Breakfast in Malleshwaram, Lunch at Mylapore and Dinner at Matunga - Part 2

(Continued from Part 1 ...)

8:50 AM: Bangalore Airport.

Flight to Chennai Delayed by 40 minutes – Thanks to the screwed up traffic at Bangalore airport and an air traffic congestion at delhi from where the aircraft was coming. Ticketing and security check took me 30 minutes (By Bangalore Standards you can consider yourself lucky if you spend anything less than an hour at the security check in). After standing in that insanely crowded airport, the enthusiasm and energy I had after the divine tasting mysore masala dosa and coffee vanished in no time. (Even the good old dusty town bus stand in tanjaavur is a much better place than Bangalore airport).

As I sluggishly entered the flight, a whole bunch of women and men who look like woman (looking like the gay icon ranbir kapoor) scared me with a loud greeting and I moved away as far as I can from those men.

“Good Morning! Welcome Again Sir! How are you?”, greeted a lady with a very friendly smile.

“Shit! Looks like she had seen me before this. Have I begun traveling a bit too much?”, I thought. Quickly trying to avoid an embarrassment, I replied with my usual scary trademark smile, “Thanks! I am good!”.

I quickly began looking for her name badge and in the process embarrassed her further (if you understood what I meant) and continued, “How are you doing Lipika?”

“Good Sir! Not seen you in this sector for long”, she said reassuring me that I am not traveling all that often.

I dragged myself to some non-reclining seat, the buffoon in the counter offered me, quoting lame excuses like, “Sorry Sir! You are late and this is all we have”. I crashed into my seat and quickly dozed off. Half way through the sleep, I had this weird feeling of some one trying to wake me up. I had the shock of my life when I decided to open my eyes. That ‘Ranbir Kapoor’ chap was shaking my shoulders in an attempt to wake me up very romantically for the breakfast. I very politely asked him to move away and my “stay away” look said it all. I saw to that he was gone and was nowhere in the vicinity and then continued to sleep in an attempt to get back to dream of doing an item number with aishwarya Rai, in the middle of which I was woken up by this monkey (hope the Australians don’t call me racist)

11:00 AM – Chennai Airport

One of the better airports across the country, It was the usual Chennai temperature of 36 Celsius. The city has perennially been so used to temperatures like 35-40 Celsius, that you can find people wearing mufflers and monkey-caps to escape the December temperature of a very cold 25 Celsius.

I was looking around for the driver and there was this Placard which read, “Hindustan Unilever – Joirum Krishna”. Holy Christ! I have no clue how people can consistently screw up my name. I was quite puzzled at how people arrived at a name which looks like a classic mix of Bengali Rasagula Dipped in Spicy Pepper Rasam. “If a driver in Chennai cannot get my name right, I should avoid going to Bihar or Punjab where my name might get mutilated beyond recognition”, I muttered.

11:30 AM – Mylapore – Consumer Research.



This went on for a couple of hours after which I was really hungry and the team wanted me to take them out to a nice restaurant for lunch.

3:30 PM – Saravana Bhavan, Mylapore.

We a little too late into the day and the meals which saravana bhavan is always known for was over. However, I was not in a mood for a full meal. We decided to relish some Ittili and Dhosai in the chennai ishtyle. Saravana Bhavan is kinda a ‘Destination’ Place for me and none of my Chennai trips are complete without murdering a plate of mini sambhar idly (a dish where there is more ghee on the plate than the sambhar). Its damn Yumm and the plate was empty in no time. Yeh Dil Maange More !! I looked at my collegue in the other side of the table and signaled for another dish. “Dude! I am hungry. We shall order something more”, she said fiddling her spoon into a bowl of sambhar vada. I called the waiter and said, “Anne! Rendu Masala Dosai” [Two Masala Dosa Brother]. “Noouuuu! I waannnntt Raaoooovvaaaooo Dooosshhhaaaiii”, She said trying chewing on to the vada soaked in steaming sambhar. I looked at the Waiter and he smiled and shook his head. “Stunning one, lady! Looks like he understood you. But, wait till he gets the food.”, the optimist in me said watching the waiter disappear into the kitchen..

4:30 PM – Home Sweet Home

6:30 was the flight back to Mumbai and there was not a lot of time left, but still home is just too good to forgo. Mom makes the best of filter coffees and its way better than the coffee at the best of the restaurants. There is nothing like a nice long conversation with mom over a cup of coffee. This time around, I was n a rush and grabbed a quick cuppa coffee at my home and rush to the airport.

8:20 PM - Back in Mumbai Airport.

