Last Laugh

Been lazy to post, but this is too big to ignore.

The Day the Usual Suspects("The Coolest Ones" a remark from the quiz master) have made it count, we finished as runners-up. We've made our mark.
(at an event worth a mention in quizzing circles across India)

Though the podium finish was eluding us, we've been consistent in finishing in top six in recent times. May be the knock-out punch was lacking or may be we are yet to discover the synergy(1+1=3).

Exactly one year back we came together and we were amateur and the synergy i was talkin about was missing. One year hence what we could manage follows.....

24th day of Oct 2006
Event - 'Ranbhoomi'- Business Quiz @ IPE Osmania Univ.
Conducted By Deepak an Alumni of IPE.

Me n Uday, we managed to make it to the last six after a prelims, a tough round compared to standard B-Quiz prelims. May be we were built for this, when the goin gets tough the tough get goin. Our score 7 on 25 took us to the podium for the final round. What an intriguing 6 rounds of final it was. We were consistent in all the six rounds of finals. No regrets we finished runners-up. We gave a tough fight to the winning team. In the process we did make some moolah :D.

Soul Satisfaction....he laughs best who laughs last.

Gearing up for the quizzing season ahead. So much to conquer..

Mock PI

29th Aug
done with my practise interview ...uuffff not exactly, the real work starts now. All this while i was lazin around as if i have got an eon to prepare for the placement interviews, just got a wake up call , there's so much to read and so much to prepare.

Arise, awake, and stop not till your goal is reached! -Swami Vivekananda

i know no amount of readin will ever be sufficient to satify the interviewer , but then again its all relative , so buck up and keep pushin the limits and stay hungry.

It was a good simulation exercise, the person who took my practise intrvw is an amazingly cool chap, loads of experience in banking industry. he made me very comfortable even before the intrvw had started.

take away would be ......know thyself better and know where you want be and why u want be there ?
preparation becomes easy if the above puzzle is cracked.

:D

Happy !!

I'm happy ...jubilant Cant think of any solid reason but im euphoric, may be ive realised the fact that little things matter and make up life more than the few breath takin moments.
I'm very excited that Iron Maiden.... my all time fav rock band is comin up with a new studio album in a weeks time and i'm gonna lay my hands on it as it comes out.
There was a blood donation camp in my coll today, i did my part. I can feel new blood created in me as i pen this blog, i feel rejuvenated.
Had a delicious lunch today, break from the routine grub we get in the college canteen thanx to my frnd.
Rediscovered that my bike still gives a mileage of 50 Kmpl, damn uncouth steed my baby.
lately i started to enjoy the lunch hr more than my reg lectures, thanx to the gang.
Song Behind Blue Eyes by The Who is cool number. must listen.

i'm just happy!!

InQUIZitive

Update

We the Latitudes(thats what we call ourself, a marketing Gimmick ...take it offline :D) conducted a Biz quiz for the freshers @ ICFAI last weekend. we did toil for a week to give some meaning to the quiz, but the turn out was disapponting. bulk of the 850 of our juniors turned out to be dormant buds. The enthu n participation was a damper to say the least , the exuberance we and our senior batch showed last time around was clearly missing , for reasons unknown.
But the ppl who did make it to the show were jubilant i thought ....some consolation.
Kudos to our team ...Uday-the brain, Nishant- the quizmaster, Shipra , Mihir, Reema, Packy and Meeeee. success of any show is decided by the audience and ours was no exception, i really appreciate the presence of my batch mates and the lively environ they created by cheering n yelling. Buck up would be my message to my juniors. And lastly the infrastructure .....better left uncommented.

i think conducting a quiz is one of the better ways of preparing myself for events to come, so wont mind conducting a couple more , provided i have the company of some serious quizzers.

Life goes on !!!!

Its been a while i blogged. too many things hav happened in betw, I dont know where to start but sure i want to write something and got some time to do it.

I was wonderin how fast time passes on, reticent by nature, no wonder i had few acquaintances during the 1st yr of my MBA , but lately that figure rose sharply. I used to wonder if i would get to know atleast 100 of the entire 700(my batch strength) at the end of my course, no such doubts anymore, thanx to one college building and hoard of electives.
I remember now what our Dean said to me , "it wont be like ur 1st yr , life would be very different at B'hills, u'll get to know each of the 700 of your batch mates by the end of the final sem, take it from me" it was tough to digest then. That perception has changed since then, seems like its happening.
2 months into 3rd sem , got to know many new ppl ,got to know more about acquaintances and some acquaintances hav became good pals. And there are some frnds whom i hope i would understand one day :)

gosh this is networkin!!!! ,hav to see how far it aids me in my personal n professional life.

