Feels good to read this.. It is special..

From: Namita Grover
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 4:38 PM
To: Atul Mathur

Subject: RE: My stay at Infosys

Hi Atul,

It was really nice to have you as part of my team….you have been a real asset.

You have made me real proud by winning the “Stars of Corporate Planning” Award for Bizplan.. and many congratulations for that.

We are all going to miss you a lot, But I am extremely happy for you and I wish you all the very best for your future.

Stay in touch.

Warm Regards,

Namita

Lakshya Deferred Indefinitely : The Beginning of a New Era

A little of economics...........

NRN thinks low level of technology will be useful for getting more jobs for the illiterate and semi illiterate, for example in the car manufacturing industry, where the ground work does not involve much technicalities.

Ambika Soni, the Union Tourism Minister is aiming 10 million tourist inflow by 2010 (when the Commonwealth games happen in India. Apart from adding 1.5 lakh rooms in each category of hotels, 4 areas are going to be specifically improved to increase tourism - Noida, Shilpagram near Hyderabad, and places near Ajanta Ellora Caves and Bhubaneshwar. Tourism has been on the rise from around 3.5 million in 2005 to 4.4 million in 2006.

Dell screwed up its last 4 years financial results, and are actually down 150 million.... Apparently the BoD did this to keep up with the quarterly numbers expected...

Sony marketing is investing 100 million dollars in their big screen television market to get double digit revenue growth there. 100 million dollars is expected to be used over the next 6 - 8 months.

IBM is going to distribute Solaris OS of Sun Microsystem to IBM's customers in competition with HP.

Lakshya Continued.....

Before going to Chennai, I requested for a week at Bangalore to "Meet the Team". I was given this opportunity... Working out of Bangalore for 1 week from May 6th - 13th 2006 was a breakthrough for me... .It gave me my first Lakshya..... This was to work in Bangalore... The feel of working in Infosys Bangalore was something special... I felt that I was working in a corporate environment there, as compared to Infosys Mysore which gave a more "College Culture" sort of feeling...

I finally got back to Chennai.... Knowing well that it would be next to impossible to get back to Bangalore as long as I was with Infosys....

MCity life was hectic - the most hectic part being the travel. The thing with me is - if I don't like something about what or where I am, I hate everything about the place. This is called Selective Perception in behaviourial sciences, where you look at only certain factors of a thing and judge the whole thing on those factors..... Well... In my first 1 month in Chennai I did not have much work... Just 4 hours a day atmost.... The feeling of frustration began seeping in... And I decided to give CAT with full swing..... However, the decision remained at that - I did not do much to actually go about cracking CAT.....

Writing mock CATs in Chennai was a pain... I used to walk from my home in interior Tambaram for 1 km before reaching the auto stand, from where I would take an auto for 50 rupees to the railway station, from where I would take a train (1 hour journey) to Nungambakkam, from where I would take a shared auto for ten rupees to a particular location from where I would walk for 10 minutes before reaching Stella Maris College - the centre for IMS exams.. Wasn't particularly useful to be so dead tired before giving the test...

I began going through the motions... Not performing well but still going through the process daily...

And then there was this day when there was a CL mock test..... I walked through a big crowd at Mambalam... There was barely enough space for my feet in the ground...... And standing amongst that crowd of thousands, my second Lakshya came into focus.... It came as suddenly as a flash of light, and it appeared to me as though there was nothing else for me to do... I had to get into a premier B School and get out of the crowd....

Now my 2 Lakshyas were interlinked to an extent - I saw no way by which I could continue to be in Chennai and also get into a top B School.....

And then SharePoint Portal happened..... That was probably one of the two most significant breakthroughs I had in my Infosys career..... I was asked to take up a stagnant project for the Finance team of Infosys on SharePoint Portal Server.... Somehow, I saw myself being in Bangalore at the end of this project, if I could deliver my everything to this... This would probably appear as a joke to anyone who could actually transfer me to Bangalore... But I dreamt of it... And I visualized it happening........

