Cognizant Technology Solutions ; Post : Technical Writer

Today was a blurry haze of activity. I woke up at 6.20am, drove mom up the wall, to shove some food down my throat and kept chanting like a mantra, i don't want to get into CTS, I'll rot as a Technical writer. This aptitude test is merely a practise test for me, i just want to get a feel of how corporates employ college kids. I was both aloof and nervous as hell.

I reached college dot at 7.45 am. As i was parking my bike, my friend Archana said.. "Dude.. WHAT are you wearing..???!!!" I just grinned and retorted, "Machi, who cares? I'm just going for the aptitude test. I'm sure i wont clear it and hence the question of interview does not even arise" With that, we walked up the stairs and reached our class. No sooner had we sat down, we were asked to go to the 2nd floor seminar hall for our aptitude test. The first thing i noticed was a scary looking HUGE lump of blue, he looked constipated and could easily pass off to be a local gunda.

Soon, he began distributing the question papers, we had 4 rounds to clear, one of which was purely maths. I concentrated real hard and tried to solve these sums for less than 2 minutes, after which i figured, what the hell, why am I wasting my energy on this crap? So i closed my eyes, played inki pinki ponki and shaded options A, B, C or D.

After a dragging 2 hours of the frigging aptitude test, we were free birds. We marched back to class and chuckled at each other over our fantabulous performances. I declared, "This test has enlightened me, I'm packing my bags, leaving this country, and I'm going to pursue my PG in firang land with hot firang men" And so ensued our post aptitude test discussion.

15 minutes later, we were all called back to the auditorium. The 'i mean business'/ 'no nonsense' Cognizant lady, announced 8 names. Mine was on the 8 name list. I just opened and closed my mouth like a Gold fish and began to shiver a little. I tried drinking some water, but my hands did'nt let me, i spilt it over my outfit. The whole drinking water process was quite tiresome, so i turned to my friend, Abinaya and said, "Macha, I'm scared"

She immediately took me to my teacher, who grabbed my hand and said, "Listen, whats the worst that's going to happen? You may not get placed. So what? Also, look at it this way, you are going to get a feel of how corporates interview potential employees" I calmed down a few notches, smiled weakly and nodded my head.

My raw jittery nerves were somewhat calm now, but no sooner had this been done, a Surya wannabe (yes, he was scene potafying, like he was the sexiest man alive on the planet) came outside and announced my name, "Gayatri Bhadran, please go in for your interview" I was the first person to be interviewed.

My panel of interviewees were quite sweet, 3 women. I was a little nervous at first and didn't look her in the eye, but a little later i realized that the questions thrown at me were so damn easy, so i gained some confidence and spoke to her like she was my best friend.

After the interview ordeal was through, i walked out to be mobbed by my seniors, (PG grads) who were also shortlisted for the interview, i told them the questions i was asked and i advised them to calm down.

An hour later, we were all called back inside again, and we were told that it was a tough decision to choose among us, we were all pretty good and yada yada yada, the usual post interview talk. He ended his talk, by saying, the results would be announced right then and we'd get our call letters as well.

The 8 of us began discussing Cognizant, the work culture, the timings, the office building and so on. The more i sat there and heard the discussion, the more i wanted to get into this company.

Thankfully by then, the rest of my classmates trooped down, i ran out to them, clung on to Ritu, gave her a loooong hug and grinned like a fool for a few seconds.

We were once again, called back in, this time, i made Ritu sit right next to me, i gripped her hand tightly, took a few deep breaths and waited patiently for the results to be announced.

Soon, the 'i mean business' lady walked in with my teacher, and announced that only 4 of us had been chosen. At this point, i began to hyperventilate, she started reading out the names, i looked at my teacher, she smiled broadly at me and kept looking at me.

3 names were announced, the 3 women in front of me stood up. I clapped half heartedly along with the rest of the women seated in the Audi. "Gayatri Bhadran" she read out from the paper. My name sounded so good, coming out of her mouth.

I could hear my classmates whistling and hooting. I was stunned, shocked, overjoyed, teary eyed and nauseous.