Live ur life, do what u wanna do, dont just exist !!!

Purple Haze

This phrase had a profound effect on me for two reasons...

1.Its the best song by Jimi Hendrix ...The Genius. what more do i say about the song, one of the those vintage rock numbers, check out the lyrics for urself.

Lyrics

2.Its a happening Pub in B'lore, one of my favs. a must for any rock aficionado.Was fond of it , am still ....

Cheers
RAM

SR

Dont u mistake it to be my initials. Its my all time fav movie ..Shawshank Redemption

i'm not into reviewing movies but for the benefit of ppl who missed this classic (actual reason being soul satisfaction of revwing my fav movie :D), i take up this task.

Quotes Andy Dufrane : Hope is a good thing, may be the best of the things

Main Plot : A Prominent banker unjustly convicted of murder, spends many years in the shawshank prison.

Based on "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King. Ranks among the best filmed versions of any King stories to date.

let me keep the revw short & crisp. So that u enjoy the movie that little bit more :D.

It's simple to say The Shawshank Redemption is about hope, but it is also about faith and love. Enigmatic new inmate Andy (Robbins) and the regretful, older Red (Freeman) could hardly contrast more, yet they connect. That neither actor nabbed an Oscar in the year Tom Hanks won for Forrest Gump shows stupid is as stupid does, indeed. Freeman, in particular, is exceptional.

Tim Robbins, as Andrew Dufresne, plays the wrongly convicted man with quiet dignity. Andy's ire is internal; he doesn't rant about his situation or the corruptness of the system that has imprisoned him. His unwillingness to surrender hope wins him the admiration of some and the contempt of others, and allows the audience to identify with him that much more strongly.

Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman), or "Red" as his friends call him, is the self-proclaimed "Sears and Roebuck" of the Shawshank Prison (for a price, he can get just about anything from the outside). His is the narrative voice and, for once, the disembodied words aid, rather than intrude upon, the story. Serving a life sentence for murder, Red is a mixture of cynicism and sincerity - a man with a good soul who has done a vile deed. His friendship with Andy is one of The Shawshank Redemption's highlights.

"Salvation lies within," advises Warden Norton at one point. It is the presentation of this theme that makes The Shawshank Redemption unique. Prison movies often focus on the violence and hopelessness of a life behind bars. While this film includes those elements, it makes them peripheral. The Shawshank Redemption is all about hope and, because of that, watching it is both uplifting and cathartic.


Some of the notable Distinctions:

The Shawshank Redemption has repeatedly been voted as one of the greatest movies ever made. According to the Internet Movie Database Top 250 Movies of All Time, it is one of only two movies with at least a 9.0 average rating (the other being The Godfather). Rated over 180,000 times, it has the most votes of any of the 250 movies on the IMDb list, and had previously secured the #1 position for quite some time. This list is derived from the votes of IMDb registered users.

Top 250 Movies

In the 1994 Academy Awards the movie was nominated for seven awards (Best Picture, Best Actor–Morgan Freeman, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound) but failed to win a single one.


Cast :

Starring:

* Tim Robbins: Andy Dufresne
* Morgan Freeman: Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding
* Bob Gunton: Warden Samuel Norton
* William Sadler: Heywood
* Clancy Brown: Captain Byron Hadley
* Gil Bellows: Tommy Williams
* Mark Rolston: Bogs Diamond
* James Whitmore: Brooks Hatlen
* Jeffrey DeMunn: District Attorney (1946)

Credits:

* Director: Frank Darabont
* Producer: Niki Marvin
* Screenwriter: Frank Darabont
* Art Director: Peter Lansdown Smith
* Casting: Deborah Aquila
* Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
* Composer: Thomas Newman, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
* Costume Designer: Elizabeth McBride
* Editor: Richard Francis-Bruce
* Production Designer: Terence Marsh
* Set Decorator: Michael Seirton
* Story: Stephen King

I hope you hav a good time watching this classic

Why ???

Sunday , most awaited day for an F1 fan , but wasnt to be so exciting as renault the team i dont particularly appreciate has finished 1-2.
But the reason for pennin down ths blog is totally diff. was goin thru a blog forwarded by one of my frnds and felt so wierd, how can people be so weak, i was thinkin about what Swami Vivekananda said about human character, people with no character are the weakest,not the ones without money,power,food and shelter.

this particular blog is a movement for a good cause. do access

Blank Noise Project

think about it ..

