My stint with interviews and my first job ..

In our college (VEC Bellary, now renamed to RYMEC Bellary), mostly, there was no On-Campus interviews, but we were called to other college for a combined off-campus selection. The first ever campus for which, our college was called was Infosys (@PDACE Gulbarga), and I was not eligible (I had 56% in 10th).. In that campus, 7 of my friends got selected .. There after, In most of the off-campus, I was eligible and I attended all of them .. remembering those days ..

Note : Some of the dates/happenings may be slightly incorrect, as its been almost 8 years now ..

1. Subex @ BVB Hubli (July 2004) : I along with many friends reached BVB Hubli (from Bellary) in early morning.. Place was bit crowded, so where do I take some rest?.. I got an idea.. I went to boys hostel, and asked someone, is there anyone from Bihar? And got referred to Sxxx and I rested sometime in his room.. and guess what? He knew one of my brother in Patna :) and Now He is friend of one of my colleague as well .. Well, I didn't know much about Pointers in C, and that is what was was asked in first round.. I was not selected, but one of my friend Rxx was selected there ..

2. iGate @ BVB Hubli (August 2004) : Was selected in aptitude test but later got rejected in interview. I think, no one from my college was selected...

3. Polaris @ Bapuji Davangere (October 2004) : Many of our friends went there .. Three of us were selected in 1st round.. later 2 of us got selected in GD .. and I was rejected in last round (interview) .. Interviewer asked, you are from ECE branch so why do you want to join software company? I had said, sir, actually there are not much job in hardware/vlsi/embedded domain, hence I am trying in software industry as well :) Sxx was selected there ...

4. Mascon @ Bapuji Davangere (November 2004) : I was selected in first two rounds along with one of my friend .. In interview round got rejected .. I thought I did very good .. my friend (Pxx) got selected.. I later talked to interview panel, and said, I answered all the question, but then why did you rejected me?.. I said, there is partiality going on between Bapuji students and VEC Bellary students..They considered and said, actually there was a tie between you an another student from Bapuji, and as he has better academics, he was selected, But let us take one more round for you both .. And that guy was called back, and was asked to go for another round.. To me, interviewer asked very tough questions on Java (He had complete reference in Java handy and was asking questions from book).. I was not selected .. The HR person gave me his business card and said, you come to Bangalore and meet me.. let me see If I can do something .. and for doing these all process, I had to stay one more night in Davangere..

5. Mistral @ Bapuji Davangere (December 2004) : I was selected in first two rounds (I think I was only one selected from my college), but again got rejected in interview.. I remember one funny thing happened during interview.. He asked me about some law, for which I said the overview (round about answer) and then added, sir actually, it was one year back I had studied this subject, hence forgot the statement.. He said, boss you studied this subject in 6th sem ..few months back .. :)

6. Integra micro @ BEC Bagalkot (December 2004) : This was interesting .. There was 5 day state level VLSI training workshop by Sandeepani/Xilinx in my college, and I was active volunteer (Arranging the stay for various faculties from various engineering colleges across Karnataka and other help required). Along with volunteering, I was also taking the course as well.. On 4th day around 12 PM, I got this info that there is campus in BEC bagalkot (Had no idea how to go there) tomorrow morning .. I rushed to bus stand, and somehow reached to Bagalkot .. I was selected in first round along with one of my senior (Sxx) .. It was late evening, when I had second round, where in I could choose between Java and C++, and had to write 1 big program..I selected C++ and it was gone .. both of us were not selected ..

7. Sutherland @ VEC Bellary (Jan 2005) .. Yes!! this was in campus .. I was selected in 1st round.. second round was to give speech for few minutes on some topic .. I was rejected.. I think my friend Hxx was selected ..

On 19th feb 2005, I came to Bangalore along with Tilak.. searched room in one day, and next day my other project mate (and room mate and my best buddies Rajesh and Dinakar) also came.. We had to do project in BHEL bangalore, and also one more project on VHDL/CPLD in BCE(?) consultancy in Mathekere, Bangalore .. And here comes few more interview failures ..

I do not remember, If I gave 1-2 interview till my engineering got over on June 10, 2005 ... We used to travel to Bellary in between for few days for various assignments, seminar, project, internals and main exams.. I joined NIIT Vijaynagar for J2EE course .. and the classes were started on 14th June 2005.. I met here with Ramesh and Fatima .. Also, few other friends like Vishwas, Rohit, Vijay were doing course here, but in different batches.. I had to change two bus from Srinagar to reach Vijaynagar..

There was a south India C++ competition (for NIIT students only) and I was second !! (Wow C++ ? ..). There was another competition to design two Java projects 1. Calculator 2. sql query analyzer .. I got second prize in that also.. I remember working whole night for this project (Yes!! whole night and then next day class ..) .. My course got over in August 2005, and as promised, NIIT had provided few campus interviews.. In between I wrote few other PSU exams.. I don't exactly remember which interview was provided through NIIT

8. NTPC @ Bangalore (March 2005) - Was not selected in written test..

9. UPSC (IES) @ Bangalore (June 2005) - Was not selected in prelims...

10. ISRO @ Bangalore (June 2005) - Got selected in written test (for Scientist post) and there was only one interview, which if selected I could have been a scientist and could have been part of Chandrayan !! but alas!! There was something very interesting here also ..

I had my interview in ISRO office (in August 2005) @ Airport road Bangalore at around 11 AM.. In morning I had prepared all the documents in a file folder and I had kept interview call letter in my pocket .. When I reached the venue (@9.30 AM), I realized I forgot the file in home only .. fortunately, my friend Rajesh was at home .. I called him and asked to bring the file ASAP (It takes 1 Hr+ to reach airport road from Srinagar) .. He reached in 1 hr.. and then when I was about to enter for interview, I was told I need to submit few document photocopy, (which I didn't have!). I got it from ISRO office only (You can imagine how hard it would have been to convince and get a photocopy in so secured ISRO office !!) .. Earlier, I had inquired and found one of my distant relative's relative working in ISRO bangalore, I had got his number and had asked him about interview format .. But still, when I saw 10+ people in big interview room, I was probably frightened by the bombardment of questions and could not answer satisfactorily .. and I was not selected here also ..

