MuSiNgS oF a Maverick

5 year plan...I first heard of it when I was in my social studies class. My teacher explained to us that India will need to plan ahead and decide its welfare priorities and so will make a plan to achieve in the coming 5yrs... this is a concept I grew up learning from a very young age. always think ahead, plan, execute and achieve.

its been grt so far...as i always had something I wanted to achieve..very clear ambitions..it was to get into top  university in india..get a job...join the top university in the world to do my higher education, get a job in investment bank, get married to a beautiful n a wonderful girl :)..and all this has happened well according to my plan. all my life i have jumping from one to another and focusing all my energies to achieve them. well after my studies frm cambridge, got married and working in citi...i kinda got complacent and have started to relax and was off the track for a while....well all due to the excitement of having done these things at the same time has to led me to focus on life and being content...i am happy.

All was great until i started seeing a bit of stagnation in the career financially. I gave it a thought as to why this is happening. I realized that I have to make myself more organised and set my priorities and give a direction in my life. I am scared that little lack of direction has bothered me. May be because i was so used to it. Now I made peace that I have a great life and career and how I would want to make it to the next level both career wise and even financially. I just dont want to do at average but want to be extraordinary.

Another aspect that presses me is my failure at my attempts to get into World bank/UN type organisations. I got little confidence that UN is achievable but requires substantial planning and hardwork.

This year has been bit disappointing owing to lack of goals and failure to meet my min expectations. This discomfort at certain level has made me focus on to understand what I want in life and come up with my 5year plan to prioritize, plan,execute and achieve my goals.

Family wise - Plan for the baby this 2013. Plan for house n land in hyd. Looks like all is set to 2014.

Career wise - There are two tracks for me here. One is the UN route and other is the general career route.
I am now 30 and have 3 more attempts to UN. This time I have gone through initial screening, general exam but failed in the specialised exam. I will make it to UN in 2013.I will prepare for IT on the lines of the exam and gain a much more understanding of UN body. Consider ADB/BRICS/World Bank/Unesco for options.

In the meantime try to move to a new company by the end of this year and get the relevant hike. I need to work on interview skills and practice maths.

Communication - I am working to gain more confidence by improving my speech skills. This is my biggest fears and I being an introvert to an extent will need to practice bit more to overcome it. Toastmasters - I will complete atleast 25 speeches by the end of this 2013.

Get the residency from UK and move to US/Singapore.

Get into the top MBA schools and with funding. Easier option looks like to be the ISB but US ivy league is good to get firm into senior positions. Plan GMAT etc. Practice math regularly.

Grow to the level of a senior VP and achieve a min salary of 200000 GBP. Get more thought around how to achieve this.

Its been months that I touched my blog. So not to get years in play, I am writing this article for my fans :) just kiddin.....

Life has been smooth till now. Is it? Uncertainty of future makes it look so. Change is the only thing that wont change in life. So is my life. Where did I start, no vague idea. Where am I headin? no sign in the distant far...yet tryin to connect dots by looking backward....When I look back at my college days, I did not have any hint that I would come back to study again. I always used to think gettin a job is the end of life. This reminds me of my parents "punch line" from my7th board exams. "Work this year buddy, life is gonna be settled!!!". They told me the same thing in my 10, 11,12, B.Tech, Job, even before coming to EUMI.... An immature person, I am, I never understood the real meaning of it..its a vicious cycle.....but i have performed really well with out knowing if it is what I want. So what did I want? simply nothin conventional....I saw people wanted so many things in life as aspirations. The biggest shock was when a friend of mine told me that he was getting married immediately after college, I was confused. Were we that matured?I struggled to see myself as a matured individual. I donno if I am one. But certainly I have become more mature from time I am out of school to the time I am into the school again.
This has brought in me some thoughts of desperateness to prove myself again at each and every point(may be it has become a habit) . But this time, only if I love it. For the first time I fought with my parents and distanced them from my career decisions. I joined TCS with this attitude. I started to detest openly if someone tries to compare me or compare with in any aspect. I grew lot of self respect and lot of over confidence in myself. My job has shown me the impatient world and the lazy minds fightin change. I took responsible roles and worked hard. I made the mark. But end of the day seeing what I am doing and sensing no direct impact on anything made me impatient. What next?? bugged me..I stopped doing the my job following implication..I decided not to do anythin I dont like. Decided to take what I like most and the best...next step!…

I always used to think why I did the job, had I not gone to higher education directly, now I say that my best move of life…I understood several things no book can teach, experienced glitches everywhere which is the spice of life J and most importantly learnt lessons….but why study now? this time I can answer.....because I like to

What did I learn? This time it is not nothing, anymore. I have realized that its the journey that is more important rather than the destiny. If the destiny is so fast, whats the use of having a long life :) so i am happy waiting for the dots to connect soon an puttin in my share of energy!...

too much of soul searchin stuff....happens sometimes....

