Saturday 30 May 2015

Chetan Varma's TechChallenger: Yonder Opportunities, Students



2012

Mr. Chetan Varma had recently passed out from NYSS, Nagpur and unlike most of his batchmates, immediately started laying down plans to start his own company. And before year end, he successfully established Orange Snipers Infotech Pvt. Ltd., along with some of his like minded friends. Today, the company is still going strong and has even acquired a website which deals with online services.

A week back, I had the privilege to visit his office. It was refreshing to see his calm and composed behaviour while addressing his employees. I had a long talk with him about his plans regarding his company's future and his other ventures. What I could gather from that lengthy (but interesting to say the least) talk was that the guy had a clear vision and a genuine passion towards working to achieve his goals.

TechChallenger was his dream project since the day he became a graduate. It had to take a backseat to Orange Snipers and some of his other ventures that helped him establish his own identity in the confines of Nagpur's IT industry. Basically, TechChallenger is a forum which he has designed over the course of the past few months. The website is yet to be made public but it's only a matter of days as to when it'll happen.

Chetan's vision is to build India's largest online community of techies, ranging from students, teachers, IT professionals and anyone else who could benefit from such a forum. He wants to bring the students and faculties of Indian institutes on a single platform where they can post queries, share opinions and engage in constructive discussion with fellow students and faculties. Plus, students and faculties can create original blogs and share on the forums, ultimately benefiting students in more ways than one.

"It’ll mostly help the shy and introvert types, who are reluctant to approach the faculties or even colleauges when in doubt. Continuous interaction may help them overcome their shyness." This statement from him cleared all the remaining queries that I had in mind as to what he really wanted. It started becoming pretty clear that he was genuinely thinking about the students' welfare alongside building his own brand.

Currently, Chetan is looking to acquire a piece of land in MIHAN, to establish a setup which would act as a central system for handling TechChallenger's day to day operations. After conversing with him for over 2 straight hours, I'm pretty sure that he'll bag the much needed piece of land. And looking at the current state of things and the progress he's been making, the day doesn't seem far away when TechChallenger will take the Indian academic community by storm and become the one stop spot to give and gain knowledge, for students and teachers alike.

We wish him the very best!

Wednesday 13 May 2015

MIHAN- 80 years in the making


1936 
India was still 11 years shy of her much anticipated independence. The Britishers were facing the wrath of a hostile nation whose people couldn't bear being treated like animals in their own country by some foreign entity. But this entire scenario aside, the outsiders were drawing out several plans and ideas towards the development of India. One of those ideas was a fully functional and sophisticated Airport, meant for both civilian and Army aircrafts, which would also be a fully equipped service centre for these heavy duty planes. 

Then came World War 2. 
The plans had to be put in the back burner. 

The war lasted 6 long years, ending with a casualty list of 60 million, a whopping 3% of the total population of the Earth in 1939, which was estimated to be 2 billion. To make matters worse, the struggle for independence in India was getting the best of the authorities and it was becoming almost impossible to continue ruling the nation without facing backlash on a large scale. 

Thus, even though the Britishers were an integral part of the Allied forces who defeated Germany and ended World War 2, they were forced to leave India just 2 years later in 1947. Thus, "the plan" again took the back burner and this time for a better part of the 20th century! 

Nagpur, which was formed in 1703, and was the centre of the country, was the central hub of the mail delivery system for several years 
(1949 to 1973 to be precise). At exactly 12 midnight, 4 planes from Delhi, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta used to land at the airport, exchange mails, and head towards their respective cities. It used to be a sight to behold for the commoners of the city. 

During the early years of the 21st century, those long lost plans were taken out of the dark, dingy and dusty corners of rotting almirahs and thus the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) came into being. It was going to be a 2 part project- An International cargo hub and a vast residential area of 40.25 km square. It was financed by several Indian banks with a loan amount of 3000 million Rupees. The project was expected to add 12 million to the population of the city by direct and indirect employment. But factors like the recession, problems in acquisition of land, and a bunch of scams by some private parties put a brake on the project and a decade has passed since then. 

