PLACEMENT EXPERIENCE 3: The dreams ( Adobe and Amdocs)

Let’s continue from where we left in the previous post. Just a week after day zero, I was to appear in the CMAT examination but I couldn’t because of some health issues and which effectively halted my MBA preparation. Although I did appear in other 3 exams, I appeared in all MBA entrance on my instinct, got very miserable score in CAT which might be because of my own inability or as some people say because of CAT 2013 discrepancy and the normalization problem, failed to clear IIFT entrance by 1 mark, but finally ended on a good note by scoring 96.56 percentile in XAT. I didn’t apply for any colleges though because by then I was pretty tired of all these and had no motivation left for any kind of new preparation specially travelling throughout the country for interviews, also I find something missing or lacking, don’t know what it was still it didn’t seem like a perfect time.

I had a really nice time in January and February, January was Accenture training so it was a bit hectic still it was enjoyable and February I focused on things I always wanted to do. I did freelancing projects, read many novels, wrote many poems, and most of all what I always wanted to do , I did nothing, just rested, watched FRIENDS again and let the thoughts ran freely in my mind but took no action. Taking rest once a while is really good, really recharges you.

So now let us come back to our topic. The dream companies, dream company is one where you are allowed to sit despite having other placement offers. Generally, if you are placed in any company then you won’t be allowed to sit in any other company as it would be unfair for both the company and for those students who are yet to be placed but still dream companies give a comparatively higher package and take significantly lesser number of people based on very rigorous process, hence everyone prepares for dream companies properly.

I had the privilege to appear in 2 companies, adobe and Amdocs. I cleared the latter one, but failed in the former one. Let’s start with Adobe, though you might only be using only the free products of Adobe like flash player, shockwave, reader etc but yes Adobe had a significantly large number of licensed products and as such is a very nice company to start your career with, it gives significantly high package and other perks and also life and work culture at adobe is different from mass recruiters. Adobe generally used to come around September in my college, but after lots of confusion whether it will be coming or not it finally came in the last week of March.

ADOBE:

Adobe gave us lots of shock. The written test kept on preopening and in fact there were few people who failed to come back in the town and weren’t able to sit in test. It happened much early then the original date and most of us weren’t done with their preparation by then so it’s always better to take some uncertainty factor into account for tests date, things may get pre-pone or postpone. The test contained 4 sections, 2 were of analytical ability and quantitative ability, third one was technical, these 3 were objective the final section was subjective with 4 c/c++ question where you are suppose to do coding.

The questions weren’t tough, aptitude question were more of paragraph type question rather than being single question type. Technical questions were usual, finding the error or determining the output or whether the program will execute or give compilation error. The 4 theoretical questions were also very basic like generating a random number between a specific range, program for matrix multiplication, conversion of binary into decimal etc. Due to some reason Adobe didn’t change the question for the next batch and all the questions were same. People say only 2 people were selected from 1^st batch and 18^th from the second, I was in the first batch.

Anyway, so my journey ended in the first round but I was there throughout the interview processes of other candidates just to support some friends and as I have already said that even if you don’t get selected you should be there in the other rounds just to get the experience. Anyway, the interviews are much more rigorous and far tougher than any other company. Interview last for more than 1 hour, there are three or four rounds. Some people were rejected after 2 rounds (1 tech and 1 HR) and rest few had an extra or 2 extra technical rounds. Adobe asks different type of questions like how much total memory MS word consumes while running, difference between 32 bit and 64 bit system, difference between FAT and NTFS, logical puzzles, pattern generation program, questions related to JVM etc various programs of which you have to give an efficient answer so better brush up your C/C++ skills and coding skills if you are appearing for adobe interview.  Adobe selected only 3 candidates from our college and at the same day GATE results were announced too which further enhanced the gloomy atmosphere, I tried to cheer my friends up by this poem.

http://kaahiankaahi.blogspot.in/2014/08/blog-post.html

AMDOCS:

Anyway, in less than a week we were supposed to sit for AMDOCS written test. Not much people has the strength and well power left to prepare for it, many didn’t appear and those who did just come without any preparation like me. Amdocs written has 5 sections, quant + some passage round + technical language + programming round + SQL and Unix. Written is followed by 2 interviews, technical and HR and all the 3 rounds are elimination rounds.

First round was easy, I attempted initial 3 sections nicely but the 2 programs that I had to solve were very tough, I had no idea and I wasn’t able to write anything productive at all. Both, SQL and UNIX were never my favorite subject, I had zilch knowledge of Unix and very basic knowledge of SQL, so I attempted this round mostly by common sense and elimination method. As I knew both my programs were wrong so I wasn’t expecting to clear written but I did, guess there weren’t sectional cut off here so it’s always a nice feeling to clear a test when you are not at all expecting to clear it. Even if you are not knowing anything about question still instead of random guesses, look for some hits and apply a little common sense, you would definitely be able to solve few questions.

The interview were postponed again and happened almost 2 weeks after written test between our final exams just a day after control system paper. Barring some few very studious highly sincere no life people every CS guy has screwed the paper so again tired by the exam studies we don’t have much stamina to prepare for interview. As Unix and SQL plays an important part in Amdocs and I wasn’t having much time to prepare them I downloaded lots of videos and PPT, watch them throughout the night and made a word document to revise all the commands and theoretical concepts so that I can revise it on the interview day. Transiting to PPTs and videos is always a good option if you don’t have enough time for preparation and it’s actually a nice way to learn.

The technical interview started with programming only. I was asked to make 3 programs, to find length of a string, to reverse a string and to check whether a string is palindrome or not. Rest followed by simple SQL questions like JOINs and all and lastly a few basic UNIX commands. The HR round mostly focused on whether you would be flexible enough to work on a 24*7 schedule ( Yes I am facing that now :P ) and she was quite impressed by my role in the college level startup I was part of, so yes having a diversified profile indeed helps, rest it was just normal question. Others follow the same league, simple programs + basic HR questions. A few people who were the high scorer in the written test, their interviews were taken by a director, rest of us have our interviews by managers. My interview ended around 1 PM, we waited around 11 PM before the results were announced. I got in along with 26 other candidates, my joining was on 26^th May, and since then I am having my new life at Amdocs. Quite different work culture here with lots of free and subsidized food which is very nice. Free snacks, sandwiches and fruits twice a day. Flexible working hours, no formals, access to all the social networking sites. So new life, new adventures, new experiments, new challenges, it’s a new world it’s a new start.