Whenever man tries to probe into the universe's dimension of time, he will finally be confronted with eternityWhere he tries to understand the dimension of space, he will be finally confronted with infinity।

So there is no begining for the universe...... even the numbers start from -infinity to + infinity, i mean we can not say the begining and the ending।The question ... why we exist? ---> we assume that it leads to the question of how something comes from nothing?the reason of how we came frm nothing is impossible to explain॥ rather we can say why we exist by recognising our own inevitability(unavoidable) Imagine urself going back in time till the begining of universe.....at the moment where ur are being sucked in from somewhere....the begining pt। we are moving into the ultimate nothingness.the thought is wht exists beyond this point? If we carefully study the common meaning of nothing we can discover two distinct references. One reference we make is toward something that has no discernable form or substance, such as a void or a vacuum. Nothing logically wrong in that case. This type of nothing is real and exists. It is actually quite ordinary. But the other reference we make when using the word nothing is toward a different and much more radical concept, that of non-existence.There is a real nothing that seems to have no form, and this nothing is one of the most common features found in nature, space being the most obvious example. If we remove all the ordinary matter from space it becomes a singular expression of nature. The oneness of space makes it a singularity. So actually nothingness is identified with something (oneness.... that is everything seen is one....). Something represents nothing. This nothing is real and it exists. Dictionary defines "nothing" as something that does not exist....it is referring to someobject that does not exist. It makes no real sense. Wht word shld represent a form tht is not a form, a thing tht is not a thing?? Wht concept has no reality or meaning॥?? This is non-existence...which if defined using a meaningful ideaand as the otherwise of tht idea, defies the reality..... We mix these two, nothing tht exist and non-existence and hence we are not able to understand why we r here.......

Nonexistence.....In the use of meaning, the meaning that otherwise defines all things in all languages, a non-existence cannot be described. Nor can it be imagined or conceptualized. It cannot be signified, or resembled, or symbolized. By its own definition, a non-existence cannot even be inferred with any logical coherency. I am saying this to mean that the term non-existence does not belong as a member of any language. Its use is a contradiction in meaningfulness. And there is no escaping this realization once it is understood. So non existence is being defined with a meaningtaking the contradiction of the meaning which is meaningless.....so non existence defined as meaningless idea.......It is the existence and being of the universe that creates meaning, or at least they are intermingled. If existence is meaning ful, the contradiction of it non-existence shld be defined as something meaning less.Only existence allows for there to be meaning, just as only meaning allows for there to be existence. At the heart of the matter is that total nothingness, isn't a possibility. Non-existence by its own definition cannot be. That is a very ponderous statement, but a true one. The most simple logic, and the deepest intuition, both lead to this same realization. There is no alternative to existence. So our earlier time line into the past to search for the beginning of existence can never reach any point of origin. There is no such precipice as the one imagined.If we look into the past we might find a point where our space-time begins from some timeless singularity, a state which continues to exist even after our time begins and travels away from it, or maybe there is some other explanation of being begetting being. But any attempt to find an ultimate beginning from nothing is doomed to fail.So it means a state exists .... a state of oneness which exists much before us and later to us....so there is no begining and ending to the existance.The absence of thingness is just no things. But no things is still a thingThe universe is everywhere we go and everywhere we see. There is no place where the universe is not. Yet we still imagine in a vague way an alternative, as if the universe could stop existing, as if we ourselves might not exist. Its kind of funny really, the way we spend most of our lives thinking we shouldn't exist, not realizing how inevitable and innate we are, and we do so only from making a subtle mistake.