Back in the busiest of all places, I was wondering what to do? I had called up a friend of mine and asked him to turn up at Matunga. Matunga is a complete south Indian place in Mumbai and you get the best idlys, dosa and more than everything else, a nice tasting udupi speciality kannadiga meal. I fixed up a deal with this guy and landed up in Ramnaik – A nice udupi restaurant where they serve the best udupi delicacies.

9:10 PM – Ramnaik @ Matunga

Chappati, Channa Masala, Capsicum Sambhar, Tomato Rasam, Ladies Finger Poriyal, Mix Veg Kootu, Curd, Lemon Pickle …. coupled with hot carrot halwa. What else can you ask for in life?

10:00 PM – Back in my room

I sleepishly entered the room after having had a long but very memorable day. I not just did things that I love doing, but also enjoyed doing them. There is nothing like getting the best of the things and looking back on what you did with a satisfied smile. That was a great day being in 3 different places I love within a span of 20 hours, traveling thousands of miles, Eating stuffs that you love and being with people who bring you a great deal of comfort.

Breakfast in Malleshwaram, Lunch at Mylapore and Dinner at Matunga – what more can I ask for?

Breakfast in Malleshwaram, Lunch at Mylapore and Dinner at Matunga – Part 1

Traveling gives me an instant high and it’s rather been my only goal/ambition which has not undergone changes as I grew up. But, I have been traveling far too frequently these days and I have begun to feel the heat. The overcrowded Bangalore Airport which has no place to even stand, getting stuck in Bangalore’s Airport Road for hours, rickety ride in the black and yellow taxi from Santa Cruz to Wadala, are not just plain and simple experiences. It prepares you for the worst in life!! So does a refugee camp. But how far is too far is a question that I never knew the answer of.

Living in the moment has been the only escape for me. Tough Schedules are always scary, but moving on in life with it not all that a bad idea. Not a long ago, one of those really hectic days at work turned out to be a very memorable day which I didn’t want to end.

In the mid of December 2008 (I am not able place the exact date), I woke up in my hotel room in Bangalore.

5 AM: Hotel Room – Bangalore:

I was in no mood to wake up from a well deserved sleep after a hectic previous day’s work. My alarm began snoozing away to glory from 4:30 AM. I had no clue why I placed alarm at 4:30 AM for catching a flight to Chennai at 8 AM. Laziness is a virtue and I love being lazy. Nothing can beat the feeling of putting the alarm on snooze repeatedly till the battery gets discharged.

I woke up very early by my standards and my mobile showed 5:15 AM. Unlike every other day when I literally drag myself outta bed, I was feeling really fresh. I still had more than 3 hours for the flight and was clueless of what to do till then. I hate the very sight of Bangalore Airport and had no intentions of being there before 7:45 AM. I had also done a web check-in being a jet gold member (thanks to my mindless travels these days).

5:45 AM: Sampige Road – Bangalore:

I quickly got into my Reebok and was out on the road in a couple of minutes. Thanks to my fundoo schedule, I was adding a happy 2 Kgs per month to my frame. Getting a chance to jog itself has become so rare these days, which I decided to make the most out of it. I began running like nuts in and around Malleshwaram. While you are in Rome, Do the Romans (Such corny status messages made my forget the actual phrase). While in Karnataka, I decided to listen to Kannada Songs. Fast Paced ‘Kuthu’ songs of Chennai 28 in my MP3 Player had given way to some damn nice mellifluous numbers from ‘Mungaru Malle’.

Thanks to the slow songs, I found myself walking unable to match the pace of the lovely song with a jog. The lovely sight of the sampige road with the orangey morning sun illuminating the otherwise dark road shaded with trees lines up at every available inch across both sides of the road. As I walked past, the pleasant smelling sampige flowers slowly drop past you with utmost grace and the mildly chill breeze of winter morning making you feel like in heaven. Oh Boy! It was one of the best morning walks I have had. The best part was that it did not end there ….

6:45 AM – Shanti Sagar

How can a South Indian’s morning be complete without the mother of all drinks – Filter Coffee? Bangalore known for it “By-2 Coffee” culture (indulging yourself in a half cup of steaming frothy coffee which gives one a 360 degree experience). The color of the coffee, at its appetizing best woos you in as you begin getting closer to the cup. Before the colour grows disappear from your radar. the mild addictive aroma begins hitting you as you close in towards the rim of the cup. The Best part is the quick intake of a quantity which is neither a sip nor a gulp, but sufficient enough to give you an instant high while the tip of you tongue makes contact with the steaming heavenly potion.

Once you have done this, trust me you will not put down the cup before emptying it. You suddenly feel like the king of the world. You grip the glass close to your lips, take one deep breath of the oxygen soaked in smell of caffeine, take in a shot, close your eyes and let the magic sink in.