That was it from the placement side; I hope you enjoyed all the posts. All the best to everyone who is appearing for recruitment processes. Always remember, no recruitment process can tell your potential or judge you correctly so never be down because of few failures, it’s a big world , just look for the perfect place you will fit in, keep trying and you will definitely make it to somewhere really nice in your life. 

PLACEMENT EXPERIENCE 2: The mass recruiters ( Accenture, Infosys, Wipro)

Last year, almost at the same time, I had a lot to thought to. I had to continue my MBA entrance preparation, I didn’t have any job offers yet and by looking at the way I was rejected on both occasions I had a lot to ponder over. Day zero was approaching soon, where you are allowed to sit in multiple companies. In my case, I had to try my luck in Accenture, Infosys, and Wipro. It was a tough time, dilemmas were hard and there was always a state of conflict in mind for which way to choose. On one hand, I could have continued with my MBA preparation and relied solely on luck for day zero, on the other I could have devoted few precious and crucial moments from my MBA preparation time to day zero preparation. Finally I decided to go for more secure option and prepare for day zero first, as it would be ok not to get into a good b school but getting out unemployed would be far tougher.

I was planning to devise a strategy that could work for both the MBA preparation and placements and I guess I planned for more than 20 days and ended up with nothing, riding on 2 boats, sinking again and again and somehow still manage to continue the journey. When the final dates were announced for day zero, I made my mind to switch to the technical studies again. The ‘Let us C’ book I bought in 10^th standard was opened again, Sumita Arora of 12^th class for C++ was also searched, then we have our reference books for BE subjects and all the PPTs and PDFs. It’s like you have to study entire engineering in a week and you don’t know how to start. If you ask your seniors, all they will tell you if it is your day then you will crack it and that further confuses you as instead of a luck factor you are searching more for a set formulae which you can follow to assure your success.

ACCENTURE:

Accenture is always the most preferred company in my college and cracking it is comparatively easy as it always takes the major chunk. Another relief was that all those who got above 65% in 10^th, 12^th and graduation have to appear in only 1 interview, rest people followed a more rigorous procedure of clearing a written first and then appearing for separate technical and HR round.

Along with resumes and mark sheets it’s always better keep the originals of all your identity proofs and their photocopies. It’s better to apply for passports and have them with you though they are not necessary still you have to apply for them sooner or later so better done before. Interview days are more like war preparation. You iron your formals a day before, search for a good tie, search for a friend who makes the perfect knot for the tie, polish your shoes, shave and cut your hairs. You mug up many important things that you have never thought about like “about yourself”, “ your strength and weakness” and while preparing lots of funny answers come into your mind but you try to focus on interview preparation. You receive lots of ‘all the best” messages and when you finally arrive all you can see is plain and tensed faces of many other people wandering here and there with their folders and resumes. All the modern tip top girls are well dressed in suits and all the cool dudes look decent and sober. Formals become such a fascinating things for college students, that they start taking random pictures of one another and selfies to later update it on facebook and whatsapp.

 

You can feel your heart ticking when people are called for their interviews and those who come back are chased by so many; at times the person gets fed up by telling same things again and again to many people. Anyway it’s always a good practice to ask others what they were asked as many questions are repeated and you will have an idea about what kind of questions are asked and you can discuss answers with other people so just in case even if you are not knowing anything you would have an idea on what to reply on that. Some people make really big notes about common questions asked in interviews but I would advise against it. I would rather say prepare bullets of important point as in this manner you would be able to cover all the important points you want to answer and you would be able to speak in more interactive and convincing way instead of trying to remember the big answers you have written.

The waiting time is like going through ages, you keep on reviewing your resumes and documents. You check whether you are looking perfect or not. You take deep breaths and think about the worse that can happen; even the atheists start praying for a while. The terrifying experience of others daunts you and you are already nervous, there is sweat on even the pores of your fingertips. You put yourself into an imaginary interview trying to answer all the questions nicely. I guess 10^th Sept was the day we gave our Accenture interviews.

Students were getting call in order of their college aggregate. My name was supposed to come around 1 PM, indeed it was called to come out of the hall but then not for the interviews. Many like me were stuck, and we had no idea what is going on then we found out that our forms have been lost. So, after some ‘hungama’ we had our forms and then lunch time was called. So we got to wait for 1 hour, this 3 hours delay indeed made my mind a little unstable, still as the moment arrived I calmed myself. Finally my name was called, I went in the room greeted the gentlemen sitting over there who would decide my fate today.

They asked normal questions like,” how are you feeling”, and I replied normally like excited with a little ornamentation like “This is the day we wait for throughout our college life and I am happy to be part of it now” making sure I won’t cross the over smart line. They asked me “Why Accenture”, I said the same conventional answers “It is a big brand , growth perspectives are nice and stuff” with a little bit of my inputs like “ I talked to seniors and they are very happy in Accenture”. The fellow asked to elaborate seniors’ experiences, now here is the catch I didn’t know any detailed story so I used my mind at the time, made up 2 stories of praising Accenture and the interviewers were happy. Then there were questions on my project, easy one though.

I think in every interview there comes a deciding point where you can assure your selection. It would definitely pop up and you got to realize it. My deciding point came when the technical person asked “what if I gave you a task and you are not able to solve it, there are no solutions in book or internet” what would you do then? I gave some general answers like “would ask seniors or would ask you “and he kept on cutting every point like “I am not picking your phone, I am on vacation and all”. Finally, I relaxed for a while, took some time to thought and replied “ I would implement a partial design making sure all the important requirements are covered and rest when you would be back I would ask you to help me to complete it. He seemed satisfied and I was relieved that at last I had one normal interview in my life. They ask you questions like whether there would be location issues or timing issues and for a safer site it’s better to reply that you would work anywhere for whatever time.

If they ask you “Any questions for us”, then do ask questions that are not stupid or very general. Just explore the company’s site or search on net and come up with a good question that should look like general and personal like “I am good at this and this technology so whether I could get projects on this”, “I am good at poetry and singing so will this company provide any platform for this”, and never ask questions like “What you think about me or how well the interview went”. Keep calm, stay smiling, don’t get nervous, they will try to make you nervous; they might bombard you with multiple useless questions still think calmly and come up with a logical answer.

INFOSYS:

We didn’t have much time to speculate about our Accenture results as we have to be ready for INFOSYS. I guess it came on 13^th September I don’t remember exactly. Now there is no such privilege of direct interview in Infosys, everybody has to clear the written test. The good thing is they recruit a major chunk of all the written selected candidates so it plays a key role.

Infosys has a very annoying online form that we have to fill first. It works on only internet explorer and it searches into database after every entry you are filling so it takes at least 2/3 hours to fill that big annoying form and it would be advisable to use a very fast internet connection for it else you would be stuck somewhere in between and have to start afresh.

