10 memories of 2012

I had written a similar blog about 3 years back. As this happening year comes to an eventful end, i take this opportunity to jot down the 10 indelible memories of this year.

1. Feb 12, 8:08 AM. Gurgaon: A little angel came to our life, weighing 2.8 kgs and a total length of 47 cm. We named her "Annysa". This pic is one of her first pic with her mom and my personal favorite. 
2. My visit to Dhabeleshwar in the month of April. It remains as one of my favorite places. I had written a travelogue on it way back in 2009.
3. Back to Blogging: After an hiatus of 2 years, i made an attempt to blog again "frequently". The trilogy of stories written had the maximum views in my blog. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. The number of views increased by manifold from less than 1000 in the year beginning to more than 7000 and still continuing.
4. Back to school: This year i had the opportunity to avail the online course on "In Memory Data Management" offered by HPI. I did a course after 10 long years!!!.  And it definitely felt good to pass with 84% :)
5. Trip to Tripura: I visited the calm and serene Matabari temple at Udaipur, Tripura.
6. Cheering for Odisha team at Women National games held at Gurgaon
7. Conducting Bollywood Quiz at Gurgaon which was well  received by the audience. At least, that's what they told me :)
8. Starting and quitting Tobacco again. Lets hope its the final quit from my end.
9. Visit to Old Delhi during the holy month of Ramazan. You can find one of earlier blogs on Old Delhi here.
10. Zipping again at Neemrana - The rain made it more dangerous and exciting. This is a pic with my brother, Ankur.

Again re-iterating what i had written 3 years ago - Hope 2013 is more eventful and i see more good movies, visit new places and learn/ experience new things. And I spend a lot of time with my little one as she grows up.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2013

This week, a decade ago

My placement had just finished. The  recession due to the dotcom bubble burst ensured that 100% placement of our institute was not achieved. Out of 120 students, 80 were placed, which was a very good record considering other contemporary management colleges.

Ah, definitely it gives me a smile to think about that Nervous Subhankar of that time. Now looking back on this week, it is nothing sort of a comedy of errors. But, 10 years ago, it was a never ending melancholic week.

It was my first interview which happened on the second day of the placement seasons. The first day was sacrosanct  for the top graders and the difficult group discussion topics sealed my advance to the second rounds. Typical of a engineer, i was confident all the IT companies will come to my rescue on the second day.

One of my dream company was X, one of the largest IT services companies of that time. Being the nerd i was (rather i am), first round was a cakewalk and got me selected for the interview. I was nervous to the hilt. There were very few job offers made on the first day, which made the competition tough as top graders had also joined the fray. The interview started well. Couple of initial tough questions were either well answered or well left. Still, the thought of top graders vying for this job was playing on my mind. Suddenly, one member asked me about my favorite IT company and why. In my enthusiasm, i blurted out the name of company Y, which happened to be the competitor of X. Everyone in the panel stated laughing as if i had done an act of blasphemy. The way they wished me luck made me confident of not getting that offer. To me, it was the biggest set back. This was one company which took people in hordes and i had missed it.

Such was the aftershock that i failed in all of the 5-6 other placement interviews. It was as if i was having a bad nightmare. The confidence was down and skepticism grew towards all the good advises and pep talks rendered by my fellow batch mates  The world seem to have ended for me - to not to have got a job in the placement week.

On those trying times, one of my senior  told me something which i cherish till date. In his exact word "subhankar, campus week is just the trailer. The main movie starts once you are in the corporate life". How true. All 120 people got placed once we were out of the college and everyone is doing excellent. To my count, only 10 out of 80 are still with their job offered during campus.

Still, when i remember this week, a decade ago, definitely brings a smile. The way all my batch mates rallied behind each other and cheered us up during the difficult time was the biggest learning i could have ever had. This week was the week which i feel proud to experience it. And now to bring some smiles, my sucked up pose of the placement days with the ever cheerful and amazing Sukhmaya and Nepak Bhai, the person whose recommendation got me my first job.