As soon as she walked out of the Audi, my entire class, ran to me and group hugged me, that moment was priceless. I'll cherish it forever. Thank you class, thank you ma'am and thank you Ritu, my dear dear friend who i clung on to, during the whole nerve racking experience.

As soon as i got my call letter, i showed it to my friends and couldn't wait to reach home to tell my folks, that, the fruit of their loins had finally done something right and hadn't screwed up for a change.

Malluness..

August 27th was day 1 of Onam. I walked in to class and a classmate asked me "Dude why are you here? Go home" I replied, "Why babe?" She retorted, "Its onam today!!" To which i replied, "Oh, it is?" *sheepish grin*

Is the malluness in me dead and gone? Have i become less mallu and more everything else? How come i dont have a Lola kutty accent? I'm an ardent Mohanlal fan, but i don't remember the names of most of his movies.

I hate coconuts and all things to do with coconut like Bounty bar, coconut water, Cookie Man coconut cookies and a whole load of other stuff which are coconutey in nature.

Next, i dont have the signature curly mallu hair, i don't have an obsession for gold jewellery, HATE gold in fact, prefer junk jewellery.

The only thing, that probably gives away my malluness is the word "Aiyyada". It's such a cute word. I think, it should be incorporated, in ALL languages.

Little girls and random interesting man..

Today's workout was real fun. I ran for 20 minutes straight. Good feeling. Felt real proud of myself. The only thing that bothered me though was this little kid, this girl, she was walking on the machine next to me (apparently her mom and dad were working out, so they brought her along, now why do parents do that, really, REALLY..?! At that age i couldn't spell the word Gym) Anyway, she was ogling at me, constantly. And i felt very conscious, i was getting a little irritated, and i almost snapped at her.

I HATE people ogling at me. Ever since i was little, Ive hated people ogling/staring at me. Mom tells me that when we used to go out and random strangers merely looked, or pinched my cheeks, I'd brawl and make her lug me on her hip, till we reached home. I suppose the child in me, is alive and kicking even now.

After my workout was done, i went to the bike parking lot, to take out my vandi and there was another kid, probably 3-4 years old, and she ogled as well, she just kept standing there watching my every move critically.

It FREAKED me out, she looked right through me. I felt a little jittery. Little girls have this effect on me, they ogle, i get scared, i run away. Its a vicious cycle. I think i need psychiatric help. This is not normal behaviour.

Little girls aside, moving on to the much spoken about topic on most of my posts.. *drum roll* MAN..! (enna koduma idhu saravanan..? :/)

I just can NOT for the life of me, figure out the species called men. Especially when they're super intelligent, mature and wise. Now i know, these kind of men are probably way out of my league, but they intrigue me, they simulate my non existent grey cells, they're trippy, they're fascinating, they're a whole lot of adjectives. If i were asked to sum up all these adjectives and label them with just one adjective, I'd say, they're so bloody turning on. *drools*

If i were given a choice of a hot looking dumb guy versus an average looking super intelligent guy, I'd run to the latter any day. Looks don't last forever, once the lust fades away, intelligent conversation is the only thing, that can drag on man-woman relationships.

Anyway, that said, the current man in question, i presume is super intelligent, i PRESUME because i haven't had ONE decent conversation with him yet. But, i have read his blog, and he sounds really REALLY nice.

I get the feeling, no let me rephrase, i KNOW he's purposely avoiding long drawn out conversations with me. Now, the wisest thing for me to do, is to just let things be, and move on.

But God (yes, HE is in my scapegoat when it comes to all MAN related things) made us THIS way, he makes us yearn for things which is beyond our league, things which don't really make us happy. Why do we always run to forbidden fruits? Why cant we just live and let live?

But then again, stuck up snob, why can't he just talk to me for 3 hours at a stretch, fall in love with me, and treat me like a goddess. Hrmph.

Placements..

Our placements have officially begun. Cognizant came today, gave us a 2 hour presentation, they're looking for technical writers and graphic designers.

