction was very subtle, my mind was filled with some strong happy emotions. It was an elated feeling for me. To sum up on why I blog, there are three things that I have realised that has kept me going are, primarily the satisfaction that I get out of writing,by letting my thoughts off my mind and into the words and then because of some kind and encouraging words that people have showered after they have read my blogs and lastly but definitely not the least to impress my brother he's been a critic and he has been a great role model for me. I have a few names to take this time round,I would like to thank a few people for their really encouraging words which has drived me into continuing my blogging spree, my friends Prateek(dude called me just to tell about my blog),Rajesh Dubal,my cousins Arun,Ajay and Vishal.My Kde friend Shantanu Tushar who helped me better the appearance of the blog.Thanks guys!and of-course my bro Santosh Vattam for all his criticism that helped me better my writing. This is Vattam signing off.

What is humaninty??

Recently one of my maternal uncle's passed away.It was something that no one had expected,it was so shocking.He died of a massive heart attack in a temple near the port town of Mangalore.He was 59 years old,a cheerful,fun loving and a very social person.He was always into some social activity or the other and he had a great devotion towards God.During the last year I had become quite close to him,whenever he called my mom,he made it a point to speak to me.
My heart goes out to his family members,especially to his 17 year old son who has to face his 12th board exams in three months time.I really didn't know what to say to him.I heard the news from my father and I was really shocked to hear it.I still remember speaking to him a few days back over the phone.At the end of the day I had to accept that he was no more and move on.
Amidst all this tragedy there was this tussle in his family where there was a divide on the way his last rites had to be performed,this was because,my aunt (his wife) belonged to a different cult,my aunt's brothers wanted to do his last rites in their methodologies while my maternal uncles (my uncle's brothers) wanted to do in their methodology.It was a very shameful tussle is what I came to know from my dad's words.While my aunt's brothers were the ones who had supported my uncle at all times,they definitely had a greater say in this regard,but my other maternal uncles were keen that their words were considered.My dad the diplomat in his imitable style like always came off as a hero by bringing an amicable solution to both parties involved.Cheers Dad!
Amidst all this,I wondered one thing,why is all this happening?Isn't there something called humanity?Agreed his last rites need to performed in a just way,but then there are some things which ought be given a little more thought during such tragic times.I really felt that any one of the two parties should have just let it go,so that the sensitivity is the situation is safeguarded and no one would be burdened to handle the already stumped family.I was shattered to witness all this,cursing myself in my inability to just ask the people to shut up who were making some unnecessary noise instead of consoling the family members the loss they have just had.I sometimes wonder in what civilised society I live which fails to understand the situation and react to it.Why the human being is bent on getting pushing his point of view when something more important and more sane is to be done.My paternal uncle had put an amazing line in his short story that he has written and published,which I wish to quote here "what is life when Living is extinct?",which truly accounts for the situation I witnessed,the living was really extinct.I wish the world changes soon like the very meaningful song from "The Beatles" called "Imagine" which talks about the world as a unified and a single place,even "lord Krishna" said the same thing Vasudaiva Kutumbakam which means universal brotherhood,which we have failed to achieve till date.I really hope that song is not just a song but reality.At the end of this I really am confused about the meaning of the word humanity."Humanity" what does it really mean?"is it just another word with just a dictionary meaning with no true meaning to it like so many other words in this language.What is Humanity???

This is Vattam signing off

The deathly hallows

Dedicated to my friend who choose to kill himself.May your soul Rest In Peace my friend

