BIT/BIS @ DELHI UNIVERSITY NETWORK

BIT/BIS NETWORK

Well this post is basically for all the Bachelor of Information Technology and Bachelor of Information Science grads of Delhi University. Well the website - a brand new one at that and completely refurnished is going to be launched on February 1st, 2005. This website for which the link can be found at the top of the post is a result of an Alumni Meet of BIT/BIS of all colleges which was held in New Delhi at India Habitat Centre on (i think) 9th January, 2005.

The discussion on next alumni meet is already starting up at BIT/BIS Yahoogroup. So if you are not a member send in your request with some details like name, batch and college to the yahoogroup.

The website currently is in test phase and the chat and message board links are operational. Also, the clubs are being formed to handle the alumni meets and interaction at various locations.

I hope to see the BIT/BIS community starting to move on again........

OFFER LETTER

Today Finally i got my offer letter from TVS Electronics where I am placed as a Management Trainee for a period of One Year.
So now it is confirmed that joining is on 1st June, 2005 at Chennai.

As I once said "Studies and Work take people places"
[I hope I am the only one who coined this phrase]

So from Delhi to Bhubaneswar for studies. From there to Chennai for work.....
At this rate Antarctica is not far away ;-)

This was an offer letter, I have accepted it and returned a copy of it duly signed.
Detailed joining instructions are still awaited.
A detailed medical test also needs to be carried out.

Thats all for now.

LIFE MOVES ON.........

LIFE MOVES ON

Alright I also admit this post is coming in way toooooooo late.......
It should have been here atleast 2 weeks ago.
I cannot also say that I was busy - I am a vella (totally or almost free - without much workload).

Anyways, since delay has been here, the post will include details on following fronts:
- Placements @ XIM-B
- Life @ XIM-B
- Looking forward to..........

PLACEMENTS @ XIM-B

Well Xuberance 2005 (Campus Placements at XIMB) - the event we PGPM Class of 2005 was looking forward to, finally happened and was a short lived event. It was over within a day with amazing results. Everyone was happy.
Placements are the most important phase of MBA for any student pursuing this course. The placements showed big time improvement compared to last year both in salaries as well as quality.
Some HARD FACTS:
- We termed the placements as a problem of plenty: 1.75 offers per student
- 113 students participated in the placement process of a batch of 116
- 59 companies participated, out of which 14 had to return empty handed
- Average salary: Rs. 5.24 Lakhs and Median Salary: Rs. 5.08 Lakhs
- Highest Indian Salary: Rs. 9 Lakhs
- Lowest Salary: Rs. 3.5 Lakhs
- Highest Lateral overseas offer: USD 84,000

The placements started on 8th January 2005 (just a day after my birthday - so it was bound to be a record breaking one) and it was wrapped up the same day itself.

The placement details are given in detail at: XUBERANCE 2005

I think i have not mentioned where I got placed. Well had multiple offers - and i chose TVS Electronics as my destination with them offering me a job in Sales and Marketing profile. So, I will be going to Chennai initially and then the final destination as of now I myself have no clue.

LIFE @ XIM-B

Ah with placements over, what should we do.
Most of us are having on the average around 2 papers to finish of this semester.
So workload at bare minimum for most of us. Now we are passing our time watching movies, reading novels, playing tennis or any other sport and dining out whenever possible.
The session ends on February 26th, 2005. So parting away from XIM-B campus is toooo near. Just cannot imagine life out of XIMB Campus.
Also, the campus is right now looking so beautiful with flowers blooming all across. Sorry, no snaps right now, but the moment they are developed and scanned I will put them up.

LOOKING FORWARD TO......

Now with time at XIM-B coming to an end, I am personally looking forward to spending as much time with the close friends which I have made here. We all planning to go to Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Gangtok and have loads of fun out there. The train tickets have been booked. The basic trip outline laid out, now we have to wait for the day to come when we leave for the journey. The plan is that we leave on 25th February morning and return back to XIMB on 5th March late night. Its the visit to the Paradise City.......
Here I recall Guns and Roses song (only partial song being referenced)

Take me down to Paradise City,
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.....
(rest of the song will take me home - which this trip will not take me to)
[Girls here refer to other tourists making a beeline there during the peak season ;-) ]
[So hopefully some bird watching also]

Gangtok is one of the most beautiful hill stations in India, giving breathtaking view of the third largest peak of the world - Mt. Kanchenjunga.
People knowing me know how much I love visiting hill stations, playing with snow if its there and on another extreme I also love beaches equally. But the scenery offered at Hill Stations is unparalleled.
Fingers are crossed, hoping that the journey is a memorable one.
After the trip we plan to come back to campus and spend time here and roaming Orissa itself till 13th March or so. 14th March is convocation. Parents will be coming to campus for convocation - my first ever convocation.
Lots to look forward to. After reaching home, have to also get back in touch with all the friends who would be remaining in Delhi at that time.
Life will change drastically once out of here.