As I was getting done with my coffee, I was reminded of the yucky breakfast serve on flight. Temptation to murder one masala dosa has already drowned me despite knowing that I am getting late for my flight. “Kano! Ondhu mysore masala dosa! Dosa holagade chutney solpa kadumai maadi”[Get me one Mysore masala dosa with less chutney spread inside], I told one of the hotel boys with a very proud smile of managing one full sentence in Kannada.

How can one have a just a spicy masala dosa? The spicy taste of the chutney spread inside the dosa would make coffee taste even better. “By 2 Coffee Solpa Jaldi Beku”, went yet another instruction. Looking at my watch, I realized having spent more time in the restaurant than during my jog.

I got out of Shanti Sagar with just 40 minutes for my flight. “Yo Man ! This is Life … This is worth everything that you can give”, I said to myself. I wanted to stand on the center of the road and cry out loud – “I am loving it! I am so happy today”.

( to be Continued .... )

Ek Gaaon Mein ; Ek Kissan

Brands are made in board rooms, built around dinner table conversations, polished by brainstorming and brought to life by the advertisements. Nevertheless, some brands go beyond board rooms and change the lives of the consumers forever. Even if it’s the brand manager who decides what the brands must reflect and portray, it’s eventually the consumer who decides to patron it or not.

Not every brand taste success while knocking at the door of the consumers. Brands, by nature promises a whole bundle of ‘reasons to buy’ and consumers either shadow them or shoo them away depending on if the promises are kept and delivered.

I had seen many brands as a consumer and been loyal user of a couple of them(to name a few – CloseUp, Compaq, MTR, Medimix, Brylcreem, Gilette and so on). It’s a very different kind of a transformation for me when I moved from one end of the table to the other. From consumer and a mere analyzer of brands and advertisements, to a brand manager who makes them or decides them, it has been a kick ass journey.

Not a long ago, a brief stint with Brooke Bond Team and working on brands like 'Three Roses' and 'Red Label' opened my eyes on all the work that goes behind in strengthening the brand. Meeting consumers who remember small things about the brand, small snippets in the ad which they recollect gives all the satisfaction to the guy who has worked hard building the brand.

It’s quite difficult to relate to what I am trying hard to say. But, building the brands that you have grown up with or taking forward the brands which are twice as old as you is an experience in a lifetime which not every person gets to do.

I moved into the branding team of Kissan recently. For the emotional consumer in me, Kissan was not just another brand. It was the most treasured memories of my happy childhood. Kissan transports me back to the days when I was kid. I used to travel to my grand father’s place for my summer vacations. Summer in Tamil Nadu is extremely hot and a two month long vacation away from school is spent completely outside home playing from dawn to dusk and then back again till dawn. Afternoon times were never complete without Kissan Squash. Kissan is diluted and filled with a couple of ice cubes and is kept ready for consumption in the afternoon. I used to sneak into the house in the afternoon while granny was asleep and carry the Squash to the veranda where all my playmates are waiting to grab their share of glass.

In a small and pretty village near kumbakonam, my typical day during my summer vacation will begin at 8-ish when i get out of my home with my cricket accessories. I would gather a bunch of close pals and we used to get hold of a place which has a bit of shade for the batsmen and rest of the players will have to get even with the scorching heat. After running all around the place chasing the cricket ball for more than three hours, I would hear some one yelling “Kichaaaaaa” [The way my grand parents call me]. I would not try to look around to find who it was. It’s been imbibed into my daily schedule and it was none other than my sweet granny. We will all put our bats and stumps at the same place and run into the house for a quick lunch. When we come back after lunch, the shade which was protecting the batsmen would have also slowly vanished. Thro mutual consultation, we would resort to more indoor games like chess, carom, cards and trade. This is where Kissan occupies a larger than life status for us, kids. An afternoon without Kissan orange and pineapple squash was almost unthinkable. I almost would empty one full bottle of Kissan every week.

My grandpa used to be so specific about buying Kissan and not just another brand like Rasna which was lot more economical. Such was the trust Kissan commanded. I still find Kissan in the refrigerator when I visit my grand parents. As a 5 year old kid those were the best days in my life when I used to go along with my grandfather to purchase my favorite Kissan, Diary milk and CloseUp. When we reach the shop, my Grandpa used to lift me up and put me on the shelf at the front of the shop. I will then make sure the shopkeeper gets down all that I want.

Thinking back and relating to the consumer in me, when I am working on the other side of the spectrum feels great and moving. After moving to Kissan, I called up my grand parents and told them about my new role. There were not able to completely understand what I had to say, but my granny made me have a satisfied smile with her closing remarks “Inga Vaa, Naa unaku Kissan Vaangi Fridge le vachiruken” [Come Here, I have got Kissan in our refrigerator].

That made my day …. Yeah! To think of it, we all live for these small happy moments that bring us a great deal of satisfaction.