Infosys written test is of very good level to be very honest. It’s not as easy as generally written tests are. You would definitely require some practice and you would definitely need to work on your speed if you want to clear this test. If you do not have an MBA preparation background then it would be better to have at least a week’s preparation to be on safer side instead of playing with luck. Many good candidates were eliminated in the written test which seriously shook their confidence so I would suggest not to take it lightly.

Those who clear written go for HR+technical round. HR happens first, one thing I would like to say is that I had my best interview experience with Infosys. The interviewers are very polite and friendly and they really treat you very nice and make you as much comfortable as you can. HRs was very experienced, everyone was 45+ and they all talked very decently. The HR person started with saying “It must be really hot and uncomfortable for you people outside”, it’s good to see someone is empathizing with our condition.

After the usual questions, he came to my hobbies which he has seen from the resume. We started talking about chess and he asked me how to teach a person chess who knows nothing about it. I started with very basic steps and the main purpose of the game and then gradually upgrade of that person to higher tricks and allowing him to retain what he has learned. Then he asked me 3 strategies to win the game in few steps which I knew luckily. Then we started talking about few of the skits I narrated, directed or took part of. It was enjoyable as hobbies are something fun to explain and the interview becomes very comfortable.

After the HR, it was time for the technical interview. The technical person scanned the form we had filled and also he had the rough sheet that I had used for the written test. He pointed to some rough work and asked me the question, luckily that question screwed my mind a lot and I read that multiple time during the test so I was able to recite it as it is, then he asked few more questions of test which also I was able to tell him. Then he came to my project, which was a profiler collecting statistics for JAVA programs and displaying them as charts. He asked me what’s the use of this, I replied we can tell whether a program will run on a particular system or not and how well it will run, still he wasn’t satisfied. He asked the same question in a more complicated way, I replied taking a little more technical perspective that if the profiler is saying you require 512 mb ram and u are having only 256 then you can’t run that program on that system and I took an example of GTA SAN ANDRES game which recommends a minimum 512 MB of RAM, he asked how to resolve the issue then now if we now the problem. I replied “ We can compromise on some other parameters to make it run at least like in SAN ANDRES we can reduce the resolution and then we can run it on 256 MB RAM too”, and bam he was satisfied only a 2 minute technical session and all we discussed later was “ who could be a better prime minister, Narendra modi or Shivraj Singh Chouhan”.

He gave lots of points against Modi which I gradually and patiently countered. At the end he said by the way I want to tell you that I am a die hard Modi fan, I said “Yes I know, that wasn’t hard to guess”. He told me that I can leave now but as soon as I reached the exit he called my name again “Mayank, come here, one last question for you”. He asked me if I have to choose what will I pick “Accenture or Wipro”. Now, it was really a trick question and I was almost about to spit out my gut feeling but suddenly my brain said “Halt, stop , thamba ! There is some trick in the question, why he asked it explicitely”. I then replied “Given any choice, I will choose Infosys but if the choice is between Accenture and wipro then I will choose…( Again I paused a little thought for a while and then replied) Wipro”.

“Why Wipro” He asked clearing catching my bluff. I replied because I would like to work for an Indian company first and secondly Accenture gives joining very early but I would like to take rest for a while after college, again Infosys is the best which generally gives its joining around October and Wipro in January (That was the trend that time). Now, the trick is whatever the obvious or logical answer may be, whenever you sit into an interview, all you got to show is that you are interested in only that company only and would choose it at any other cost and won’t prefer any other company. I left again and again he called me at exit “ MAYANK” , “yes sir” I replied, “ Enjoy your rest of the day”, he said with a very teasing kind of tone and I understood what he meant.

WIPRO: Wipro gave a last minute shock, earlier everyone with 75+ aggregate had to sit for direct interview but then they increased it to 79+ something at the last moment. So we all prepared for the written test too, it was an adaptive test with 5 sectional and there was a minimum attempt range decide for every section so one has to manage time pretty well, also once attempted you can’t go back to the previous question. Many who failed to clear Infosys written test cleared this once and many who got through Infosys didn’t make it here.

My wipro interview will remain something I am personally proud of because it was one interview I think I cleared because of sheer presence of mind and common sense instead of knowledge. It was a 100% technical interview, not even a single HR question unlike others who were having HR weightage greater than technical. I was asked to make programs of Linked List, trees and other data structures which by that time I had forgotten. But I somehow recollected the 2^nd year memories, started with algorithm and with the help of interviewer himself made many new logics for all the programs which really impressed him. So again that is one very crucial thing, unless you are asked a very specific question and you have no clue never reply “I don’t know”. You have to find a way to attempt, it may be very odd or abstract way but still somehow you have to approach the problem given and try and give a satisfactory answer because many a times they are not at all looking for answers all they want to see is how you will approach a problem that you don’t have much clue about.

I was asked all the forms of normalization of a database in the end and I got stuck at the 4^th one. The interviewer asked “What happened”. I said “I don’t remember it is Boyce Code or Backnus Normas”. He had a huge laugh then and asked me “When did you study database”. I said “6th sem” . “What sem is now “. “ I replied “7^th sem”. He again laughed and said “You forgot it pretty soon. I said “Database is not really one of my strongest subjects”. Again it’s ok to accept your flaws within a permissible limit, because even the interviewers know that you are but human and you can’t know it all. “Any question for me”, He said in the end. After thinking for almost 30 seconds I said no. He again laughed and asked “Why no”. I replied “Because I am very tired and completely blank right now”. He told that I can leave now.

I wasn’t expecting to clear Wipro interview, Accenture and Infosys I was but not at all wipro. There was a second round also and the news was that those who were called for the 2^nd round are rejected. Anyway the judgment day was 17^th Sept, we all gathered in our college hall. Individual names were announced for every company and it was a relieving moment to hear my name in the Accenture list, followed by Infosys and surprisingly in Wipro. A perfect 3 on 3, I remember earlier we used to think that we won’t take placement from mass recruiters and as they take a huge chunk they are easy to crack but once you go through it you know they are not. There are lots of factors and variable and a single little silly mistake can really cost you a lot. You have to be very careful yet calm at each step.

The worst thing about placement is that most of us can’t enjoy if you succeeded because there are many who were deserving, even more deserving and talented than you who didn’t make it. You have to be with there with your friends and make sure that they won’t lose themselves and it’s not the end of the world. Many hearts are broken after the placement time because most of the people have their eye on mass recruiters and all in all one become very mature after going through it. There are people who updates their status as “The harder I work, the luckier I get”, well hard work indeed pays of but surely luck has its role in life too and that you can understand only when you get through something you were not at all expecting or you didn’t make it to something you thought you were the most deserving person to get to.