Well I went to the airport to catch a flight to bombay in the early morning. I checked in my stuff and like a typical vooru guy I requested the person for a "window seat". Lucky for me through out the journey I always had "window seat". Then I boarded the jet airways plane to Bombay. I slept in the plane and airhostess used to disturb me for meals and drink etc and finally to get down. Well thts the fun, she would very politely request me to wake and the sound was no way near to my ear. Then finally during the landing ..because of a jerk I got up. Surprised to reach Bombay so fast. I got down from the plane and reached the baggage collection counter. Always I had a feeling that i am going to loose my luggage.

After reaching Bombay I waited about 1 hr for the bus to take me to the international airport. I quickly got down and searched for the singapore airlines flight and reached a counter for the immigration check. I have gone to an empty counter and stood there .... then suddenly I realised that I was in the wrong queue and seen a very big queue 2 counters away. I asked them and realised that It was the same flight i am supposed to get in. I stood at the end of the 2km long line. Long later I could get this completed and moved to customs. That was done and I reached the boarding lounge.

Then I got into the flight and sat in my window seat. The singapore air hostesses are the best I should say. There was one lady Priyanka who is really beautful. Whenever she used to come around I would request for a glass of apple juice. Here in the plane there is access to about 96 movies. I have seen 2 movies "X men3 and Nacho Libre" by the time I landed in Singapore. Singapore airport is one of worlds biggest airports. For a typical person like me, I did not understand what I should be doing now. I dont know if I have to collect my luggage or not. The time for the my connecting flight to Adelaide is about 3 hrs. I went around and finally was able to spot some airport officials, talked with them, found out that I need not collect my baggage here. I felt little easier and went into shopping malls in the airport. The airport was really awesome. I walked till my legs started aching. Then I went to the gate for the process to begin. Here I met a Danish guy also going to Adelaide. He was reading the Kane and Able book. I just asked him if he was going to Adelaide. Thats it, tht is the only sentence I spoke and that fellow never gave me a chance to speak again. He is such a chatter box, I felt Baba is better at times. i anxiously waited for the announcement and barged in to escape from him. But the fate is that he is in my next seat. I had to bear him for the rest of the journey........

Here I should mention one grt thing happened to me. In the middle of the night, airhostess (Priyanka) gave me a packet. It has something like socks in it. After reaching Adelaide I put on these new socks. i came in the evening and seen the contents of the packet. It was written gloves in the contents. Suddenly I realised tht gloves are the socks that I am wearing. Earlier I got a doubt that these socks are very short but convinced logically that singaporeans are short, hence are the socks......sry gloves :))

In the sep18th2006 moring I reached adelaide

In MBA mostly people go and do courses in Depth। I dont mean to say courses across the breadth is bad. I mean majority of people who come to do MBA are for career change, moving into higher position. Suppose I wanted to move into a finance domain from IT domain, it would be very advantageous to me if I do an MBA with more courses of finance(this is prcisely wht i call specialization"). This is precisely true and is same with any degree. You always have a set of compulsory courses and then a set of electives. What i mean is if we take a typical MBA gard who happens to take many courses in Systems, his profile of courses(major+electives) will look very much similar to that of courses taken by MIS grads. For example in the MIS prg I am going to take, I will take the same electives taken by MBA grads and economics grads. And I do agree I wont gain much abt other domains other than IT and its applications. Well in my case I really dont want to do an MBA finance, marketin and sales which are more popular TRACKS (taking more electives of finance etc). I guess MIS can be a good option if u are planning to jump into IT domain. Because in the current class of MIS at LSE , there are many doctors, economists and commerce people who are planning to specialize in Information Systems. But I do agree, with MBA u have more scope. So what ever you want to do, study the curriculum and then decide. Ofcourse u can get carried with brand too. If tht is gonna help you what u want to do, then its also a major factor.