11. Sonata @ Bangalore (July 2005) - I think I was rejected in second round here ..

12. HP @ Bangalore (August 2005) - Was rejected in interview round..

13. Texas @ Bangalore (August 2005) - Was rejected in second round .. I vaguely remember, they had offered Free Lunch @ Texas, Bagmane tech park cafeteria ..

14. iFlex @ Bangalore (August 2005) - Was rejected in first round (Don't remember exactly If I was selected in first round here)

15. AztecSoft @ Bangalore (September 2005)- Was rejected in second round ..

16. IBM @ MVJ college, whitefield (was provided by NIIT) (October 2005) -- Was selected in written test along with Bishwas, but I was rejected in interview round, and Bishwas got selected ..

I am missing two other companies for which I wrote the test .. then there was 19th Campus interview by NIIT @ Richmond road for Afila Tech .. Before this something very important .. just to understand my situation and context ..

It was in Feb 2004, I had gone to my home (Purnia, Bihar), after 5th sem exam. and because off-campus was supposed to happen between the semesters, I didn't go to home till October 2005.. It was very very frustrating period (I being one of the top 3 student @ my college, and doing so much hard work in Java/J2EE, is not getting job and that too getting rejected in last round..)

My family asked me to come home for Deewali (on 1 Nov 2005) and I had taken ticket to go to home on 26th October .. I was sad, that I will be going to home after 1.8 years without a job .. and then suddenly, there was this off campus from Afila on 22nd October..

19. Afila @ Bangalore (provided by NIIT on 22nd October 2005) : I cleared written test .. and then was called fro GD (It was next day!! I remember arguing with Mahesh - who also got selected later on the topic given "Should the compiler fix the errors as well in place of just reporting it?)" and you know what was my argument "No... somethings should be left for humans to do .. If everything will be done by computer then what software engineers will do !! .. and also added, computer can never be as intelligent as human.. whereas most of the candidates were supporting it, by saying it can be done ..its benefit and how it can be achieved.. One more funny thing happened .. our CEO Amar mutt (I didn't know that) had announced the successful candidates name (Of course, I was one of them, You know that!!).. and after that, I asked him, Sir, May I know your name.. He said Amar, I asked, May I know your designation, and He said He is CEO of this company with big smile :) ..

Well, offer was not made on 23rd, as HR round was left .. HR round happened on 24th Where Rxx (HR Manager) took my interview and offered me ... I simply took the offer letter and went to bath room and cried a lot .. I didn't bother about salary offered as 8500 (stipend for 2 months), didn't bother that its testing role in networking field, didn't bother that joining date is 26th October (When I had to go home after 1.8 Years!!) .. Came out, called my mom and informed .. called Vineet and Rajesh and informed .. when I reached room, I see Vineet has already come to my room with sweets.. I was very happy .. But then suddenly I realized, I want to go home now.. I was fearing that, If I will ask to extend the joining date (I was scheduled to come back in Bangalore on 13th November), they may hire someone else and I might get rejected .. But somehow I called to HR (Rxx) and said this story .. she said, not a big deal . but don't delay it by mid Nov, you join on 7th November .. I said Fine .. And luckily I got the return ticket, so that I could reach Bangalore on 6th Nov.. and then I joined Afila on 7th November 2005 ..

It was a great day !! Thanks Amar .. Thanks Afila .. Without you, I have not been here, where I am today!! 

Comparison of correspondence course M.S (Software systems) from BITS Pilani and executive M.S (Computer Science) from Manipal University

	Disclaimer: Though I am a student of 2nd Sem Executive MS-CS at Manipal University, these are completely my opinion, and may be wrong also, and hence I do not recommend anyone to follow blindly what I say, Do your own research. If something mentioned is wrong then please let me know ASAP through comment and I will correct it.
	Sl. No	Basis	MS distance from BITS Pilani, in Software Systems	Executive MS from Manipal University in Computer science
	1	Qualification to get admission	B.E/B.Tech (B.Sc/BCA is not allowed). Only for working professional having 1+ yr of exp. Http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/university/wilp/WILPProgrammes	B.E/B.Tech + B.Sc/BCA, but they need to go for 3 years course. Only for working professional having 1+ yr of exp. http://www.executiveprograms.manipal.edu/
	2	Company approval is must?	Yes, Company needs to mention that, this employee is funded by the organization and also He/She can use the resources of company for project/assignment purpose	No. One need not be funded by company and only thing they ask for is a proof that you are working (Offer letter is sufficient)
	3	Fees	http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/university/wilp/AdmissionFeesStructure 15000 + 32700*4 = 145800	1,70,000
	4	Can take break between the course?	Didn't find any such info, Looks its not that flexible	There can be short and long breaks, very easy to take breaks and also very transparent in their policy.
	5	What type of course is this?	Fully correspondence course	This is also not full time course, But I heard there is no difference in degree awarded between this course and that done full time at Manipal campus.
	6	Maximum duration of course	2 years	4 years
	7	Can fees be paid in installments	Each Semester, hence 4 installments	6 installments
	8	Is real time classes conducted	No, only online tutorial available, or some online counseling	Regular 9 Hrs classes on every Sunday, 3 subjects, 3 hrs each
	9	exams	http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/university/wilp/OperationalHighlights 1 assignment/quiz (10% weight), 1 mid-sem open book exam (30% weight), 1 final exam (60%)	Similar to engineering exams in VTU, u have 3 internals (Exams mostly on 3 out of 4 Sundays every month from 8-9 AM and then classes of 9 hrs)- Internals for 20 marks, and best two is considered, i.e 40 marks Assignment – 10 marks, Term paper – 100 Marks (You need to submit hard and soft copy of research paper on related subject) + Main closed book exam (No books allowed in any of the exams)
	10	Syllabus	http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/uploads/WILP_Programmes/MS%20Software%20Systems.pdf Has 4 subjects in each sem	Similar syllabus, but covered in 2 sem only, Has 6 subjects in each sem. Another year is for project only.
	11	Theory classes duration	3 semesters	2 semesters
	12	Need to visit university?	Yes, for project submission, you need to visit Pilani, Rajasthan	Not required.
	13	Approval from AICTE?	No.	No.
	14	Approval from UGC?	An institution deemed to be a University estd. vide Sec.3 of the UGC Act,1956 under notification # F.12-23/63.U-2 of Jun 18,1964	Manipal University the first private sector deemed university, Status given by UGC and Ministry of HRD
	15	Can do Ph.D from any govt. university?	I think yes..	I hope yes, as not many have yet tried this ..
	16	Any benefit in IT industry?	Not much benefit, unless you r in service industry (like Infy/Wipro/Tcs etc..)	Not much benefit in terms of promotion or salary hike.
	17	Will help in becoming lecturer in Engineering colleges?	yes, More priority is currently given to MS rather than B.E (But M.Tech from classroom course is given most priority)	Yes, It should help, not much data available, as this course is comparatively new
	18	Administration ease? Like taking any info or applying for break etc?	Not very easy to gather information/ Website looks less informative	Better/Clear information available in their website
	19	Since when this course is running?	Long long ago .. Will update exact year later, But this course is running since 25+ years	2005
	20	Roughly how many students are there in these course?	Thousands (Not sure .. may be 5000 +)	Few thousands now .. (2000 +)
	21	Industry tie ups?	Yes, with many companies, Infact many companies run their own course with help from BITS pilani at their own campus like Wipro offers WASE program ..	Yes, but comparatively less corporates
	22	Recognition world wide (If you want to apply for Ph.D from foreign university?)	BITS pilani is India's 5th-10th Rank college hence is world renowned .. No doubt about the name of BITS Pilani, But not sure how reputed correspondence course is	Manipal University is also world famous, but may be little less than BITS Pilani.
	23	Do u get to meet/interact with your classmates/batch mates?	No, You don't get to make friends	yes, you get new friends
	24	Do u get the feeling, that you are really studying in college?	No .. No college feeling ..	Yes
	25	Classes conducted at various cities?	No classes	Yes, classes happens at Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata & Pune
	26	Mentor required?	Mandatory while applying for this course , I think mentor should be from same company, and mentor's qualification is also seen	Not required while taking admission, In second year, you need one mentor as project guide.
	27	My rating : In terms of flexibility	7	9
	28	My rating : In terms of How useful this course would be	8	7