In a nut shell, good marks would certainly makes a good impression but they are no sure shot gurantee of success so don’t run too much behind college marks instead focus on developing a sound technical knowledge. Communication skills, huge benefit in mass recruiters, if you are able to speak then even if you have zilch technical knowledge, there is high probability you would get selected. Extracurriculars, if you don’t have then there is no disadvantage but if you are having then surely you can divert your interview to them at any time and make a better impression.It's a good think to understand the name of the meaning of every company, their logo, their tag line, and the names of people who are at key positions. For more details you can refer to this link : http://mayankviews.blogspot.in/2014/07/placement-guide-for-freshers.html

Even those who aren’t allowed to sit in the placements should stay with their process throughout as there is a lot to learn and experience on such occasions. It’s one experience of life you should never miss and you should be there to cheer up your friends. It’s a day long process, and the participants are really tired, a little help at that time would really strengthen their moral and cheer up their spirits. Anyway, that was day zero, I would wind up the series with the dream companies, Adobe which I didn’t make it and Amdocs where I am presently working.

PS: Shortly after day zero, I became ill and had to quit my MBA preparation: P :P

PLACEMENT EXPERIENCE 1: The downfalls ( CSC COIN and MU SIGMA)

Last year, at the same time I was searching for individual placement experiences to get a better insight of all the companies and their recruitment process. I talked to many seniors and many other people already placed for their experiences. It’s quite a hectic process to search placement experiences on the internet and most of the time you do not get what you are trying to search, hence I thought to write up all my experiences in a series of posts to help the juniors and other aspirants. I have already posted a generalized procedure to approach the placement process. Now I will share my experiences, earlier I wanted to write about only those which I cracked but then I thought it would be better to write all the experiences as it will help others to pick out my mistakes or things I shouldn’t have done and device a better approach.

A brief summary, I sat in total 6 recruitment process, got select in 4 and rejected in 2. I also sat in CSC Coin Project training process back in third year where I got eliminate in the last round. This post will be having the experiences of 2 rejections i.e. CSC coin and Mu Sigma because it’s better to learn from a failure’s point of view also after all a successful one can teach you what to do and a failure can tell you what not to do and at times the don’ts are more crucial then the do’s.

I have already dedicated an entire blog post to CSC, so I won’t go into much depth on this. You can refer to this post for that http://mayankviews.blogspot.in/2013/01/csc-rejection-and-beyond.html All I could say now, after almost one and a half year of that event is that rejection was necessary for me. In fact, everyone must go through one harsh professional rejection in life whether because of their own fault or by some other reason but rejections are must. They make you feel good about yourself once you are over them. They not only help you to explore your weakness but also your strength and you don’t feel nervous, scared, insecure ever again, once you are over with a harsh rejection. In retrospect, if I have to give that interview again after clearing the written, I would have answered in the same way, with the same attitude. At the end of the day, what matters is to remain honest and find a place for yourself instead of adjusting into every place for the sake of security. Still, what I think I shouldn’t have done to get rejected would be not to be over expressive. I was very comfortable in that interview and too much of casual attitude might go against you. I was showing real desperation and projecting myself as very apt candidate that could have been avoided. It’s better to act a little normal and play safe when majority is going to get select and few are going to reject. Don’t try to show yourself that you are different and better, just play it normal and cool and you would make to the final list. I was 1 of the 24 among 350+, but not 1 of the 20 among 24 so keep in mind how many are going to select and how many are going to reject and decide your strategy and attitude likewise.

Now, coming to MU SIGMA, it was one company I wasn’t much attached to or aiming die hard to clear it, though clearing it might have helped me in pursuing my other aspirations but still I have learnt not to get attached to things after my CSC experience so I had a neutral attitude for it. Before the official process, we were supposed to fill a big form by signing in from our Facebook or LinkedIn account. It’s better to create a LinkedIn account and complete your profile properly as it’s a more formal approach. The form was though very informal and contained questions like 3 fav movies, 3 fav novels, one event that changed your life, your strength, your weakness etc. You were also supposed to nominate one other person (I was glad 4 people nominated me :P ). Many people find the novel writing question very hard, in fact I filled their form and explained the summaries of 3 novels to them. So if you are aiming MU SIGMA, it’s better to read 3 small novels just in case this question is repeated. I would recommend ‘who moved my cheese’, ‘ jonathan seagull livingstone’, ‘1984’, ‘animal farm’,’ to kill a mocking bird’, ‘Anne Frank’ etc as they are short and simple.

 The process started with a written test I remember. I think there were 20 questions over all and I had attempted only 16. It was a mixture of aptitude (15) + technical (5). I wasn’t sure about whether I have correctly attempted all or not so I was little uncertain about clearing the written. My friend on the other hand had attempted all 20, there were many with more attempts than me so it was advisable not to be confident of clearing written test. The results came around late night and were shocking. Many students who were good in both aptitude and technical and had already cleared GRE or performing well in MBA mock tests or GATE test series didn’t make it to the next round. One more conclusive proof about uncertainties of placement when you see people much more hard working and better prepared than you not making the cut.

Next round was in IPS academy, a college little bit away from the city and we had to reach there by 8 am. The night before was hectic and busy, we were told to bring 4 xerox of all our certificates and most of the photocopy shops were about to close at that time so quite a running for everyone. Thus it’s always advisable to keep at least 3 sets of copies of all your certificates and your latest resume ready so there won’t be any last time rush. Also keep a soft copy of your resume in your draft just in case you need to edit/print or mail it on the spot. Those who cleared written slept in nervousness, those who didn’t sleep in sadness. The next morning started quite early for many as most of us were not able to sleep. We all reached to the campus around 7:30 waited for almost 3 hours when the PPT started and immediately the next round began. I don’t remember the exact order though.

ROUND 1: It was video synthesis round. In this round, a video clip is shown to you and you are suppose to write what you learned or understand from that clip instead of what was shown. We were shown a clip from the movie GANDHI, then we were suppose to sum up the experience in few lines ( there were 3 sets of 3 lines each as far as I remember). There are no subtitles so you got to listen very carefully. It’s better to make it a practice by not using subtitles whenever watching anything in English. Also, better to practice beforehand by writing concise and short statement which can fully represent the meaning of an entire event as there would be very limited space, you won’t be able to write more than 6/7 words per line depending on the size of your writing so better to practice beforehand instead of doing some mistake later.

