Summer of '01

Well..

This is about a day... About a single day which changed the course of history... Err.. Something like that...

So.. There i was in the summer of '01.. I had completed 3 years of engineering. In my college, placements start in the beginning of your final year of college.. So.. before the placements started I was ruminating the plus' and minuses of my current status.. I had a pathetic score.. With an arrear in first year on a simple subject and an overall cgpa of around 7.3.. 38th rank in my class... Knowledge on mechanical fundas and stuff..? Well.. Zero.. What do I remember of stuff that's been taught in the last 3 years..? None.. Mmm.. Not a very good picture.. I could sense that..)


What were my plus'..? A decent amount of English knowledge.. And a liking toward math which means a pretty well-developed problem solving ability.. mm.. And a couple of extracurricular stuff.. And.. oh.. dats it.. mm.. I did not need help to tell myself that I was basically in a hot and sour soup with an extra helping of Pepper...


So.. About 2 days later I was sharing my bed with this huge GATE book that I had bought long back… In one tiresome plan to crack GATE and join the IITs.. This book was so big that I could not use it even as a pillow.. It was bigger than a pillow.. *Ladies and Gentlemen! to work out.. you dont need to hit the gym.. You just need to carry this book around... Proven technology..  * Was trying to mug up all the one-marks and understand the concepts involved in Mechanical Engineering... Man.. Came across concepts that I never knew existed in Mechanical Engineering.. mm.. Cams, thermal equations, Gears.. Yawn.. Why did I choose mechanical..? So much to study.. mm..


The placements started.. The first company to grace our campus then was Cognizant Technology Solutions... Each of us was given a huge form to fill in with details.... The form looked easy.. "What is ur career objective?".. "What are ur short-term goals?".. "What are your strengths?".. I decided to take out my pen and start attacking it.. 1 hour gone.. 2 hours gone.. And… And… I am yet to start writing..  I was clueless..  I did not understand the difference between a career objective, long-term goal and Ambition.. I realised that understanding oneself is much more difficult than math or Physics or even more difficult than understanding why artists are a perverted lot or why a sculptor's portrayal of women is almost always voluptuous and attractive.. Ultimately, I had chalked out a career objective, short term, long term goal and some strengths and weaknesses as well.. But, unfortunately, the company had a cutoff of 7.8 cgpa.. And I was not short-listed for any interview…


Next, I cleared a Mahindra British Telecom apti test. But, could not convert the interview.. Then, came the aptitude test of i-flex solutions.. Had only been ditched by MBT the previous day… Was still in a pretty much dejected mood.. Got up.. Had a go at the apti test and was back.. Was too tired to do anything in life that in the slightest way resembles what anyone would do on the day you have an important interview... So dozed off.. .. In the middle of my beautiful dream with Aishwarya Rai… I had already married her and was about to take her out on a honeymoon when I was woken up violently by a classmate of mine.. Argh.. I hate these moments.. I had an interview at 1:00 PM and the time is 12:55 PM.. And to make things worse I did not have a single copy of my resume and I had to fill in a huge form here.. With the help of my classmates with taking print-outs of the resume and the filling up of the forms.. My resume and form were ready and I was in front of the interview panel at 1:00 PM… Did not even have time to comb my hair..


Now.. This was a software interview and I am.. not in the littlest bit related to software.. Was proficient in handling a few movie players but if it C or C++ or Java.. I had no clue other than that there was a huge cult following for all this stuff.. Guys walk to the computer centre in college armed with these books and fight it out with the computer… At the end of these fights, either the guy or the computer comes running out in frustration… And these were subjects that the geeks in my class deal with… I had a technical interview and a HR interview.. Not much of mechanical questions or software questions were asked to me.. and the HR interview was a breeze through… I remember coming out of the interview hall pretty confident..


And, of course, the history redefining moment came up when my name was called up.. mm.. felt good.. really good to get placed.. mm.. I owe most of it to all my classmates who were there for me that day...


Ok.. So.,. what was the history that was changed..? My dad vowed that he would buy me some cows to take care of in case I end up in Chennai without a job.. So.. Dats the difference.. I would have now been managing a herd of cattle that would have to listen to my tune.. With no cows to woo here in the company.. My fantasy of a romantic shepherd is not a reality.. All because of the summer of ’01