Why people think, they are right.

Similar to me, most of the person in the world thinks "He/She is right". Its quite logical that why most people thinks He/She is right, isn't it?

It becomes difficult to manage the situation when someone is trying to put on his/her thought on you, even though you think He/She is is wrong. We face it everyday, many a times..

Suppose my views on any particular topic A is "In the situation of A, one should take steps a,b,c", and for same topic other person might have different views like "In situation of A, the steps to be done is b,d,e". Now when we discuss on this, I will say and try to prove my points based on my existing knowledge, which I might have gathered by reading books/websites, taught by teachers/parents, Inner conscience or have experienced in life or by other means, and the other person will try to prove his/her point.

Now this sometimes gets converted to heated arguments and may have other severe side effects. If the other person could prove to me or I got convinced through other means that my steps a,b,c is incorrect and I AM REALLY WILLING TO LEARN, IMPROVE AND MAINTAIN GOOD RELATION, (Few people don't want to learn as they think they know everything, Few people don't want to improve as they think they are best, and some people do not really value the relation with the other person), I should admit it and change my understanding to "Yes, I was incorrect till now, the steps are b,d,e".

So next time somebody else starts discussion on topic A, I will know/feel that I am correct with steps b,d,e but the other person can say "No, the steps are x,y,z", and again, I SHOULD BE WILLING to listen to other person and try proving my points.

Its quite possible that 100s of people are wrong and one person is right on some topic, also some things does not have very clear distinctions between right/wrong, but, If one really think from "Ideal Human's" point of view from the perspective of the their environment, right or wrong can be decided or at least can be agreed upon.

--Ashish Kumar Jha

My views on issue raised by "Satyamev Jayate" and other social issues.

Aamir khan!! Whatever he does, does it different .. Taare Jameen Par, 3-Idiots .. wow man!! What a show!! .. I would have been disappointed, If he had hosted a show like KBC or had become judge of Indian Idol. Shows like these do not match the image and personality of Aamir Khan. Aamir, I salute you for this dareness and great initiative ..Yes, its true ..  similar to many people, I also cried while watching this show. (I saw this show at 10 PM on start tv. On Sunday 11 AM, I was, and will remain in college till August :) )

This post is not concentrated on issue of female foeticide only, rather many things I have seen/analyzed in last several years. This is totally my personal view, and does not intend to hurt anybody, but in case, it hurts somebody, my apologies. 

I knew about the issue .. many educated people know about it, but the way it was presented touched my heart. There was nothing new as such .. People hear about similar stories  everyday in news .. What is the single biggest reason for all these inhuman negative happenings around the world? The biggest problem is "materialism". I have done enough research, watched 100s of videos, listened to many people, talked to all levels of people, from nothing to powerful persons, uneducated to highly educated people, but everybody is addicted to this "materialism"

What is the issue? Mostly husbands and their family does this heinous act. Do these husbands and their family not have their sister/daughter? Heard one mother-in-law kicking her grand daughter so that she is killed? It would have been better, If somehow Aamir could talk to those husbands and in-laws that "Tell me honestly, why did you do this?" Why somebody wanted to kill their own blood relation? That lady might be thinking about future, that if girl comes, we will raise her, and then she will go to other family, and for that also, we have to struggle so much and pay huge dowry, hence in place of going through so much problem later, remove the root of the problem now itself. I can not agree that, All those "criminals" are really that bad in other aspects of life. They got threatened by the future .. What would have happened, If you could not have managed to get nice cloths, education, and husband for that girl in future? Actually people fear from future .. Oh My God .. how will I do this?.. Did you know that 100s people die everyday in India in Road accidents and Suicides? http://ncrb.nic.in/ADSI2010/ADSI2010-full-report.pdf And once life is over, there is no pain, no debt, no second life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_rdYiLAz38 There are many people in world who does not have single rupee balance after their dinner (May be something thrown in dustbins?). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNr4tgTEOMs  In fact one well educated person is living life pennyless (I do not endorse or support his way of life though) and write about their life from public library https://sites.google.com/site/livingwithoutmoney/ and http://www.zerocurrency.blogspot.in/ ..

