Sunday, September 18, 2011

Songs, and The Emotional Connect With Them

I seriously have nothing to write. Last week has been one of the most hectic weeks in office, and the coming week is also expected to be the same. All I have been thinking about for the past one week is my stupid project. It has literally given—and is still giving—me some really sleepless nights (I am dead serious). On top of that is the stress related to the MBA entrance exams and college applications. Basically, my thoughts are swamped with so many different things that sometimes I feel my brain is just going to explode—KABOOM!! Anyway, so to take my mind off these various stressful topics, I decided to post something truly random and useless.

I just love music. I can listen to any type of song, be it hard rock, romantic numbers, sad songs, pop music, Hindi songs, English songs, basically every song under the sun. Also, I have very varied tastes and start liking even the most terrible song. In other words, I can listen to munni badnam hui, tandoori nights, switty switty, jalebi bai, amplifier, and other such songs, with the same amount of likability (don't know if it's the appropriate word) as romantic and sad songs, and songs with meaningful lyrics. That's why, it's a common occurrence that whenever I am sitting with my parents and sister, and listening to the radio, watching a music channel, or listening to songs through some other medium, my trademark line for almost every song that is played is, "Please don't change the channel. This is such an Awesome song. I so totally love it." More than half of the time my folks ask me, after the song ends, "What was so great about it? It was just an ordinary song!" In short, I find almost every song fascinating to listen to and a song has to be really really crappy for me to dislike it. A few days back, my sister and I were switching between music channels to watch a good song, and predictably, I would ask her to stop at nearly every channel, as I liked the song coming on it. After a while she got really irritated and switched off the TV. Then she asked me, "Do you like each and every song in this world?" My reply was, " No! Obviously not." Then she asks me,"So what are your all-time favourite songs?" I told her that there are billions of songs, how can I possibly choose a few out of them. At which she twisted the question and said,"I understand that. But, just name a few songs, which, when played either on the radio, or on your phone/I-pod, you would never change them, irrespective of your mood and the work you are doing."

Hmmmm..now that got me thinking, and I started bouncing off names of some songs randomly. After I had named 4-5 songs, she stopped me and said,"So, all your favourite songs are sad songs!" Well, I had never really dwelled on that. Thus, I began thinking of more songs I consider to be my favourites, and have come up with a list of around 10 songs, which I can listen to at anytime of the day, or night, and in any mood—happy, sad, dancing, excited, depressed, busy, sleepy. Quite surprisingly, all songs given in the list are either sad, or have a melancholy feel about them. For someone who has never been in love, does not exactly know what loss is (touchwood), and is happy in life, it is very unusual to have such an emotional connect with songs of lost love, despair, and a bleak future. Anyway, here I present to you my most loved songs. Majority of them are recent ones, simply because this is a very random list, made after a few minutes of thinking and glancing at the Most Played list of my phone.

1. Tujhe Bhula Diya (Anjaana Anjaani): This has to be the best song of the decade. The first time I heard it, I just fell totally and completely in love with the song. Its music, its lyrics, its singers, its picturization, everything is perfect. From the time I added this song to my phone, it has been on top of my playlist. Also, it was my ringtone for the longest time ever. Even now, whenever I listen to it, I get completely lost in some other world.

2. Tadap Tadap Ke (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam): I heard this song for the first time when I saw HDDCS on TV, a few days after its release (thanks to Cable wallahs and pirated CDs). The way this song was picturized on Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan, WOW!! I had goosebumps on my arms and tears in my eyes. It has such beautiful lyrics (jism mujhe deke mitti ka, sheeshe ka dil kyun banaya. Aur uspe de diya fitrat ki woh karta hai mohabbat, waah re waah teri kudrat!) The very next day, I rushed to the nearest music store, bought the cassette of this movie, and kept on playing this song over and over again for months. Till now, whenever HDDCS is coming on TV, I make it a point to watch it, at least till this song.

3. Teri Meri (Bodyguard): I would say just one thing for my love of this song. I went to the cinema hall to watch Bodyguard, only because I wanted to see this song on the big screen. Oh, and also because of Kareena Kapoor, but that was only secondary. Again, I am truly smitten by the lyrics (my favourite line in the song -ek dooje se hue juda jab ek dooje ke liye bane), the singers (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan + Shreya Ghosal = MAGIC), the music, and yes, in this case, the lead pair (what sizzling chemistry I must say). So, I have all the three versions of this song (normal, remix and reprise) and keep on listening to them.

4. Yeh Dooriyan (Love Aaj Kal): Mohit Chauhan..sigh..sheer brilliance! Also, the lyrics are such that you can actually feel the distance between two people, as if it is something tangible. Lastly, the way it has been picturized - WOW! Kudos to Imtiaz Ali for coming up with such a concept for this song.

