XPERIENCE COGNIZANT ‘12

Xperience Cognizant 2012 was like a dream for me. We were told by our maam that cognizant was looking for campus ambassadors from our college. At that time I had no idea about Xperience Cognizant or for the matter of fact that I would have to go to Chennai to attend it. I just thought that it would be a good experience to at least try for it and even if I get selected I would be able to conduct something in my college. So there I was filling the form and submitting to the respective professor. The next thing I know I was shortlisted for a telephonic interview. It went well. I was at least happy knowing the fact that I had given an interview, be it a telephonic one. The next day, to my surprise, I came to know that I was selected as one of the campus ambassadors in my college. My happiness knew no bounds. It just felt so good to get selected. Still I had no idea about XPC. The first time I came to know about XPC was when I was asked to meet the SPOC with Cognizant of our college. She was the one who told me that I would be representing my college in an event named Xperience Cognizant. It was a short and sweet proud moment for me.

The whole XPC experience for going to be a lot of first’s for me. I was a bit scared as well as excited. I met all the other campus ambassadors from Pune region (plus there were two from NIT Raipur) at the Pune Airport. And the journey began. My first flight journey turned out to be quite good and it went uneventful to my relief (coz my friends had all put bets on me puking the first time). We landed at the Chennai Airport and along with the Bangalore team we were taken to the MEPZ facility of Cognizant. One look at the campus and I was awestruck. It was the first time I was inside an IT company. I just looked around and thought to myself in two three years I might be in one of such campus. The campus was huge and beautiful. Immediately we were given the t-shirts that we were supposed to wear for the three day event and ushered into the conference hall. The first day was all about introducing all of us to what was Xperience Cognizant all going to be about.  Sowri Santhakrishnan gave an insight to what technology hold for us in the future. Then we were addressed by Sukumar who talked about how Cognizant kept pace with all the rapid progression in modern technology. All of us were just glued to whatever they were saying. And typical of today’s generation we were filled with questions, rather overflowing with it. And I must congratulate all the speakers for answering all of them patiently. And then it was time for one of the many sumptuous meals.  Then after lunch we were made divided into groups and made to play a game which was rather a master stroke by the HR team as they were well aware of the sleep syndrome. The whole activity personified the word fun. All of us thoroughly enjoyed it. After that we were taken to the Hotel where we were supposed to be staying for the three days but not before we were given topics on which we had to develop role plays that evening. Everybody freshened up quickly and got down to the hall where the evening party was. All the teams performed remarkably. The effort was even more noteworthy given the fact that all of us hardly time to know each other’s name. Then came the most fun part of all the three days. The gates of the dance floor opened. All of us danced in our own unique way. The day ended with gossip with other ambassador which was fun.

The second day we were taken to the Siruseri facility of Cognizant. It is home to the Cognizant Academy. It is the place where all the entire fresher’s are trained once they get placed here.  Saransh cleared all doubts in our minds regarding what training is all about. Mr. Balaji Sethuram talked about the top five technologies that would be shaping our future. Then there was the Q & A session where all our questions were aptly answered by the speakers. After lunch a quiz was held which tested us and our knowledge and common sense. In the evening we were taken to Temple Bay where there was another team building activity. We all were divided into teams and asked to give a presentation on one of the four case studies given to us. Again each of the team performed remarkably. The night in one way or other way marked the end of XPC with all the group photos and certificated being given to all the participants. The night again belonged to chit-chatting with fellow ambassadors.

The third day brought about a whole new experience. No more an office environment to experience in the morning. We were taken to “DakshinaChitra”. The time we spent there truly lived the term- knowledge with fun. There were so many cool activities that we were given to do plus were enlightened about some less-known facts about the culture in South India.  That place was real fun and I would my friends to go there if they ever plan on visiting Chennai. Then it was time for some of the guys to leave as they had a flight to catch. We, the Pune team, were luckier on the other hand as we were the last ones scheduled to fly out of Chennai. We planned on going to the beach. And after that we went to the airport and boarded our flight rather dejectedly.

It is rightly said that good things never last. Neither did this. But the whole experience will be in our hearts forever. I would really like to thank Natasha Gupta and Deepak Ramakrishnan for doing such a efficient job of managing all of it. This is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. The three day conclave was something which opened many new horizons for me. I lived it, loved it, experienced it.  Xpc was fun. Xpc was a dream. Xpc was educative. Xpc was so much more…..

Signing off,

Shashank Pal.

3 and a half sem and 25 papers later!!!!!!

I most recently gave my 5th semester papers and unsuprisingly it went as it always goes...... so-so.... on the edge....

And after giving 25 papers including this sem's paper (ya i havent got a back yet) i consider myself to be experienced enough. Things that i have learned during this time have been rather educative. Here are to enlist a few.

