Graduate'd

Tomorrow, 2nd july marks the completion of my one year. This one year has been a rollicking time, travelling across the country, meeting numerous people, doing things I never ever thought of, and as they say, getting into the corporate groove.

Last week I was in Mumbai, for my graduation party (yes! After post graduating!). The new batch was there with the same dreamy scared curious eyes, the older batch (ME!!) trying to show off Who is the boss? N everyone else more or less the same. This got me thinking. One year has passed, how fast time passes away. It has been 12 months that I have been receiving this pay cheque in my bank account – month on month. That is a good long time for introspection.

It has been on roller coaster ride right from the day go. Right from the outbound training in garudamaachi to the present ASM stint handling north karnataka has been one helluva ride.



The travel across the country along with fellow management trainees, each one stud in their own league. Going around, right from the southernmost Kerala to see the cocoa plantations to the Himachal to see the factory and CSR. Getting to know my batchmates even more better in the process and making friends for life. Who had thought that these would be the people I would talking to and cribbing to on a daily basis?

The first stint in Delhi metro. Whoa! I was the cynosure of all eyes. People generally get random far off obscure places in their initial years and here I was in DELHI metro – the capital of the country for my first sales stint. Those four months in delhi just went on like a whiff. Staying with Abhinav, thivahar, preteesh and Sashi in the south delhi house, trying to adjust to live out of campus and fit in into the corporate life. (yeah! Puneet I am not forgetting you!) Those wonderful all night chats and weekends with that someone special! It all seems like a beautiful dream now.

Then in November just as the winters started kicking in delhi, I was parceled of to Chennai. Yes, my next stint was scheduled in Bangalore( once more Metro! I must really be lucky!). Bangalore metro with its young crowd and happening life was simply amazing. Friends here, and hanging out and doing crazy stuff which I had never ever thought off( Remember Ahen, the bus ride to the airport!) and the wonderful climate here just mesmerizes ones senses.

Now after one month in Bangalore, any one would fall in love with it and this thought that I was just training here was sure killing me. I will soon have to leave this place to take over some territory. Which territory would it be? Where would I based out of for the next two years? How would my career shape up? All these thoughts just took over my entire mind, until that one fine night in Chennai.

“Congratulations. Welcome to the South branch. You would now be handling North karnataka”, I still remember those words. My joy knew no bounds. I am not too sure if it was more for the posting being announced? Or was it that I would be based out of Bangalore? Or was it the challenging territory I was given? well, a mix of all i would say!

It is all still very fresh in my mind, that chat I had with Ahen that night from the hotel room in Chennai. The yellow smiley ball really proved to be lucky huh!

From then on, it has been no looking back. It has been six months that I have been posted, and now “graduated”, it has been, to say the least, a fun ride. Hoping for more!

And yes, it felt good to be graduating once again!!!

Awesome Monday

Its been more than a month here at Delhi, and after those initial hiccups I am now completely enjoying the stint. The days are filled with learning the nitty gritties of the processes and systems in selling chocolates. And the weekends are filled with loadsa fun and frolic. The campus setting is all recreated, what with the same bunch of people staying up together – every night is a potential party night.

Especially the past two weekends have been really awesome, and am sure its going to stay memorable for a long time to come. This post is about the awesome Monday that I had last week.

Early in the morning I was woken up at 4AM (my gawd! Who wakes up at that time? Not even the birds!), and after getting ready into my formal attire we start off to the New Delhi railway station at about 5. The train was to departure at 6:15AM, and we reach the station well in time. After the train departs, I wonder what to do?

Go back to malviya nagar, and start for gurgaon later? No point in this, as I would have to start as soon as I reach home. So a better option would be to get going to guragon (my office for the day, as discussed), though it is quite early to office. I take a bus to Dhaula Kuan, and then take another crowded bus from there to IFFCO chowk in gurgaon. I manage to reach gurgaon at 8 itself, while the office starts at 9:30 something.

After hanging around, and having breakfast at a roadside eatery, and tea and smoke, at about 8:45 i enter the office to find all staring in a strange manner. It was just the maintenance staff doing the cleaning, and by their looks it was apparent they did not recognize me. When I start settling down in my boss’s cubicle a guy comes running towards me.

“sir, kaun ho aap?” (who are you?)