I was in the idea of doing MBA earlier in systems alone। So doing an MIS from management dept would be very much in line with wht i want to do. My sole idea of doing some higher studies is to get into WorldBank. I was analysing on ways I can convert my profile to match that of a typical World Bank guys. What do WB need?? they mainly recruit economists and financial experts. But I am really not interested in doing finance as my career. Well WB also recruits rural development experts. Hehehe, this is my focus area. I am aiming for a career where in I can use technology to fight against poverty. Infact I started touring along with my dad on his camps in various districts. The concept of SHG and its strucure and maintenance was really a great thing(I will write a dedicated article on experiences with SHGs). These things were started by my dad during his days in United Nations and his short interaction with Yunus and Sohaib Sultan Khan. Infact some places in Ananthapur have really came out of poverty with my dads initiatives of about 10years. Whenever I go to visit some yester years places where my dad used to work earlier, I get lot of inspiration to do something like him. Its always a funny thing to realise tht my dad was a researcher in Astrophyics during his studies. Now he works for upliftment of real poor. He says he realised tht he should be doing this kind of work sometime in the middle of his pursuit for PhD. He left tht and started preparing for civils and he became a state government officer. Finally, with many experiences and deputations he joined and worked with international organizations. And now he is on deputaion with World Bank as regional project director. As with each experience I unnoticingly developed an interest in his work. I myself was never sure of wht IT can do to me. I was surprised when my dad told me tht they have developed a management informationsystem with performance indicators to evaluate the development of people, manage ones business. He says IT has lot of scope for the devlopment in any respect. So these words have added strength to my determination. I realised tht if u have an aim anything can be mended to match your way of thinking. I started to look in ways where IT can be made useful to lives of people. I like to customize my profile and make myself an expert in developing systems which can be of benefit to poor. I dont know how I can achieve this but you know I am better than many, I am sure of my destination. Path has to follow or I myself will lay a path .

The passion of doing this kind of things is wht I wrote in my applications. I guess I am happy I realised it. So whereever I go, keeping this aim, I would like to customize my profile to do this kind of things. Infact when I was offered Erasmus Scholarship, I was worried I would be moving away frm my dream, but I have found my specialization of life science informatics to be inline with my idea. I want to study this topic in depth and after which I will take a socio economics perspective of this. I have postponed LSE a little later(because of scholarship only). But I guess after I take up LSE after two years I guess I will find more meaning in what I am doing.

# posted by Ravi Shankar @ 11:19 PM 0 comments

What is irony of life? The irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive :)

It is the same with every being on this earth….my situation is like tht…I took a decision that I would go for LSE but at the same time landed in big mess of decision making. I got another admit from Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. So wht is this??? It is a programme started by the European Union to encourage top international students to come from other countries and study in top universities in Europe. Infact a consortium of universities namely University of Edinburgh, University of Trento and RWTH Aachen University came together and instituted a Programme in Informatics. This is called the prestigious European Masters in Informatics. I was selected as one of the 23 persons from applicants from all over the world to the European Union Consortium. Bells ringin….I am on the top of the world. I don’t believe it myself. To speak of the programme it is too sexy and tempting to reject. I got to spend one year at the beautiful abode of angels on this earth at Scotland. Nope, I have to study at this place, University of Edinburgh. This is fine living right. Then after one year I got to go to another breathtaking place called University of Trento(a top technical university in Europe). Guys!!, here the college is itself at the feet of Alps mountains. Its, another damn good place. I got to spend nearly one year here. By chance I might spend some time in Aachen University- Germany (world war stuff). The prg is too cool right…. experiencing three different cultures and stayin in different countries. And you know all this is for free free free. I got this with a scholarship of 42000euros( I will have to work for 10 years in TCS to get that amnt of money :)).

This pic is view from my seniors balcony …

I approached many people and most them gave me one advice to take up this programme.

Vijay Kalavakonda a friend of my dad in World bank sent a mail to me appreciating me…

Dear Ravi,

FIRST, my congratulations on your achievements - I envy you for riches. It's quite tricky on what to advice. Let me start-off by saying that LSE has a good "brand" value BUT so does University of Edinburgh. LSE is know internationally more for it's Economics (incl. health), International Relations, Environment
programs, hence I am not sure how much one will lose by going to an other good and reputable University to do something other than economics. Let me put it this way - I were you I would go to Univ of Edinburgh for THREE reasons: a) Very Good University; b) FULL Scholarship; and c) since it's a NON-ECONOMICS course.

In terms of engaging with The World Bank the best way would be to start doing some ICT (Info Communications and Technology) projects while a) you are still at School i.e., Summer Assignment; and b) short-term consulting opportunity. Given your experience with TCS I don't foresee any problem and I am pretty confident you would do much better. FINAL piece of advise PLEASE DO NOT BOTHER TO KEEP World Bank as your objective since you could do much better and bigger stuff with other technology
organizations i.e., meaning DON'T WASTE YOUR TALENT. If you want to talk to me give me your cell number and I will give you a call.

Hope this helps.
Regards
Vijay Kalavakonda
Financial Markets for Social Safety Net
Finance and Private Sector Development
The World Bank ,Washington DC

And Mr Hanumanth Rao garu, professor at Ohio’s Fisher Business school has adviced me like this.