• Its imperative that you study for your vivas. Maybe not the whole portion but still you should be in a position to know which unit contains what contents. Believe me it helps when you prepare for the theory.
• Always be in the goodbooks of every subject teacher no matter how much you might hate that subject or that professor for the matter of fact. As i have learned sometimes thats the only difference between a distinction and a first class, a 'F' and a 'P' on your marksheet.
• Now by being in the good books i dont mean you should be as it is said "voh teacher ka chattha hain" kind of's. Just come across as a sincere student in front of the prof.s eyes. Just avoid giving him/her an oppurtunity to hate you.
• Now this point is from my personal experience. It doesnt really help studying from the start. It still takes the same amount of time to study that subject irrespective of your prep earlier.
• Avoid getting tensed before exams. It just makes you forget things. Remember your confidence makes up for half of the goood marks you secure in a particular paper.
• Avoid having a sleepless night before an exam. Even if your portion isnt complete a 4 hours sleep is minimum requirment. Sleepless nights rarely are of any help. 

So these are my tips for preparing for the exams. It works believe me. Thats a guy with an experience of 5 semesters telling.


P.S. The above tips are only applicable if you are looking to pass or secure first class. Guys looking to secure distinction or top the class follow these at your own risk. :P

Of Love And Hurt!!!!

Love is a strange feeling. You never know when it will come, sweep you away and make you feel things that are out of this world!!!When you are in love everything and everybody seems wonderful. You cant stop smiling the whole day. You literaally feel you can fly!!!!  But it also hurts equally as bad when the other person doesnt love you!!!!

I am sure many of us have encountered with the situation of deciding whether to tell the person you love that you love her. It gets so confusing. On one hand your heart says whats the use of remaining friends if i have to feel miserable by seeing that person each day an on the other there is always the fear that you would lose whatever contact you have with that person. You just dont seem to be able to come to a conclusion.

And what really hurts is after telling that person that you love him/her that person decided to stop talking to you. At that precise moment of time you do feel something hurting in your chest. And what do you do when you have to see that person everyday?? I fear there is nothing much you can do other than just telling your heart to move on. which in my book is the hardest thing to do. How can one move on from something he doesnt want to move on from. what if he thinks she is the one. seeing that person everyday talking to someone else wipes the smile off your face. The worst parrt is you are standing there and watching her and silently thinking i should have been the one talking to her right now rather than that guy. You literally feel jealous of each and everyone she talks to. And you feel as if you are the most miserable person around. You just want to get away but you cant. It feels helpless. And given that these happen during our teens our hormones dont help us either!!!!

So when you start feeling that you can take on the world-beware-chances are you are in love!!!! And my advice would be to convey your feelings only if you are super duper sure that the person loves you too or if that person is super duper cool coz that would mean she would at the least remain friends with you!!!! :)

Chitthi Aayi Hai.......

Today after so many days i got a chance to visit the post office. My roomie was supposed to pick up some kinda parcel from the post office. So we reached there at 10. It was in a kind of broken down building. I went there with a preconceived notion that it would be "sunsaan" as it was saturday morning. But what met my eyes upon reaching there was a pleasant suprise to the eyes. It was buzzing with activity. There were post-mans,sorters(if thats wat you call them),clerks. The whole atmosphere in the office brought a retro look to it. I felt i was back in the malgudi days where children would run after postman, when postmen were welcomed with open arms, when the song "chitthi aayi hai aayi hai" was a super-hit. There was the sound of a dot-matrix printer, sorters sorting all teh letters with a half a blink on it, the manager of that office meticuously noting down all the things and post-men taking their load for the day. It literally felt for some time that i had done a time travel and noone was able to see me. Their management i guess is still unmatched. There is never a delay nor any kind of address mismatch.   

As i stood ther witnessing all this i realized how things have changed nowadays. Our new post-men is the e-mail. There is noo excitement surrounding the postman. We only see them as time waste. We dont even say thank you let alone giving that guy something to eat or at the least water to drink. I do agree that e-mails are much more convenient but with the post office there is a human touch which cant be matched. And the feelings that can be felt or expresed in a handwritten letter can be never felt in an email. It just doesnt come out the same way. Lastly I do feel that with a decline in the use of post office somewhere down the line we have lost a bit of humanity and innocence tooo...... 

Feminism

What do we actually mean by feminism?? It refers to any movement, any actions taken towards the betterment of the position of women in our society. Women have always been looked down upon in our society whenever it came to matching the opposite sex. There always has been a notion that woman’s place is at home. 


In the early 1960s, a woman looking for a job would open her newspaper to find two lists of employment advertisements: one for men, and another for women. Not surprisingly, the jobs available to men were challenging positions with potential for advancement, while those available to women were typically low-paying and involved mundane clerical tasks. Regardless of their education or abilities, women were systematically excluded from opportunities in the workplace.

Though we have come a long way since the start of the feminist women we can’t still deny the fact that discrimination still exist In the Indian society. In today’s generation discrimination against women is subtle rather than blatant. Still there are sections in our society who do not allow women to express themselves. Women who have the desire to work and are very much capable of handling both personal and professional life are suppressed. Its considered a crime for women to work.