Okay, now that was pretty straight forward.

I reply calmly, with a smile on my face, “mein yahin par kaam karta hun” ( I work here)

Another guy comes in, and remembers serving me countless cups of tea, and thus confirms my appointment.

After lazing around there for some time, and a visit to the bathroom I try settling down in the cubicle. Right then, I get a call from boss, who asks me to come down to rohini instead.

Great! I check on googlemaps on my mobile, and it shows rohini being 40km away form where I am right now. It would take atleast 2hrs to reach there and that too after blowing up a considerable amount of money on travel, and a sojourn in the crowded public transport.

Can I do something about it? No! So, well a sleep starved myself gets on into a rickshaw to get to IFFCO chowk. Now another irony here is, I don’t know the best way to reach rohini. I was initially thinking of reaching Dwarka, take a metro back to central delhi and change for the metro to rohini. Nice option it seemed.

Luckily the shared cab I got into was going to azadpur, and my googlemaps (to which I remained hooked during the travel), showed that it is on my way to rohini. On confirmation with the driver and paying an additional 10 rupee, I could still sit in the cab. I get down at wajirpur (thank you googlemaps), and then catch an auto from there to the distributor point where I was supposed to reach.

At the distributor point I am in for a shock – it is locked. Oh! How could I forget, this market remains closed on Mondays!

I call up my boss again, who then asks me to come down to prashanth Vihar instead. Awesome! The map showed that to be comparatively close. I walk out from the market to the main road, and try loking for empty autos to ply me there. I could just find a rickshaw, who argues of coming only till madhubhan chowk. I was helpless, and I had to take it.

At madhuban chowk, after crossing the huge traffic signal lights there, and the metro above, I get to the other side of the road. I am again looking for an auto or a rockshaw to ply me till my final destination (hopefully). After a wait, and walk, of about 15mins in that hot sun I finally get a rickshaw. And after asking a zillion people, and travelling randomly I finally locate one of the sales officers, and get assured. Yes, I have finally reached the required destination.

I get a call from my friend, who announces her arrival to lucknow. Wah! I am just crisscrossing aross NCR, and within this time people have reached lucknow. The time it takes for me to office, is as good as the time taken to reach lucknow. Well, such is life!

The destination I reached was a food court called rameshwarams. Yes, we generally have our meetings at such places, and that day was the time for mid year review. I just sit on my laptop trying to interact with the sales officers, and trying to complete the work assigned.

After about 4 hrs there in the food court, discussing random stuff ranging from stock markets to the trip to manali, and also working in between, I get to talk to my boss at about 4.Well, the lesser I talk about the meeting the better it is.

At about 5, after being dropped to the metro station I set out home. I reach home at about 6:30 and find my cell phone battery down. Damn! Last one minute probably and I try caling up TB (my room-mate), but before he could answer, the battery is dead. It so felt like that scene in hindi movies, where a person is dying in the lap and is uttering something very important earnestly, but before he could say the actual thing he is dead falling on the lap of the holder, mostly with the eyes open.

Now no keys for home, TB had said he would be going to the snooker parlour. And I don’t know where it is. I have a pair of keys that Abhinav ( another of my room-mate) had given me a week back or so. I go home with a heavy laptop bag on my shoulders and hoping that the key would do the job. Nah! How could life be so simple?

After trying hard, and even going to the terrace and having a smoke hoping that TB would be back by then I give up.

I had to use some salesman jugaad (more about it in detail in the ensuing posts) to get through this. I could not be waiting for ever for TB. I walk down to Sharmaji (the tea stall owner), and hav a tea. I was looking for a dispenser hung somewhere with mobile chargers. They are such a common site in malls. But well, why would any pug following company set one up here in this housing locality.

Then an awesome idea strikes me.

“Sharmaji, aapke paas mobile ka charger hai kya?”, I shout to the tea stall owner.

He gets all eager to help and asks his wife to check. The disappointment on his face when his wife finds one was apparent. He obviously did not want me to mess up with his things, lest I spoil them. He anyways gives the charger to me.

Alas! Why did nokia have to change their charger specifications? This one was of a thick pin, while my mobile jock accepts the thin one.