But now, as the new CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari have made MIHAN the priority of the government, there's a ray of hope building and if this promise by these two renowned men comes to fruition, this will be a breakthrough event in the rich history of our nation and will determine and define its future. It'll reduce employment in central india to a respectable level and with the recent inclusion of institutes like IIM and AIIMS, it won't be long before Nagpur gets to enjoy a strong presence alongside the NYs and Delhis and Tokyos of the world.

Monday 11 May 2015

Reduced Logic and Increased Prices: The present state of Indian Comics


After reading some Sarvnayak Vistaar reviews, I can't help but think that RC is insulting their fans' intelligence on a whole new level. I mean 10 kharabs?? Really?? Also the fact that the writers don't think even a bit before massacring logic while penning down points like an AC in a convict's cell, explains a lot about what they assume is the level of intelligence of us fans.

I'm a fan since 1998, and am currently 24 years old. I'm pretty sure that when this Sarvnayak series ends completely  ( Still leaving a whole lot of questions unanswered- We're looking at you NAGAYAN) , many of us will have been married and some will even have little kids, who'll someday ask us to give them "those picture stories" that we read. Then you'll give them this series ( Come on you won't give them the new series of Bankelal without Bedi, which can kill the logic building cells of a growing and healthy child in an instant) , and they will read it for some 20 minutes.
Game over!
Daddy! I want a PS 5 ( Or whatever the hell XBOX comes up with) !! Please don't  make me read these things....

When I was a kid, my parents bought 2 Chacha Chaudhary comics (16/- ) for me and thus started the fandom and I never looked back. But I really feel for the next generation as they'll have to buy a complete hardcover set of both Sarvnayak and the Vistaar series for 2500/- with some free stickers thrown in to appease them, otherwise they won't be able to understand what the hell is going on in the story.
Gone are the days when a single 32 page comic used to present a complete and entertaining story without making us fans scratch our heads like we do today after reading a 40/- Bankelal story or a 60/- Vistaar story which is just a tiny part of a legendary saga which seems to have no end and whose each comic, instead of clearing previous doubts, leaves us with a dozen more questions left unanswered.

Comics were never meant to leave us in doubts. What are our college books for?

Sunday 18 January 2015

BCCE diaries (OR How to stop worrying and be Awesome)






Another picture from my past that has gained an iconic status today. 
This set of 2 snaps describes the entire story of the 1st year of our engineering in Nagpur, which I was fortunate enough to be a part of. Imagining what was going on inside our teacher's (who's wearing pink if you still haven't got which one is he) mind at this very moment, always give me a chuckle.

It was plain and simple. It was teachers vs. students.
Couldn't put it any other way. 
End of story.
And this guy was the epitome of what our teachers hated. Lets call him Pranay.

He had this one thing- He just didn't give a sh*t. 
He tried. Really hard. 
But he just couldn't.
Let me take you back to the 1st day of B.E., when I met him for the very 1st time. I was dumping my stuff inside my bag as soon as we got the 1st break, when he passed by, stopped and waved at me. To quote the legendary Humphrey Bogart, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Or so I thought. I mean yeah it was beautiful, but with a hint of crazy, unbalanced, disturbed.... you get the idea. And I couldn't think of more synonyms for crazy.

As the session progressed, it became pretty clear that the teachers despised his guts.
Unpredictable was written all over him.
There was this one time when he made a meme featuring one of the faculty, followed by a few more memes.
I'll have to give him this. His devotion was unmatched.
More memes followed. He made a total of 26 memes in a span of 6 days.
But this wasn't enough for that demented soul.
The memes spread like wild fire. In a couple of days, everyone and their granny had access to them.
It didn't take long for the principal to know. Someone ratted on him.
What followed was BAD. We weren't surprised even one bit when the results of 1st Unit test were announced. He had done a disaster, or lets say that the faculty made sure that he did a disaster.
But this didn't change anything. He kept coming up with new tactics to provoke the faculty.
The entire class engaged in rowdy antics throughout the session, spearheaded by this frail, vulnerable looking guy who was anything but that.
Finally the session came to an end, but the incidents didn't.
I once wrote this piece reminiscing our glory days :

                         



Today, 4 years later, Pranay is one of the very few students of our batch who succeeded in landing a good job, and is doing pretty well there.
Just heard from him last night.
I think he's up to something.
I'm SO gonna get something for a future blog.