I looked through the information on the web for the EUMI course. It sounds interesting, and appears to be well rated. Your specialization in life science informatics will position you well for research in the area of biomedical engineering. Companies like GE Medical will be the best places to work, with this kind of background. World Bank is not an option with this training. They are looking more for economists and finance people. IT is not an important function there, although it serves a supportive role.

LSE is well known and has international reputation. Both of those would position you well for a job in the World Bank. I think you should spend some time thinking of what your passion is. Don’t think of World Bank. Think of what it is that you like to do, and what makes you happy. Your background tells me that achieving excellence in your field of option is not difficult for you. You have done well so far, and you will continue to do well. The key is to find what you like, because life becomes more enjoyable then. If I had to pick between the two right now, given the specialization that you have been admitted to, I would pick the EUMI offer. Let me know if I can help you further. I will be glad to.

Rao Unnava

Its choosing between good and bad tht is the easiest one. You are always sure of making a right decision. But in my case, one option is to go for the London School of Economics and Political Science(LSE) and other is to go for the European Union Masters in Informatics. But here I have to choose between two excellent options which is the most impossible situation I am facing now…

Well I got another great idea which was long implemented by Tenali Rama Krishna.I was thinking why I should not do both I will do the EUMI programme and will stay in Edinburgh(Scotland), Trento(Italy) and London(UK). If possible Aachen(Germany). This is the exposure which will make any person better in all respects. I will then join London School of Economics and pursue ADMIS. I guess then World Bank should be a cake walk too

As of now I still have to wait for the scholarships from LSE to really decide on anything. Well working in TCS I am experiencing UNCERTAINITY. Recently the punch line of TCS is changed to EXPERIENCE CERTAINITY. And of course, this is the irony of life

I have been thinking for quite some time on what exactly I am. I wanted to have a clear understanding of me myself and me again.When I ask my friends to describe I guess they would definitely have one word for me..."Voopu". Well this behavior might not be translated to English to a perfect sense.... may be the word "mercurial" might suit that. Well I asked my friends to give me their perception on me. Will add their views as and when they come.

Well let me dig into myself, I found myself a moody fellow. I have observed that my mood of mind can change drastically. The moment I feel bad and immediately I donno if I would be enjoying a chat with my friends. I sit down alone in my room thinking of something that changes quickly. I keep on evaluating many things when do this. I donno if I am very optimistic or very pessimistic. At different situations I am different and also at the same situations I might be different.

I have one strong belief that I can do anything anytime. If someone says that it is difficult or one cannot do I get kind of emotional as if my ego is being hurt and I might land into argument with him for no sake. This could be a kind of overconfidence in myself. This is the reason I guess I will not be able to let others pour in their views into me. I also believe in what all I do. There is never a thing I do without me having a satisfactory answer that it would be useful in someway. This might be self-centered attitude. This does not mean that I am selfish. I believe in helping others. I feel that it is the good done to others will be that matter in the end. I let others do whatever they wanted to do but thing is I don’t tolerate their interference with my way. If I want to do something, I will try to do the thing in some way.

I think I don’t have ethics (as people perceive) as such but I am a man of my own beliefs. It may not be the commonly acceptable way. They might be unconventional. I have my own priorities. Based on the situation I do things based on what I believe and my priority.

Actually I have a mental map of the way things should be done. Till I have that clear idea I will not proceed further. Well I want to be a man having accomplished something and the world should be able to recognize me as a great guy. That’s the aim have. I will by any means or at any cost will achieve that. The road to this is not completely clear to me yet. I will have my own paths ready for me. I know that as I reach to a milestone in my journey my next milestone becomes clear or I will select best option (my interest) and make it my milestone. (Kind of greedy algorithm) It is always the goal that drives me forward. Otherwise I become lethargic to activity. I can clearly say that my present milestone is MBA from global top colleges.

I like completeness a lot. I approach with holistic fundamentals. Suppose if I prefer to read some book. I would a kind of satisfaction only when I read it completely. I don’t feel like having the confidence of reading that if I don’t do it completely. I have a feeling that others watch my mistakes. So I want to be perfectionist. This has its own disadvantages. Well because of this I will not be able to proceed further many times.