Their aptitude test plus interview for technical writers is on the 30th, and if we're selected our placement letters will be given to us on the same day. I'm nervous as hell, this is it.
My 17 years of education finally leads up to a 1.5 hours aptitude test plus a 20 minute interview. Will i make it? Am i good enough?

I now look at ALL working people with awe, admiration and respect. I tend to compare myself with them and i ask myself, what the hell have i achieved in my 20 years of life? Would i be able to stand on my own two feet, be financially independent and don a crisp smart looking suit?

What to wear for an interview, what not to say during an interview, making an official email address, writing my resume. This is the REAL world and i cant wait to leave a mark on it.

PS : I'm very VERY scared.

Long Distance Relationships..

I was watching How I Met Your Mother, and i realized that long distance does not work out. I always knew it didn't work out. But the eternal optimist in me didn't agree. Love crosses all barriers, including the geographical one. After today's episode of How I met your mother, I'd say I've been the world's biggest fool.

Some of the dialogues in today's episode, regarding long distance relationships were :
Long distances are meant only for girls, all talk and no sex
It's awful, just awful

Today's show was a wake up call for me, because :

Barney tells Ted and Marshall at the suit shop, that he was in FOUR long distance relationships.

Point to note : long distance equals license to stray and fool around, because its not a REAL relationship in the first place.

Ted and Victoria have been seeing each other for two months, hence making life changing decisions at this point would be absurd. So they decide to break up, but at the airport they change their minds, and solemnly promise to each other that they'd break all odds and try a long distance thing. But Ted's narration right after the promise scene was "But it didn't work out, long distance relationships are awful, just awful"

Point to note : Having a long distance relationship with the most awesomestestest of guy/girl, who you think is your soul mate will KILL the relationship.

Note to Self : Make someone kick the nicely shaped butt (thank you very much Fitness One) if thoughts of long distance relationships arise, however great the guy is.

Post Sickness Day..

I've always had the feeling that something terrible would happen to me, and 4 days back it did. I had the MOTHER of ALL DISEASES.. cough, cold, stomach infection and constant hurling all through the better half of the night. I really thought, i was dying a slow death. I was so weak, i could barely stand up. And i was depressed as hell, partly because my granny had just left town and gone back to Trivandrum, and partly because i hated the feeling, of not having control over my own body.

Today, i feel almost back to normal, the cough-cold is still around, my stomach still hurts, but what really made the difference was going back to college, back to my friends. I missed them all so very much. It felt soo good to be back in that class, to be giggling and talking loudly with each other. I was on a high. No moment can get better than this. Each day, in that class room, is truly a gift.

I was starving, for the past 4 days because, i couldn't digest anything i was eating, i was throwing up like a machine, but today, at college, the 30 minute break we had, i had a bite from all their lunch boxes. And i didn't feel a tinge of nausea.

Right after that, we had an orientation session with Google, they had come to select a Campus Ambassador, someone who would work as a bridge between them and with college. So, all of us filled out the application form, waited half an hour, for the results, and none of our names were read out.

"I'm never going to use Google again" i announced with a broad grin to all my friends, they grinned back and said, "Macha, lets wear shirts henceforth that reads We Hate Google." Loud giggling followed, after which we all parted ways.

So, today may not have been a very spectacular or a fruitful day in any sense, but today was my "I'm alive and kicking again" day.

Thank you ladies, for bringing me back to life again. I love you all so very much, and i will truly miss being a part of class of 2009. I cant believe we have exactly 7 months left. :(

Grudges..

The very word, leaves a very nasty aftertaste in my mouth. I just had the worst conversation with a used to be very good friend. His exact words were, " u are such a prude gayu... god help u change" "i ve been thinking of how to tell u this after each of our conversation... and decided,straight approach best suited u ... that's all.. somebody had to tell u .. sorry it was me"

And a lot of sentences in between which i cant say because I'm too embarrassed and hurt. Now from his point of view, all the above stated is justified because i have been really REALLY mean to him, but not without a reason.

Rewinding back to 5 years ago, the way we met was right out of a fairy tale. He was definitely the sweetest guy, I'd ever met in my 14 years of existence. (Who brings a HUGE bouquet of red roses for a girl you barely know)

Things were fine, till my mean streak popped out (i was a very nasty little girl then, i wonder why) and everything went downhill after that.