Missing you ....

Machi,

It has been one year since you decided to leave me and the world behind. I am sure it was not an easy decision that you took. It has not been easy for me to forget or forgive you. For the last one week, your memories have been haunting me every time I opened the home page of my Orkut. I cannot really believe that you had gone ….I heard your voice and I still hear it.

It was indeed the most painful days in my life. You made me cry in front of everyone for the first time in my life. I cried endlessly for months. I woke up in the middle of the sleep hearing your voice. Everything I did or saw reminded me of you in some way. Ours was a small campus and any friend there was very close. You were my Roomie. I virtually spent my entire first year in your presence. I woke up every day seeing your face. We prepared together for every exam … Ran together to the profs room in the last minute to submit assignments … Bunked classes together … slept in the last bench on all QT2 classes … took kallappa’s case together … fought with sathish together …. danced together in most of the wetnites … shared an amazing interest to churn out new Gaalis in tamil … hid together inside the room during all those holy dip and dunking times … sold tickets for Maxi Bazaar together …. I spent some of the best times in my life with you.

Everything about you was special. You never knew how much I loved your spontaneous jokes and would often repeat them to shiv and sathish. You never know how much we wanted you around in every dinner table conversations we had. You don’t know how many guys in the batch looked forward to you to help them before exams. You never know how many of us still remember your placecomm soapbox which left the entire hall in splits. ….. & I didn’t know that I will never get to tell you all this.

May be, if we had stuck to our plan of taking a double room together in our second year, I would have saved you. May be I did not deserve to have you around for the rest of my life. Dunno why am writing this …… Felt like saying “I really miss you & wish you had never done that”.

May your soul rest in peace…

JK

Distribution Blues

[A Sales Man's Horrid Nightmare]

This is typically the case of sad distribution, when your product does not reach the point of sale. Your good quality and nice looking pet-cartons would land up being used to display your competitors' Product. In the Hilly and 'complex to acccessible' areas like the ones in the north-eastern part of india, Nestle has been doing quite a lot of promotion, pushing their Nescafe, Munch and Kitkat. All that cadbury has managed to do, has been giving them storage space ... Look at this ....

[ Taken at a shop near Cheerapunji, meghalaya - Dated March 2007]

First Day, Night Show & Black Ticket !

What could be a better way to celebrate diwali than going for a movie late at night when the entire city is sleeping after a tiring day with sweets, relatives, crackers and TV programs. This has always been a part of my festival skedule for the last 5 years. First day shows have been something i love even if i had to park my car three streets down the theater, jump down the main gate, wait for an hour to get into the theater, get smashed in the crowd, pay thrice the cost of the ticket, sit next to a man who is completely drunk and is all waiting to vomit on the guy in his front. But off-late, absence of this experience in jamshedpur had made me yearn for the those chennai breaks when i easily catch up atleast 2 movies in theaters.

I still remember, how two of our friends had to tickle the security men to let us into the theater when we tried catching up gemini on its first day. Ghilli was no better when lathi (policemen's defense sticks) missed gracing our ass by a whisker. We managed to save our ass (literally) by shouting "Ilaya thalapathi Vaazhga" in the last second. One of the Policemen on duty advised one of my friend, "Enna pa ! Rasigar Mandrama ? Rouse pannama padam pakkanum ! illa lock up le thalli muttiya pethuduven". Promptly replied a notorious friend of mine, "Maaaaannichiduuuuu thalaaaaai ! Chinna Pasanga, Theriyama Sound Koduthutom". Within a second after saying that, a huge guy grabed him by his collar and told him, " Dei, Innada nenaichitu irukeenga ? Yaaru padathule yaaru pera sollareeenga ?". Guess he was an vijay fanatic and he misunderstood the "thalai" my friend used to the way tamil moviegoers address Ajith (Another contender for superstar-ship). We then appeased him with one liners like, "Vijay Super anne ! Ajithavadhu hero vaavadhu", "Anne Thalapathy(we decided not to confuse thalai and thalapathy agai) padam pakkanumnu collegea cut adichitu vanthirukomne".

Coming from a college which was known for High Flying US admits and a recent XLRI factor into my life, people dont really believe when i narrate these memorable experiences. Most of us who have seen movies like this are now in IIMs, XL, UTA, CMU, STANFORD, etc... One of my friend who went to IIM B had even got beaten up on the Chandramukhi first show. Unkempt people, Drunken Men, Notorius Fans, Sad Policemen have not really detered the adventure seekers like us to catch up the glimpse of a movie on the very first day.