When I decide to do something. I always try to do it. I can say that my mind will be filled with only that idea. Many feel that I might be carried by others perceptions but thing is I myself carry myself with my own perceptions. I can say it is like a beautiful dream haunting (possible) me. I take a decision and if I feel I should stick to that, and then it is done - I will stick to that. This is mostly related to what I want to be. I don’t like to change my ideas with influences of others. Even if some one gives me some advice or idea or any info, I will accept it only if I like that. Though in the face of them I would be nodding my head. But I get very angry when my idea is opposed. I would be then ready to pounce on him and attack any single statement made by him with the sole intention of crossing him to talk further. I then get a feel of satisfaction. At that moment I do this. If I feel later that I should not be doing that, I would somehow convey the message of my feeling sorry for my earlier behavior to him. One thing is sure that I dont I like anyone riding me. If someone tries he will have to face the wrath. Well even this depends on the kind of person I am dealing with. If I like the guy at that moment, I will not say anything. If not then is the blowup.

I have the habit of doing things When things are not going in the way I wanted them to be, I really get hysterical and becomes tough towards everything and work till the last moment to keep my track right or some other path that is as good as the one I choose to be going on.

I have observed one thing in my life. Whatever I get or got or gonna get, I think is with my full hard work. I believe in god. Infact I feel that I can share my thoughts with him. I have a placid attitude in the beginning toward things. I usually fail the first time and this really disturbs me. When I am disturbed (almost to the extent of cryin), then I really make tough resolutions and those are done. I donno why but I get real focused (may be I don’t show that out but I keep thinking about that only). Then I work real hard and do that. This has been my regular attitude. I donno why I am not developing the focus is not be default. That’s why, when I wanted to do something, I require lot of motivation at regular intervals. I use my bad situations and think of them when I start deterring, as my motivation to achieve my targets. Like necessity is the mother of invention.

Also I have the habit of feeling things to realest sense. I donno clearly but when I see movies I get lot of confidence. If see some motivational movies, the increment in the level of confidence is tremendous. Also I dont like heart breaking or moving movies as I take things to my heart. I also dont like to hurt others. That’s why I agree to their ideas even if I dont agree. But when I feel I want to disagree, its uncontrollable emergent feeling. I donno but I really think with my heart.

When I do something, I have an answer or some support to the integrity of having performed such an action. Even if from some corner of my heart, I get an indication saying that this might be wrong, but I will support my stance as it is the need that is driving.

I find that I can easily embed myself with any kind of personality, group or situation. This I see that I was able to make people home while talking to me. That’s because I don’t show the superiority feeling to others. Even when I talk to workers, drivers other people even beggars I think they feel that I can be shared their problems. At times I am really conservative. That all depends on my mood and kind of people talking to.

Now that I have the perceptions of my pals about me I will try to analyze them and see if I can improve myself.

Girish Said, “All the comments below should not in anyway affect anything between us, these have been begged by u and only hence given to u. k, now that u r through with the disclaimer, read below. voopu, suddenly attracted to something, with or without reason, keep doing or thinking about that something till ur choopu lands on a different voopu thing or theres some serious trouble that u got urself into and u have to clear it immediately otherwise, mostly a cool guy, in most situations with our group with other ppl too, u r semi cool, semi reserved , with making public speeches or announcements, u r too tensed, sweat flows from ur face like a river and u openly tell and u r highly selfcentred in some situations, ur telugu is okay, ur english has some grammar mistakes like most indians of today, ur sense of humour is in sync with that of most ppl, u need to listen to what ur near and dear say to become better sometimes u go out of the way and tend to do illegal / wrong things when u r faced with a tough situation but u can convince / force humorously ppl into getting ur things work done. hehehe ur physique is good and u can with some personality development course become a model i think, u ought to be in showbiz...............not necessarily movies, but like a show host often ppl with big bodies have bad temper, u dont, this is ur big plus point and often the first thing that ppl notice about u finally, u need some control on your temptationgs”

Pammy said

“ So you wanna know something about you which you donno... So read carefully whatever I write, as this is what I think about you.

