The Dark Nite...!!!

The night was dark, the storm strong
I could see no one when fog enveloped around
Felt a shiver when I saw the precious broken bond
My feet trembled and tears fell down

On the cold nite, my heart ached
I gave up, had lost all faith
I cried and screamed and shouted in pain
Like an echo, it would hurt back again

Like a lifeless mummy, I walked around
What went wrong?? n how?? and why?? n when??
I wondered and tried to sort it out
Bt everything vanished as if in zen...

My tears eventually dried
Now I cud fake a smile
Numb soul but I took a stride
Like a robot, I started to lead life

I gave some time to time
Bt the wounds would nt sublime
I tried and failed
and then I tried harder and yet every time I only failed

Now the wounds do not pain
But the scars remain
The sockets have welled up again (a healing sign)
I hide my tears in rain

Left devoid of any choice
n stil fighting with the surrounding noise
I heard my inner voice
As helplessness helped me gain poise

And the dark nite is over
n the spring is back again
or thats wot I like to believe
coz I don fake no more!!

I see the butterflies fly
the bright blue sky
the smell of vegetation
the air of intoxication

Flyin like a bird
I see the signs of life
Hear the sound of music
And compose my own sweet li'l song

Hit the lowest low
Bt the worst is over
I hv taken the much needed leap of faith
For the nite that it was...!!

Love life... the precious gift of Christ..!! :)

So simple and yet so difficult...!!!

Women mostly want the simplest things in life but the irony is that the simplest things or people are the hardest to get.

The question that most men would think after reading the line above is – how to define simple? What is being simple? How simple does it get for a woman to be simple enough? What is the lowest limit?

Men often need definitions and parameters of abstracts like quality time spent together. When in love, time flies by. I wonder why most relationships go kaput after the initial charm starts to fade away and the reality dawns on the face.

Why can people not fall in love with the real person than just getting attracted to a personality or more often than not -- the skin. Why don’t we fall in love with the soul of the person? Well I think that’s because for most people, it’s love at first sight. I have not yet understood the concept of it. Is it love or infatuation at first sight? How is it possible for two people to love each other genuinely, for life without knowing and accepting each other for both good and bad? I just do not understand the concept and thus, this far, has no answers.

I do not fall in love as frequently as my other friends do and that’s because I do not believe in love at first sight. It just does not happen to me. I wonder why and how it happens to so many other people. I wonder what they are seeking in life. I wonder why are they so alone in life to look for someone temporarily to give them attention. Is it one of the ways to prepare for life? But why prepare? Why not live life as it comes? And most of all do people really remember all the lessons life teaches them? If they did, the world would have been a much better place.

Well, world is a very extremely beautiful habitat and why not spend time in making some genuine relationships and friendships in life than just having fun out of human emotions? Why not just see the world and explore it than having fun out of playing with human emotions.

I don’t know whether it’s better to be single or to be with someone. I am sure some genuine person’s support and being there helps lead a better and more fulfilling life. But to recognize the one is most critical. There’s nothing wrong, I believe, in kissing the ugly frogs till the time you get your prince charming but make sure u do not hurt the frogs and remember that it’s because of them that you got your prince. (I know it may sound funny but thats how it is for many people and how much I may try to argue, but this seems to be the right thing in midst of all the infidelity, attractions and hollow relationships. It is very important to move on in life!!)

And what women want is very simple and thus very difficult. Women want love, care, affection, respect, loyalty, kindness, humility, humour, attention, blah blah blah blah n the list seems to be never ending. I feel, at this moment atleast, that women mostly look for a guy who is sensitive enough to understand her and bear with her for life, to love her forever for what she is and for what he is when he is with her.

Please guys understand your women, the unsaid words, the unexpressed emotions.. Notice her and give her genuine compliments, take her out shopping once in a while if not everytime, pamper her with love, care, affection and attention and not always with money. Steal a kiss once in a while and take out atleast some time for her every single day... A warm hug compensates for a lot of negatives... Listen to her and dont just hear her words.. Try and remember what she says and introduce her to your friends. Be proud to have her on your side and be rationale with her. She wont mind if you point out her mistakes and tell her when she does something wrong but be patient and explain stuff with an human angle.. We dont mostly understand all logics, chemistry and physics of life.. Bt we do understand genuine emotions... Hold her when she gets carried away and dont always take all her words as face value, understand the meaning, the hints and the hidden clues...