Sunday 11 January 2015

The Interview

28th February, 2014
Nagpur

I was on my terrace, with cool drops of the untimely showers soothing my face. 
This was hands down THE greatest moment of my life!
I had been selected by Symbiosis International University for a course in Telecom Management at one of the most breathtaking campuses in India. 
A picture's worth a thousand words.


I reminisced back to 8th February, just a few days back. I had just exited the interview room of SIMC, one of several institutes on the campus. There was a smile of triumph on my face. This had been the best interview I had given till date.
We left the city next day and it struck to me that wouldn't it be great if I create a transcript of the entire interview and try to publish it in the magazine of my current college, where I was pursuing BE in Electronics.
The strong memory helped and I made the transcript. 
Unfortunately, the magazine had already been published 2 days ago. 

A blog sure does come in handy. 
Here's the entire article complete with the interview transcript for interested graduates/ soon to be graduates.




Hi friends,
We’re finally at THAT stage of our career! A no. of companies organize campus drives annually in our campus and seek aspirants who’ll prove to be valuable assets to them.
I’m sharing my Interview experience at SIMC, Pune, which gave me a chance to be a part of one of the very best B-Schools in India. I got this chance after clearing the coveted SNAP test which was held on 15th December, 2013. If at least a single student gets benefited from reading this experience of mine, writing this piece would become worthwhile.
So my PI-WAT was at 12 noon on 8th February, 2014. We reached there at 11.15 to get some time to relax a bit. The college looks like a Hill station and is situated on top of a huge hill along with several other colleges of the Symbiosis International University. The atmosphere is breathtaking and awe inspiring! After registration and verification of documents, we’re treated with lunch which was excellent to say the least.

PART 1- Writing Ability Test
Our 1st topic was “Cultural Impact of Bollywood on the World”. I wrote about the history of classic films like Harishchandra and Aalam Aara, compared Indian classic cinema with Hollywood, and stressed the fact that stars like SRK, Big B, and Salman are huge celebrities all over the world, adding to the impact the Indian cinema has on the worldwide audience.
The 2nd topic was “Satyam Scandal”. I  had very little knowledge on this one, so I started by chronicling India’s rich heritage and people who gave their life for the sake of this nation, and compared it with today’s India, where politicians are running rampant all over the Janta and corruption is at an all time high. Also, I stressed on the fact that the 1700+ crores which were the subject of talks everywhere, could make or break an entire small nation. A few tidbits more and I finished the essay.


PART 2- Personal Interaction
There were 3 interviewers. 1st one was a middle aged professor, and other 2 were a bit young compared to him. I asked permission to enter and take a seat.
Now, the most important thing here was that I was really nervous before the PI, but as soon as I saw the 3 professors with their cheerful faces and calm attitude, the nervousness faded away in a jiffy and it felt as if I’m about to talk to some friends about my life and my career. Those 3 professors knew their stuff and they sure helped me getting over my nervousness. The interview started. They looked at my resume for some 15 seconds. I’ll address the 3 professors hereafter as P1, P2 and P3.