1. You are a nice person as far as all the normal issues go...
a. You help everyone.
B. Do things on time (by hook or crook).
C. Are goal oriented and looks like you have definite goals to achieve in life and you are determined to achieve them.
d. The ability to work hard, when it is necessary.
e. Move around with others in a jovial and cordial manner.
f. Exercise daily for better health.
h. Positive outlook towards life and other aspects.
The most disgusting facts about you are as follows...
1. Your logic sucks.
a. What do I mean by that?
For every damn thing you say I did this with my logic. When I was in the first year I always felt like trashing you whenever you
said that. But later on it so happened that you yourselves were kind of making yourself a laughing stock whenever you said that.
2. You talk too much even when you don't know anything about that matter.
a. Even when you lack stats or when you hear a gossip about something/someone you endorse that fact true. Now now, I spread news... [gossip or whatever] but that is far different from what you do... Because I just spread the news but never endorse the fact that it is true/false (I do not wish to say whether what I do is correct or not)... You stamp it as truth always.
3. You are not open to others opinions.
a. You do not agree to any other view or do not even wish to listen what that is. For example (as a case study of your character on this issue), I told you sometime ago... say 2 years back that sentimental and tragedy movies do have market. But, you said only comedy movies have market and no one would like to see a tragedy. But, the sickest part was not this... You lacked points to argue about that and to side line me you were just shaking your head not even listening to what I was talking about. Now, what happened, the truth is here for everyone to see... Lakshmi and Premiste are big hits... they were not comedies... but did run.
4. You allow yourself to be exploited because of your VooPu.
correct or wrong or whether you have any profit from that. So reduce that VooPu and start thinking before acting. This is similar to a. If someone comes and tells you, rey Nalli if you do not go out with Bandus today night to *** then you will not get an A grade you rush out with him without even giving a second thought... This is the kind of VooPu that you have and we have been seeing. Another example, you called me last month and said Pammy I am going to Visu, I was surprised... because therewas no urgency as such for us to hurry... But again you were in the VooPu State... Nothing can be done. You do not sit back and think back for at least 2 minutes about whether the kind of work that you are upto because someone instigated you to do isthat Sumati Setakam poem "Vinatagu nevvaru cheppina vininantane vegapadaka vivarimpatagun... ".

Well as I said earlier all my friends comments have on common buzz word “VOOPU”. This brings to my memory of Jenny having told me once that I have lot of “VOOPU” and I have to streamline in a proper direction to achieve results. I will try to analyze their comments.

THE BALD MAN'S COMB A Story on how to manage your career & your expectations by R. Gopalakrishnan There is a Thai saying that experience is a comb which Nature gives to man after he is bald. As I grow bald, I would like to share my comb with your people, about their career ahead. 1. Seek out grassroots level experience I studied Physics and Engineering at University. A few months before graduation, I appeared for an HLL interview for Computer Traineeship. When asked whether I would consider Marketing instead of Computers, I responded negatively : an engineer to visit grocery shops to sell Dalda or Lifebuoy? Gosh, no way. After I joined the Company and a couple of comfortable weeks in the swanky Head Office, I was given a train ticket to go to Nasik. Would I please meet Mr. Kelkar to whom I would be attached for the next two months? He would teach me to work as a salesman in his territory, which included staying in Kopargaon and Pimpalgaon among other small towns. I was most upset. In a town called Ozhar, I was moving around from shop to shop with a bullock cart full of products and a salesman's folder in my hand. Imagine my embarrassment when an IIT friend appeared in front of me in Ozhar, believe it or not! and exclaimed, "Gopal, I thought you joined as a Management Trainee in Computers". I could have died a thousand deaths. After this leveling experience, I was less embarrassed to work as a Despatch Clerk in the Company Depot and an Invoice Clerk in the Accounts Department. Several years later, I realised the value of such grassroots level experience. It is fantastic. I would advise young people to seek out nail-dirtying, collar-soiling, shoe-wearing tasks. That is how you learn about organizations, about the true nature of work, and the dignity of the many, many tasks that go into building great enterprises.

2. Deserve before you desire At one stage, I was appointed as the Brand Manager for Lifebuoy and Pears soap, the company's most popular-priced and most premium soaps. And what was a Brand Manager? "A mini-businessman, responsible for the production, sales and profits of the brand, accountable for its long-term growth, etc., etc. I had read those statements, I believed them and here I was, at 27, "in charge of everything". But very soon, I found I could not move a pin without checking with my seniors. One evening, after turning the Facit machine handle through various calculations, I sat in front of the Marketing Director. I expressed my frustration and gently asked whether I could not be given total charge. He smiled benignly and said, "The perception and reality are both right. You will get total charge when you know more about the brand than anyone else in this company about its formulation, the raw materials, the production costs, the consumer's perception, the distribution and so on. How long do you think that it will take?" "Maybe, ten years", I replied, "and I don't expect to be the Lifebuoy and Pears Brand Manager for so long"! And then suddenly, the lesson was clear. I was desiring total control, long before I deserved it. This happens to us all the time - in terms of responsibilities, in terms of postings and promotions, it happens all the time that there is a gap between our perception of what we deserve and the reality of what we get. It helps to deserve before we desire.