I fought really hard on SPS, exploring every nook and corner of the Internet for information that would help me improve my knowledge on the subject..... And at the same time, I kept pushing for a post in Bangalore.. Though I never directly asked for it, I made it evident that it was more useful to have me in Bangalore.... And I think it was logical - the work I was doing, and the work I was probably better at, could be done better in Bangalore than in Chennai... I felt that I needed a feel of "What the Finance Team really wants" before giving them an application...

I visualized my first Lakshya very often - getting a phone call from Rahul Dokania saying "Come over to Bangalore now".... Slowly my dreams were fading away though, as there was no such response for a long time...

After 1.5 months of struggle and perseverance, I received a phone call from Namita Grover... She was my team leader (now an APM). Though I wasn't working much on BIZPLAN those days, I was still in touch with her... She called and asked me how SPS was going on... It was a casual talk, until I got the DREAM question from her - She asked me whether I would be interested in working in Bangalore..... My answer was instantaneous - give me one evening's notice and I will wrap everything in Chennai and come..... She told me that she would get back to me soon... There was no response whatsoever for the next half month, and when I made a call to Namita Grover she said she could not promise a date, and that it might even take 6 - 8 months more...... Though this was a setback, there was some respite, as my delivery manager called me to Bangalore for 2 weeks for taking client requirements for SPS... So I felt my dream was partially fulfilled..... Maybe I was not destined to get back to Bangalore under the Infosys Banner.....

I had reconciled to being content with 2 weeks in Bangalore, when Rahul Dokania contacted me after a period of around 2 months..... With a ping on Windows Messenger, asking me whether I could take a call from him...... There was a triumphant feeling within me, an inkling of it only, but relatively it meant a lot...... He asked me straight..... "When can you come to Bangalore?" My answer, as I had always imagined it was, "I can come tomorrow!!!". And it happened..... 2 days from the call, I packed everything in Chennai and was off to Bangalore..... My first Lakshya was fulfilled....

I will never in my life forget that warm deep breath I took when I put my first foot down on the platform on Bangalore railway station...... It was the BEST moment of my very personal life...... It probably meant more to me than Ajay Sood, Rahul Dokania, and Namita Grover together could ever imagine..... 24th August 2006.... That day will remain with me even when I breathe my last.....


To be continued...

Lakshya.....

"From the crowded streets of Mamblam in Chennai, where I suddenly decided that this was it - I have to reach the Top and get out of here.... To actually sitting inside IIM Calcutta and typing on this laptop - I've had a long journey... A memorable one as well.... I will never forget this struggle... "

It was 25th January 2006... I was anxiously sitting on the computer in the Infosys Mysore campus, which had been my official property since November 15th 2005... Awaiting news on where I was going to go next... All to be decided at random by a Computer which only knew how to differentiate between 0 and 1.

There was a cry in the class as the Postings came out... I clicked the link too.... And saw this........

Atul Mathur IS MCity

I sat there looking in despair... This wasn't a shock.... But it was indeed my worst nightmare... I had seen this time and again in my dreams... Being in MCity... And that now came true...

Don seemed to be roaring in laughter - He had got Bangalore, as he wanted... Rushi had already got Pune which he wanted... Naren also got Pune (though his supposed girl friend got Bangalore)... The only solace for me was that I had Bharat coming with me to Chennai...

4 days from there and I packed my bags to go to the Hot and Humid city Chennai...

January 30th 2006 morning - I wore the Blue Check shirt on KIL's instructions... And went on my journey to MCity....

It seemed to be further than any place I had ever been to... It was scary to think of travelling to MCity everyday.....

Though I got a break for 3 months from Chennai almost immediately, life was never the same when I knew I had to get back to Chennai...

Deja Vu

Yesterday.... 4:40 pm....