P1: So Abhilash, tell us something about yourself.
ME:  I’m pursuing B.E. 8TH semester from Priyadarshini Bhagwati College of Engineering, Nagpur. I’m kind of an introvert at first, but I gel up well with people as I get to know them better.  My hobbies are to write daily personal diaries, which I’ve been doing since 1st January, 2007. Also, I like to study Classic Hollywood films, dating back to the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and so on. I kind of do research on them (A look of astonishment came over their faces!). Last but not the least, I like to read stuff, especially comics and novels. Reading is more like a passion to me than a hobby. I value it as much as I value food and sleep.
P2: Could you tell us more about this hobby of yours, concerning Hollywood films?
ME: Sure sir. Contrary to other people, who watch these films for pure entertainment, I watch them and go a little bit beyond that. After watching a classic movie, I go to IMDB, read reviews of fans like me, and then go to legit Review sites like RottenTomatoes and check out the expert reviews. If I like a particular character, I try to learn about him/her and Wikipedia is always there to help me. I haven’t touched the films of the 1910’s and 20’s, but I’m sure to do that sometime in future. The oldest film I have seen is the 1931 classic, ‘City Lights’ starring Charlie Chaplin. It’s an emotional movie with a comic tone. I mostly prefer Black and White movies.
P2: Could you tell us how you stumbled upon this hobby of yours?
ME:  Sir, there was no specific origin point for this hobby. Actually, it all happened by sheer accident. I was watching this horror film, Psycho, which is the greatest horror movie ever made, by the greatest director to walk on the face of this Earth- Sir Alfred Hitchcock. I’ve seen it so many times that I stopped counting after 10! So this movie made a huge impact on me and thus the addiction for classic movies started.
P2: Why is that you have a craving for Hollywod movies and not Bollywood movies?
ME: The thing is that Bollywood films are nowhere near the caliber of the classic Hollywood cinema. During the 70’s when Amitabh Bachchan was starring in action film after action film, wowing the Indian audience in the process, they were making legendary films in Hollywood like Psycho, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, which were way ahead of their times. Sure there are some films in India which I like. Lagaan is my all time favourite Bollywood film because of its inspirational tone, but when it comes to preference, Classic Hollywood cinema is my cup of tea.
P3: What qualities does a leader should possess?
ME: I think that he should be regular and punctual in his work so that the people who work under him get inspired to do the same. Regularity will always be on the top of my list as I myself have applied it on my life.
[I kind of stuttered while answering this question but somehow was able to give a moderately satisfying answer]
P1: So what are your plans for your future?
ME: I want to pursue MBA and get placed in a good company having a good working environment. I had 2 choices before me to pursue after Engineering- MTech or MBA. I chose MBA because I believe that MBA grooms you to be a better professional and an even better individual who can communicate well with people and doesn’t get offended easily. I’m not trying to ridicule and make fun of the MTech aspirants, I’m just stating the facts from what I’ve experienced.
P3: So how will you manage to pursue MBA? How will you make a transition from all of your C, C++ and all your computer knowledge to MBA?
ME: Sir, actually I don’t possess all these skills you just mentioned. As you can see in my resume, I just have basic knowledge of the Windows operating systems and Microsoft Office, how to operate them etc. Nothing more than that. In fact, I have this bug inside me which is fascinated by the field of business and management (Their eyes widen even more). Some 7 years back, I actually did a business on a small scale. Sir, if you wish, I would like to tell you about it.
P2:  Definitely. Tell us about it.
ME: I have this huge collection consisting of some 10,000-11,000 comics and novels, and it fills a cupboard of the size of a large wall. So after my 10th class got finished, I made several library membership cards, made a library board, and distributed the cards to the colony kids. Some 8-10 kids joined my library. I made certain rules like the library would be open 9-9, you could take only 3 comics/ 2 novels at a time, or a combination of them, etc. The money I earned from that venture was just a small bonus for me. The important thing was that these little kids, who are the future of our country, instead of wasting their summer afternoons sleeping or watching worthless cartoons like Doraemon, were actually reading stuff which would help them in the long run. Reading has helped me a great deal since my childhood, and it sure did help them too. In fact, the mother of 2 kids who joined my library, actually complimented me for what I was doing (Eyes widened again).
P2: So what are your favourite novels?
ME: I prefer Thrillers so my favourite is Dracula by Bram Stoker, Psycho( On which the previously mentioned film was based) by Robert Bloch, and Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine.
Finally, the 3 professors asked each other whether they want to ask any other thing, and upon mutual agreement, finished the interview.
ME: Sir, It was a pleasure to talk to all 3 of you.
P1,P2,P3: Same here.

So that was it folks! Not a SINGLE technical question was asked! Sometimes, they get so interested in your extracurricular stuff such as hobbies, YOU GET A CHANCE TO ACTUALLY DIRECT YOUR INTERVIEW TOWARDS YOUR PREFERRED DIRECTION FROM THE 1ST QUESTION ITSELF!! They seemed really interested in my hobbies and were enthusiastic throughout the interview.
On top of that, HR interview is nothing but their way to know how well can we communicate with people in English. So reading newspapers and magazines would really make a difference in your communication skills. Thanks for reading this piece and I hope it helps you while preparing for your interviews. 

Have a great future ahead!!