If we have to change this, women themselves have to change their thinking. They have to believe in themselves that they can match step to step with the opposite sex. They are the future. They need to believe that they can perform both roles with equal efficiency. Any working female can be considered as a feminist. The fact that she has taken a decision of supporting her family by taking up a job deserves a round of applause. Its true that women have to work much much more harder to achieve something on the professional front which a man can achieve with much more ease. So any women who defied all odds and fought for her rights deserves the greatest of respect.

Today as a direct result of many feminist movements and various fights for gender equality there has been an expansion in women’s job opportunities. Many women have attained positions of prestige. Even in India the growth of women in public or private sector jobs has been noticeable. Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kocchar, Kiran Bedi, Sonia Gandhi are some of the best examples to illustrate the same. A glaring statistic to back it up is that 11% of the chief executives are women. Clearly, the advancement of women within the workplace is among feminism’s many accomplishments, successes that include voting rights, economic independence and property rights for women, equal opportunities for education, and a greater awareness of rape and domestic violence.

So to all the females of India be proud of being a woman because you have the capability of doing things which we (men) can only dream of.

No More A Worry!!!!

Why did you play with my feelings?
You left my life reeling
I loved you, I cared for you
But then i came to know that all you care about is you
You let me go, you let me be
Though i never wanted to be
My mistake was i expected too much
Because i loved you so much
But being a friend you couldn't even fulfill this much..

You admit you took me for granted
You never  asked me what i wanted
I still stood there waiting for you
So stupid not realisingthat it was not you
You dont have to worry I will still be there for you
Hoping you would realise what yu have done too
The light is getting dim and you are nowhere insight
I no more have the power nor the will to fight
Now its too late for even a sorry
Good for you i am no more a worry......

Steve Jobs:His I-Way to heaven

Steve Jobs-role model,fighter,enterpreneur,genius.... These are just some of the adjectives that can be used to describe this i-conic man!!!!! Ya ya the 'i' was meant to be that way. Born on February 24th 1955 to a syrian father and an american mother, Jobs was slated to be adopted right after his birth to a couple who were lawyers. But a change in decision of the lawyers saw Jobs being adopted by a middle class couple-Paul and Clara Jobs.

Steve Jobs childhood was like a normal child. He grew up and later joined Reed college. Its Tuition fees ate most of his parents savings and after a few months Jobs felt that college was doing no good. So he decided to drop out of college. This proved to be his best decision in life. But life wasnt easy at first. Since he dropped out he had nowhere to stay. He slept on the floor of his friends dorm room, sold coke bottles for five cents and ate a fulfilling meal every sunday at the Hari-Krishna temple near-by. But one thing that worked in his favour was he could take up courses of his choice. He was not obliged to stick to a curriculum. At that time Reed college provided one of the best calligraphy classes in the country. Jobs took it up. Noone would ever imagine a harmless calligraphy class would revolutionise computers so much. That class which he took proved instrumental in Mcintosh(first computer by apple) having beautiful typo-graphies. As Jobs himself said-"you can never connect the dots looking forwards.... you can only connect it looing backwards!!!!" He implied we should learn to have faith in something,it could be anything-God,Karma!!!! At first things may look haphazard but in the end it will all make sense!!!

Steve Jobs started Apple along with Steve Wozniak at his garage. They designed their first computer-Mcintosh and it was a big hit!!!! In two years Apple went out to be a 2 billion company with more than 2000 employers. A new kid had arrived in the silicon valley. He revolutionized personal computers. But then he took a decision which he would regret forever in his life. He lured John Sculled from Pepsi to become Apple's CEO. At first they worked well in sync but then as Steve turned 30, he and Sculley had a fall-out regarding the future of Apple. The board of Directors sided with Sculley and Jobs was thrown out of the Company which he had started.

Steve Jobs was completely devastated by this. He felt he had let himself down. He even thought of running away. But one fine day a thought struck him, a thought which would change the rest of his life. He still loved what he did. According to him its quintessential that we must find that one thing which we love the most. He still loved wat he was doing so there was no use of running away!!!! After that he started a company named NeXT and Pixar. Pixar went on to make the first computer animation film-Toy Story!!! And both the companes made progress leaps and bounds!!!! And as fate would have it Apple went onto buy NeXT and Steve was back to wat he had found. Later on Pixar was bought by Disney and Jobs went out to become the biggest individual shareholder in Disney with a 7% share.
He went on to release the I-Pod,I-Phone and I-Pad while being the CEO of Apple all of which were pure work of genius.

But in 2004 Steve Jobs announced that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At first the cancer looked incurable but after a close inspection it turned to be be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer which could be removed by surgery. All seemed well and Jobs was fine again. But it wasnt meant to be a fairy-tale. Jobs continously battled against cancer for seven years. He resigned as the CEO of Apple and went on a permnent leave. On October 5th,2011 he lost the battle against cancer. He died in his home. But his thoughts about dead were for all to admire. He never feared death. In fact according to him death was the single most beautiful creation by God. It cleared the old and made way for new. He said and i quote-"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me… Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me." 

His speech at the 2005 Stanford commencement is nothing short of a masterpiece. Whenever i feel the need to be inspired i hear it. I would advice you the same. He will always be remembered for the person he was- a good human being!!!!

                                                              R.I.P STEVE JOBS