November 7th, 2005

July 24th, 2002

The sequence of events on all these days left me with the same feeling at the end of it - loss of morale, being the only person to lose out, and a lack of will to carry on. When things go wrong at the beginning of your new life somewhere it is a major loss of motivation.

The build up to the event was also the same - a sleepless night before the exam, and that feeling in my mind that something is going to go wrong, mixed with a feeling that everyone manages, and that in 24 hours time I will also manage it.....

And Deja Vu once more when I start off the paper - seem to get the toughest paper of the lot... All questions unheard of.... But I still think, it will be fine.....

And then, I press Submit, and the result is against me......


November 7th 2005 however was a special day - though all the events were the same as yesterday's, it ended so differently, with KIL coming up to me and consoling me, and telling me that it really didn't matter. That day was a really special day for me, it was the beginning of a new relationship. Things would have been totally different had KIL not turned around that day to ask me how I fared..... I may not have been sitting where I sit today if KIL hadn't turned around and looked back that day.....

Another strong supporter of mine has been my mother.... Silent and quiet, not letting me know directly about her invisible support, but always being there for me is what makes her so special to me. These days so many times I remember times when I was young and my Mom would never get irritated at the million things I would do, she would only teach me at the end of any stupid thing I did that this was not the way to behave. And she would blast me when I did really stupid things. Conscience is something which I have got straight from my mother..... I love you a lot Mummy. I remember running into her arms on July 24th 2002, which was the only relief I had that whole day.....

I will need to slog and come up with better results than this NCFM test in the future. I will need to match up to the level of people around.... Will need to start immediately........

No time tonight

There's really no time to blog tonight.. Totally screwed up.... Finacc and BS tomorrow... God Help......

IEPH

First of all, Stats went really average... Am disappointed with my performance... But can't really help that... Everyone seems to have done better than me... Guess will have to make up for it in IEPH....

IEPH - Indian Economic and Political History... This basically talks about the past, and is portrayed in the sense of economics... Starting from how population has a distinct curve which keeps repeating itself - how it groww, becomes constant, and then falls, mainly due to literacy... It talks about why Calcutta is different from Mumbai - mainly because the British East India Company(EIC) first took control over Calcutta... The Marwaris there had to give up their own factoroes and become agents for the EIC.. Calcutta started producing Jute and Tea and had labour from outside.... Calcutta thus was not even serving for indigenous purposes... Mumbai on the other hand made the short staple cotton and was the nation's pride... By the time the British came to Mumbai the British govt had taken over the EIC, and hence the form there was a Utilitarian capitalistic govt....

Coming back to the crops that were grown, we had cash crops replacing food crops on demand of Lancashire... As a result the farmers, who would normally prepare food crops, use some for their own purpose and then sell the surplus, now had to buy food. Also, their returns on Jute were quite less... And Jute was only used as a RM and not as a finished product.

Next comes the Zamindari stuff.... Now the British auctioned land to zamindars for a period of time, and the profit for zamindars was Yield = Consumption + Tax + Surplus. Since consumption was constant, tax and surplus had the say. Govt increased taxes, and thus surplus reduced. As a result, the next Yield, which depended on the current surplus would be lesser, as this time around lesser land would be bought. Finally there would be poverty leading to famine, which would cause relief measures by the Govt, eating up the extra taxes which they themselves had eaten up. Therefore there was no use of this scheme. Thus came the Permanent Settlement Act, wherein Zamindars would buy land permanently. It was now assumed that things owuld get resolved. However, they didn't. Zamindars employed Naibs to manage these lands, as the former were more interested in naming themselves Nawabs than governing the land. The Naibs were in charge of collecting taxes, paying that to Zamindars. They had a court and police (hathiyaar). Now, no one actually cared if they made more money. But when Zamindars realized this they started giving them fixed salary, and thus permanent settlement failed.
When UK govt came in, they removed monopoly, allowed private players to buy land. THe Marwaris and a few others bought land and started building factories for Indigo, Jute etc. India now became an importer after having been an exporter. Payments for Jute would come in only once the final good was sold. This was the commercialization of Indian Agriculture. Thus the peasants were not interested in cash crops. However, Naibs, seeing the real profit form this. However, since they did not own the land this was not of much use. So Naibs cheated the zamindar by not paying taxes, and the land would go in auction, and some kin of the Naib would buy the land, and thus Naib would gain control over the land. The peasants did not earn much any more, and starting taking debts from money lenders. Since they could never return the money due to fall in prices (competition) of their goods, the money lenders would start collecting only the interest, until the interest + principle became more than the value of the land(causing Debt Trap). Then, the money lenders would approach the court and take ownership of the land, and then bonded labour with the existing peasants.