5. Lehrein (Aisha): I came to know of the existence of this song, when I watched Aisha, which was quite some time after its release. I had heard such negative reviews about it, that I was actually avoiding watching it. But, I quite liked the movie, and was totally floored by this song. So much that, for weeks after watching the movie, as soon as I used to reach office, I would put on my headphones, put this song on repeat, and keep on listening all through the day. Such was my obsession with this song that at night I would start the movie on my laptop, forward it to this song, and then keep on listening to it.

6. Kehne Ko (Anjaana Anjaani): This song did not gain much popularity, but at the same time it is quite amazing. The music by Vishal-Shekhar and lyrics by Neelash Mishra are just so mesmerizing that you can actually feel the loneliness of the characters. And yes, the singers—Nikhil D'Souza and Monali—have sung it really well.

7. Bin Tere (I Hate Luv Storys): I have to confess that the first time I watched (rather than heard) this song, I did not like it much. After that, I started hating it, simply because it used to be on EVERY music channel I ever switched on. In the movie, I found it quite good, but not very extraordinary. However, one of my closest friend in office is completely in love with this song, and used to tell me how beautiful it is. That got me curious, and so one day, I just listened to the song without watching its video. I have to concede P, that you were absolutely right. It is indeed a very lovely and at the same time, sad song. It has got beautiful lyrics. Over time, this song has found its way into my all-time favourite list.

The rest three are English songs, and I like them purely because of their lyrics and music. Hence, I won't go into any detail about them. They are:

8. Leave Out all the Rest (Linkin Park)


9. Quit Playing Games with my Heart (Backstreet Boys)


10. Apologize (One Republic)


For someone who did not have anything to write, I surely have written quite a long post. So, I'm gonna stop right here for now. Do tell me about your favourite songs. Let's see how many of them are common with my list.

Signing Out,
The Music Lover!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Recruitment @ Thapar

Last Monday (September 5, 2011), I went to Thapar University from my office, for campus placements. There were 10 of us, and except for me and another Analyst (who is an alumnus of the college), the rest all were Senior Managers, Managers, and Assistant Managers. In other words, the other eight people constituted the "higher management" of the firm. Initially, I was quite apprehensive of going and wanted to back out. But, in the end I thought, "what the hell! Let's go and have some fun."

To say the least, it was a really awesome experience, and as the time approached I became quite excited. Firstly, we were going out of Delhi, because Thapar University is in Patiala (Punjab). This meant no office for two whole days but with attendance on both days :-) :-) Secondly, I was going for recruitment to a college, other than NSIT, for the first time, and that also with high profile people (my unit head was one of them). Last but definitely not the least, we were going to PUNJAB!!! One of my most favorite places in India. Well, we started from Delhi via train (Shatabadi Express) at 7.40 AM on Monday, and reached Ambala (where we were supposed to get down) at about 10.30 AM. From there, Patiala was a one-hour drive and the college authorities had sent in cars for us. We reached the campus by 12 PM and were straight away taken to the guest house. There we freshened up a bit and then immediately went to the main auditorium to start with the process.

There were around 370-380 students sitting for placement in The Smart Cube, the highest I had ever seen (in NSIT and DCE there are generally only 150 to 200 students sitting for a company). The first half of the process went out normally. There was the pre-placement presentation, after which we had the aptitude test. Then we went for lunch, and after that spent around 2 hours in correcting the answer sheets. By 5 PM we had shortlisted the candidates for the next round, which was the Group Discussion (GD) and had divided them into different panels. From the GD round, started, what I call the downfall of Thapar students. Now, let me divert a little and tell you something, so that you understand why I wrote the last sentence. Being an engineer myself, I have considerable knowledge about quite a few engineering colleges in India (thanks to all the research I had done when I was giving my entrance examinations in 2005). So, I have always thought that Thapar is one of the best private engineering colleges in the country. Also, two of my relatives are Thapar pass-outs and are quite intelligent, and are doing very well for themselves. Thus, I had very high expectations from the students. But, what I saw there was very disappointing. The students were so very cut-off from the real world, and lived in their own sweet world, which was limited to their campus. Also, their knowledge was completely bookish. Divert a little from the theory to practical application of a concept, and they got stumped and confused. Another thing which was surprising for me as well as the others was the lack of general knowledge in the students (This was true for even NSIT students). I remember when I was studying, I religiously used to read the newspaper, and there were many a times when me and my group of friends used to discuss the various articles we had read. Hence, I could not understand what really changed in the last two years that engineers completely stopped reading or watching news.