For a change no snaps in this post, but in near future ones there will be some.
Look out for them..........................

Happy New Year

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wishing everone a Very happy New Year....hope all your dreams come true......
Also hoping you have more n more dreams....lasting for further new years to come.....
So,

WELCOME YEAR 2005........

Some of the pics from the new year party here at XIMB:
[Thumbnails can be clicked for a full size view]

[THE BONFIRE] - Contributed by myself


[MUSIC @ THE BONFIRE] - Contributed by myself


[THE CLOCK TICKING] - Contributed by myself


[The New Year Cake] - Contributed by myself


[Chanchal, Sachin, myself, Sonal, Kartik(Blue Shirt),
Ritwick, Sanket, Ravi Sid, Shantanu ] - Contributed by myself


[Sitting: Sanket, Ravi Sid]
[Row 1 Standing: Hima, Gaurav (myself), Sonal, Ritwick, Milind]
[Row 2 Standing: Sachin, Shantanu, Kartik, Supriya]
- Contributed by myself


[Pradeep, Sachin, Myself, Sanket, Shantanu, Ritwick]
- Contributed by myself


[Sitting Row 1: DD, Shantanu, Darpan]
[Half Sitting, Half Standing: Sanket, Hima, Supriya]
[Row 1 Standing: Myself, Sonal, Sachin (Patiala),
also behing me a face can be seen - Pijush]
[Row 2 Standing: Sachin, Pradeep, Kartik]
- Contributed by myself


[My Consumer Behavior group @ new years:
Supriya, Ritwick, Sonal, Gaurav (myself) and Sachin]
- Contributed by myself


[Apni hi dhun mein chale hein - Pijush, Shantanu and Kartik]
- Contributed by myself


[Sitting: Hima, Supriya, Sonal, Gaurav (myself)]
[Standing: Sachin, Sanket, Pradeep]
- Contributed by myself


[The Party is on "Gemini Gemini" is the song]
- Contributed by myself


[The Party goes on]
- Contributed by myself

Thats all......Again wishing everyone a Happy and a Prosperous New Year

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of you Merry Christmas...Have a fun-filled time with your close ones and friends......

On the other side....the fifth term @ XIMB is now over. So just one more term and placements left. Placements are due in second week of January.

The classes for last term also started.......ah and for a change it should be light...with just two subjects taken: Project Appraisal and Services Marketing.

Also, the campus looking much more beautiful with all the flowers blooming....

Some of the snaps captured using my mobile:

The Auditorium






View From Auditorium

Just a Random Thought

Morning time: 6:52 AM
Song Playing: Roadhouse Blues by "The Doors"

"Ah Keep your eyes on the road,
Your hands upon the wheel.
Keep your eyes on the road
Your hands upon the wheel.
Yeah, we're going to the roadhouse,
Gonna have a real good-time."

What am i doing........staring at my comp.....thinkin wat to study......
BUT then 4 semesters gone.....did i ever study here.....
Just a day left and then from 15th December starts the fifth term exam........
Wow......now fifth term also coming to an end.....

It seems like yesterday I was in first term.......
And as of today (13th December, 2004), 75 more days @ XIMB left.....

But, I have always loved the exam time.....loads and loads of eating happens......loads and loads of bullshitting both on paper and off paper........

Have always enjoyed the examination scene since those BIT (@ DU) days........they were fun........"ER aayega ki nahin" solid suspense reheta thha.......we would get ERs in subjects we never expected and passed in subjects we didn't deserve to.....that was life.........now it is different........The last time I seriously studied for exams was in the first term here at XIMB, after that it seems i have gained immunity against examination fever....


After exams comes the placement prep time....(as a matter of fact the only reason I think anyone does MBA is for that ONE JOB - and there is NO OTHER REASON, whatever the person may say.....)

So then in the very same song (Roadhouse Blues)there is a stanza:

"The future's uncertain
And the end is always near."