Now if you are still wondering why could I just not call up TB? Well, blame the mobile phones In the good olden days we would all have a small pocket diary having all the important numbers, but no more. The contacts were all in that dead phone. It seriously set me thinking, what if my mobile dies a permanent death someday. I would really land up in tough times.

I again get this rockstar idea, trying to convince myself – “come on dude.. you are a salesman.. use salesman jugaad”

I ask,or did it sound more like a demand “sharmaji, ek baar apna phone dena”.

Sharmaji, who by now was relieved that I had left his charger did not know that I had more serious plans. He replies,

“sorry sir, isme balance nahi hai.”

Okay, I am not interested in using up your balance.

“nahi mere paas bhi number nahi hai.. mujhe to kuch aur chaiye”, i chuckle.

Very reluctantly he hands me over the phone, and just stands beside me. This phone really means a lot to him probably. I am sure, even a stock broker would not take his own phone so seriously.

I start removing the battery, and sharmaji screams as soon as I open the compartment of his phone.

“yeh kya kar rahe ho.. kharab ho jaega!”, he is visibly worried.

“kuch nahi hoga. Aapka phone sahi salamt aapko wapas kar dunga”, I try explaining him calmly.

Yes. The salesman jugaad has worked yet again. I call up TB from my mobile having sharmaji’s battery, and TB gets back home in 5 minutes. I can now go home in peace to open doors.

After such a frustrating day, a person sure needs some vent out. I change into shorts and go out with puneet to CCD. After a relaxing black coffee, without sugar (no! not inspired from love aaj kal, I am addicted to this right since my 4 seasons days in vizag), it feels completely calm.

I am ready for the next day, ofcourse after a good night’s sleep. It seems like days since I have slept.

Thus ended an eventful Monday, after a very good weekend. Now you know where the term Monday morning blues came from

Life at a stand still

PPO from Cadbury. I have not yet announced this to my Collegian readers. Yes people, i have got a Pre Placement Offer from Cadbury India Limited - the place i interned last summers.

My two months in cadbury were very eventful and i enjoyed every bit of it. It made me a frequent flyer with KingFisher, and am also the prowd owner of KingClub Card. I was also made rich by 50K during the course of two months, and had a chance to visit the choicest of the places in India( Vizag - Home!!, Delhi and God's own place - kerala). Also, i had the chance to reside in the best of the hotels and live life to the fullest.

tangible things apart, it was quite an enriching experience. The people there were quite friendly and inspite of the huge age differences, everyone was so amicable and easily approachable. The Power Distance (picked up this word in the Advanced Oral Communications (AOC) class today) as such did not exist at all.

On the whole, my two months in corporate life, my first ones for that, were like the ideal setting for the perfect work experience i wanted. i always believed i worked really hard during those two months, and the PPO just added the cream to all the cherish able moments.

Needless to say, with my weakness for chocolates, I have accepted their offer and have signed out of the campus placement process.

All this happened in November first week, during Summer placements. I was given three days to accept, or reject the offer. These were like the most confusing three days in recent past. Accept?? or Reject?? (And chase my dream of PnG, HUL and likes??). After lots of consulting, talking to family,friends, seniors, teachers and everyone possible i just could not resist the tempting offer.

Cadbury is THE BEST FMCG company and no doubt i always so wanted to join it. My only consideration and the reason for confusion was - What would i do for the rest of my tenure at L? Till then i was busy day in day out preparing for various competitions, participating in all extra curricular events, etc.. Now after the PPO what would be the motivation level?/ Would i still keep myself engrossed with these? Or would i have to search new avenues? Finally i decided - Enough of this mad rush and blind follow the herd mentality. Follow my own dream, nurture my own stature without any kind of Peer pressure. pursue all those activities that i always wanted to do, but could not find the time for..

After seeing the movie Dasvidaniya i made my own MBALIST (Something like Bucket List with a list of things i would like to accomplish before completing my stint here for MBA). i have made a list. And hope i reach each one of them. hope i be able to tick away on successful completion each one of them. Would disclose my MBALIST very soon, after it is completely drafted.

Btw, I hav joined Salsa Classes here at Lucknow to learn shake my hops more better!!

So till i learn shaking my hips to the Cuban tune, have fun watching the new Khan flick Ghajini. Have a look at the poster of Ghazini or Gajodhar..



p.s.: Going to jaipur, Rajasthan, this Saturday to attend my cousins wedding.