Its all about how much we really need and how much we want. I heard Mukesh Ambani spent 1 Billion dollar on his home in Mumbai and they are not shifting in that house because of some vaastu problem. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053231/Worlds-expensive-house-Antilia-Mumbai-lies-abandoned.html) and in same Mumbai lacs of people do not have shelter .. The problem is having good house (decorated by famous interior designer and boasting about this in front of friends and relatives), good car, spending crores of rupees in Marriages has become so important that people die for these every moment. One of my friend said to me, "I never ever wear unbranded clothes, Will use only woodland/reebock/nike (etc) shoes, and yes I work hard for these" .Great, I am not a pure socialist, but do not endorse Capitalism in current form (Whatever I understand about socialism and capitalism) i.e I do not say Mukesh ambaani to not make 27-story building for 5-6 family members nor I say do not spend money in marriages and in place of this divide the money equally to every body in the world so that no body dies out of hunger, frustration and depression. No!! that will not work out, in that case competition is gone, and people will become lethargic, What I am saying is "Having only Mercedes car" should not become motto of life and "can do anything for that thing" attitude.

Everybody is obsessed with "log kya kahenge i.e what others will say" and this RAT race is going on in dangerous speed. One of my friend had said to me in school days "If I could not get food for my family by right means, I will opt for wrong means and snatch food from others", What he really meant is, its no harm to do bad things (Which society at large believes is bad), as he is doing for his family. But tell me why does IAS couple  Arvind and Teenu Joshi were involved in corruption ? http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/05/mp-govt-suspends-ias-couple-for-it-raids.htm I am sure an IAS gets enough salary to lead a decent life, then why did he wanted to earn crores of rupees? Just because he was pure materialistic. He felt happy in big bunglaw, kids studying abroad..

In India, there is no concept of government sponsored social security (absolute no). In US, there are many government run kids orphanage, old age homes, efficient police, medical facility, Social security after a job loss etc.. Again American way is not the way, in which world can get better, there are many personal problems in USA (as far as I know from internet and news, like kids shooting in schools, high rate of divorce etc..), But there are strict rules for everything and life is much simpler, In fact I feel that life is much simpler in Bangalore compared to my home town Purnia).

Aamir khan and Amitabh bachhan are not ideal, even they have several known personal life issues, But we should try to see positive things. Lets  think about Mahatma Gandhi. There are many who criticizes him, but his idea of "Non-violence" is so powerful that it can change the world if followed. Having said that, non-violence will not work with those hardcore ruthless terrorists, who do not understand the language of peace. We all witnessed the huge people support for Anna Hazaare, for his idea of "corruption free India", May be in future people will criticize him, but his idea can never die.

The only solution to these problems are "Spread Unconditional Love", Yes the same words I am saying since 10 years now, which is my twitter page background image, is my Tagline in all social networking sites, Blogs, website (ashishkumarjha.com). Words may be different in the solution suggested by anybody but main theme boils down to "Live life for others, Have your needs bare minimum, Do the work as hard as you can, Stretch yourself beyond comfortable zone, and do not expect equal help in return of what you did for others, Do not lie, Be good human being etc..".

In one TV show, anchor asked the guest "Why there is so many divorces in West and now catching up in India?"  The reply was so touching. He said "In India, earlier we used to tell our wife, Ardhangini, i.e half part of body, and If some disease happens to our body, we do not throw away that part of the body, right? Hence If one really believes in "Ardhangini" concept, then whatever may be the qualities, one needs to accept other, and that was the reason, there was less divorce, Now a days, people do not love others, but love themselves that too materialistic love .. I want this, I want that.. I wanted you to behave this way, I want you to earn more money, I want you to make better food.."

You see all these Nirmal/SatyaSai/Nityananda babas boasting about their extraordinary powers? They are exploiting on the fear of humans. I am 100% sure, no BABA (and for that matter, no Paadri or Maulana or anybody) has any eternal power (May be some sort of yoga make them stronger eye contacts, or they can stay without food for months, but nothing that special, that no one else can do).

I have seen and observed about few Doctors (Mind you, there are few doctors like these) in last few years, that even though they understand life can end at any moment, and its just biological entity having billions of neurons which control our thinking and behavior, they are materialistic and just to get some money give unnecessary prescription for various tests, try to let them admit into hospital etc... In fact  my brother said that in small town Purnia, there are many rackets of people who stands near railway station, bus stand, and persuade patients to go to a particular doctor, and in turn that doctor gives these "Health brokers" money. What these doctors do they write so many tests and recommend to go particular pathology for tests, and they write the medicines from a particular company and also recommend to buy medicines from a particular medical shop and many have their own medical shops. I have seen, doctor change the medicine, If the nurse standing near to doctor says, that this medicine is not available in "our medical shop". They too are exploiting "The biggest truth and fear of human kind i.e death".

Naxals kidnapped Sukna collector Alex paul menon, and media made so much hue and cry, but there was almost no coverage of two body guards who died while performing their duties, and when Alex paul were freed by Naxals, people were bursting crackers? that was height of insensitivity. He must have first visited the body guard's family for consoling them. God forbid, even if one IAS dies, his family will get the job and pension, but families of guards may die out of hunger.. No support system for poor or powerless .. Why can't army/police combined can give a deadline to Naxals for 30 days and say "Remove all your arms and join mainstream, otherwise, after 30 days, If you killed even one person, We will bombard and kill you all." and do strategic attacks if required. Look, I personally do not like force to be used, but the problem is they are killing innocent people, that should be intolerable.


One last thing, We do talk about patriotism, If I talk against Pakistan then I am patriot? Then what is wrong in telling "Raj Thakrey a Patriot", He is very well patriotic about his state. I ask, who has created these boundaries, humans right? What if few of our states make another nation XYZ, should we start hating them?. Borders of any level is just for better management. Our old civilization says "Vasudhaiv kutumbakam i.e Whole world is a family". Having said that, my analogy would be like "I work for team A, hence I should do my best for team A, and If there is positive competition between teams for better performance, I must stretch myself for better result for my team, this does not mean, If team B needs some favor, which will not harm my team, I should not do it."  Hence what will work out is, We do our best for ourselves, our family, our village, our state, our country and our Planet earth, in the decreasing order of priority, because there are others more responsible for their family, their village, their state, their country, but we all are equally responsible for Humanity. Yes, I am proud that, I am from Village Bhatotar, I am proud that I am from district Purnia, I am proud that, I belong to state Bihar, and I am proud to be Indian. If I will have to choose (only one option for life time) from Bihar and Karnataka, I will choose Bihar, If between India and USA, I will choose India, because I was born here, I have got some duties for here.

Bihar day 2011 celebration at Bangalore

On March 22, 2011, All the people of Bihar celebrated Bihar day with happiness, enthusiasm and Pride. There were functions organized at several places inside Bihar and Outside Bihar

In Bangalore, there was a huge ceremony organized at Hockey Stadium, Nanjappa road, Bangalore.  Other details at Facebook page. This event was Organized by Bihar Foundation - Bangalore Chapter 

Function started with the Lightening of candle by Chief guest Member of Parliament Syed Shahnawaz Hussain  I.G Amar Kumar Pandey and other dignitaries.

It was followed by Karnataka State song, Vande Mataram performed by Hardik Melodies (A band started by folks from Bihar in Bangalore)

Then welcome speech was presented by Shri Amar Kumar Pandey IPS. Chairman, Bihar Foundation – Bangalore Chapter. It was very energetic and enlightening words, which made all of us very proud of being a Bihari. He said, there was time, Biharis outside of bihar used to hide his native information and at several instances, poor Biharis were physically assaulted, But the perception of World is changing about Bihar and Biharis. He also shared one instance when, a person from Mauritius met him in South Africa and wanted desperately  to talk to him in Bhojpuri as that person's fore-fathers were from Bihar and still his Mother speaks Bhojpuri.

Later, the gathering was addressed by Bhaskar Rao, I.P.S., Commissioner for Transport & Road Safety. He basically belongs to karnataka but has great respect for Bihar.

This was followed by enthralling speech by Syed Shahnawaz Hussain. He said, Bihar is on growth track under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and Sushil kumar modi. There were various lighter moments he shared with us. He explained various initiatives taken by state govt. in order to improve the life of common man in Bihar and brand image of Bihar. Also He said that, Bihar does not have many resources after separation of Jharkhand  and Bihar should be given special state status.

There was various songs performed by  Hardik melodies. After this we had nice Buffet dinner arranged. We all enjoyed it.

Happy Bihar Day .. Jai Bihar .. Jai Karnataka .. Jai Hind ..

Some of the events pictures.

Chhath Puja 2010 at Sankey Tank, Bangalore

This year, I could not go to my home for Chhath puja. Chhath puja is celebrated very nicely in bangalore @ Sankey Tank. Sankey Tank is near to Mekhri circle. I think there were around 3000+ people present there. I could not go for evening Puja, But for morning Arghya, Left early at 4.45AM and reached at Snkey tank at 5.15AM (From C.V. Raman Nagar, 15 KM). I felt very nice. The event was well organized by Siddhartha Samiti. There was Prasad distribution after the puja. Though, I(actually We, Me and My Wife) would never want to stay at Bangalore on Chhath Puja, But by any chance, If we have to stay, we will go there every time.

Bihar Day: 22 March : Celebrations in Bangalore

Bihar as a separate State was formed on 22nd March 1912. Before that, Bihar was Part of Bengal. Initially, Orissa and Jharkhand were also part of Bihar. On April 1, 1936 Orissa was formed out of Bihar, and On 15th November 2000, Jharkhand was separated from Bihar. We Biharis Celebrate, 22nd March as Bihar Divas. There is 3 Day long (22-24 march) Celebrations happening in Bihar.

Happy Bihar Day !!!

It is said that, After Bihar-Jharkhand Separation, Bihar was left with 75% Population and 25% Resources. Well, Today Bihar's GDP growth is 11.5%, Second after Gujraat. Bihar received No. 1 e-governance state award in 2008, and Nitish Kumar received, Business icon of year 2009 award. Bihar had a great Past .. Chanakya, Ashok, Koutilya, Gautam Buddh, Rajendra Prasad and many others are renowned personalities from Bihar.

Bihar was ruined in last 2 Decades .. But Now, Bihar is changing in every aspects, Governance, Law and Order situation, Roads, Electricity, Health care, Education .. Though it will take some more years to get Back its glory . But its possible .. We all need to be goodwill brand ambassador of Bihar and Send the Positive Waves about Bihar's Change to rest of the world.

On 22nd March, There was Huge Celebration on Bihar Day, Organized by Bihar Foundation - Bangalore Chapter, in Hotel Lalit Ashok, KumaraKrupa Road, Bangalore. Eminent personalities, Including, IG of Bangalore, Tathagat Avtaar Tulsi (Wonder Kid, Who is the Youngest PhD in Asia. He completed His PhD from IISc Bangalore at the age of 21) were present on this occasion. I had the opportunity to meet Tathagat, in person, after 5 Years. It was great pleasure to meet him.

There was Music and Dance programs by Various artists. They performed Various Indian Dance Forms Including, Karnataka's Yakshgana, Maharshtra's Lavani, North East's Kathak, South India's Bharatnatyam etc..

And Lastly, we had great great Dinner @ Lalit Ashok, The Pioneer 5 Star Hotel of Bangalore.. It was great time there .. Enjoyed a lot .. Some of the Event's Pics

Configure Beetel 450BXI wiFi Modem with BSNL

Initially I had Airtel Broadband connection with Wired Modem (Beetel 220BXI). AT that time I had 2 PCs. Later when I got my Dell Lappy, I asked Airtel to get me a WiFi Modem. They had two options, either purchase or take it on rent. I purchased it. So I had another Modem, Beetel 450BXI.

Some time back, I removed Airtel and got BSNL broadband connection, and they gave one Wired Modem UT300RTU. I had asked to BSNL Technical person who had connected this modem in my house about my existing Beetel Modem, He said, he needs to change the Firmware (?) and which can be done by written application only. [Believe me, to change my Broadband Plan, I had to visit BSNL office and submit an application for that, whereas with Airtel, it was just one call to customer care]

Well, after few days, I thought, lets try to configure WiFi Modem. It was so simple.. below was the steps ..

1. Connected The BSNL Line cable to 450BXI, and connected network cable from port1 (This modem has 4 ports) to my Laptop.
2. In Browser, Open 192.168.1.1 [Catch, BSNL default credentials are admin/admin, whereas Airtel has admin/password, and I had to use admin/password]
3. Click Advanced Setup -> WAN. Delete all the rows by selecting all Remove option and clicking Remove.
4. Click Add. Enter VPI=0, VCI=35. Service Category= UBR Without PCR Click Next.
5. Connection Type : PPPoE, Encapsulation: LLC/SNAP , Click Next ..
6. PPP username= hk80XXXXXXXX@bsnl.in [80 is Bangalore STD code, and XX is my landline number], Please ask to Customer Care for ur username, But ideally, It should be same. Password is password. Service Name = DataOne . Authentication Method = AUTO MTU=1492 , Nothing else to select. Click next
7. You may/may not Enable Firewall. Enable NAT. Enable WAN Service. and service name = pppoe_35_1 Click Next. Save.
8. Now in Left side pane, Click Wireless. Select Basic. Check Enable Wireless only. Give SSID name as your name or something [When ur wifi device will search, u will see this name listed as available wiFi network.] Country India. Max Client 16 or less. Do not check Enable Wireless Guest Network. Click Save/Apply.
9. Click Wireless->Security. SSID=as mentioned above. Network Authentication=Open. WEP encrytion=Enabled. Strength=64 bit. Current network key=1 Network Key 1= Your Password. This will be asked, If u try to connect to this Network using ur WiFi Device. Save/Apply
10. Click Advanced Setup. Click Save/Reboot.

That's it !!! .. Now after Modem Reboot, You will be able to use WiFi.

It worked for me, and I thought to share this with world Hope this works for you as well..

Also, I believe, the default firmware supplied with any Modem should work with any Broadband service provider. Only their configurations are bit different.

Keep Spreading Unconditional Love !!!

Kudos to NDTV Greenathon Initiative

Till sometime back, This Project (Toyota NDTV Greenathon) has received Donations to Support 155 Villages for Lighting and raised ~4 Crore.

Priyanka Chopra being part of this project is great and She Deserves applause and Thanks by the Indians.. She Stands as per her Stature..

We can also contribute in various ways, both financially or Non-financially .. We can donate to the project (More details @ http://green.ndtv.com/ Or we can at least do something in our home.. Like not wasting water .. Switching off extra lights..

Bangalore used to be one of the Greenest City.. Some 20 Yrs back, I hear, Most of the roads had Trees on both sides.. Now, Its not the case .. many construction works, Metro, Road-widening has resulted in Cutting of trees..

Lets do our bit .. Its logical.. isn't it .. We must think about our future Generation .. :)

NDTV, Keep up the good work and Keep inspiring us ..

Do You Really Want To Be A Better Software Tester?

This is my thoughts .. You may/"may not" agree ..You may comment ..This Post is for existing Software tester, who wants to get better .. and feel better ..

I am a software test engineer and I love this now since few years .. I have my Vision and Mission And I am on track till now.. :)

Though, I had good Engineering score, I struggled for 4 Months to get a job after my B.E in Electronics and Communication Engineering. I was looking for Java Developer job [I did course in Java/J2EE from NIIT and had done 3 projects in J2EE/Oracle], But ... Something else was in my Luck(?) . I became Network Protocol Test Automation Developer (I used to write Tcl/IxTcl/Expect code for Layer 2 protocol Testing). Initially, I was thinking, I should change my job, but could not get another job in Java for few months and how one year Passed, I didn't notice.. Later I changed my job to a product development company ..as a Software Test Engineer.. My responsibility is to test an enterprise server software .. For Non-functional quality factors like Reliability and Scalability.. This company, has taught me so many things .. I would like to share some of the learning's ..(Again my perspective :) )

I asked "Do You Really Want To Be A Better Software Tester?". So in order to asses yourself, You should answer below questions .. I Keep asking these questions to myself ..


1. Why do I live ?
2. Why Do I work ?
3. Why do I work as a Software Tester ?
4. Do I like the work ?
5. Do I work as Tester just because, I have no other work?
6. Does company really require me ?
7. Can company live without me ?
8. Can I live without company ?
9. Can I live same life, If I don't work in Testing? What about in IT?
10. Is my Technical Skills really important ? Do I really Have some ?
11. What I am doing, can a fresher also do the same in same time and with same efficiency?
12. Company is paying me huge money, Is company getting return on investment?
13. Do other stake holders think, testing is really important?
14. Do stake holders (Development, Upper management, Sales, Customer Support, Customers) think, I am doing good job?
15. Am I doing something which will lead to improve quality of software?
16. Can I convince Customers about their expectation of quality?
17. Once I test a product, can I guarantee (Or at least try to.. ) That customer will not face any problem in their day-to-day use of this product?
18. Do I do anything repeated .. which can be automated ?
19. Do I talk business and profit ..?
20. Do I understand the testing process ?
21. Do I respect testing profession ?
22. Do I think I can do development of same product, Which I am testing?
23. Do I think, Developers are superior ?
24. Do I ask to developer more often about the product features and usage?
25. Do I understand Technology and Domain In depth ?
26. Can I develop a software to test the software from scratch ..?
27. Do I work well in a team ?
28. Do I have Ego ?
29. Do I see good future in testing ?
30. What is that, (without any training), Which I can do but Developers not?
31. What is that (without any training), which Developers can do and I can't ?
32. Do I take ownership/responsibility to get the things DONE ..
33. Do I get emotional when things does not work out the way I want ?
34. Can I get the product requirement written from scratch by talking to customers directly.. ?
35. Can I architect the product ? Can I design it High level ?
36. What all computer languages Do I know..? Am I perfect in any few ?
37. Is it really difficult to code, once you have detailed requirement document ?
38. Can I elaborate the requirements in PRD (SRS) and understand fully?
39. Can I question the product? Why this and why not that?
40. Do I understand the business of Software ..?
41. Do I understand the customer environment ?
42. Who is going to use the product ..? Is it our Direct customer? Or his Customers or the customer of his customer ..?
43. What would be the usage pattern ?
44. What is the expertise level of the end user ?
45. Do I respect seniors and their experience ?
46. Do I praise myself always ?
47. Am I an active listener? Good analyst?
48. Do I have positive attitude ?
49. Do I talk more and do less ? and Do I talk non-sense?
50. Do I have good sense of humour ?
51. Do I feel cheated ?
52. Do I feel I am at wrong place?
53. Do I know whats happening in world?
54. Do I enjoy on weekends or worry about the job security?
55. Do I procrastinate work to do?
56. Do i understand and do good detailed estimation?
57. Can I prioritize the work at hand properly?
58. Do I know my weakness ? and My strengths ?
59. Do I have many friends at work place and apart from work place?
60. Do people like to be with me or they get irritated when I talk ?
61. Am I selfish? Do I worry about others? Other's success ?
62. Do I get sad, when somebody else gets appreciation?
63. Am I financially sound? Do I have good cash in Savings?
64. Do I have several liabilities?
65. Am I managing my time wisely?
66. Do I stretch at work place everyday?
67. Do I fear while talking to stake holders ?
68. Am I confident of what I say, what I do and what I believe?
69. Am I a Fun loving guy ? Or Boring guy ?
70. Do I read blogs? News regularly ?
71. Do I participate in extra-curricular activities?
72. Do I take up new initiatives?
73. Can I control my emotions and Nobody can get that from my face and behavior?
74. Am I satisfied?
75. Am I interested in music? Cooking ? Painting ? Reading ? Writing? anything else ?
76. How is my relationships?
77. Does my view point matter and get implemented?
78. Can I test anything ?
79. Am I a fast learner?
80. Do I Plead/"Do Buttering" to anybody to get benefit ?
81. Am I physically fit ? Do I do exercise?
82. Do I take discussions as argument ?
83. Do I take criticism positively or Start fighting/Defending?
84. Can I take immediate and correct decisions?
85. Am I flexible to take up new activity at any point?
86. Can I work with global team?
87. Can I communicate well with anybody and be understandable to the audience?
88. Do I take Risk to improve something ?
89. Do People believe me?
90. Do I understand, Really why am I doing what I do?
91. Do I complain about the problems faced in completing the task or solve the problems and get the task Finished ?
92. Do I lie @ Workplace and @ Home ?
93. Does somebody hate me @ Work and @Home ?
94. Do I help others to accomplish their task? Professionally? Personally?
95. Am I credit hungry? Appreciation hungry ?
96. Do I appreciate/thank if somebody helps me ?
97. Do I accept my mistake, and Do I apologize and take this as learning?
98. Do I participate in Customer calls, Forums ?
99. How many people know me in person @ Work @ Society ?
100. Last question for Now .. Am I spreading "Unconditional Love" ?


You may feel, some questions are repeated.. Well may be ..

I know my answers.. You may also get your answers..You should first answer what you are really without thinking what the answer should be for an Ideal situation..Now Once you got your answers..Revisit the question and Consider yourself a Judge, and think logically/Rationally for an ideal, and I am sure most of the People will have similar answers.. And the theme would be Love/Respect You work and people around you, Keep on learning and Be Responsible .. If you further abstract It, All leads to one word "Humanity" .. Just think .. think about "Geeta Saar".. We all are just biological things, which will Decay one day ..

If you see a huge difference between what you are (Or would like to become) AND What you think the Logical answers should be, Then May be you are not going to be happy ..

For Me, I do see the gaps, But the gaps are not such a big that, I can't fill it.. Well, This may take Years or whole Life to get even closer to Ideal situation, but Student who will try for 100 marks, He only Has a chance to get 100.. right ?

Well .. I started sounding philosophical .. :)

Happy testing .

7 working phone numbers just for me ..

Yes! Its true that currently there are 7 phone/mobile numbers, which belongs to me and I am the only Person who can answer call on these. I wanted to recall my journey with phones.

I got my first mobile phone in 2003, when the incoming became free. It was Nokia 3315 with Airtel connection. I was very excited to own a mobile. Those days, Call was bit costly, so I was not making many calls from the mobile, rather I used to call from PCO. Later, In 2004, Reliance CDMA was launched with 501 Rs Postpaid scheme. I got the new white LG mobile, which had R-World feature, with which I was able to check my mails as well. I gave old Nokia mobile to one of my friend.

I came to Bangalore in 2005, Got a job in Nov. 2005. I had a dream to own a Landline phone in my name. So I applied for a tata-indicom Landline phone. As I was staying bachelor, the agent said, better you get this phone in ur room owner house, and say He is your uncle and you are staying with him. I did the same, and got Landline phone. There was a scheme, that along with Landline phone, one mobile was given, and till one year, the call from my landline to my mobile was free. So In December 2005, I had three phones. Later after few weeks, I gave Reliance mobile to somebody.

I was working in Afila, sometimes in shifts 3PM-12AM, and there was a cab drop after 12AM. In the office, after 9 PM, I was getting sleep, So, I used to call my roomates and, they used to keep my Land line phone connected to my mobile and near Computer playing Songs and I used to enjoy free. If any friend visit my room and I am not there, they used to call me from my landline. It was absolutely free. So till yet I had two phones. I still have these two phone with same number.

In 2006 November, I joined novell, and got a Direct Phone number,, My third phone. In 2007 December, I applied for BSNL broadband connection, but after few months, they said, as there is no Line in that area, they can't connect phone and asked me to get back the refund which I had paid while applying for connection. I never went to BSNL office for the refund.

As I didn't get BSNL broadband, I applied for airtel broadband in Feb 2008 and got the connection with a phone .. My Fourth phone which is still with me ..

One of my close friend works for Reliance, and He said me to get a Reliance number so that he can call me free. I said him, Give me two hours and I will call you from my new Reliance number. I went to Reliance Office with all required document and got Reliance prepaid number activated withing\ 2 hours, This phone is still with me. Initially I used to talk with my Reliance friend hours together, But now a days, we both are bit busy and talk once in a while. I still have this phone with me, but I don't carry this phone with me, and it remains off most of the time, unless I want to talk to my friend -- This was my fifth phone ..

In 2009 September, I wanted to get a new High-end mobile, But thought not to go for CDMA phone, so I had to drop tata-indicom mobile which is since 4+ years with me now and many places I have given this number, My Banks, Insurance, Investments, Credit cards and many friends.. So It was bit difficult to drop this number. So I decided to keep this phone as well and Got a new Nokia Express Music 5800 Mobile along with Airtel connection .. My 6th Phone..