So the basic funda of life is enjoy it while is lasts.......
The Doors....rocks.....great way to start day with those bluesy rocksy feeling.......and its MONDAY.......ah those Monday Morning Blues - na they don't happen.......

While I end this post......
Winamp has shifted through playlist to Eric Clapton's - Cocaine

XIM Bhubaneswar and CII

Finally, today the good news regarding the linking up of XIM Bhubaneswar with Confederation of Indian Industry being finalized came. MoU has been signed between CII and XIMB, according to which they will be setting up Centre of Excellence in the areas of research, training and consultancy.

We were told that work on this is going during our the convocation ceremony of our seniors.

This will further enhance the industry linkage of our institute.

For press articles:
Article on Rediff.com
Article in Economic Times

Other Related Links:
Business Standard Report
Report on CII Website

Finally new version of the blog revealed......

Finally, I today started and finished off with the work on the new blog design......hoping it is looking fine.....
Simple, 3 Column design, was what i wanted and I got it.....I like it.....
Thinkin on some kinda horizontal pic of the size of the topmost rectangle....
ne one having any rough idea on what kind of design can go there.....do leave comments (design may be available somewhere, or might be possibly made using images)....

Also...try this:

HOW MUCH YOU MATCH WITH YOUR SUNSIGN

You are 73% Capricorn

How much do you match your zodiac sign?

THE BEST MANAGEMENT STUDENT AWARD

At the 13th Business School Affaire, the Best Management Student Award was won by my classmate - Kartik Subramanian (PGP-2, XIMB). The prizes are sponsored by Dewang Mehta Foundation. This is one real amazing news for us all at XIMB campus. 2 of the 35 students shortlisted (from over 500 entries from Business Schools across the country) for this title were from our institute, the other candidate being Monideepa Dasgupta.

In the same event, XIMB also won second prize for the on the topic Best Presentation Contest 'The Retail Paradigm: Growth and Opportunities'. For this, the team constituted of Kartik Subramanian and Shikha Garg.

For the first time XIMB also took part in the Placement Brochure Contest. This award was won by the Rural Management placement brochure of XIMB.

This year has been going great for us and I hope this run continues. Though the bull run at the BSE might plateau around 8,000 , I believe that XIMB has started on the run now only, and will go a long distance.

For News Articles:
Economic Times
On CoolAvenues

MUSINGS FROM XAVIER LAND (XIM-B)
(Tip: Click on the thumbnails to see the original size snaps)

Well seems it is time I should have posted an update.......no probs.....will do it now......
Moreover visited my blog myself after one whole week....need to keep tab on it regularly.....

Loads of stuff in mind.....hmmmm....how to start....
So, to kick of the proceedings on a "celebratory" note.... ;-) I will start off with Diwali celebrations here.....
The whole day was basically spent resting or roaming here and there within campus.....
Then as evening set in, in our hostel block we lighted the candles, and in the hostel entrance "Diyas" were used to decorate.

In the evening, we had "puja". After that, there was a "light and sound show" - Cracker bursting......
Later on at night we went off to Pal Heights (Restaurant near XIM-B campus) for dinner.....had a blasting time there.....it was some serious fun.......

The Diwali day pics: (Thumbnails can be clicked)

[The "Puja" Decoration]



[Group Snap]


[Guys in Traditional wear]


[In front of Gent's Hostel]


[Cracker Bursting-1]


[Cracker Bursting-2]


[Group snap in Pal Heights]


[The Four - Me (Gaurav), Sachin, Sanket and Shantanu]

That was all for Diwali Celebrations......

Since then life becoming hectic.....
Fifth term nearing end......which directly means, project submissions and presentations happening in full flow.....

Over and above this, my team is participating in L'oreal eStrat Challenge, which is basically an International level contest, with teams from around the world taking part. To keep things simple, here one has to (if the team clears the first stage, which we did) formulate a business strategy for his/her beauty product company so as to attain maximum stock price compared to other virtual companies. The round 1 has just finished, and now round 2 submission of this second stage (playing the actual game) is ongoing. Hoping for the best. This is one helluva amazin' business game........

On a more serious note, with just around 6 weeks left for placement week, resume is being finalized and decision regarding which companies to apply for being done.......

Recent Website search for me yielded an amazing site: ESATO
This site is basically a resource centre and discussion forum for Sony Ericsson mobile users....but others having some mobiles from other manufacturers (NOKIA, SAMSUNG etc.) can also refer to this........