In a city like chennai where atleast 10 of your friends would have seen the movie in the very first day, stopping them from mouthing out the story is impossible. By the time you see the movie in the first weekend, there are 90 % of the chances that you would know the story scene by scene. With the movies themselves being so predictable these days, watching it under such pre established gyan and guidances adds no entertainment and fun value. So, Controlling the urge to watch it fresh with no expectation is really tuf. All my friend who watched 'Saami' on the second day would certify that. After a bad first half, most of us wanted to go back home. But we stayed back as we have no clue of what second half would be like. None of us had clue of wat the rest of the movie was gonna be like. That killer second half was worth all the surprises. You will never have such satisfying experiences if you watch it after a week or two in VCD or even in theater.

This ofcourse involves the risk of sitting for a movie like "Kangalal Kaidu Sei" on the very first day. Its as good a jumping into a deep well, but again one should appreciate the fact that these movies of the other extreme run only for a week and you will never get a chance to see them in theater and be a part of the elite crowd unless you are willing to take that extra bit of risk. My list of the First day shows extends from Dheena(my first encounter with the habit), arul, dhool, kangalaal kaidu sei, thotti jaya, Gemini, Thamizhan, Red, kakka kaaka, minnale, charlie chaplin, chocolate, Ji, Virumandi, Jhoot and many more. Some of these have even been the first shows and sometimes 2 shows on the same day. I had not gotten out of this habit even after going away from chennai. I caught up with 'Vattaram' with yashwanth (One of my closest pal. All the movies that we saw together had bombed at box office. God save Vattaram) a day back to mark my come back for Diwali.

Looks crazy for some, but for me, these remind me of those nostalgic times i shared with my friends in the best of my years. Its great that traditions are still alive and i can relive those days even after moving to XLRI. Vaazhga Chennai and Valarga kollywood.

~ JK

20 hours which i will never will forget

Wednesday, 18th October 11 PM - Calcutta Airport

Clocks ticks 11 PM at the satyam iway in the Calcutta Domestic terminal. As Usual, Sleep Eludes me and i decide to idle away another hour or two typing out this blog. Killing time had become my favourite pas-time these days. Things weren't the same a month ago. My Last encounter with the Calcutta airport was a painful and forgettable experience. Having exageratted those times of being a very significant break in my career, i went thro (or rather inflicted on myself) lotsa pressure and pain which were rather unwarrented. Looking back makes things sound childish and stupid, but i really required to go through that to understand what certain 'things' meant to me.

It all began in 2005 October, when HLL requested me to do spend my summers with them(lol). As the first guy in my course to sign-out with an offer, It was almost like a dream come true for me. After a wonderful stint in thir bangalore beverages [BrookeBond Chai ... I wud have prefered other nice beverages :)) ] division, i was a offered a PPO(pre placement offer, the most hyped up lingo in a b-skool life). I had to appear for a final interview with some top management guys before being given a final offer.

Xactly one month back ...

Monday, 18th September 6:00 PM - Chennai Airport

I was leaving chennai for my HLL interview which was supposed to happen on the 19th of Sep. I had spoken to many of my seniors, friends and my boss, all of whom were almost certain of my conversion (again a b-skool lingo for cracking the interview). I was positive, but my confidence and the usual gut feel was sadly missing. I am not adept at xtra sensory perception, but more often my intuitions have always beeen astounding. It was disturbing, but i had to leave my intuitions behind and proceed to complete with what i have started 10 months back.

I would not call it a great start, with rains pouring down continuously in Mumabai(which is not a rareity these days). Delayed in air by 2 hours, i proceeded to the car getting myself complete drenched in the process. Hotel Supreme in Colaba ... Sounds Nice .... I checked in to what sounded like a rocking pub 15 minutes back in horror(dont doubt my intuitions now!!). It looked very dark and dingy, which was so untypical of HLL's posh and psued style of accomodation. During my summer internship, I used to be put up in some lovely resorts and sexy hotels when on travel. Never did i expect something of this kind from them. The Room was scary and looked like a 19th century old murky inn, with atrocious ventilation and a rock hard medical bed. Sleep eluded me yet again with a very important interview skeduled for the morning. Being post midnight, i was also not able to meet my counterparts from IIMs who have come down for the same interview. Watching sony TV for a while was good enug to put me back into a long sleep.

I slept till 10 AM without even having the slightest clue, thanks to my perenially dark room. With 2 more hours left for reporting at HLL, i managed to catch up with the other b-skoolers. I am not a food freak, but would not mind that extra bit of travelling for a better food. My room-boy promised a south indian breakfast, down the end of Pandey Road in Colaba. I walked down all the way and the learning that i got out of it was, "Never go by a north indian's Perception of a south indian food". It was not even close to the worst breakfasts that you'll get in chennai.