ROUND 2: It was a case study round of some android app, various parameters and past data was given and you were supposed to add your own insights and ideas. The important thing is you always need to think from business point of view in such rounds and your ideas should be something that can bring impact on a larger mass. More different certainly would be more better, don’t write something you have already heard or read somewhere, better formulate something by your own so that it would be unique and you would be able to justify it later.

ROUND 3: It was a GD round. We were given the topic “whether mobile phone should be banned in college and school campus or not”. Before that we were asked to suggest a topic, I suggested “ women’s reservation bill in parliament” but the co-coordinator didn’t approve it as he wanted something simple as the topic. Most of the people were in favor of mobile phones except 2 people I guess. So, in the words of the coordinator himself the GD was lacking aggression. It’s a better approach to not go with majority at times as you would have more visibility. It’s better to listen first, decide your approach and then speak and be very patient but make sure you have raised your points time to time at regular intervals. Many people who weren’t able to speak were later given chance to sum up the entire conversation and most of these people made it to the next round. Nowadays, even if you are not able to speak, the coordinators give all those people a chance in the end.

On a personal note, I was suppose to clear this round with ease but I was eliminated after this round ( I wasn’t surprised :P ). I didn’t like the fish market that was getting created again and again and the fact that some people were not at all getting chance to speak. I proposed a way of speaking turn by turn and complete at least one circle so that everyone would get a chance to speak. The coordinator didn’t like my approach of trying to regulate the process perhaps he liked the fish market better. So it didn’t come as a surprise to me when I was not selected unlike others. Funny thing, many who got selected always thanks me that I am the reason they got selected and many who didn’t blame me that because of me they didn’t get selected . I would like to apologize to those people who think that I came in their way of selection. Anyway, the crux of the matter is if you want to be on the safe side, don’t pull any stunt like I did, just focus on speaking on the topic given and you would be fine. Besides, there is no such thing as those who can speak better or fluent will crack the GD round and those who are not good in communication skills can’t. There were many people who were exceptionally good in speaking but didn’t clear this round while many who doubted their abilities made it. So it’s a good thing not to go with a pre-occupied mind in any placement process as your performance at the spot matters instead of your theoretical capabilities, so never be overconfident or under confident.

As I was eliminated in this round, my personal experience stops here. My friends participated in the next rounds. There were 2 rounds and interview of every person varied. Some were asked questions about their project while some were asked questions about their extracurricular. Some interview lasted for 50 mins while some ended only in 5 mins. It’s a good practice to solve many puzzles or at least device an approach to solve them and able to express it for a company like MU SIGMA as they lay more stress on approach than answer. It’s further better to explore the company’s site and their vision and future plans so that you can justify your interest in the company. Also learn about the designation that you are getting so that you can justify how you would fit in the role perfectly. Total 21 people were selected from my college and I along with my friend order 2 cheese burst pizza to celebrate the failure of 2 of the most hyped personalities for this company and we both updated our status as “NOT PLACED IN MU SIGMA”.

I do not mean to flaunt, all I am saying is it’s better to have a sporty and live spirit after rejection. It’s a part of life, no matter whether you were deserving or not. I have seen people losing their faith and confidence after this process. I have seen people taking months to come out of this failure as it was their first one. I have seen people putting their entire future on stake and doubting each and every of their capability afterwards. Many who didn’t make it to MU SIGMA made it to other good companies, or to good PG colleges. The important thing is trying, learning, observing, making a note of weakness and faults, improving them, and with the same or more enthusiasm facing the next opportunity. Don’t lose hope is the moral of the story.

That’s all folks. I would write about the day zero experience i.e. (Accenture, Infosys and wipro in the next post where I made it to all the 3 companies). Questions, queries and feedbacks are welcome in the comment box.

IT world in 70s style

Our story starts with Vijay again. Vijay didn’t have to polish shoes in the childhood to make earning; Vijay’s life was much more brutal and tough. He had to go to school daily, and struggle for marks. Vijay’s life was tragic but he didn’t have much choice and after school he had to go to college to pursue an engineering degree. Those 4 years were very hard for him and he struggled to maintain a good degree because of his principles. Vijay didn’t like sycophancy and running behind teachers for marks, “ Mein feke hue marks nahi leta” his ideology always landed him bad sessionals still Vijay had an attitude and he was respected for that.

After completing his engineering, Vijay had no choice other than to do what every contemporary person was doing, a job in IT world.   Desk no. 786, where he used to work with his other mates and live a normal life, Vijay has only one dream left now, to make his brother Ravi a manager. Vijay worked hard to educate Ravi and get him an MBA degree. MBA is an expensive thing after all but for Vijay his brother’s dream was far more important than any other thing in life.

Vijay’s family used to go to a temple once in a while but Vijay never went inside, neither he took Prasad since the day he failed to crack IIT JEE exam, like many other people it came as a big blow to his belief and he stopped praying for any other thing from god as there wasn’t anything worth praying for if you fail in JEE. Ravi daily used to visit temple though as he got a seat in a good MBA College and that is not possible without god’s divine hand in India.

Life was going on normally until one day a new joiner was called on weekend. He was a new joiner; he didn’t understand the rule of this world. For him, weekend was a holiday time, something that should be spent on home or with family. So he revolted against his team lead Peter, Peter didn’t like it, not one bit.

Next day, Peter called him in his Cabin. He gave the same points, which were logical, but didn’t have any effect on the tin chest of Peter. All he can mutter was, “Weekend par kyu aau, mein yaha weekend par kam karne thode na aaya hu, ghar jaunga, 2 behene hai unke sath time spend karunga “  

Peter laughed a sarcastic smile and said “ Aisa karo, fir 2 din kya, puri life hi family ke sath spend karo, kal se office aane ki jarurat nahi hai, you are fired”.

“ Chup chap weekend par kam karne aa jata to kya hota, 5 sal se kam kar raha hu mein yaha par, aaj tak kabhi nahi dekha ki koi worker weekend par kaam karne se mana kare, said one of the old worker Rahim. But Vijay’s mind was pondering over something else; he was startled by the whole experience and the unfairness of the life on the common worker. Vijay was pensive and introspecting and finally he made a decision.

“ Jo 5 baras mein nahi hua wo ab hoga Rahim, agle hafte  ek aur worker weekend  par aane se mana karega”, Vijay said taking a sip of the free coffee from the coffee machine.

So next time when there were issues on weekend and Vijay was called, he didn’t show up and bluntly denied. This infuriated Peter, because he knew that if 1 worker has denied showing up on weekend then next 2 won’t show up, next week 4 won’t show up and eventually every worker would have guts to refuse coming up on weekend. Peter tried to find Vijay but couldn’t find him on his desk but he was surprised to see him in his own cabin.