"Sometimes life is going to throw the brick at you don't loose hope"greatly inspiring words by a world changer who is no more with us today!
A rather disturbing news stuck me recently!! Something I'd never dreamt in my life would happen! A classmate or should I say a friend of mine chose to do something that would leave a lasting impact on so many people around him!! He chose to kill himself for a reason that only he knows I guess. He was a quiet guy with a nice smile on his face,he used to wave to me every time we came across each other.we have also sat and had lunch together quite a few times. I still remember his witty and funny punch line jokes.its so disturbing that everything gets over in an instant.A person who was walking and talking with you every single day, would not be there with us.whatever be the reason for his strong self destructive act,I don't intend to disrespect it but I'd say I would dislike it.but death is something we can never undo.
I have always been of the opinion that one must always fight in life we have failures, we falter,fumble and we're broken but the true test of ones character lies here.a person becomes admirable if he overcomes the hurdles that life throws at him! Life has always been hard sweaty and dirty, we all have had to work for whatever little or big we have gained. After this incident my desire to live has become
Much stronger, I have found a new purpose in life! I wish to achieve great feats and be recognised for the work I do!!I would again like to quote Steve Jobs "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary".This is so rightly said,we must always find purpose to live in this world.Infact I find that,if there's a problem with the way the society is,I strongly feel we should grow in stature and then see to it we change the society by making ourself a role model to it.In his Stanford University's speech,Steve Jobs also adds this line "If you live each day as if it were your last,someday you'll most certainly be right".I really found the line very inspiring,something that I have tried to adopt,"to live each day like it were my last"that way we tend to live our fullest every single day.
One must never think of killing himself,whatever be the reason,one must always fight and jump over the problems and hurdles that life throws at us.

This is the elite Vattam signing off!

Aisa Bhi hota hai :P

It was yet another half day in college,but I had to wait up to discuss about a project that I had taken up with my senior,so I had to stay back while my friends and classmates hopped onto their bikes and drove off!!I had not planned or decided what I would do till my senior arrives.I was just sitting infront of our department where the college parking lot is also situated.Lost in the thought of what I should do,I was just looking around and watching the passing by people and thinking about the project.Just then I happened to spot a girl whom I didn't know personally but knew she belonged to the Dept of Info Science,she happened to be a friend's friend.Me being a shy person,going and talking to strangers or rather unknown people was not a habbit that I had developed,but then I was a Free and Open Source software enthusiast with quite a bit of promotional and marketing skills in myself.I always derived happiness when I was able to convince people to get hooked to the world of FOSS.I somehow was able to do it successfully when I was part of "CONF.KDE.IN".I was handling promotion/campaigning and logistics.It was an awesome experience there,meeting interesting people and also able to convince and draw students from various colleges to our conference which had so much in it for them.It is something I am very proud of till date.I was able to discover a lot of things about myself which has today helped me chalk out a plan for my professional life ahead.Hmmm,well this is what all FOSS has done to me.
But then as they say "life is full of surprises" just like I had approached people to tell about Free and Open Source Software,I thought this will be a smooth one too.Like always I introduced myself and told about the organisation called "KDE" the organisation I support and standby!!As I told this girl,she listened to me like a normal sane girl,I asked her,her email id,which she did give to me with no "If's and But's",things went on smoothly,I even mailed her the details of KDE and how one can start contributing to this wonderful organisation.She nodded her head for all the amazing things I'd told her about FOSS.Never a moment during our very brief conversation did I think that it would be an embarrassment for me.I ended the conversation with my usual "it was nice talking to you" and left.
The day passed,I mailed her the details in the evening and forgot about this event in college.It was the next day and in the evening at around 7 I got a sms from this friend of mine who knew her and also was in the same dept as her.There was something in it which was waiting to embarrass me.When I hit the "read" button,I found a rather unusual piece of phrase,the message was something like "En maga maatadistyante?" which means " hey dude I heard you spoke to her",I was quite puzzled on the tonne of the question put before me,the first few minutes I was wondering what this Dude's talking about,then I realised,it was that girl he was talking about!!
I promptly replied "Yes I did speak to her about This awesome thing called FOSS and KDE"He started to interrogate me like I had done some hideous crime of eve teasing and raping a girl!!I didn't find any sanity or sense in the string of questions he threw at me for just speaking to a person about free and open source software.Well in the end I asked him,"dude tell m e have I done anything wrong??"to which his reply was something filled with sarcasm,he replied "Dude I was just trying to pull your leg".Well I had already typed "F**K Off" which I didnt send after all.I thought this incident and wondered what was my mistake?? for which I got an honest answer from myself which said " I didn't do anything wrong".That crazy guy who happens to know a few of my friends told this to them in such a dramatic manner that my friend's thought that I had turned in to some "Nutty Eve teaser".Though it was funny to them,I was boiling inside.Then I gave my brain some more work asking it to think with all its neurons and tell me what the girl might have told to him..I got some crazy answers of which "she is a B**#%h" was a convincing one.I felt happy that such loosers didnt become part of FOSS.Despite the honest effort I put in to detach people from the proprietary world to a world which has freedom written all over it,Stupid people like these always try to pull us down.But this incident has not dented my spirits to promote for FOSS even a tiny bit.I wish to carry on..Lastly I wish to tell you what she had in mind about me,I got to know from one of my friends who happens to be his friend too,that she went to some "handwriting analysis class" where she was taught some gesture recognition techniques which she experimented on me and concluded that I am some sort of a "serial rapist" waiting to F**K girls!!I laughed my ass off and wondered "Aisa Bhi HOta hai :P" I have a nice line from a cool song which says "main jo bhi karoon tum kehete ho Ghalat"
I see her quite often in college and think of telling her," dear I have sisters too and I have friends who are girls too" I respect women and lastly "YOu and YOUR people analysis skills SuCK"