Anyway, after 12 GDs, and three rounds of very intense interviews, we somehow managed to give offers to four students. GDs and the interviews were really funny, to say the least. Some of the answers were so hilarious that I and my panel partner (a really cool manager) burst out laughing right there and then. Also, for some interviews, I got so engrossed in watching the by-play of questions and answers between the manager and the candidate, that I didn't ask a single question. Not surprisingly, we rejected all the students. Well, I won't go into too much details here and just like to share some of the funniest answers with you all. So, here goes:

GD Topic: Pink is the new blue

Point made by a student: Women are the overpowering and dominating the men. The Sonia Gandhi is plotting against the Anna Hajare (he actually said Hajare and not Hazare). But, Sushmita Sen is the defending the Anna Hajare in the parliament!!
Point made by another student: Girls like wearing pink clothes. Boys like wearing blue clothes. Now girls are also wearing blue clothes, and boys also wear pink shirts. So, pink is the new blue!

Interviewer: Do you read newspapers?
Interviewee: No
Interviewer: Then how do you keep in touch with the happenings in the outside world?
Interviewee: I read news on the internet, I read Yahoo News.
Interviewer: Oh..how often is that?
Interviewee: Whenever I log-in to check my e-mail, I read the news given on the Yahoo homepage. Also, I check my mail around thrice a week, so I read the news three times a week.

Interviewer: Who is the Vice President of India?
Interviewee: No, I don't know.
Interviewer: Who is the Vice President of the US?
Interviewee: Sorry, I don't know this also.
Interviewer: Who is the President of France?
Interviewee: I don't know this as well.
Interviewer: Who is the CEO of Infosys?
Interviewee: Sorry, I don't know this one either. (Laughs in a funny way at this point)

Interviewer: Can you name some competitors of Facebook?
Interviewee: Ummm..aahhhh.. (she takes 5 minutes to think)
Interviewer: Do you know what's Facebook?
Interviewee: Yes Yes. Ummm..I think one competitor is Gmail. (Let me tell you, this female is a student of Computer Science engineering)
Interviewer: Do you know actually know what's Facebook? Do you have an account?
Interviewee: Yes, I have an account. I made it a few days back only, because we get all our placement updates through that only.
Interviewer: Right. So I'll just tell you that Facebook is a social networking site. Now can you tell me the competitors?
Interviewee: I know Facebook is social networking, so even Gmail is social networking.
Interviewee: But Gmail is web-based email. There is a difference between the two.
Interviewee: Keeps shut and gives a weird and irritating smile.

Interviewer (to the same Computer Science female): Have you studied computer networking?
Interviewee: Oh..so now you'll ask me technical questions?
Interviewer: Errr..Yes. Any problem?
Interviewee: He he (again the irritating smile) Not at all.
Interviewer: So, can you tell me the difference between a circuit switch and a packet switch?
Interviewee: Ummm..(thinks for two minutes and then gives some hopelessly wrong answer).
Interviewer: Are you sure?
Interviewee: Sorry, I don't know this (The frigging smile is back!! Grr..)

Interviewer: Which is the one sector in India wherein you would want to invest, and why?
Interviewee (answers immediately): Automobile vendors'/suppliers' sector.
Interviewer: Why is that?
Interviewee: There is a shortage of automobile parts in India. When recession came in 2008, automobile suppliers stopped producing the parts. Now also, when automobile manufacturers are asking for parts, the suppliers are not manufacturing enough, due to fear. So, I will invest and make the parts available to the manufacturers.
Interviewer: But, we have been hearing that the recession might come back. So, don't you think that it is a risky investments?
Interviewee: No no. As I said, there is shortage. So, it will be very profitable business.

Interviewer: Can you estimate the number of females in all the beauty parlours in Patiala on a Wednesday afternoon, between 3 and 4 PM?
Interviewee: There are 5 good parlours in Patiala. They are - Lakme, Habibs, etc. (gives five names). So, once I went to Habibs on a Wednesday, between 3 and 4 PM. There were eight girls in the parlour before me, I was the ninth, and there was one female after me. Thus, we were a total of 10 females. Now, 10 in one parlour, total five parlours, make it 50 females in all parlours in Patiala on a Wednesday afternoon between 3 and 4 PM.

Last but not the least, there was one guy who had actually done his SWOT (Strength - Weakness - Opportunity - Threat) Analysis, and had got a print-out of it to give to the interviewers. Super cool, isn't it?

Well, we also had a lot of fun in eating out and shopping in Patiala. But that requires another post altogether. That's it for now.

Signing Out,
Punjabi by Nature!!