Getting a Life

I was reading the much talked about book, 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, GOt Wild and Got a Life'. The book was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The authoress was criticised for plagiarism. One day, she was being praised for having written a wonderful book, the next day, she was put to shame with accusations of plagiarism. Plagiarism is not something that I m going to write about in this blog. If at all any of my articles are used commercially, I may come under the scanner as well for using a few lines here and there from greats.( A few company names are also there. Hopefully, I m not sued for putting the Google ads in here which can very well make this blog, a commercial venture :P ).

Before I take a detour from the topic, Let me get straight into it. Its the central character of the story that caught my attention. 'Opal Mehta', the studious yung girl, who buried herself under the books and a few classical music lessons to fulfill her lifelong dream, er , her parents' lifelong dream which was forced upon her isnt it? Her parents do assess the gravity of the situation and make amends, but then it is fiction. Reality is way different. Anyays, I m not writing about Parenting either.

Where was I? Yeah, Opal Mehta, the studious girl, 'Padhaku' as these kind of people are referred to in this part of the world. I know that a few of you reading this ( if at all any of you take the pains of reading this :D ) are going to raise their eyebrows and say, " What a Hypocrite! This guy himself is a Padhaku and he is asking the padhakus to get a life !!!". Well, to say the least, I am not a padhaku. I may have been, but that was long back in 2nd semester. I got a life then itself, so I can be no longer classified in that category :). Scoring decent grades should not necessarily mean that anybody is a Padhaku. There are so many factors which are taken into account while putting people into that category, the primary requirement being a very high GPA. The biggest factor should be that he/she should be like Opal Mehta. Controversies apart, this is one book of the very few I ve read that summarizes how guys fail to miss on what life has to offer just because they need to slog to make it BIG if not necessarily happy.

My college has got a few Opal Mehta like characters, who dont have any friends. The people who may talk to them are the LAB partners. THank goodness they got into very good companies which will pay them very high. Maybe, they think thats how their life should be. Without any friends, all their happiness to themselves within the confines of their rooms or apartment or whatever. But let me tell you, being an Ex- padhaku, If I came under the classification even remotely before 2nd semester, I know what I missed in life. I hardly had any friends outside of my classroom. EVen those were very few in number. My ignorance about many guys who happened to be in the same batch as me is testimony to that fact. I realised what I missed and from then, on I ve been happy. I m enjoying life to the fullest, being serious when the need be, being the casual bloke when the situation is such. Well, I guess, I was not thinking about writing about my own experiences here. I was thinking of writing about the loads of Opal Mehtas being created in the world today.

Pursuing a dream, they fail to see what life has got in store. They forget that socialising is one of the essential traits of mankind. Its not that, one should ignore his/her studies, responsibilites or anything serious for that matter. But ain't we missing upon a lot of things just because we fear that failure to make it to our goal . We surely will get a second chance unless, we are risking our lives trying to do it and fail, dont we? THen why should someone miss upon a lot of things that life has to offer? Life is not just about books and work. Its about fun, Its about adventure, Its about wholeness, Its about getting a life. So Padhakus...GO GET A LIFE....!

The Second of its Kind

Once I got into TCS, I had made up my mind to appear for all companies that were good and for which ECE was considered. However, there was limited success with me clearing just one ritten test and failing to do so in 3 others. It had become a routine for me by then. Attending the Pre placement Talks, writing the written tests and declaring proudly, " Company ## - REJECTED!" THough I was telling like this, deep inside, I really wanted to get into some company. Not because the company from which I got the offer was bad, but because of what was being told by people back in TVM which hurt my dad and mom.

THe weekend was going on as usual. I didnt even know as to when GLobal Logic was visiting the campus. The only thing I knew was that I was gonna give it a shot, no matter when they came. On that SUnday morning, my friend came and woke me up telling that the Global Logic PPT was at 8. He did so at 8 30. I quickly brushed my teeth, swallowed whatever was given in the mess
(I dont remember, what or how much I ate ) and rushed outside the hostel, only to find two guys returning from the insti. They told that the PPT was at 8 PM rather than AM!. So I came back to my room and started my routine weekend activities like chatting and reading the newspaper. I went to get a haircut too. AFter that, some of my friends from the otehr hostel called me up to ask whether I would like to join at the canteen. I went to the canteen alongwith them, only to find that it was closed. We marcehd from the canteen to the OC and had food. We spend around 2 hours there and came back to the hostel at around 4.30. I chatted with my friends who were online for another 2 and a half hours before it was time to leave for the PPT. I went there, attended the PPT, liked the company profile. IT was time for the written test.

The written test had 2 sections. Tech and Apti. Apti was of 20 questions and Tech of 35 questions. Both together for a duration of 40 mins. AFter the test, I was not that confident of making it as the paper was relatively easy and I supposed that almost all would ve done as much as I d done. They told that the result would be announced by midnight. I came back to the hostel to complete my lab record as I was supposed to attend the LAB the next morning. Around 12 30, a friend of mine came and told me that I was gonna have an interview the next morning.

I woke up at 7 in the morning. It was Onam, the most important festival for Keralites. I went to the insti at 8 to find out that my interview was at 10 am. I settled down inside the TnP waiting room. My interview happened at around 12 noon. THe interviewers were really cool. Never seen such cool guys ever. THey were really easy going and I was soon in my comfort zone in the HR round. I should say that Rock music was my SAVIOUR there. THe guy had asked me to talk on a topic of my choice for 2 minutes and I chose Rock music. I told what I d written in my previous post over here. It was time for technical and then the management round , all of them through which I breezed through. All the time while giving my interview, the only thing on my mind was the delicious Onam feast which millions of Keralites the world over would ve been relishing on at that time.

I went to see the results in the evening and my name was called out. I had grabbed my second offer! This was the best Onam gift ever. I was really happy. GUess my feelings at that moment should ve been on the TV ad which says , " THere are somethings in the world that Money cant buy".