Screaming for Vengeance

All Ferrari front row in Bahrain

Update
Malaysian Grand Prix - Lacklustre race with Renault claiming top 2 positions and Button(BAR) finishing 3rd. lookin for an exciting race @ Albert Part (Aussie Grand Prix on 2nd Apr)

Bahrain Race result - ALonso takes top step on Podium , with Schumi and Raikkanon completing top 3.

What an amazing session of 60 mins(Sat Qualifying) to start the Formula One 2006 season.

Michael Schumacher equalled the late Ayrton Senna’s record for pole positions when he took his 65th in Bahrain this afternoon during Formula One racing’s first knockout qualifying session.
Fellow Ferrari racer Felipe Massa will start alongside him, with Honda’s Jenson Button and Renault world champion Fernando Alonso on row two.

My adrenaline already pumping....Cant wait till sunday afternoon for the race to start.

Go Schuuuuuuuumi go !!!!!

Play on . . . .

what's happening on my blog , is this me ? 4 blogs down and not a mention about the love of my life , its kind of wierd .... what were u thinkin, i was talkin about Music ..the love of my life :D. Seldom a day goes by in my life with out listenin to music.
One of the rationalities behind starting my blog was to enlighten souls, show them the path to salvation,enough of philosophy hehe..,on a serious note it was to share my knowledge about rock/metal music with you ppl.
i have this profound theory that why should I be the only one to experience bliss, lemme share it with everyone of my acquaintances thru this medium. i'm talkin about havin fun listening to some of the rockin numbers ever produced. This is a humble effort towards this cause.

I thought hard which song to start with, couldnt decide as there is an ocean of music i like, somehow decided to start with a song that took me by surprise in recent times(I may clarify the song being reviewed is not exactly a rock number, but a darn good one).

Song : Feel
Artist : Robbie Williams

before i go gaga about the song lemme tell u something, u need to hav a heart to feeeeeel this one :D.

Review :
The massive amount of feeling he has put into this contemporary anthem is nothing short of breathtaking.
The song starts gently, with a simple recurring piano sequence that builds with percussion and vocals to a heart beat of a dance song, leading the entrapped listener into Robbie's emotions.
For me this song will always have relevance because every human seeks love, yet few are blessed with love of the kind Robbie asks for.
As the music progresses, there is a constant build up of percussion and strings to support the soaring vocal, which entreats the listener to help in the eternal quest for love and understanding.

In all, a completely genuine study of 21st century loneliness, and a darn fine song! Thanks Robbie Williams, we love you!

Feel Lyrics

p.s. some other good nos of Robbie ...Angels,Millenium,Shes the One and No Regrets.

keep rockin
RAM

A Day to remember..

If I ever in my senility would want to write an autobio than today would certainly qualify to be part of it.It is with this incredible feelin i write this blog.

Me n Uday(a.k.a psycho),the usual suspects for any quizzin event,have done it,broke free of prelims jinx.For the first time we have reached the finals(top 6 teams) of national level business quizzing contest.

We were one of the teams to qualify for the Finals (top 6 teams) of the "ET in the classroom quiz",this is not just any normal college business quiz.Its been happening for a decade now, promoted by Economic Times.Conducted by one of the ace quiz masters of the country Mr. Giri Balasubramanium known to the quizzing world as PickBrain.

I am certainly not boasting about what meagre we have achieved today but i just want to take u guys down the memory lane, last year november,myself and Uday just after our 1st Sem had come together,both of us were passionate about quizzin more than anything else, it wasnt the prize money but the passion to compete with the best and to know about the best in the business was the motivation that brought us together.And this undyin spirit is what carries us to every business quiz.And on one time we had the chance of stepping into the quiz master's shoes at our colleges own annual gathering Trishna where we conducted a "successful" quiz, and worth mentioning is the marketin quiz that i conducted and i appreciate the overwhelmin participation from the class (MBA) and am glad that u guys had fun.

And at a moment when i was thinkin its been 4 months we have been quizzin together and apart from a second place finish at IIPM ,nothin much worth mentioning, or on the other hand, its only been just 4 months since we started quizzin.we as a team are still evolving ,complimenting each other n starting to gel. we had this performance today, only to affirm my feelin that we hav been improving.

Even though we havent finished in the top 3 in todays quiz , with rejuvenated spirit we hope to improve our performance,try harder than befor to be consistent and to carry on the Quizzin culture that ICFAI is known for over the years.

when it comes to quizzing, but i would like to add here that a lot has to be done to achieve glory. if we r to win any big events this year then we need to put in multiple efforts of what we have achieved till date. touch wood for the same......


Some Trivia - ICFAI has been finalist and winners of "ET in classroom" few times in the past.
Also ICFAI were the winners of Tata Crucible, a nation wide quizzin event by TATA Group for Colleges in 2004.


way to go ...
RAM

Was it a dream ..