Women... we move on and it hurts n it pains but once we decide something, we do it... we mostly learn lessons of life the hard way coz of such emotional fools that we tend to be sometimes, rather most of the times but trust me women are just so much stronger than a man could ever be (most of the times!)... We value money, save (I do) and then splurge and pamper ourselves and our family and our dearest friends... and sometimes the strangers too...

So much more I can write here... only if men would ever understand a woman... life would be... aaahhh heaven...!!

Love, Cherish and Value life while you live it to the fullest…!!! Love, Cherish and Value life while you live it to the fullest…!!! Amen…

The Interview Tickle

My first interview was at ICall..

A place which one of my sister’s friend’s sister (yes.. quite a link) told is a great place to start working from. So I went for an interview in an international business outsourcing center – Netvantage Private Limited aka ICall.. I wondered how a work place can have a nickname… aahhh..!! Anyway as if it made a difference to me then..

Nevertheless, I had to give it a shot. I went there in the afternoon time. Walk-in interviews are common in any business process outsourcing center (I like BPO better and more respectable than a call center. Call center with its usual pun is just not acceptable to me.) Wearing a pair of blue jeans and striped short blue top, I entered the reception.

“Hello, how may I help you?” said the receptionist

“Hello, I am here for an interview.” I said softly

“May I have your resume, please..”

Oh shit.. How can I not think of a resume for my first interview… Shit..!!! Shit..!!! Shit..!!! aaahhh..!!! Why do I do such things?? How can I be soooo stuuppiiddd..

“Well.. aamm.. Well.. Actually, I am not carrying one.” Shiiiittttt..!!! What a start.. Its going to end right here..

“We usually need one at the time of the interview.” Said the receptionist

“Yes, I know it’s usually needed. I think I would have to come some other day.” I sounded so apologetic and was embarrassed by all standards.

As if giving an explanation I added, “I actually did not know how to make one. This is my first time for the interview, you see.”

Ouuccchhh..!!! Ohhh nooooo.. Did I just say that??? Shhhiiiitttt..!!!! What an idiot.. What are you waiting for Aakriti? Can you not foresee her showing you the door?? Start walking before you are kicked out.

“Hmm… Take this paper and just write your details.” Receptionist said.

“Oh..!! thank you so much..” Thank God..

Ouchh.. I am missing a pen too.. “Well.. I am sorry but am not carrying a pen either. Could I borrow one from you please?”

“Sure..”

How are these people trained to be demi-Gods.. She’s such an angel..

“uhhhh..!! What details are required on the paper..” yes.. another question from the hell…

Why could I not research and check with somebody about the resume part?? I am screwing my chances left, right, center.. Wonder what would happen inside.. ahh ahh.. Will you get to step inside at all after this???

“Just write your name, address, qualifications, etc.. and very general information.” said the receptionist. Now I could see the halo on her head.. May God bless her..

I wrote and gave back the paper. Few minutes later I was taken inside the main office from where other employees made calls. Nobody was there because their shift started from evening. Approximately 4-5 people were seated waiting for their turn of interview. I was asked to sit with them. After giving a small English grammar test and an audio test, I was selected for the interview with the HR.

A bald man and a slim lady were waiting for an interview in one of those lanes where the employees made calls and spoke with firangs renowned as duds.

“Nervous?” asked the baldy.

“Not at all” I lied..

“So why do you want to work?” said the lady

What do you mean? Is it a valid question? Why do you think you are working? Next question please, I wanted to say.

But I heard myself saying, “It’s good to work for some value addition. I want to make my parents proud and do something more than just studying.”

Wow..!! Now that’s some reply, Aakriti. She sure will take you in immediately.. Bang on..!!

After asking an array of questions about my qualification, interests, family etc a statement by the interviewer made me jump.

“But you are an under-age. You are not 18. We can’t employ you.” said the baldy.