“ Aap mujhe har jagah dhundh rahe the, aur mein aapka yaha par intejar kar raha tha”, said Vijay in an defiant tone.

“Have a seat”, said Vijay kicking a chair in front of his team lead. He stood up, locked the door and said that I would exit from this door only when you would ask me to exit. By that time, Peter has already called many other team leads, managers and directors for a group attack but our hero was prepared. What followed was a single man fight vs. a collective legacy of unfairness and domination which hitherto was unbeatable but today was different. As Vijay has maintained a very nice dependency on their project, Vijay knew he can’t be sacked and as he was not bothered about appreciation, escalation or bad reviews, he argued fiercely putting every point of a normal worker with sheer logic that can’t be denied by the management. Vijay came out of the door triumph and was cheered by his entire fellow workers.

However, Vijay faced a strong oppose from his mother back at home who was pretty unhappy by his rebel instincts.

“ Mein puchti hu, tujhe kya jarurat thi un logo ke muh lagne ki, wo GL log hai, teri rating down kar sakte the, promotion rok sakte the, site opportunity chin sakte the”, she said in angry voice.

“ To tum kya chahti ho ki mein muh chuppa kar shift kar jata” !!

A loud thunderclap sound followed by series of uncontrolled slaps until Ravi came between and took her mother away. She said in crying voice “ Unhone jo bhi kiya, tum logo ke liye kiya”

Vijay’s father possessed both the aggression of Vijay and calmness of Ravi at the same time. He stood up for the rights of workers. In every team meeting he used to raise the issue of rating, promotion, late night shift with no pays, weekend support. He used to submit an honest feedback of the management. He used to talk about team lead to manager and about manager to director. He was respected by his colleagues and was the only ray of hope against injustice.

One day he was called by the director. Vijay and Ravi were very young that time. The director told him that there are company’s policies by which they can sack him without any compensation and it would ruin Vijay’s and Ravi’s career as there are fees to be paid for school. Director warned him to stop all the anti management activities and gossip and not to create any hope among employee. The man got scared and accepted all the conditions. He knew he had betrayed his colleagues and he can’t face them any more so he decided to shift from the company and fled away without showing his face to anyone ever.

Next day in office, Vijay was called by a strange person. “ Ai tum, tumko manager sahab bula rahe hai”. The person led Vijay to another floor of his building but Vijay remained outside the cabin.

“ Tumhara hi naam Vijay hai, tumne hi Sawant ke GL ki publically uda di”, said the other person rolling his chair.

“ Kaun Sawant”, Vijay asked having no clue at all.

“ Tumhara manager, come inside, don’t be afraid, think of me as a friend. Vijay came inside.

“ Dawar, My name is Dawar; Weekend par workers ko bulane ke alawa bhi Sawant ke bahut sare dusre dhandhe hai, like fresher se starting mein late tak  kaam karwana, worker ko COMP OFF na dena, dusre projects se code churana, dusre managers ke acche projects hathiya lena”

“ Aur yaha se aapki aur Sawant ki dushmani chalu hoti hai”, Vijay said in a grave tone.

“Yes, I have heard about the stories of how you argued with the management, I need men who could bring better projects to me, I would shift you into my team as a GL, and you would work for me from now onwords if you agree.

Once joining Dawar’s team as a GL, Vijay quickly rose to fame and power. He did all kinds of code snatching, code stealing, code duplicating. He also engaged several new workers on weekend. He started eating their bonuses. He also started taking their credits by mailing their work under his name. He stole all the on-site opportunities and never let any other one to have a single on site opportunity. Due to his sheer arguing power and fearful image, all the good projects started coming under Dawar’s and they were able to earn more and more. They got promotions and appraisal pretty soon. Vijay bought a big flat on a large down payment and few EMIs and a car too.

 Meanwhile Ravi completed his MBA and got a job as a HR person in the same company as of Vijay’s. There were frequent unknown complains about Vijay’s behavior and ethics and Ravi was asked to review those complains. Ravi was a man of ethics and moral and although he knew that the world was unfair to Vijay but still he can’t approve his acts either, he decided to take a tough stand against it.

“ Bhai, aaj jin GLs ki complaint list aayi hai jo bonus khate hai aur code chori and projects hathiyate hai, unmein se ek naam tumhara bhi hai, you have to sign on this paper”, said Ravi in a grave tone.

“ What is written in this paper ?”, asked Vijay who had no clue about the paper.

“Is paper mein likha hai ki ab se jab tak 3 juniors site par nahi chale jate, tum site par nahi jaoge”, said Ravi with determination.

“Ravi, you remember how many nights we spent in our childhood awake and preparing for IIT JEE “

“ You are signing or not”

“Do you remember, mother has taken education loan for your MBA preparation on 14% interest”

“ You are signing or not”

“Do you remember every single taunt when we were rejected in campus placements.”

“BHAIIIII, tum sign karte ho ya nahi”, shouted Ravi.

“Haan mein sign karunga , mein jarur sign karunga

Lekin mein sabse pahle sign nahi karunga

Mein akele sign nahi karunga

Pahle us teacher ke sign lao jisne mujhe kam sessionals diye aur meri degree 75 ki nahi bani

Pahle us GL ke sign lao jisne weekend par bula kar comp off nahi diya aur on site opportunity bhi kha li

Pahle us manager ke sign lao jisne mera bonus kha lia aur appraisal nahi diya

Us ladki ke sign lao jo ye kah kar mujhe chor kar chale gayi kit um to weekends par bhi kam karte ho aur salary itni low hai, na time de paoge na paisa

Pahle in sabke sign lao fir mein jarur sign karunga”

“Bhai, dusro ke injustices ginane se tumhare khud ke injustices kam nahi ho jate, dusro ke ethical faults ginane se tumhare apne unethical work kam nahi ho jate ye ek sacchai hai, aur ye sacchai apan dono ke beech wall ban kar khadi hui hai, wall choro firewall ban kar khadi hui hai, aur jab tak ye wall hamare bich majud hai, mein is ghar mein nahi rah sakta, chalo MAA.

“Maa nahi jayegi, maa mujhse bahut pyar karti hai”

“Maa jayegi”

“Aisa mat bolo maa, maine job tumhare liye hi kiya hai”

“ Itna bada coder ban gaya hai ab tu, par dhyan se sun le, coder kitni bhi badi post par pahuch jaye, MBA wale se piche hi rahega, chal Ravi”.

The event really made Vijay alone; He decided to talk to Ravi once again.Vijay and Ravi met at their old house again below the bridge.