He still makes an effort to come and see me whenever he is in town, but i can sense the rift between us now. And this saddens me. One minute you're such good friends with a person and the next you're complete strangers, who meet up just for old times sake.

And when i'm sad, i snap, i snap like an alligator, and he unfortunately is the victim of my line of fire. I'm sorry dude. Really am.

I'm really not that bad a person, my friends stand testimony to that. But hey, go ahead and hate me if you want to, balances out the whole, love-hate circle.

How to loose 10 kgs in 5 months..

Month 1
Goof around the weights and the cardio machines, drive your trainer up the wall, eat like a dog.

Month 2
Continue goofing around, go for a physio session, your physio tells you that you, have lost some weight and a few inches everywhere, ponder over this new found achievement for a few minutes and get on with life.

Month 3
People begin to comment on how good you look, fellow gymmers begin to check you out, a feeling of pride and confidence creeps in.

Month 4
There's no looking back now, eat like a bird, workout like a dog, go for another physio session to boost your already inflated ego.

Month 5
Get a weird stomach infection, which makes you hurl all night, and naturally, you cant eat at all, because food makes you hurl.

In conclusion
Weight loss is cool, if you want to look sexy and want people to check you out. But health wise, your resistance falls and you become a walking talking self obsessed zombie.

Tagged..

Righto.. so Ive been tagged by a certain, psychedelic blogger, so below mentioned are 8 random facts about moi..

1. I love the vanilla ice cream, which is nicely packaged in a white plastic ball, with a blue cap lid. The vanilla never to seems to end inside it and it reminds me of my grandfather and the beach in Trivandrum. I recall vividly eating at least 4 of these things in one go, and cleaning them with sea water and then filling it with sand, and bringing it back home as a memento.

2. On the weekends, after particularly tiresome rigorous and back breaking workouts at the gym, i come back home, giggling and blushing. The world seems like a less evil place, i see colours, birds chirping a happy song, and most importantly, i feel like a goddess. I feel exceptionally beautiful and pretty. The very same workouts on the weekdays though, don't have the same affect on me.

3. Each time I'm about to sneeze, i think of potential people who could be thinking about me, and if my sneeze has been stopped at the same time when i visualised a person in my brain, i presume he/she is thinking about me.

4. I'm shit scared of lizards. Each time one comes into my bedroom, i run behind it, with my bathroom water pusher in hand. I somehow manage to chase it out of my room. And I'm extremely patient, i will run behind the disgusting, smaller dinosaur version, for as long as it takes.

5. I count while brushing my teeth, 50 strokes for each row.

6. I have a lousy memory, when it comes to dates. I forget birthdays of my closest friends, my close cousins, mom, dad. And i have to mention my older sister Sowmia, i forgot her birthday this year. She was in Trivandrum visiting my grandmother. So, i called her on her birthday and spoke to her like i always do, which goes in the lines of "Ay machi.. Wassup di? How are things" and then i hung up. At the fag end of the day, mom asked me, whether i had wished the cousin in question, i felt like a complete ass for forgetting, called her up immediately and wished her, whilst she laughed her heart out and asked "So who reminded you?" I felt very small, because she is one person who is always loaded with gifts galore for me, irrespective of the occasion.

7. I hate 3rd, 4th and 5th standard boys, they're violent, they box each other up, swear at each other and throw movie dialogues around like "Daaaaiiii.. Unna Konnuduve"

8. I love deserted open empty roads, because I'm a speedoholic. Crowded roads are fine as well, i just seek for the gaps in the traffic and i zip by. But, if i have a pillion rider with me, i drive at 30kmph because i feel responsible for the person's life and i would be guilty for life if something happened to them. I have to mention here, my friend Archana who was once sitting behind me, while i was riding, i overtook 2 auto rickshaws which were very close to each other, i drove by in the little gap between the 2 autos, and Archana's toe got jammed in one auto rickshaw's wheel. To date, i feel guilty as hell for hurting her toe.