I know I am not 18 and I also know that working before attaining minimum age of 18 is prohibited under Indian constitution. But do we really care? Do you yourself follow the law in entirety? Rather, who follows the law in our country? Not even the so called leaders. Law is not followed, it is exploited in India. The loop holes in the law-book made murderers the ministers, most corrupted the most powerful, dragged religion to politics, and divided the God. In a country, where audits do not happen and if they do happen in some selected companies auditors are bribed, where law-makers are corrupted, where votes are sold, where parliamentarians do not protect the citizens, they monopolize and blackmail, where there is no check on female infanticides, where sati and child marriage are still prevalent, and where basic amenities like food, water, shelter, roads, infrastructure is not taken care of. A country which has been called a developing nation since 1947 and is still developing, where poor sleep on street and some elites have palaces, where poverty makes the poor poorer and riches makes the rich richer, where enough yawning gap exists between humans to give rise to status quo, where social security is a dream, where government hospitals stinks and the gutters remain open, where spitting on roads is almost a birth right of the citizens and where children much below my age beg on the streets.

In midst of so much chaos and much more, is hiring six months before me turning 18 really unlawful? Law, in our country, can be moulded, twisted and converted to any damn shape to suit the individual’s requirements. The ‘will’ is the law. But anyway, could you not tell me about underage being a problem before? You made me wait for all this while just to tell me that I am underage. Whatever.. But that’s a very difficult statement to counter attack politely.

“But I want to work. I am just 6 months away from being 18. And I am here by my parent’s permission.” I managed to give a reasonable reason. Ohh..!! ofcourse my age can not be hurdle now in me getting a job.

The baldy and the lady explained all the laws and norms for ten minutes and explicated why inspite of my great communication skills it would be impossible for them to hire me.

“All I can say is that you can trust me. I will not show my offer letter to anybody and I am not good with government so am never going to go knock their door. I will make sure the company does not get sued because of me and I am never going to tell anybody that you hired me when I was not even 18. I promise..”, said I with a puppy face as if taking an oath and actually trying to give them a modest deal. Also, I know for sure that law is nowhere followed entirely. A subtle hint might just turn the table in my favour.

And they gave a broad smile back..

“Alright, we will see. You may leave as of now.”

And like a good girl -- I left..

Another interview -- IPP

Indian Printer & Publisher, a completely unknown company came to campus at the time of economic slow-down. Desperately, we, a bunch of over 500 students sat for the ritualistic company’s presentation. The old bald man, Mr. Naresh Khanna introduced himself as the proprietor of the company and started his pitch without any impressive slides in place, no jazz, no make-up, no brag. All he had was passion and energy for his work that oozed from every word he spoke. The students were impressed after his speech and many of them personally went up to compliment him.

I am not one of those out-spoken students to praise somebody on the face for the first time. I think it looks like greasing them purposely. My friend, rather my guru Sujata insisted that I need to make a niche for myself by going ahead and telling him about my journalism background. This is because Indian Printer & Publisher (IPP) is a publication house and they might prefer some one with my kind of academic background. Sujata pushed me towards Mr. Khanna and I was left with no choice but to tell him about my academic qualification to which he replied in a very neutral manner.

Not to my surprise, my resume was shortlisted for the group discussion (GD). I wonder what I wrote in my resume, it always got selected for every single GD session. We went for the GD round in a group of 13 and sat in a semi-circle. I was sitting on the extreme left – the most difficult position to make an impact from.

The GD started with Mr. Khanna apologizing for making us wait and having to make a choice among the brilliant students because he could not afford to take many of us. We all were surprised, rather shocked to hear this. No company in a group discussion ever apologized for not being able to take all the students. Is he a demi-god or just emotional or may be an extremely nice human being.. My respect for him increased by leaps and bounds. It did not matter to me anymore whether he selected me or not. To meet such successful humble man was a treat and a live lesson to be grounded in life inspite of success and recognition.

He went on in the GD session without having any of us speak about anything at all. We all wondered who’s supposed to give the test and do the talking. Finally, he requested all of us to talk one-by-one on ‘Why are there less men in Human Resources (HR) than women?’. We all finished speaking and he was thankful for taking time out for the company’s selection procedure.

The result was announced later in the night and I got to know that I have been selected for the interview round. This was also nothing new to me. I always got selected for the interview. Somehow, I just did not make through it in Amity.

Dressed in western formals the next day, we, a bunch of 8 students, waited for our turn of interview. One-by-one students would go for the interview and come out all impressed by Mr. Khanna. They all gave the same feedback – he keeps talking, you will hardly get a chance to say anything so chill. I was the fourth one to step in.

