The Pro of Con

I love thriller novels.. and at times, try to relate them to real life... and think if all that is really possible.. Today, my mind drifts back to the greatest con act I have witnessed in my life....

I was in 3rd semester, when a new lecturer(who will remain unnamed) joined my engineering college.. He created an instantaneous impact.. Everyone was impressed by his charm and knowledge.. He used to teach us Pascal.. He told us that he was a bachelor, and a native of Bhilai.. His father was working in the Indian Embassy in Nepal.. After having graduated in Computer Science Engineering from REC, Nagpur, he worked for a multinational bank in Nepal for sometime, before joining MIT for a sponsored MBA program.. But then disaster struck.. after retirement, his father fell ill and had to be brought to his home town Bhilai.. As he was the only person to take care of his father, he had to take a 6 month sabbatical from his studies and stay with him for a while.. that’s how he had landed up as a lecturer in BIT.. It was quite incredible that everyone believed his extra-ordinary narrative.. from the Director.. to the HOD.. to all Profs... other lecturers and even the usually cynical students..

I must say I was impressed by him too.. but I always had a simmering suspicion.. How could such a well learned guy who had been abroad for so long speak with such a rustic accent.. But none of my friends were willing to heed my reservations.. They were simply awestruck by his personality..

His teaching style was.... well.. different... Hardly used to provide us with any input.. and used to make us discover things by ourselves.. And we thought, this must be the way they do it in MIT....

As time passed by, news began to trickle in that the guy was short of cash, and needed some money to pay his MIT fee installment.. He asked some faculty for help.. People found no reason to disbelieve him.. lending him various amounts.. Slowly, he began spreading his web of deceit.. He borrowed money from one and all.. across the entire hierarchy of administration.. from the Director to the lab attendant.. and what’s more, he even conned a few students into lending him... He borrowed in all types of denominations too.. from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 500....

Slowly but surely, people began to smell the rat.. they began to realize that this guy was upto no good.. and began asking him their money back.. Then he began the most incredible jugglery act.. borrowing from one and repaying another..

By that time, we could already foresee his next step.. and we were not wrong.. One fine morning (when I was in 5th sem.), the fellow just disappeared into thick air.. Enquiries found that he never had any home of his own in Bhilai.. and no father either.. He used to stay in a rented house with his wife.. and had not even paid the rent for months.. He had disappeared from this house with his entire language in the dark of the night.. and the landlord had heard absolutely nothing!!!!

No one knew how much money the guy had disappeared with.. And there was nothing anyone could do.. No one had any written record about the money they had lended him.. What would you tell the police?? That I lended Rs.50,000 to a person.. believing in his concocted stories.. and now he has disappeared.. and I have not a shred of proof to back my claims..... You would only make a jackass out of yourself...

It’s an incredible story.. and the more I look back on it, the more outrageous it seems.. I was not a victim of his treachery.. but a very intrigued spectator of this sensational swindling act.. all my college friends were testimony to the affair as well.. And I am dead sure that no one will ever forget it..

God alone knows which unsuspecting beings are being conned by him right now.. Sometimes I think.. what would I do.. if by some strange coincidence.. I happen to meet this most extraordinary conman again.. Would I admonish him for his deeds.. Or would I congratulate him on his extraordinary skills.. Perhaps.. I would do both...

“A thief is not the one who steals, a thief is the one who gets caught”

Everything I Do, I Do It For You....

If there is something every MBA grad. is obsessed about, it is something called PLACEMENT.. From the time he enters the gates, to the time he leaves them, if there is something constantly on top of his mind, it’s the P-word.. Everyone wants to crack the biggest firm, and the fattest pay-check.. everything that we seem to do, has only 1 ultimate objective..

Now for the guys how make this happen.. Every B-school has a student placement team.. guys who slog it out throughout the year trying to get the best companies to campus.. It is an unenviable job.. You need to be on your toes all the time.. the smallest goof up may result in many job-losses.. You need to work doubly hard, doing all the dog work, and staying abreast with all the latest developments in the industry at the same time.. the last thing you want to do is to ask an HP executive about competition from Compaq..

All this takes it’s toll on the person’s academic performance as well.. Placecom guys really need to be masters of multitasking and time-sharing..

And what do they get for all that sweat and toil.. Some say, they get an opportunity to secure the best jobs for themselves.. Not sure about that.. but I do believe in one thing, what is the harm is furthering your own cause, as long as it does not impinge on some other person’s interests.. As long as the placement team does not sacrifice the cause of the batch for their personal benefits, I do not think anyone should have any reason to crib.. After all, would any one of us sacrifice academics, extra-curriculars and leisure to indulge in something that will not result in any personal gain at all?..

I have not had a chance to be in the Placement team.. I am sure that I am not good enough for it anyway.. but I have had got a taste of the action.. during Day 0 of for the final placements of our seniors and summer placements of our juniors.. when I was one of the personnel deputed at the Help-Desk.. For the uninitiated, Help-Desk is the hub from where all activities and schedules are coordinated.. It's the most chaotic place during Day 0.. All the chaos, confusion and non stop-hyperactivity has prompted us to call it “The Hell Desk”.. It’s a real nerve-wrecking experience.. You really need to be as cool as a cucumber to handle an assignment such as this.. But I had great fun doing it all the same.. I’ve realized, chaos can be enjoyable too..

Come Jan, I will be on the other side of the so called “Hell Desk”.. when the obsession with the P-word reaches it’s crescendo.. when one and half years of education will be put to test.. when one right or wrong answer can change your fortunes..