This is the Elite Vattam signing off!!

ISHRAE a phenomenon!

Oh God!!I had totally forgot I had a blogging page.The writer in me was dormant I guess..I am back I guess!here's a piece of my most recent activity.

I was just casully checking out my Facebook A/c when there was a message for me on the A/c, where my Head of the Dept had sent me a Message regarding this Organisation called ISHRAE(Indian Society for Heating Refrigiration and Air-Conditioning Engineers).It caught my eye,I read the details regarding the Fee for joining the organisation and other details.Out of curiousity,searched for the history of the organisation and also its current events.I made up my mind to become a student member of the organisation.This was the start.

It was February 14^th a day all college going guys and girls cherish!but for me it was a day to cherish not because is was Valentine's day but it was the day of inauguration of the ISHRAE student Chapter in our college.The lecturer co-ordinator announced that the inauguration is at 3 PM at the Library Auditorium.Thrilled I was!!

It was time for the inauguration and all other student members and our lecturer co-ordinaors were present and so were the ISHRAE President and Secretary and office bearers.Then there was the formal inauguration and inspirig talks by The President of ISHRAE,Our beloved HOD and our respected Princpal.I had another surprise for me here,My HOD had appointed me as the TREASURER for the ISHRAE DSCE Student Chapter.I was even overwhelmed by this and saw it as an opportunity to perfrom!

Inspiration,Encouragement and Oppurtunity are so hard to comeby,When they do come,they make WONDERS!

The above line was so true for me.ISHRAE DSCE student chapter had done all the three to me.It brought out a lot of positive things in me.

This is about how I became part of this wonderful organisation.Let me Tell a few of the advantages of becoming part of this organisation.

• We get to learn things about Refrigiration and Air conditioning apart from what we study in our syllabus.

• We get to attend talks by industry stallwarts who will give us an insight of what kind of work is going on in the industry.

• We get to go on various industrial visits,where we get a first hand expericence of the industry atmosphere.

• We also get to interact with our awseome seniors,which I feel is an integral part of any such student organisation.
  
  

As part of ISHRAE,we've done a lot of activities.The other day,we had an expet speaker who had come to speak about what we should do if we are focused towards pursruing our higher studies in Universities abroad.Then we had an Industrial visit to this place called “Armstrong Designs Pvt Ltd” which was a Pump design and manufacturing company which had clients in various part of the globe.We the student members of ISHRAE got a great oppurtunity to see how the pumps are assembled,tested and controlled.The staff there explained every single detail of the Pumps and other equipment present there in an effective manner.They also patiently answered our doubts thereby encouraging us to be inquisitive

In just about two months we were able to achieve all this!!Wonderful Indeed!