Its amazing to see how fast the camera phones are spreading in India, even the latest Smart Phone offering from Sony Ericsson - P910i is clocking good sales......
Well with camera phone the advantage is that one can click snaps on the move - anytime anyplace.....
This simply shows that mobile phone manufacturers are never gonna have any decline in sales.......they are extremely good at creating needs.........Innovation is the key to their success.......when one feels that the growth for mobile industry will become constant now........just one innovation and the sales graph shows a sharp upward slope.......interesting industry both for engineers and MBAs with marketing to work in........inter company competition levels are real high......the leader Nokia faces a real good competition from both Sony Ericsson and Samsung........

The next interesting stuff, worth tracking is in India GSM vs. CDMA action. Both the clans have reached the war arena (or i should say war tables) yet again......this time the action is on frequency allocation.......both the lobbies are being backed by their respective international lobbies..........this fight is another decider where will future customer for 3G go - to Bharti or to Reliance.......

The thing i liked the most was - by Economic times - Bharti being declared as the Emerging company of the year.......led by my icon - Sunil Mittal......tracking this company can show some real interesting results.....the way it has grown from a Telephone equipment manufacturer to a full blown Telecom Operator.......amazin and it still is growing at a rapid pace (close to 25%of the wireless market in its hand - i hope stats are right).......Bharti has taken some real interesting strategic moves - "OUTSOURCING THE NETWORK" - and the big telecom operators are now watching Bharti - if this yields results.....then they might follow it..........

THOSE WERE THE BEST HOLS OF MY LIFE

(Tip: Click on the thumbnails to see the original size snaps)
Well, its been a long time since i posted last.
So doing it now.

During Dussehra break had a chance to have one of my best hols in recent years.

I did what I love to do.....all things had to go my way only....

To start with gave a cool surprise at home by reaching at a time (before time)

when they had not expected me to reach and they thought that i would be giving exam in the

examination hall.......

It all started like this:

Train Journey to Delhi:

Sunset captured when on train:

In Train:

Playing "Tota Ud, Maina Ud" on Train:

Great fun durin' the journey home....

Well the hols can be divided into three parts:
Part 1: Purchase of new mobile
Part 2: Trip to Fatehpur Sikri
Part 3: Trip to Andamans

Part 1:
Well for starters I purchased the cool sexy funky looking yet a elegant looking phone....
It is I would say the phone made to look hot but still gentle....
It has features to kill, yet it gives life.
Well had Nokia 7610 in mind but just one look at this mobile and just a couple of its features....
was just enough for me to say this is the phone which I have to get....and got it.
The details on the phone can be found here: Sony Ericsson K700i

Part 2:
Then the next leg was a 400 Km drive to and back from Fatehpur Sikri.
Set out for it at around 5:30 am and reached back home around 3:30 PM....
Spent sometime while going to have some tea and something to eat at Mathura
and then spent time roaming around the fort and then while coming back again stopped at Mathura for lunch.
The best part was of the 400 Kms i had Honda City in my hands for 300Kms.....what more
can a Highwaystar ask for. While coming back was real fun after Mathura from someplace
(the name cannot be recalled the race between few of us started - cars being my City, Safaris, Qualiz, Accent and all).....That was fun and more fun when we entered Faridabad and still trying to clock 100Kmph on short distances to overtake each other......after Faridabad it was like game: Midtown Madness.

Fatehpur Sikri - Dargah:

Part 3:
Well on this we embarked the next evening - first was flight to Chennai.

At Chennai we stayed the airport acco for a night and then early next morning to

dream place of Andamans - landed at Port Blair.

The view of sky from inside the plane while going to Chennai:

The first day there we went for local sight seeing at Port Blair, the main being Cellular Jail and then to

Ross Island.

Cellular Jail: The Inside View:

Ross Island - View from Cellular Jail:

Ross Island Beach:

Sunset from Ross Island:

The Deer at Ross Island:

Also the same day we saw light and sound show @ cellular jail.

Now some bad news for people who wanted me to stay back at cellular jail....

well the cell sizes are much bigger than our hostel rooms, I would have loved to stay there,

but then tha was not possible....This is because when I returned many asked - You didn't stay back

at Cellular Jail.....

The next day ah snorkeling time @ north bay....

we snorkeled saw corals and many varieties of fishes and various other marine life near the upper reaches of the sea. The sea was so calm that one could easily swim in it without any tubes, it seemed like a massive swimming pool.