CGPA Secrets....

Phew!!!.. just finished the 2nd last exam of my active student life.. Now just 3 more months and 1 more exam left.. and then I'll bid adieu to something I have been for the last 20 years.. i.e. a student.. Not sure whether that will be a good thing or bad.. But it’s inevitable all the same..

I’ve always been reasonably good in studies.. used to be the topper in school and college.. and am in the fringes of the top bracket in NITIE too.. Sometimes I try to figure out the reason for it.. after much thought, I’ve come to believe, “Some toppers are born brilliant.. others make it through hard work.. and there are others, who just get lucky!!” .. I guess I belong to the 3rd category..

Having observed myself and my batchmates over so many years, I have developed my own theories about studies and grades.. So, here is “The Jackal’s Guide to Good Grades”-

1. “Don’t work hard, work smart”- You do not need to mug up entire chapters and books to get good grades.. For every topic, mug up only as much as is required to fill up 3 to 4 pages in the answer sheet..

2. “Do your homework”- Go through all previous question papers.. and make calculated guesses about what may be asked.. NEVER waste time over niche and esoteric topics..

3. “Study for marks, not for knowledge”- Don’t waste time trying to understand things like why space and time get warped at higher velocities.. Concentrate on “What” and not on “Why”... Trust me, this saves a lot of mental energy..

4. “Know your Prof.”- Know what type of answers the checker of your paper likes.. does he/she prefer global fart?? Or plain concepts?? Does he/she read the answer sheet?? Or weigh them before giving marks??.. and mould your answers accordingly..

5. “Write big, if not bigger”- Double your font size in the exam.. use the 5 * 10 Rule.. Write not more that 10 lines per page, each having not more than 5 words..

Caveat- All these were personal opinions based on statistically unverified empirical evidence. These are not necessary and sufficient conditions.

A Beautiful Mind

It’s been almost a week since I last blogged.. Many batchmates have been asking me the reasons for this blogging-hiatus.. I’ve just been too busy this week, being engaged in the most creative endeavor of my life.... I have written previously that this year, “Prerana” enters uncharted territories.. Today, I can unveil 2 things that have been my obsession for the last 2 months- “MastishK” and “ARBIT Choudhury”

“MastishK” is the online management games extravaganza which takes place as a prelude to “Prerana” this year.. I need not elaborate on that further, as there’s a separate blog dedicated to MastishK-and the minds behind it.. All I would say is that it is a dream that many of us have been living all this while.. A dream that is just about to become reality....

I’ve have been part of the MastishK think-tank since the very beginning, when Nikhil initially came up with the idea on Online Games... And been privy to the evolution of “MastishK” from the outset.. My role has been that of a “Creative Consultant”.. generating, refining and transforming ideas.... I have tried to provide whatever little creative inputs that I could from time to time....

My full scale involvement began about a month back, when Hemant came to me with the idea of launching the 1st ever B-school comic strip during “MastishK”.. I was hooked immediately.. Being rather infamous in the batch for being a pungent punster, this was a chance for me to channelize my talent towards more productive pursuits....Tthe 1st and foremost task was to conceptualize the lead character for the comic.... As we are targeting the B-school community, I decided that the lead character wud be a B-school student, and the strip will deal with daily goings-on in a typical B-school.. This done, I embarked on the toughest part.. i.e. generating ideas.. It took me almost a month to cook up ideas good enough to be incorporated in the comic.. For days, I did nothing but think, think, and think.. At times, waking up in the middle of the night to discuss my latest brainwave with Hemant and Nikhil.. Finally, a host of ideas for the various editions of the strip were ready....

The next task- locating a cartoonist to draw the sketches.. We approached batchmates, juniors, professionals, but to no avail.. We could not find anyone who could deliver the desired quality within the given time limit and under the resource constraints we were under.. Then one day, I said to hemant, “Let me do it.”.... This was a huge decision for.. Sketching has always been my hobby, and I had done lots of cartooning in my school days.. I simply loved sketching figures form Tintin comics.. Ihad even made some cartoon strips of my own.. but I had never attempted anything remotely of this scale.. I just had to deliver.. I simply could not take a chance of coming up with a sub-standard product, because my own neck was on the line.. But then, when you’ve fallen into the sea, you have no option but to try and swim....

for the last 5 days, my room has been transformed into an artist’s studio.. with me cartooning away all day.. the drafts came out better than i expected.. all those who have seen them have appreciated my work.. after the drawing part was over, we scanned the cartoons and colored them in photoshop..

Just when everything was finally falling in place, the biggest dilemma surfaced.. You guessed it, it was about the title of the strip.. We had initially thought of the title as “A Random Choudhury”, with the lead character representing a random b-school student.. When some people expressed concern that the title appears to be a spoof of Arindam Choudhary, I had some serious rethinking to do.. The fictional character bears no resemblance in any way with the real person.. But I decided that it wud be better to change the title rather than risk the generation of negative vibes.. So I came up with another title- “ARBIT Choudhury”.. by this time, Hemant was hooked to the earlier name and was very reluctant to change.. After much debate, in typical MBA fashion, we decided to ask some sample customers what they want, asking our batch as to which title appeals to them more.... After a poll, “ARBIT Choudhury” won hands down…

So, tomorrow, on the 5th of September 2004.. “ARBIT Choudhury”- the 1st ever B-school comic strip hits the world.. in the Informalzz section of “MastishK"...

meanwhile, here is a sneak preview--

for more, goto http://mastishk.nitie.net/