Most of us who were appearing for interview that day were against sporting a formal blazer. Hence, we all formed a cartel and decided agsint wearing the same. It was 12:30 PM and i presented myself in the backbay reclamation complex(Head office - HLL). We were taken thro some small presentations of what HLL had planned for the next year's summers and instructions regarding the interview. We were also told that two of the interview panelists are a little tuf to handle and hence the only way through was to "play it safe". I was not expecting a stress interview here as i felt that the stage was entirely different and i have done well to have made it into HLL following a 40 minute interview during SIP and a 2 months of some real good work.

My Number kab aayega ? I was the third one to be interviewed. Niharika, a gal from IIM L went in first and stormed out happily. She seemed to have had a very warm and friendly conversation. Sachin from FMS was the next to go. I was sitting in the lounge looking at the funky Unilever wall papers decorating the massive wall in my front. The women in the wallpaper was very skimpily dressed, but had a spark on her eyes. Despite her outfit, she ever looked hot, but rather was really cute and graceful(just like the erstwhile 'Liril' models). As I was glancing through the other images, the silence was broken by sachin's footsteps. He walked out with a rather bewildered look. Looked like the panelist were in a mood to grill and stress.

"Better the panelist pick me, or else they are gonna miss out on a CEO material", i told myself and was not able to control my instant laughter that had to be shed for that comment. After a couple of minutes, my Super-Duper Senior (Ajay Kumar of Batch of 1994), one of the panelists for my interview, walked out and escorted me into the a small room, where the other two members were warming up for the war.

Panelist 1: Jayaram .... krishnan ... bala .... subra .... manian (OMG ! he has done it). You have got a complicated name. How do people address you ?? (So, he was sure that people are not insane to call me this way)

I had been so used to this question these days. Right from my batchmates, to my collegues, to professors, my name had been subjected to constant analysis and ridcule. I try explaining my bad fate to them and request them to address me as JK (i love being called this way)

Panelist 2: That sounds like some DON material (All of them began giggling ... I felt like a Joker, as Father Jesurajan would love to address me as)

P1: What is the difference between Red Label and 3 Roses ?

There goes the missile .... Its time to pour down all my research and analysis at the given opportunity. People who know me certify that i speak(gas) a lot, though making sense or not in out of the question. But, Fact has clearly been that i try hard, but cannot be crisp. I began flaunting my knowledge on the brand and take them thro the history of the brand. Little did i realise that they had been with HLL more than i have been :)

P1: (interrupts me half way) JK, Have you heard of a story of a poor kid which has mugged up some answers for the exam. When he looks at the answer paper, he is shocked to find a different question. So, so save his skin, he lands up vomitting the same stuff he read for any question thrown. Such is your answer.

I continued from where i left and tried to justify my long answer. Happy as usual, I managed to rattle away all the gyan. There was a point of time when i used to take things personally and make all the attempt of the interviewer to stress me super sucessful. All it required was a fight with Jesurajan in one XLRI interview where he apparently showed me the door. Thanks to his usual ways, i have learned to smile even when the interviewer is tearing my self esteem into pieces.

P1: JK, You really are a kid and you need to really grow up to take an FMCG career.

I knew he was stressing me out. I was puzzled as to "why was he doing it now?". I reassured myself that i am gonna crack it.

P2 comes up with an amaazing question and ask me to give an ethical response to the same. I goof it up a bit initally, but manage really well in the end. P2, smiles at me and gives the chance to the last guy (Senior HR Director - the XLRI guy). He questions me on my career options. Here is where i was so kicked and give the best possible answer. I thanked them all and walked out of the room. I gave the best i cud, but Somehow, the feeling of satisfaction and comfort was missing. The other 2 guys who had the interview after me also somehow felt horrible about the entire experience. Since the HR manager was not in town that evening, our results were also delayed. There was a 100 % conversion the week before and hence we had some hope left. The HR lady told us that she will hint on the results only in case all of us convert it.

This is where the real journey began .... When we called her up after 30 minutes, she was a bit dull and informed us that some of us din't make it and that the results were bad. We were able to sence that only one or two (man be even none) out of 5 of us have made it. With no authority to give out the results, she asked us to call up our placement office tomorrow to check the results. All of us immediately were put off and the situation suddenly changed from the noisy state to a morose and dull one. It was like breaking the whole love and interest in a specific career into shatters. I felt realy bad and these are something that really could do nothing about.

I was confident and passionate, but really was unsure if i would be among the minority who have made it. HLL was not something which happened to me by chance. It was conscious choice and a sheer desire to make it there. Lots of struggles have gone into it, especally with a average Pedigree, normal CV and a very modest set of shortlist during SIP. Lots of sleepless nights spent on doing arbit brand searches, company study and stupid brand trivia. I related more to this field and really felt that i will make it big here. 40 minutes of very stresful interview followed by 2 months of lovely project, HLL was dream place to be in. There is no other company which i have heard about as an 8 year old kid.