“ I want to ask first I am talking to a brother or an HR manager first”, Vijay said.

“Till a brother is talking, a brother is listening, when an unethical GL would start talking, a responsible HR would start listening. It’s always about morals and ideals bhai”.

“ What ideals and morals you are talking about, which can’t provide a worker offs at weekends, or site opportunities or extra pay for working late”, Vijay said angrily. Ravi remained silent.

“ Dekh rahe ho ye bridge, yahi se hum dono ne safar chalu kia tha, aaj mere pas sub-ordinates hai, projects hai, on-site opportunities hai, manager ka blind trust hai, kya hai tumhare pas ? “ Vijay shouted on Ravi.

“Bhai, mere paas, mere paas, HR mein sundar ladkiya hai, jo tum technical walo ko kabhi nasib nahi hoti”

This bitter truth infuriated Vijay to his core. He left from there angrily. Ravi kept on tightening things for Vijay. Meanwhile Sawant also had an eye on Vijay’s activities. Things were getting bad day by day for him, as he was completely alone in his struggle. Sawant somehow had an upper hand in the politics and he managed to relocate Dawar to some other city. Now Vijay was completely alone and he decided to punish Sawant for all his wrong doings. Vijay decided that if he is going down he will take Sawant with him. He wrote a lengthy mail to vice president of the company describing all the events and wrong doings of Sawant. As expected nothing happened, the VP didn’t even reply to him, perhaps he didn’t even check the mail. Then he decided to drop a mail to the HR head but he god no response from there too. So Vijay did what no one expected him to do, not even he himself though every employee once in a while always thought about doing it to their manager. He hacked Sawant’s account and wrote an abusive mail to the CEO of the company saying that the company is shit and he deserves better and he should be made CEO immediately. Sawant was soon sacked, vanished as if he never existed.

But Ravi was still behind his tail. Vijay got a ‘karan batao’ notice that day from the HR department. Vijay tired and frustrated went with that letter to the temple he left visiting long time back and found his mother there. His mother immediately noticed the frustration and tension on his face.

“Vijay, what happened, kya ho gaya tujhe”, She exclaimed.

“Maa, thak gaya hu mein maa system se ladte ladte, kabhi weekend par bulaya jata hu, to kabhi weekend par bulane par gali khata hu, kabhi GL ki chamchagiri karta tha, aaj dusro ki chamchagiri sahta hu, kutte jaisi halat ho gayi hai mein , no Sunday, saato din kutte ka kutta hi rahta hu, thak gaya hu mein maa, is jindagi se, mein ye jindagi chor kar jar aha hu.

“Vijay, aisi baat na kar mere bête”

“Maa, tension na le, mein mar nahi raha, marna hota to usi din mar jata jis din promotion mein meri rating kam hui thi, mein job chorne ka faisla le chukka hu.

“VIJAY, ye tu kya kar raha hai, job nahi karega to teri EMI ki kist kaise bharega tu, teri shadi kaise hogi, future ke liye paisa kaise jama hoga, bank credit card chin legi, thoda to soch Vijay.

“Nahi ma, is jillat bhari free ki coffee se khud ke paiso ki ek cut chai acchi, yaha ke subsidized food se dal roti hi acchi, maine faisla kar liya hai maa, mein paav bhaji ka thela kholuga, apni marji se aaunga apni marji se aaunga, rate bhi meri marji se decide hoga aur best thing would be ki mujhe koi order dene wala nahi hoga waha par.

Vijay established his PAAV BHAJI thela pretty well, and get it pretty famous as along with the paav bhaji thela he also used to sell navratan oil there for tension, Dairy Milk for kuch mitha ho jaye, Himami fast relief for all those who got back pain by sitting for very long time, and even Dabur Hajmola if someone has eaten lots of extra Paavs.

“I love my life, there is freedom here, no one to tell me when to come, when to go, what to do, what not to do” thought Vijay.

Suddenly a harsh voice broke his series of thought.

“10 minute pahle bola tha 2 Paav lagane ko, sunai nahi deta kya, jaldi karo ab”…………………

The Unforgettable Kishore...

It was such a delight to see the beautiful doodle of Kishore Kumar on Google today as a gesture of respect on his birthday. Kishore Kumar, the prodigy, the genius, the person who god blessed with multiple gifts and someone who left such a strong impression on the world that even after his death, those who are born much after his time are also die hard Kishore fan. Listening to Kishore can change your mood and can completely turn over your mind. You may become very sad from being happy or you may get cheered up when you are sad. Such is the magic of Kishore, he can make you laugh, he can make you cry, he can make you sing and he can make you dance. A complete entertainment package who was miles ahead of the era he was born.

Kishore Kumar excelled in every department be it singing, acting, direction, production, screenplay or whatever. Whether the role of a friend cum guru in padosan, the movie with melodious songs like “Kehna hai Kehna hai” and “ Mere Samne wali khidki mein”, Kishore Kumar tried his best to help his apprentice cum friend Sunil Dutt to get the girl of his dream and he also helped him to fight the powerful classical singer “Mehmood”. We all remember the epic singing fight “ Ek chatur Naar”. Kishore Kumar’s acting brilliance can be seen in movies like Pyar Kiye Ja, Chalti Ka Naam Gadi, Half Ticket and many more but Kishore was made for singing, we can only wonder that someone who was not trained in classical singing or any form of singing has generated such beautiful and memorable songs that continue to remain in people’s heart forever.

It is said that Kishore had a very harsh and unpleasant voice in the childhood but once he was punished and made to stay outside and he cried for a very long time and after that the quality of his voice was suddenly improved a lot. There is another version of this story which says that Kishore used to prank a lot in the childhood and once he accidently got injured by a knife during playing a prank on his mother, cried a lot and ended with his magical voice. Though his elder brother Ashok Kumar has already established himself in the industry, Kishore made his own path. Earlier he used to copy KL Saigal a lot but SD Burman suggested him to develop his own style and that’s how he came to his signature style “yodeling”.

Kishore had his own identity and style in the era where there were many great contemporary singers like Rafi, Mukesh, Manna De, Mahendra Kumar.  I think the best part of Kishore was the way he inserted pain into his songs, one can literally feel it. If you have ever loved someone deeply and ended up being hurt then just listen to 2 of the songs “ Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi” and “ Meri bheegi bheegi si palako mein rah gaye”. For the young hearts he has sung “ Mere Sapno ki raani kab aayegi tu” and “ Roop tera mastana “. For those in love he has “ Hame tumse pyar kitna ye hum nahi jante” and for the heart broken he has “ Mere naina saawan bhaado”. For all the brothers he has “ Phulo ka taro ka sabka kehna hai” and “ Meri pyari beheniya jab banegi dulhaniya”. His tribute to life in “ zindagi ek safar hai suhana” and “ Musafir hu yaaro”. For the love at first site he has “ ek ajnaabi hasina se yun mulaqat ho gayi”. The list is long, so is the diversity and the variation of songs with only one conclusion that Kishore was a versatile genius.

Kishore+ Rajesh Khanna, was the ultimate form of romanticism. In fact, Rajesh Khanna rose to stardom only after Aaradhana and Kishore’s magical voice and great songs has the biggest part in Aaradhana’s success. Kishore has an immense contribution in almost all of Rajesh Khanna’s biggest hits like Daag, Namak Halal, Aaradhana, Do Raaste, Amar Prem etc. Amar Prem has the legendary songs like " Chingari Koi Bhadke", " Kuch to log kahenge logo ka kaam hai kahna", " Ye kya hua kab hua", Kishore literally lived the pain and thoughtfulness of all these deep songs. Rainy season is perhaps the best to listen to Kishore’s song be it the deep and heart touching “ Rimjhim Gire Sawan” or the delightful “Bheegi Bheegi Raato mein “ or the playful “ Aaj Rapat jaye to “. Kishore has also given the voice of both male and female in a song “Aa Ke Dil Pe Lagi Jaise Seedhi Najarai, Hai Gujaria “, such was his brilliance, fit in all form.

Despite all the magic and masti he created on the silver screen, Kishore was lonely deep inside. He used to create lots of funny scene on the sets of those director who hadn't paid him. Also, he was eccentric and used to stay away from human and preferred talking to his trees. Some says he used to call them his closest friend and has named them also. He married 4 times still there was a stark loneliness in his life and we can feel it in each of his songs. The man who created magic on silver screen lived a tragic life but he would continue to rule the generations ahead. Immense respect and tribute to this iconic genius, the unforgettable Kishore.

alvida to ant hai aur ant kisne dekha

ye judai hi milan hai jo humne dekha

yaado me aakar tum yuhi gaate rahna

kabhi alvida na kahna, kabhi alvida na kahna

2 Short Stories

STORY 1:

You bought a cat. It’s a beautiful cat, very cute at the first sight and so adorable that you can’t leave it even for a second. It has large innocent eyes which are very childlike and are so convincing that at times you feel helpless around it. It is furry and soft and you like to stay as much close to it as you can. In a very less time, you get attached to the cat. You care for it daily, you care for it so much that it is your top priority always. You feed it, scent it, and bathe it. You try to make its life as much comfortable as you can. You can even compromise with your priorities and comfort just to make sure that your cat is living a peaceful and luxurious life. You do not expect much from the cat, but you expect that it will be at least show some gratitude for the care you are showing for it, but it never shows that. As a matter of fact, it takes you for granted, treat you like you are the slave and it is the master. It shows tantrums when you are not fulfilling its wishes and its mood is so unpredictable that you are slightly scared of what it will do next. It has nil attachment with you and shows no loyalty at all. It shows great attraction for your friends though, it will try to mix up with them and get as cozier as possible. They will also show a great interest in it, and you would end up sitting in some corner sulking alone. The only time this cat will show little bit attachment with you is when you would finally stop caring about it and feeding it. Then it will try to win over your heart again with all kind of sorry faces and apologetic gestures and deep inside his mind he knows that you will forgive it. Initially, you are very firm on teaching the cat a lesson but you gradually you get carried away and forgive it and the same circle starts again. You become so weak in this single sided relation that you can’t even think of giving this cat away and take another pet or to live alone for a while as you are so attached you start defining your life by it and the cat knowing it enjoys life without any serious commitment or putting efforts from its side as it knows it has become an inseparable part of your life.

STORY 2:

Your neighbor has a cat. It’s a very pretty and attractive one. But, your friend doesn’t care about it much and pay no heed to its requirement. You didn’t like it. You feel sympathy for the cat. You start taking care of it without the knowledge of your neighbor. You spend time with it more often. You feed her and clean her on regular basis. You get so attached to it that you think about it all the day. You think about permanently buying it from neighbor or stealing it from him. The more time you spend with the cat, the more you grew fond of it. Your neighbor somehow senses this and there starts a cold war between you and him. Your neighbor restricts the cat now and does not give it any chance to come outside and spend time with you. Both, you and the cat do not like it. You are sure that if now the cat has to make a choice, it will choose you over your torturing neighbor. One day, you sneak in your neighbor’s house to steal the cat but you realize that it is playing with your neighbor and it is way happier than when it plays with you. You realize that the cat will remain loyal to your neighbor as he is the original owner. You decide to distant yourself from the cat but you have developed such a soft spot for it that you can’t deny it help whenever it seeks help from you. You live in constant painful life as all you want is to free the cat permanently from all the tortures of your neighbor but all the cat wants is some temporary relief and your company for a while. Meanwhile, your neighbor starts hating you intensely.

MORAL:

Story 1 is the situation when we give a person that much special place in life which he/she doesn’t deserve and doesn’t ever care about let alone respecting it. That person might be your bf/gf or a very special friend but in the end, that person would end up hurting you and make your life miserable. That person would always shown keen interest in other people but would never pay any heed to you. Whenever you are on the verge of taking some strict decision, this person will completely change his/her behavior. They would apologize, plead guilty and would promise you that they won’t repeat their mistakes and they would indeed behave for a while but after a while same vicious circle would start again. This person would never hesitate to take help from you and then eventually would blame you for all the care you showed as they never asked for it, it’s you who did it at the first place and would finally tag you as mean and selfish if you are doing against their will. I know it’s hard, but for the sake of your own peace of mind, kick these kind of persons out of your life. Yes, the end would be hard on you but it would save you from lots of troubles and problems in the future.

Story 2 is the situation when you have befriended someone who is already committed to some other person. This committed person might be in lot of pain and may need emotional support and as a matter of fact you should help this person as much as you can, but you must learn where to draw a boundary. Don’t start over expecting and getting hopeful. You should remain confined in the boundaries of a friend, else your fate would be same as “liquid” of “pyar ka punchanama”. You would be respected only as long as you are providing constant emotional support and agreeing with this person, the moment you start raising your expectations and demanding a larger role in this person’s life, all you would get is insult and isolation. This person would never leave his/her gf/bf for your sake no matter how screwed up their life is and you must keep that in mind. Try to be a good friend and never to be an indirect decision maker or at the end of the day, you would end up as the ultimate villain who tried to make distance between two lovable couples and you will stand alone facing stark criticism and insult from all.