North Bay - Place for Snorkeling:

Corals:

After Snorkeling we went off to another island Viper Island.....another place where prisoners were hanged.

On the way we could see the Port Blair - port, and various other scenic islands all lush green and also while returning amazing sunset. The pics are below for this leg of the journey........just fell in love with the place. It is so scenic.....can't help saying it (and showing also how beautiful it is)

Port Blair - Port:

Gallows at Viper Island:

Sunset @ Viper Island:

Another View of Sunset:

Another view Sunset:

Well here the day got over and then dinner and sleep......since had to wake up early morning to see sunrise since had missed it this day (though mom n dad had seen and i was sleeping didn't wake up)

Woke up next day around 4:45 am and went down to the hotel's rocky beach.....and waited and waited for sunrise, but what i got was cloudy sky, so could not capture a gud sunrise.

Sun Rise (Clouds Disrupted it):

Then we went of to Havelock Island, the island where scuba diving is done (though in october scuba diving had not started, starts in month of November. The beaches here were lovely and for a change for the first time in Andamans saw a beach where there were some waves.....and water was so clear (shown in one of the pics in which wave has been captured)

Havelock Island Beach No. 7:

Havelock Island Beach No. 7:

The Dolphin Resort beach was amazingly different from the other beach above. This is also in Havelock, but had a great combination of rocky and sandy beach. Water had so many shades of green and blue (try to identify in the snaps below)

Dolphin Resort Beach at Havelock:

Dolphin Resort Beach at Havelock:

When we were leaving for Port Blair from Havelock Island, sunset had started, and could not resist to click it.....

Sunset at Havelock_1:

Sunset at Havelock_2:

The next day we made a trip till Baraghat on a bus. Basically, this trip was done in order to see the tribals - Jarawas who reside on the Port Blair island. Taking their snaps is not permitted so for a change decided to follow rules. For entering the tribal area, a vehicle is not permitted to enter alone, it goes in a set of 7-8 vehicles with a police van at front and also at the end of the convoy. This is basically for security. Though the tribals have been disciplined to a large extent, but still why take risk with tourists. Got to see many Jarawas, think it was a lucky day, spotting them is really difficult. At end of one leg of journey we reached Baraghat. There we decided to do some local sight seeing - so there were two major spots - Tota Tikri and Mud Island Volcano. The journey to Tota Tikri (Parrot Island) is done on a small canoe like motor boat. The Journey is amazing, travelling through untouched greeneries of the island. Though we were in open sea, but there were so many islands small and medium sized together that the effect of the sea had been transformed into a feeling of backwaters. It was beautiful. About Tota Tikri it is said that the island has a speciality that all the mangrove trees there have been trimmed by Parrots themselves and thus the island looks like a huge table. The pic is below.

Then there was Mud Volcano, these are rare volcanoes, and this one was an active volcano and erupted last year also. The next nearest volcanoes are over 2o000Kms in Russia and in US. About mud volcano, the detail is given in one pic below.

AT BARAGHAT:

Tota Tikri or Parrot Island:

Mud Volcano:

About Mud Volcano:

Mud Volcano Beach:

That was our last day of trip, we came back and had dinner and slept of at our pad in Port Blair. The next day we left for Chennai. From Chennai we went to Tirupathi for darshan, and stayed there overnight had darshan early morning around 5:30 am (we were in queue from 4am - with special tickets). then that day itself we came back to Chennai and had an evening flight from Chennai to Delhi. We reached Delhi around 8:30 pm and from there went straight to station, to catch my train to Bhubaneswar. The trip was real fun. To Andamans i still wanna go, lovely place........missed scuba there, and i have to do that......so someday i will be there again....

Our Pad in Port Blair (Hotel Sinclair):

On Route to Tirumala (Tirupathi Temple):

Tirumala at Night:

Some Family Snaps:

Mom, Bro and Dad

Mom and me in a cell in Cellular Jail

Dad, Bro, Mom and Me on Viper Island

Mom, Dad and Bro as soon as we reached Havelock Island

Me, Bro and Mom

Snaps Taken using Mobile:

Sky while returning from Chennai to Delhi (from inside the plane):

Andaman from Sky:

Chennai Coastline:

Chennai from Sky:

Waterfall at the start of Tirumala road:

Sunset on a Railway Station:

Just Like That: