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The bloody diamond

The bloody diamond
This is life

Welcome to the imperfect world

Welcome to the super-real world where survival comes first, much before the high alter preachings of excellence (for others only). So if you are the one who does not have to survive, or does not care - you have a choice not to remain here.

For others, please have a seat and take cover - here anything can happen anytime and you may just become a faceless co-lateral damage. Everything here is related to life and death, pains and agonies, treacheries and conspiracies, cons and deceit, treason and betrayals, despair and darkness - we just do not live in any perfect world.

BUT that is why the blog is here at all - let there be light. It aspires to show the way, to train myself and my friends in the defense against the dark arts. It is also related to hope and courage, renunciation and redemption, indomitable will and lust for life - the immortal battle with the dark side. Red flag fluttering in the gentle wind, all hands on deck, war cries in the air, daggers drawn, no quarters given nor asked, no hostages taken - we must fight till the last man standing

Rest assured, you are in good hands. These hands, with all the talents or the lack of them, with all the liveliness and the inner brooding, with the over-sized ego and the extra-ordinary humility, with all the goodness and the devilish designs - have been war veterans - they have fought for decades in the battle of survival.

Happy surviving




Love in blood

Love in blood

The inescapable war within

It is the curse of the human that we are constantly at wars. War with the Government, society, family, spouse, children, Boss, peer, friends, neighbours. Some of these are overt, some crude, some plain enmity but some are subtle, some barely palpable, some low key and guerilla types, some are cold as razors, some are dry like the funeral pyres.

Most of these cannot be own with force or when you try for winning - sometimes you have to lose to win them. Some are more like trials than wars, they never show the faces, never let you see their pimples, just shadows, the kafkaesque faceless executioners take over.

For all these, we need inner strength, we need strategies. Sometimes the objective is survival, sometimes it's plain escape from the random blades, sometimes the heady delight of beheading the enemy. Sometimes it is sheer joy to be alive, sometimes happiness comes over from a walkover or just a walkaway, without even a careless looking back. Often it is a mixed feeling - the agony, the ecstasy, the brutal orgasm or a complete disenchanted detachment - a shelter in the NOW. They sometimes need courage, need cunning finesse, sometimes ruthless lack of values of a son-of-the-bitch, sometimes daring flamboyant recklessness, maybe even stoic nonchalance. But the best of the best generals in the wars of life, always win without unnecessary bloodshed or even none of it at all.

But the most painful and fearful of all these wars are the ones with oneself. It could be a conflict between mind and heart or even the soul that holds our values dear. And this is one war that always hurts, always wounds, always bleeds one dry, always keeps one awake through the fearful night with the shadows of the beautiful lacey curtains blowing in the gentle wind and making shadows of our most intimate fears within. It is like a nation under seize, and alas, there is no escape. When you will kill yourself softly, no survival strategy ever works.



Tuesday, March 29, 2011

MBA_The placement purple

The only worry it seems, for the MBA students nowadays, is placements. While this is even true for the top 20 Institutes of the country, where the season is mostly of fun and joy but still students are bothered about the quality and magnitude of the offers, it is more stark reality for the rest where the question is “will I or won’t I” get a placement at all ?

B-schools are getting lower-quality and more-unscrupulous-business day by day. At the time of Admissions, they show 100% placements and once the eager (read “stupid”) unsuspecting students anxious to be accepted for admission in “M B A !!!” put their heads in the Guillotine, the institutes start playing games to put all kind of conditions to the students for placement eligibility – e.g. At least 75% attendance, at least 60% marks all over their career, active participation in the placement initiatives etc. Even the choice of the specialization (a well known Institute in Kolkata is pushing it’s students to take only Marketing) – you just fail one of these and bang goes the responsibility of the Institute for 30/40% of the students. The question of why the Institute at all accepted the student with less than 60% of marks in all exams, is not relevant – it’s their ground, you have paid the fees and are an orphan now.

The students who finally get any placement interview, go through rounds of selection and quite often a small percentage get the cut. The students are often of intrinsic low quality, with “you have money to pay, come to our MBA” kind of admissions nowadays. While many of them have the intelligence and good potential, the problem is in the attitude and training as they are averse to any idea of self-improvement. World is still rosy and they came to MBA to have fun!! Then, in most of the institute, they are not even suitably trained to take on the serious business of interviews – no proper soft skill training, forget about the life skills. “They cost money and once our revenue is assured, we will cut off all expenses” – say the Institutes. For show, sometimes they keep a soft skill trainer, who definitely needs to be trained first – because those people come cheap and good quality people demand good money. Faculties for the other subjects are nearly the same. Private institutes mostly take the low quality-lowest pay kind of people who will make the numbers for the AICTE regulation (beside showing everybody from the Librarian, Placement executives, Systems admin, accounts people, admin people etc. as faculties to make the mandatory minimum 1:15 ratio) and keeping a few dummy (long retired super-senior citizen- many of them are so old that they don’t and can’t come to teach even) professors of fancy Universities to show as the crocodile babies to the world that these people teach here – AICTE and the University officials will look the other way, many of them are rumored to be on under-the-table payrolls.

The hype that had been created by the media and been kept alive by the Institutes was primarily responsible for the ruckus. Even 15 year ago, there were only a few Institutes and only the very serious students used to aspire for the MBA. Nowadays, seats are much more than the demand and the Institutes are taking anybody who has the money to pay or are so mad that they are ready to sell off whatever they have to pay for the MBA education of their children. The hype is always about the 1-crore plus salaries of the IIM pass-outs. But nobody cares to see that the 1 cr+ is only for the top 1% students and the other real fancy salaries are only reserved for the IIMs and that too their top 5-10%. I know of many people coming out of the IIMs who commands salaries which, by no imagination of the mind, are fancy and are easy targets of these land mafia Institute owners who take them to boast to their students to turn the Institutes into “IIMs”. The biggest spends of the Institutes nowadays are on their admission adverts and a fraction of that are being spent on the faculties. Research ?? what is that ? Consulting !! God save me. The abysmal standards of the faculties ensure any serious faculty being hounded by some of his insecure or devilish colleagues, because he becomes threat to them – once the students get the taste of Biriyani they will be less inclined to accept the stale rice. And the Institute is also prompt to push him out because anybody worth his salt has his confidence and will ask for a good and proper compensation, and not the piece of shit thrown to him by the owner. Who requires quality ? Students will not pay any more!!

Students themselves are also not bothered to learn, they have paid money, so they must be given jobs – simple. And mind it, the job must be of specific type, high pay, low work pressure (they need to be in facebook half the time), no going out in the Sun, no sales, no targets, high prospects and yes, I like the corner cabin, Thank you. Only the aspirations never match the capability or attitude. But please do not try to teach us a lot, do not give us “gyans”, we hate it. We are there, so smart and handsome people, aren’t that enough for these jobs ? Are you blind ?

Companies do not care, they know the levels and play ball. They take the better people among these (in any class, even in IIMs, 5-10% are excellent, 30% are very good, 40% so-so and the rest are unspeakable) at very good rates and down the line they have the option of throwing out the worse ones. In fact, many business schools give money to the companies to take some of their students (the salary or most part of it are paid by the Institute - who cares to pay Rs. 50K when you are charging Rs.5.5 Lacs each student) and telling them that after 6 months you choose which ones you want to keep. This is a win-win situation for the Institute and the Company, so all smiles, click click. The banks do not need money also, they need volumes of people to sell their myriad financial schemes and credit cards, don’t bother about quality because they pay the plain graduates or undergraduates the same rates (and often the commission basis is more than the salary), and the result – in 2-6 months, 80-90% of the people recruited get mad enough to resign and cool their heels in their homes – unemployed or get head on in search of another job. Then they head for another Institute to get their 3-6 monthly meals. The attrition rates for these banks and Insurance companies tell the story.

Students also know these stories, the reputation travels fast, but because of the “day order” policy, they often have to sit for these interviews and once selected, their names are struck off the list, pushing them to the brink. Many of them have low Morales and confidence and try to avoid the possibility of looking for jobs on their own, unless their parents have nice connections. While the obvious downside is there, they often do not understand the long-term advantage of trying. Life is not a one-time affair. Even if you get the job from the campus the first time, all the next ones you have to fight it out in the marketplace. So, it is always better to practice the preparation from the beginning.

But nevertheless, the Institute put those big names in their ads, to say that we have given placements in those. We have no objections, because in any case, most of the names put are bogus and are lies. Even if a Company ever sent a regret letter to the proposal of a Campus interview, that name is included. Institutes usually use the company names who ever came to their campus for the students of any stream, and use that list for all streams, good or bad. Beside, the Institute advertises the 100% placement achieved in it’s Engineering side in the ad for the MBA admissions (In MBA, the figure was less than 40% last year). Fraud ? – that is the name of the game everywhere.

Under these scenarios, many students start searching for the jobs much before the placement starts and many of them succeeds too, again they mostly belong to the upper two categories and they often do not depend on the Institutes and take their required trainings outside. They know they cannot learn everything by themselves. Some more confident ones, even reject the unsuitable offers and go into the market by themselves. Even the research needs some training and perseverance and attitude, and many of them lack one or all of these.

Another issue is the post-joining survival. Nowadays most students are fresh as flowers and simply do not have the idea of the corporate jungle. After joining, they get sucked into the huge vortex of the internal politics and many of them succumb to it without an option and their life’s happiness is gone. It’s a slightly better scenario in very big or MNC organisations (but they take people from the top-level Institutes or take some students for the lower positions from others) but there the people slowly develop a confidence in themselves also that enable them to take on the jungle rules slowly. Some students get indirect training from their family slowly and get more matured than the others to deal with the outside world, the major portion do not.

Pray that the placements come and give the corner rooms.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Strategic Interview Techniques - Command your price


We won’t promise to give you a job; we will just make sure you can command your price for the rest of your life

BodhiTree Academy
announces

3 days workshop on Strategic Interview Techniques


Interview is a mindgame that one finally understands after years of trying, by then losing many dream opportunities. Failing in a dream interview could cost you crores in future income and opportunities. You must play the game at their ground, to their ground rules and still beat them at their own game. To be the Master of your life, Be the Master of the Game. There is a lot to learn, and the best way is to get the insights of the true-blue professionals, celebrated Masters of the Game. You can spend a decade to learn the ropes, or you can come to the Masters and learn them in days.

Do you think you can really answer a simple question like “Tell me about yourself”? Did you know an employer makes 80% of the hiring decision in the first 30-50 seconds?
It could be the 1% X-factor that can make you lose the lifetime opportunities

People miss the golden opportunities because they only hope and do not learn. They make amateurish attempts at the interviews and then hope they will be selected with a fantastic offer. For a fantastic dream to come true, you must be fantastic at the first place – in the game of interview.

To manage an interview successfully, nothing new or magical is to be added to your personality. Only you must pick up the right tools of the game and have the right strategy. Even the interviewers are human and they can be managed and maneuvered. Just learn the techniques, prepare yourself, and turn the so-so interviews into solid offers.

The workshop will help you to float with ease in the shark-infested waters of the common fears associated with the interviews. Learn to harness your fear into excitement, energy, and enthusiasm

Workshop objectives : The workshop will give you the winning confidence that will sail you through. It will teach you
 To make a killer CV that stands out
 To research the organization and align your strategy
 Strategic view of the real industry wants
 Strategies to create the rapport
 To dress and impress in the first 30 seconds
 To leverage your unique capabilities and traits - your skill treasures
 Strategies to sell yourself, with a clear value proposition
 To guide them to your comfort zones rather than be led to your weaknesses
 Strategies to defend with the Q statements
 To use the positive and action words
 Strategic view – from other side of the table
 Strategies for different types of questions and the real questions behind them
 Strategies for image projection as a person and not just as a candidate for filling a position.

MOCK INTERVIEW FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS BY EXPERTS / INDUSTRY HOTSHOTS

Who should attend : The workshop will be immensely valuable and beneficial for
 all students who are going into the job market
 those who have entered the job market in the last two years and will plan for better prospects
 who are trying for higher studies and will have to sit in the selection interviews

Workshop design and delivery : The workshop has been designed and will be conducted by thoroughly experienced professionals and experts in the field – HR specialists, Management professors, hotshot top-brass from world-class companies like TCS/ CTS/ IBM/ DVC/ ICL/Siemens/Idea/L&T etc.

Keynote speaker : Prof. Sudip Bhattacharya, BE, MBA, FIII, ACII(UK), DSS(IIM-C), MSMF
Prof. Bhattacharya is a strategist and trainer with decades of experience in consulting with large entities and MNCs. An accomplished computer engineer and management professional, he holds some of the highest honors for India and UK in Insurance practice area.
Trained in Strategic Management in IIM-C and IIM-L under legends like Prof. Ranjan Das and Prof. Krishna Kumar respectively beside others, he has been teaching Strategy in several top B-schools and is a Life Member of the prestigious Strategic Management Forum of India.
A Lateral thinking trainer and NLP Master, trained by some of the World’s Top Masters, he is also passionate about the people dimension of strategy and is a blogger on Life and Survival Strategies. His first book on Survival Strategies will be published in end-2011 by a famous international publishing house.

Program Director : Dr. Arundhati Ganguly, B.Com, MBA (Symbiosis), PhD
Dr. Ganguly has significant contribution in the world of HR consulting and practices for more than a decade. She presently does consulting and training with several large corporate houses and heads a high-end placement consultancy house.

Workshop Dates : Please contact BodhiTree for the next dates
Workshop Timing : 9.00 AM – 5.30 PM
Workshop Venue : BD-72, Salt lake City, Kolkata – 700064

Investment : Rs. 6,995/- only (per participant) + Tax (includes lunch, refreshment, materials etc.)
Contact BodhiTree for any special / Group discount currently in place

You have to make a decision of a lifetime NOW

Call – 94339-11055/ 9477202742
Or write to : bodhitreeacademy@yahoo.in / sudipsam67@yahoo.co.in