After we exchanged greetings, Mr. Khanna asked me to take the seat and said with a smiling face, “I am glad we invited you for the interview.”

“Thank you”, I said and smiled. But why is he glad to select me for the interview. No interviewer in the past has ever been glad to interview me. What did he see in my resume?

I kind of got confused.

“You do not look the same as your picture on the resume.”, he saw my passport size photograph on the resume and looked at me and tried to find some correlation between my photograph and the real me.

I smiled and said, “But that’s me for sure. The photograph is just not printed well.”

He nodded and said, “Where are your spectacles? You were wearing spectacles on the day of GD. Weren’t you?”

“Yes, I am just not wearing them today.”

I went all blank by now. What kind of interview is this?

He confirmed atleast 3-4 times in the entire interview whether the photograph on the paper was mine and every time I gave the same answer. Spectacles were another issue that would come up every now and then. I would have worn them if I had the slightest idea that I would be cross-questioned about it and that would be a matter of so much discussion in me getting a job after MBA. I just did not understand the direction this interview was taking and was rather looking blankly at Mr. Khanna.

He asked me after around 10 minutes of discussion on above stated topic, “Do you really want to work at IPP? Are you excited?”

“Yes, I am”, was all that I said.

“Great..!!”

The lady – Ms. Purva Sethi who had come with him for the interview, gave me her card and asked me to mail her any of my published article to which I agreed.

Almost immediately, he looked at me and popped up another question, “Are other students shortlisted for interview eager and excited too?”

“Everybody who gave their resume and has been shortlisted is interested and excited to work with you, Mr. Khanna.”, I said.

“Thank you so much for your time.”, he said

I thanked Mr. Khanna and Ms. Sethi and walked out of the room wondering whether they were really serious on taking me in after this directionless and aimless discussion about the picture on resume and purpose of not wearing spectacles.

Result - I was selected in both the companies after the interview and worked with them for good time period.

Moral of the reading – It just has to be your day to clear and get selected in any interview. It is hard to gauge what strikes the interviewer so it is important to be oneself and not pretend.

I miss my college days.. one of those law classes..

We students get tensed, flow the sweat, and catch our breath,

Do all that we can to have fun and enjoy,

Books, books, books are in our sub conscious,

Jus a night before the D-day, it comes floating in the conscious,

In the class we talk and sleep,

Some of us jus go in between to pee,

The lunch time shifts at the class time,

The serious lot of studs read ET in the mean time,

Some of them write like me,

What would happen in future, I can’t see,

The teachers here are all, I swear, a piece,

I can laugh at all shamelessly;

Good or bad, I dunno,

This time is not goin to come back, that’s all I know;

Placements bother all of them,

Can’t we b studs like IIMs?

Nobody listens in this law class,

Kanu scribbles in her notebook & Suju comes up with something new;

Liz designs the assignments of others and Sim, ah… the angel, wonders what to do;

Shruti, for a change has disappeared,

Conversations among some others have triggered,

Gagan asks questions that do not make much of sense,

She’s the one who values every single pence;

Mo gets carried away and shoots at sir,

Alas! As usual, he’s not heard without his muscle power;

Gaurav’s dancing to ‘desi girl’s’ tunes, Ishan’s finding his Bluetooth,

Kanika’s tryin new ring and Neeru is sittin pretty in pink,

Two hours have passed, its enough Adi exited from the class,

Kanav honoured us with his royal entry,

Jus to munch my red apple it seems;

Girls and boys are here all alike,

They enjoy to the hilt and pass time,

We giggle and smile throughout,

Do everythin else except for the real thing,

Longing to sit in the café,

& shout in the corridor,

Click silly pics

& enhance our so called ‘non-existent’ skills,

That’s wot we r here for

Oh! How can I not say,

Without proxies, MBA will nt b all that great…. J

Amateur

Its so difficult to start writing and yet so easy. I have been thinking to write and start filling in this space since the time I have made it for myself. But what to write and how to write it. Aaaahhh...!!! I have always wanted to have a blog and now when I have one, I don understand how to really fill it with myself. May be because there is so much and I don understand how to put it all one by one.. Its all so intertwined.