WORLD AIDS DAY

Sorry guys. Long time. Was so busy caught up in so many things, that this part of my life got totally ignored.
1. Mid terms (Time in L that i can actually blog the most!!!)
2. Trip to MICA
3. Summer Placements
4. Cadbury PPO and my subsequent acceptance of the same (yes yes! I am joining cadbury)
5. Parties.. thnx to our international friends.. The frequesncy of parties just got too high
6. loadsa other things...

more about all of these in subsequent posts, which i promise would not be long.

For now, i just wanted to kick start the posting thing again, after this long hiatus. So inspite of me still being caught up (This time in academic projects), i wanted to post this from ARBIT MBA.

Funny take on MBA and the after effects on people surviving this two year fun ordeal.




For the uninitiated (which i am sure and hope is a very small minority and more better none at all), World aids day according to Wiki..

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. It is common to hold memorials to honor persons who have died from HIV/AIDS on this day. Government and health officials also observe the event, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an official proclamation on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements.

AIDS has killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007,and an estimated 33 million people worldwide live with HIV as of 2007,making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 2 million lives in 2007,of which about 270,000 were children

Signing off for now, with the promise of coming back soon

Airtel free recharge trick

Heya,

Been travelling a lot, and meeting a whole lot of new people. Travelled around Cochin and Delhi the last two weeks. Just returned back today in the morning, by Kingfisher( My fascination still continues!!)

Well, this post is a more serious one. I have been blogging for the last three years, and thanks to you all have gained a respectable number of readers. So, today I thought I would share something useful to all of you.

I am sure all of you own a mobile, and those who use AIRTEL among you, this one is for you. How much do you spend on phone bills every month? A lot, am sure. It is a serious dent on the pocket, and in spite of all the low costs, there is no respite.

Note: this trick is useful only for AIRTEL prepaid users( like me), others please read on. It may actually work, but not too sure!! 

Recharge your phone every month freely by following this process.
Please follow the instruction & you can recharge your SIM card absolutely free.
Yes it is possible; see how technology can be used to make anyone a fool!

Disclaimer: It is done illegally so the Gandhiwadi’s among you please refrain. Read no further.

For those interested, don't worry nobody can trap you. No legal action can be taken on you for this.

1. Dial " 1415007 " using your phone and wait for 5 seconds
2. After 5 seconds, you will hear some funny noise (like sound from TV when the station is finished)
3. Once the noise stops, immediately dial 9151 follow by your phone number
4. A recorded message "please insert your pin number" will follow
5. Punch in the pin number " 011785 45227 00734″ and wait for the operator finish repeating the above pin number.
6. After the pin number has been repeated, dial “0405”
7. You will hear a message "for air time top-up press 1723″ you just have to follow the instruction
8. After you follow the instruction, the noisy sound will re-appear for about 5 second
9. Once the noise stops, dial " 4455147 " follow by " 146 "
10. After about 5 second, dial " 1918 " after 3 second dial " 4451"
11. After you are done with that, punch in the serial number "01174452271145527 " you will hear a dial tone.
12. Once the dial tone stops, dial " 55524785933 " you will hear " please key in your password"
13. The password is " 254786249782 " wait for the message "your password accepted"
14. You will hear " please insert your mobile number " now you have to be fast to dial your own h/phone number
15. you will hear a dial tone, when the call is answered, dial "1566 " and you will hear "re-confirm mobile number"
16. Once you hear that message, dial " 6011556 2245334” follow by your phone number
17. After a while, you will hear a message "your pin number is accepted" Dial " 1007 "
18. After you are done with that you will hear "your mobile number is accepted"
19. Continue dial " 4566 " you will hear "your password is accepted"
20. Once the second message finish, immediately dial your own phone number
21. Now you will receive a message saying ………..

"NOTHING IS FREE IN THIS WORLD, . SO, GET BACK TO WORK AND DON'T WASTE
TIME !!"
Bye………Bye………..


Got this by mail, interesting stuff. Just shows how people are in for anything free and would like to grab the opportunity. Now you know why Cadbury Bytes gives a free ringtone with every pack?

Oh! By the way, what do you think about bytes, please mail in your comments at bharatjhurani(at)gmail(dot)com, would love to know it.