The journey so far has been short but a memorable one,I wish people are inspired by this article and come up to join ISHRAE.I've loved and cherished every moment of being part of this organisation and have never looked back since.I thank Our beloved HOD Dr C.P.S Praksh for giving us all the opportunity to be part of such an organisation.I also thank my lecturer co-ordinators and my fellow members without whom,this Student chapter would have no meaning.

This is the Elite Vattam signing off!!

My American Dream

MY American Dream.

This blog is being written with a thought of waking me up.Inspiring me to work more to achieve great feats.I am happy that I realized it today.

I have all seen my cousins grow up and pursue their Masters in the field of their interests in the fields of their interest.They have all set benchmarks for people like me to follow their steps and become successful people.Right from my childhood I have been taught to study hard and finally go to the Us of A to pursue my Post graduate studies and finally settle in the US of A,earning heavily in dollars.Like all my other cousins,even my brother too has set out to earn his share of this Great American Dream.Like all of my NRI cousins,I too aspire to go and settle in the US of A.But to be frank I had just aspired for it and till date I haven't worked for it in that direction.All my illustrious cousins whom I look upto are all well settled and very knowledgeable.The best people to guide an American dream chaser.I have always find inspiration in them.Each one in his own charismatic style has achieved great feats.From a marketing genius to a AI researcher to a IBM stalwart I have seen them all.Well one might imagine why all of a sudden I am getting into all this American Dream Thing.It's not all of a sudden,but its the result of a tiny incident that I encountered in an unexpected place.An incident that reminded me to get back to the business of chasing my American Dream.

That day,my college was in the afternoon,which is the case on wednesday's,I have a physics lab every wednesday,from 2.p.m to 5 p.m.I had left home early as my friend wanted to write down something from my book.So like always I hopped on my bike and went to college.My friend arrived too,later followed my other friends,the usual fun talks went on.we went on to the lab and then did the experiments assigned to us,then after three hours of lab,I returned home and then hogged the food at home very quickly,as I was very hungry.I was just sitting in the drawing room and I was listening to music,my mom who is a working mother,came home from work.She sat and relaxed for a while and then turned to me and told me that there was a house warming ceremony of one of her cousins.She asked me to come,I don't know what had happened to me that day,I generally don't like to attend any functions as such,but that day I just agreed without second thought.After a lot of fuss from my parents of which dress to wear for the occasion,I had to bend to the dress of their choice.We all set off.My dad and mom in one two wheeler and me on my BIKE.We all reached the place with some hitches of course thanks to the dug up roads on the way.Finally all of us reached the place.

We just went through the house,looking at the different rooms.My mom's cousins leading the way.Met all other relatives.Greeted all relatives.By then,it was time for the best part,FOOD.I was terribly hungry and I was waiting to have my supper and go home.The hosts called us for having supper and I ran like a hungry lion insearch of a meal.Then supper was served in traditional south Indian meal.Supper was served on a plantain leaf,with all the traditionally made dishes sereved one by one.After all the dishes were served,the elders present chanted some prayers after which we all started to have our supper.There were many people sitting there.Among them were my mom's very distant relatives.They looked quite old in their sixties I guess.They had met my mom after a long time so she was introducing me to them,and my mom also asked what their son was doing.Their son like most middle class families had been to the US OF A to hunt down the great Indian American dream.He was doing his Ms from the university of California.On hearing this I became curious and wanted to learn more about the subject he was pursuing his Ms on.I asked his parents they said,his subject was VLSI, the most preferred subjects of all be electronic students.I was amazed to see how happy the parents are when someone ask and enquire about their children's studies esp when they have got into some good universities in the US OF A.The parents of such children who have excelled very well are extremely proud of their children.I wished and told myself one thing that day,COME WHAT MAY I HAVE TO GO THE US OF A AND pursue my higher studies.I told myself that day,I must do this,whatever happens.I feel I need to do this atleast for the people who gave us birth who brought us up,who gave us the skills to fight this world.The people who are ready to sacrifice anything for us,the people who are living only for us.I just feel the need to perform or perish.I want to really do it for them.This day comes as a reminder and this blog shall always remind me to always perform and give my best when it comes to my academics.