Not really, i just did it,Yeah i'm so glad to have given my first proper corporate presentation to a distinguishable audience, i'll have to live upto my blog title,cant help it hehehe...,two finance DGMs of the company (where i am doin my SIP),the company secretary, couple of others guys from finance dept and a bunch of mgmt trainees.We had put up a good show thanx to my SIP partner(any guesses ??) for all the brain storming sessions we had, they did come handy when tacklin Qs from audience.
Well prepared for a presentation is battle half won, knowing the audience and practise takes care of the rest. 1 year or to be precise 2 years back me giving a presentation to ,forget about senior mgmt but to my peers was (ruled out even in my wildest dreams hehe..) well nigh impossible.
But the grind at ICFAI B-School(IBS) did get the best out of me.The ICFAI way of teachin thru case studies and presentations made me a much better presenter than i was an year ago ...still a along way to go, but i'm slowly improving by every presentation i make.thanx to IBS n SecF for bein patient n supportin me all along...i feel so emotional now, hehehe...

I want to quote something from one of my fav music shows on Idiot Box, "BACKWARDS" on SS Music
"If u can't do it backwards,its not worth doin it"...free to think as u like, all u perverts.

signin off for now
RAM

Citi Experience - Part-1

Hello ppl i'm back screaming with vengeance....dont mistake me , check this incident ,hav to be patient ,guess this experience of mine would definiltey be helpful to all future corporate employees(dont get tempted when something comes easy n free of cost).

when i joined my first job with Citicorp Overseas Software Ltd a.k.a COSL (100 % owned subsidiary of Citibank) Wow !! wonderful feelin workin with Citigroup No.1 fortune 500 company uhh?, yes it was indeed a nice experience.Not only a good brand ,amazing work culture and well balanced pay packet,and a free salary account with minimal formalities (obviosly i was an employee of citigroup).

But what followed was an entirely diff experience. Had my induction at mumbai centre(a wonderful experience ,would cover it someother time).A salary account opened in mumbai but soon after training was over, got posted at Hyd,then another A/C opened at lightening speed in Hyd, i was enjoying the speed n the ease at which A/Cs were being opened(costing absolutely nothin).I had left some money in my mumbai A/C ,to be frank just forgot about it,money was pouring in from everywhere so never bothered to check my mumbai A/C.
After a few months thanx to a frnd of mine i realised i hav an A/C in mumbai and was shocked to see that every month my A/C was being looted.

200 bucks out of my account as service charge everymonth chooo mantar!!!, this has happened for a few months with out my knowledge and no intimation what so ever.The reason when contacted the bank - was that i'm not maintaining min avg daily balance(thought what on earth is this crap).when i enquired why was i not informed ,answer is it is printed in small italics on the back of the A/C statement which i never recvd.And why i was not informed on mail or phone ,bcos they giv info only when asked ,on a need to know basis...dogshit(looting ppl openly) and what i did is history.
(Realised better late than never closed the account imm savin whats left)

So the morale of the story never neglect ur past salary and savings A/Cs .. make it a point to close all the inactive accounts or maintain minimum what ever shit has to be maintained , but still u r giving an oppurtunity to someone to embezzle ur money, by not operating ur A/C for long periods.

To be continued .......

RAM

First Lap

Finally i emerge from my hibernation to make a difference in my own small way.

i dont know since when, but i always wanted to write a journal, was too lazy to actually start one.
donno why this sudden urge, i felt i should start sharing my escapades with out much delay,
starting with my SIP @ IBS n hope to take this blog into the last year of my MBA (hehe.... i meant 2nd Yr) and beyond.

Havin finished with the preface, It's finally time to document this experience. I work (SIP) in a manufacturing company in Hyderabad's definition of a 'Industrial zone' called Balanagar. Very well maintained area, lots of greenery. Nothing wrong with it(ISO 14000),air-conditioned and wonderful guide. But getting there...is a different story altogether. Ergo, this piece.

this first post is direct result of my day out at SIP and my adventurous journey to the company from home. darn !!! the traffic scenario in hyd is bangloring (hehe...i think only B'lore is worser than hyd),imagine its coming from a person who has spent most of his life in hyd.This is just feb ...believe me tough times r ahead,the jams coupled with scorchin heat of hyd summer will be deadly.God help the guys who r into field work for thier SIP.But believe me God is a great normaliser ...my project seems very exciting n challengin (finance) with a good guide n good company and the best part we dont necessarily have to work from the company everyday.

happy news ... we will be movin to new campus in certainity ..hurray.

me shuttin down .....until next time take care.