Land reforms - After Independence, a bill was passed saying one could not own more than a particular amount of land. The land owners then started controlling the land in the names of other family members, pets, and even illiterate servants who would never understand the meaning of that they were encountering. This sort of transfer, called the Benaami transfer, ensured that the govt could not even collect 10 % of the land. Thus the land reforms failed...

Stats

What is the probability that given I am not well prepared, I will pass tomorrow?

What is the probability that given I wake up in the morning I am able to mug up some formulae?

What is the probability that given my sad state of affairs in terms of preparation, I will be able to clear the 2 exams on Thursday?

Stats - This subject is all about how I always tend to use the wrong formulae at the wrong place. I might know all the formulae - but it's about knowing which one to apply where. What is the expected value of the number of correct applications of formulae in my sheet tomorrow???

That's a question I will be able to answer only tomorrow... So God Help!!!

Talked to Anupriya today... She is feeling quite low... Hope things get resolved for her soon...

KIL is having a lovely time in Mumbai... KIL's a very sweet person... Happy Go Lucky.....

Finally, what is my expected score for tomorrow if I continue to write this blog tonight? Close to zero - therefore I should start studying now..

FinAcc

Too busy with Financial Accounting.... Trying to get the concepts right... KIL thinks I am one big fool when it comes to concepts but I guess I have to prove that statement wrong.

Having trouble understanding depreciation, otherwise things appear fine... Atleast as of now...

I think it's time to start the next problem now.... Am using my favourite computer tool - Microsoft Excel.

What's happened so far!

Born in Trivandrum
Studied in St. Thomas Residential School upto 12th Standard with 88% in both 10th and 12th..
Completed Engineering in EEE from College of Engineering, Trivandrum.
Joined Infosys - Changed life completely...
Came out of the SHADOW, started believing in myself, starting bringing in good results....

Went to Chennai, stayed for 8 days till I was brought back to Mysore.
Then went to Bangalore for 1 week and I REALIZED that this is where I wanted to be.
Then sent to Chennai. Came back to Bangalore in 3 months - I was more valuable in Bangalore than in Chennai.... Worked like hell and really understood what work is all about in the next 6 months...

Wrote CAT, got 99.09 percentile, got calls from IIM C, I and K.

The IIM C call was a dream come true - I never ever imagined in my life I would reach there..... And this meant probably the most to me ever!

Worked for a few more months before actually joining IIM C...

Miss All the following people
Papa, Mummy, Vipul Dada, Minakshi Babhi, Rushil, Madhur, Abirami, Sivaram, Anoop, Anuraj, Prakash, Neha, Abishek, Rushi, Karthik, Naren, Don from TVM.
KIL 9823 from Mumbai...
Atul Seksaria, Gaurav Sharma from Infosys training.
Anupriya and Dileep from life in Bangalore...

Namita Grover, for her trust in my abilities.
Rahul Dokania, from whom I wished most to become a manager...

Pradeep Kiran, for helping me countless times.
Vignesh , my first mentor.

And now - Life is like it's never been before.... And not that I hadn't expected it - Welcome to IIM Calcutta... I am just 3 days away from my first big exams here... Haven't studied much so far.... So a long way to go......

So here goes... My daily blog...