This is the ELITE VATTAM Signing off.I will become elite only when I achieve all this I guess.Until then namste bye and sayonaara.

The Power Of a Walk

This blog of mine is pretty close to my heart.

I had put on a few extra pounds.A very close friend of mine,suggested me to start walking daily,though I agreed to her, I was reluctant on doing this.In fact I had decided in my mind I wouldn't being doing this.But life doesn't always allow you to do what you wish to.I guess I had to forcibly walk myself out.

It was during my holidays in engineering first year,first semester I was terribly bored one day.It was 10.30 p.m. and my dad had assigned me a work that I had kept pending for a few days.Despite my dad's repeated reminders I hadn't done it.
I guess I was destined to go for a walk that day.I just wore a white T-shirt[one of my favorite ones].Then put on my shoe and plugged the earphones to my ear and started of by playing my favorite songs.It all began like this.

I set out.Playing the song "heal the world"by michael jackson one of my favorite songs of his.I could find a new energy in me I was totally disconnected from the world.All my anger and negative thoughts just drained out my mind.I guess I needed to bring this change in me.I started liking this walk.I began to look at things in a different perspective.The simple things on the road were appearing very different.The wind blowing the sun shining were all so wonderful.The walk helped me catch up with things I had missed earlier.I guess its never late to catch up with things.I cherish every moment of it.I wondered how much I had missed without going to such kind of walks.

Before I developed this walking habit of mine I always was just hopping on my bike and going out to get whenever my parents used to ask me to get something.I somehow never liked walking.Whenever I was asked to get somethings even from the shops close by i just hopped on the bike and used to get those things.But now I realized that walking is so much fun.Every small thing on the road and the streets looked so differently.Let me tell you about one special walk that I have cherished a lot.

I received a text message from a very close friend of mine saying that there was some kind of exhibition going on in our school,an annual exhibition that takes place in our school mainly the dealing with science and social science projects.She said that she will be going for this and also asked me to come along.I wasn't interested to go.sensing my disinterest she left the matter then and there and there ended our brief texting conversation.The exhibition was to be held a day after I got the message.It was morning and I came home from my uncle's place as I had to go there to stay.Then I took my bath and had my breakfast too.My dad asked me to drop his cell phone bill cheque in the drop box at the telephone store.It was about two and a half kilometers from my home.Since the mobile store where I had to drop the cheque I decided to go to my school too.