On 31st December, I saw the same BSNL lineman in my area who had visited me 2 years before, I asked him, what happened, I had applied for the BSNL broadband 2 years back, I have not yet got the connection. He said, still the connection has not reached that area, But I can do something. He came to my room and proposed to connect from a far distant apartment directly, which He said is not allowed officially, But He said, I want your New year to be happy and you should talk on this phone on 1st Jan. I will connect the phone today and It will start working from Jan 1st. He did connect a long wire (around 200 Meters) but the phone started working only on 4th Jan 2010. Later on 6th, I got my BSNL broadband working too. This was my 7th phone.

So today I have 6 Phones in my house .. 2 Tata Indicom Postpaid, 1 Airtel prepaid, 1 Airtel Postpaid, 1 BSNL Postpaid, 1 Reliance prepaid and One Airtel Landline in office.. Now, I am going to cancel Airtel Broadband, so that I will be left with 6 phones only. :)

Similar to phones, I have 3 computers as well :) (Actually I wanted to setup a client server Lab with wireless connectivity and was trying to setup a Private Web server, File server and Mail server just for learning purpose, though I have not yet done this setup, But its in my To-Do list) .. 2 PCs and one laptop .. Both the PCs are connected with single monitor, single KB and Mouse using KVM switch. and one Dell Studio laptop.

:) Bye Till My Next Post .. Thanks for visiting my blog ..

India in last Decade..

Wish You All A Warm, Happy And Prosperous New Year..

Last 10 years wrote a history for India and most importantly the IT sector has done tremendously well.. After Dot-Com boom, It was Indian IT services companies which reached to new heights in last 10 years. Many Indian IT companies got listed in NASDAQ. The job opportunities in IT sector made many people prosperous.

Apart from IT, it was Telecom sector, which changed the way we used to communicate. from merely 5-6 Million Mobile subscribers in 2000, Now India has 450 Million mobile subscribers. The Teli density is increased hugely. The Internet has reached to masses, Still lot more needs to be done in internet space, considering almost nill penetration in rural India.

Also, Reality sector wrote good success story .. Many Indian Builders are now contending for overseas projects.

Still, Farmer suicide, widening gap between Rich and Poor, Food insufficiency, price rise etc.. are major concerns.

India has great potential to get into league of world leaders in coming years.

Wishing a peaceful world!!

Testing job is inferior and less innovative compared to Development job? Huh ..

This blog post is inspired by (With few addition by me) this post.. Thanks to the author ..
http://geektester.blogspot.com/2009/10/do-you-have-it-in-you-technical-skills.html

Somebody Said, QA/testing job is less innovative and inferior, they get less Salary (Mostly wrong statement) and they can't code (Well, they can but they won't)..

I believe QA engineer should be able to code, But may not code ..

Lets see what Development engineer innovates while He Codes .. U see Business Analysts Says "What is Business requirement for customer", Product manager says "What all features will be developed" and Architects Says "How to modularize the product development".. and once Dev Engr knows, what specific has to be done (Like Validate the username/pwd taken from login page), he translates his modules functional description written in English language to another language say C/C++/Java ..

So I don't think there is much scope of innovation to Dev Engr as well .. One may say, Dev Engr has more chances to become Architect, Similarly testers have more chance to become Business Analyst and Consultant, As they have Bird's Eye View and Domain understanding and more closeness to Customers..

You Testers (Including me), Beware, You Must and Must understand Technical things (Architecture of the product, Module flow diagram, Languages used, Debugging skills, Middleware and backend understanding) and at least one General purpose language and one Scripting language, and the best bet would be C++ and Perl .. Also, Good understanding of Internals of RDBMS is required... Become the Domain expertise .. and Learn Testing Tools and Automation ..

I believe, whatever I said above is not very difficult to achieve.. We can do it, If we focus ... But, If you want to just learn Record/Play Tools, which any 10th Pass student can do, Forget about Job security and Bright career in Testing .. Life is gonna be tough .. In Past few years, many Testing jobs is moved to India (Main reason being Low Cost labor) and If we do not focus, Jobs may move to Nepal, Bhutaan, Srilanka, China, South Africa etc.. (For the Same reason, of curse)

One May Ask, Developer can only test, He knows, In and out of the product, so he can better Test..So Why testers are required..? Well, Ask to IT industry experts and they will say u something like "Separation of Duties" and "Conflict of Interest" .. Its like, if A Doctor has Medical shop also, he will/may prescribe only those medicine, which He has in his medical store right now, Even when there may be better medicine for the same Disease.. Or If an enterprise makes the Financial Auditor and Accountant the same person (See what happens..)

I was always topper in my Engineering College (BE/2005/ECE), I had received 2nd Prize in C++ South India Competition conducted by NIIT and had designed Mail-Client/Server in just a week using java servlet, JSP, Oracle, and J2EE as part of NIIT Course for J2EE after I finished B.E. Initially, Even I wanted to become Dev. Engr, But, I am here since 4.1 Yrs.. Its like, No profession is Bad, and every profession has some Pros and Cons .. Lets highlight Positive things and Be Happy ..

I am quite happy now with my career...

No Offense to anyone.. I just felt, Lots of negative talk about Testing is floating around, and why not encourage Testers.. Happy testing .. :)

Completed 3 years at Novell on 29/11/2009

Today I completed 3 years service at Novell.. Let me share you my first day at Novell.. It was very funny actually ..

Before Novell, I was working with Afila for 1.1 Yr, which was a service company, and we used to wear mostly formal dress. There was no rule as such except on wednesday, we had to come to office in formals only with full sleeve shirt, Formal Pants, Formal shoes..

On First day, to get good impression or whatever.. I went to Novell in Suit/Tie/Formal wear, and I was amazed to see, nobody in the office was in formals.. almost everybody was in Jeans/T-shirt. Well, I had to fill several forms and it took around two hours for that .. Later, I was introduced with my team.. and one colleague couldn't control to say to take off my suit/tie. It was very funny for others.. not for me though..

There were some other funny incident on the same day, which my team and myself can never forget .. But I am not gonna share those for now.. :)

In last three years, Novell has given me a lot.. Lots of happiness, job satisfaction, many friends and lots of weight (Kidding..) But I can say that, I have not returned Novell that much. I owe a lot to Novell snd I promise myself to work even smarter, and do my work more effectively, and contribute towards Novell's success..

Thanks Novell ..