3 Play to win but win with fairness Life is competitive and of course, you play to win. But think about the balance. Will you do anything, to win? Perhaps not. Think deeply about how and where you draw the line. Each person draws it differently, and in doing so, it helps to think about values. Winning without values provides dubious fulfillment. The leaders who have contributed the most are the ones with a set of universal values ¡V Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King for example. Napoleon inspired a ragged, mutinous and half-starved army to fight and seize power. This brought him name and fame for twenty years. But all the while, he was driven forward by a selfish and evil ambition, and not in pursuit of a great ideal. He finally fell because of his selfish ambition. I am fond of referring to the Pierre de Coubertin Fair Play Trophy. It was instituted in 1964 by the founder of the modern Olympic Games and here are two examples of winners. - A Hungarian tennis player who pleaded with the umpire to give his opponent some more time to recover from a cramp. - A British kayak team who were trailing the Danish kayak team. They then stopped to help the Danish team whose boat was stuck. The Danes went on to beat the British by one second in a three hour event! What wonderful examples of sportsmanship! Play to Win, but with Fairness.

4 Enjoy whatever you do Sir Thomas Lipton is credited with the statement, "There is no greater fun than hard work". You usually excel in fields, which you truly enjoy. Ask any person what it is that interferes with his enjoyment of existence. He will say, "The struggle for life". What he probably means is the struggle for success. Unless a person has learnt what to do with success after getting it, the very achievement of it must lead him to unhappiness. Aristotle wrote, "Humans seek happiness as an end in itself, not as a means to something else". But if you think about it, we should not work for happiness. We should work as happy people. In organisational life, people get busy doing something to be happy. The more you try to be happy, the more unhappy you can get. Your work and career is all about your reaching your full potential. Working at one's full potential, whether it is the office boy or the Chairman, leads to enjoyment and fulfillment. A last point about enjoyment. Keep a sense of humour about yourself. Too many people are in danger of taking themselves far too seriously. As General Joe Stilwell is reported to have said, "Keep smiling. The higher the monkey climbs, the more you can see of his backside".

5 Be Passionate about your health Of course, as you get older, you would have a slight paunch, greying of hair or loss of it and so on. But it is in the first 5 - 7 years after the working career begins that the greatest neglect of youthful health occurs. Sportsmen stop playing sports, non drinkers drink alcohol, light smokers smoke more, active people sit on chairs, starving inmates of hostels eat rich food in good hotels and so on. These are the years to watch. Do not, I repeat do not, convince yourself that you are too busy, or that you do not have access to facilities, or worst of all, that you do this to relieve the stresses of a professional career. A professional career is indeed very stressful. There is only one person who can help you to cope with the tension, avoid the doctor's scalpel, and to feel good each morning - and that is yourself. God has given us as good a health as He has, a bit like a credit balance in the bank. Grow it, maintain it, but do not allow its value destruction. The penalty is very high in later years.

6 Direction is more important than distance Every golfer tries to drive the ball to a very long distance. In the process, all sorts of mistakes occur because the game involves the masterly co-ordination of several movements simultaneously. The golf coach always advises that direction is more important than distance. So it is with life. Despite one¡¦s best attempts, there will be ups and downs. It is relationships and friendships that enable a person to navigate the choppy waters that the ship of life will encounter. When I was young, there was a memorable film by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart and Dona Reed, and named IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. It is about a man who is about to commit suicide because he thinks he is a failure. An angel is sent to rescue him. The bottomline of the film is that "No Man is a Failure Who Has Friends". Conclusion My generation will never be twenty again, but when you are older, you can and should be different from my generation. Ours is a great and wonderful country, and realising her true potential in the global arena depends ever so much on the quality and persistence of our young people. Good luck in your journey, my young friends, and God be with you and our beloved Nation.

This is the personal view of Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan, Director( now chairman!) - Tata Sons