I texted the friend of mine to ask her when was she coming.In a surprised manner, she asked me "what are you coming????",my reply was..."Ya why shouldn't I come????",she told me the time she was leaving so I decided to adjust my time of the departure so that we would be able to be at the place at around the same time.This walk I put on the earphones as usual but in addition I had a backpack in which I was carrying a cap [gifted to me by my cousin],though the bagpack wasn't of any use I just wanted to carry it, I don't know why,I guess it was my childish behavior.I set off on the walk,it was a sunny day and the sun was shining brightly and the weather was pretty hot.But that didn't deter me from going for the walk.As my every walk I began this walk too with MJ's song "Heal the world".Like my usual self while walking,I just watched around looking at the very common things,though it looked very interesting to me.Somehow every time I walk I feel a strange but a good feeling,I guess this the feeling that has kept me going.Coming back to the walk,I just went on,the song playing at the background continue-sly one after the other and me lost in the world of walking.In addition to all the good things I learnt during my walks I also learnt I could meet the people I knew but wasn't in touch with,while on my way I met my teacher,one of the teachers who has inspired me a lot,a man who has always inspired me with his humility,patience and most of all TEACHING.I owe my tenth's standard's good result to him,though I was late for his admission time, he still gave me a seat in his tution class A GREAT GESTURE OF HIS,without which I wouldn't have been able to get the good percentage that I was able to achieve.He was waiting for a bus at the bus stop,on seeing him, my face light up and I just ran towards him and spoke a few words to him.While his back came so we had to leave.I then went on,I felt so happy that I met my GURU,a man who was responsible for the slight success I have gained,a different feeling altoghether.Thats one moment I couldn't forget.it made my walk more enjoyable.Then I continued with pleasent memories of my encounter with one of my greatest teachers I have ever seen.I walked about a hundred metres and there I was at the mobile store,I dropped the cheque at the drop box and then again continued my voyage towards my school,where I was supposed to meet my friend.I went on like that, covering every step, covering every step with a childlike enthusiasm.I just reached a junction about thirty paces from my school.I don't know what happened to me,I just looked at the school and went in the other direction.I don't know what happened to me,I just didn't feel like going to the school.Instead I went in the direction of the bus stop from which I used to catch my bus to reach home.All the memories of me running to catch the bus,appeared in my mind,the memories of me and my school friends eating at the roadside fruit stall reminded me and made me smile for myself.All the fun frolic times I had with my good old school friends who used to accompany to the bus stop,was running like a motion picture in my mind.This is what a walk can do I said to myself.The wonderful and the ever pleasant memories all came to my mind.The memories that were long lost in my brain,all arose in my mind.
As I was walking with all such wonderful memories in mind,I noticed a Lassi bar,Lassi a favorite drink of mine.That Lassi bar is one of the nicest places where we get the best of sweet lassis.I just love the LASSI there.I just went straight to that place and then ordered myself a sweet lassi my most favorite lassi.Then the shopkeeper gave me the lassi and I took it and just sat on the footpath and just then my friend messaged me saying I saw you crossing the road,I replied why don't you come to the lassi bar I replied,but she then texted me saying,she wants to attend the exhibition.I said ok fine.go on I relied.She replied back saying she would be going to thw bowling alley along with her college friends.SO she said she won't be able to meet,though I said its ok U carry on,she said sorry to me.I was a little heart broken that I couldn't meet my friend.Forgetting all that I was engulfed by the taste of the sweet lassi enjoying every drop of it.I finally finished it and handed over the glass to the shopkeeper along with the money.
I started walking back home,all the pleasant memories in my mind and the music playing on the earphones everything was going on so nice.I guess that day was a day of joy for me,as I was walking I saw a person who resembled someone I knew,I didn't identify him in the beginning,as I approached him and after googling his face in my brain,my brain told me that it was the man who used to take me to school everyday,to be more precise he was the automan[the term we use for auto drivers who drop kids home and also drop them to school].He was a very nice gentleman,soft spoken and had a good sense of humor,a rarity to see among other people in his profession.I just went near him and asked"en uncle hegidira???,ella aaraama kelsa chennagi naditidya???"[meaning how are you doing is your work going on well??]he replied with a gentle smile"hoon ella chennagi naditide"[meaning all is pretty well].It was so nice to meet that gentleman after a long time.Its really nice to meet people who have helped you what you are today right from your teachers to the peons who have taken care of you when you are young and also gentlemen like this man here who have helped you in your academics and your life.They feel elated when we acknowledge them for the help they have offered to us even after we have parted.The happiness he got from the fact that I spoke to him was quite visible from the the happy expressions on his face.I was so happy to meet those to people that day.All these people reminded me of my pleasant past.Thats what a walk can do I guess it helps you meet the people who had an influence in your life.A great feeling altogether when you meet them.
With such wonderful thoughts and incidents I just went home with a great and cheerful smile.After coming
home I just analyzed all the incidents,I just realized how wonderful people we can meet when we just go out for a walk.I just realized what I had missed all these days.
At the end of the day I just realized how important a lonely walk is.What it can do for a man,today we humans are so stressed out,we get angered very easily by even slightest of things.I guess the only that can end all these ill things to the humans is just giving a little time to yourself by going for a walk alone.It did a great deal to me,a much needed change in me.I would like to thank two people for it,my friend who forced me to walk and my sister who told me do just leave the bike and start walking.THANKS A MILLION YOU TOO,I have really enjoyed every walk of mine.To all those who don't walk I certainly tell U have missed something very wonderful.

This is the Elite Vattam signing off for now until next time BYE BYE NAMASTE AND SAYONARA.