Again, it was not a 2 month stuff. It all began in 29th September when i was offered a summer project, I began understanding the company and their business. It continued into the summers and post summers till my final PPO interview. It was 10 month long relationship nurtured purely by passion and emotions. I had never been in love, but fear of losing this offer at this stage felt like a huge love failure for me. It felt like being ditched by your gal friend after being in relationship for 10 months, just because she was not happy with the last 20 minutes of conversation she had with you. I was not shown the door officially, but the thoughts of unfairness and sadness had already inundated my mind.

When it began to get on to our nerves, We decided to go out so that we dont spend the rest of the day brooding over it in our rooms. 3 Of us (Joel and Sachin being the others) stepped out of that goddamn hotel and moved towards the fort area. We were hungry and got into a nice looking pastery shop. All of us ordered exotic looking pasteries, but none of us had the mood to eat. The common thread of dissapointment, Sad faces and confused expressions said it all. There was no converstion happening and each of us were in our own world, depressed about the hanging fate.

From the Pastry shop -> chat shop -> gateway of india -> mondys, we had nothing to talk about. Looking at each other and breaking the silence with painful PJs, it felt like 3 of us will go mad if we let this thing get on to our head further. Hushidhar joined us at 9 PM in Mondys. In the meantime, i had called up my parents, close friends and cribbed to all of them and almost asked all of them to write-off the HLL thing. I was not underconfident, but i was not able to be optimistic in such a scenario. That was when i really missed sathish and gayathri. I wanted to speak to one of them and pour it out, but was not ready to do it over phone. As a Respite, I shifted my attention towards the beer at Mondy's for venting out all my frustrations on.

I was never a beer drinker and in a bad mood, i literally forced the firt mug down my throat. That was when Ashish (Sachin's friend employed with GSER) joined us. The first beer began to work. I suddenly felt better and began feeling optimistic about my chances. Thats the magic of daaru. In limited quantites, they really boost your morale like hell. I had another mug and felt like the country head of HLL. Another one made me the CEO.

I remembered the first panelist's face and recollected what he told me ... "JK, you are really a kid" .... "BALLS", I said and drowned one full mug in one swift motion. The Guys were looking at me in surprise ... Then all of us had another bottomsup for bad interviews. I had another one for XLRI and stopped it there due to lack of space in my system. That had counted to 6 Mugs, which was more than a pitcher. Shit ! that was almost equal to the accumulated count of beer i have had so far. However, It felt nice with a small High & a happy mind( i never got reminded of my HLL interview). Then we drove for a while in ashish's Car, stopped over in the worli sea face for a while and then drove back to hotel. I crashed immediately and had a peaceful sleep, thanks to kingfisher.

I was woken up early in the morning and driven to the airport by my dad's driver in mumbai. Sitting for 3 hours in mumbai airport and on air to Calcutta for another 3 hours was painfull. I had no clue of whats gonna happen. I knew i could crack any company as good as HLL if not better. But somehow, i had gotten so emotionally attached to this company, that i was unwilling to accept a NO from them. I had no clue of what lunch was i served. My concentration was missing and a sleep was too distant for my disturbed mind. I landed up Calcutta airport and figured out that the results have not yet been sent to the campus.

Things back in the campus began to haunt me. The excessive hype that was associated with my offer and the confidence that people had on me made me more insecure. I really didnt wanna face my batch as a loser. I began overloading my mind with so many things. Suddenly everything looked bleak. But, i had made up my mind. At the end of the day, if it had to happen, it will happen.

After an hour, i landed up in the food plaaza at Howrah. I cant forget those 2 hours i spent there. I sat there after ordering a lassi, when Rahul called me to inform me about HLL making me a final offer. Shit ! i did not know how to react. I had almost written it off ! I jumped, shouted, howled and blushed. All of a sudden, all that i had gone through for these 20 odd hours turned foolish and childish. I called up all the close ones to share the great news. I was so embaressed when tears rolled down my cheeks while i was talking to my dad. I now knew what this offer meant to me and realised the level of attachment i had with the company and line of business. It was a moment of glory, especially when you had beeen one of the two who actually made it ... Feelings and the fear that i had for the last few hours looks overdone. But, HLL was special for me and to me everything was justified.

It has been a month past after that haunting 20 hours of pain, anguish and agony. Life had become really cool after the PPO. People used to tell me that hardwork pays, and Yes ! It did ! Looking back feeels great ... It was a battle very well fought. To end it all ... Nothing comes with out a price. So did my dream offer !

~ JK

Reasons to remain single

A very candidly written note on the reason why some men remain single .... Nice read .... found it somewhere .... Read on !!

Why some men can never fall in love or Never get girl friends ?

The oft repeated topic. It seems to be a mystery until you really start thinking. One of my personal favorites. Why some men can never fall in love or never get girl friends. Many of us just keep complaining without thinking on what the inherent problem is. Thankfully I did it as a case study and found out some important issues which might concur with a majority of ppl who are rocking the same boat as mine.

1) You always sit in the last bench with the other class rogues and other "pazhams" (studious chaps) who feel that its possible to get marks sitting in last row. In case of workplace no girls are there in your project and u have like minded people like you as colleagues and wherein your entertainment oscillates between the bars and cinema theaters.

2) U obviously can't groove and dance and dance around in a group in a disc by just shaking your head or grooving your hip. Desi music directors are your favorites. Deva simply rocks and u can't wait for a gaana or a bangra number to crop up. Unfortunatley you are too adept at dancing dappankuthu or desi dance not the americanised western hip hop dance.

3) U perceive discotheque to be a place where u will have a chance to unleash your dancing potential("dappankuthu") and occupy the center stage with 10 other fellow rogues immediately throwing out the babes from the vicinity of the dance floor. This automatically repels the women from you (they consider u as out of civilization, unf. we are the only people who can really dance...)

4) Your intelligence level mostly can take in just jackie chan,arnold and stallone flicks. It can take in just action films whose contents can be absorbed. You just can't take major english romance films. Desi romance rocks. We invariably are the DDLJ and hum aapke hai kaun typos. Rajni , Kamal, Shahrukh, Mohanlal, Mammotty, Chiranjeevi rock. Tom cruise is a dud!!! And invariably sucks... (Obviously. its because of jealousy...)

5) You obviously don't know how to make use of yahoo messenger and is used to scold your online friends with the best choice of invectives, spread rumours about other guyz, and ask them to book the latest movie tickets. You unfortunately dont know how to flirt using yahoo messenger and are frequently at loss of topics when you want to chat with some girl. Whereas u r deluged with strange topics to discuss with your friend with whom you had lost touch for the past decade or so.

6) You can't eat spanish, chinese foods and fav. restaurant invariably happens to be woodlands, saravana bhavan or anandha bhavan types. Of coz we can't forget karpagam mess and mami's kadai and murugan idly. we frankly are clueless as to what are bella ciao,wang's kitchen and things like that unless we happen to go an a treat organised by the other guyz...:)

7) You dont see a reason why u have to go to barristas or qwiky's when the local corner "nair kada chaaya" tastes like nectar and satisfies you more than a barristas. Lime tea is the best tea to have been invented by an human and you are thankful to Nair for providing it to you.

8) Most of the jokes you know are adult jokes which you can discuss only with your other fellow comrades and which again takes the opportunity from telling a joke to the girl and impressing her. Besides you seriously tell very good jokes which the blondes can't comprehend or think it is vulgar. You have to tell some absolutely "Kadi jokes"(terrible bores) to make them laugh which though you try hard u will never be able to.

9) You seriously can't start a topic with a member of the opposite sex. i have seen guyz chatting with girls purely with emoticons for more than a hour. You can never do that. You will have to crack real dumb jokes to start the conversation or falsely extol them. The most important drawback we have is that we can't talk about what she had for breakfast. You seriously can't talk about that. We refer to those kinda talks in tamil as kadalai.

Boy: what did you have for breakfast??

Girl: i had idli....

Boy: Is it??? Same pinch no back pinch i too had idli ..(he slyly pinches her) and laughs..

Girl: Ouchhh(artificially)...it hurts..

Boy: ohh.. I am sorry and (tries to apologise..)..Then say "; i had sambhar for idli.."

Girl: (excitedly)...sambharrrrrrrr............ i had chutney....and giggles...

I swear I can't tolerate any longer than this...this is not figment of imagination. I have seen this...though I agree there may be exceptions...

10) U can't sing bryan adams, sting, george michael's song... When they talk about linking park you cannot even imagine who they are and the closest link you can associate with them is Panagal Park.

11) U seriously are clueless as to what rock music are

12) All thru college life u belong to this boyz gang and even in your gang nobody has a girlfriend so there is absolutely an absence of the inspirational factor.

WITH ALL these attributes its difficult for guyz like us to fall in love or find a girl. But it is not a sin after all. I guess we are not made for it. Let us accept that and be proud of that. We are one among the few in the vanishing tribe and amen to it...

We have THE uniqueness that we remain single till we get married and having that trait is really a virtue and who knows; we might be the elite clique in the future. So all those of you who feel sad that they dont have Gf's chill!!! We are not made for it and I swear for our characteristics a GF would not have added any value addition and we are better off staying single till 28 or 30.

DISCLAIMER - Purely personal opinion of the researcher