Coffee With Sundar

Guinness Record Holder - Kutral Ramesh

Sundar Rajan G S — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:34:53 +0000

Dear Readers,

The part one of the interview can be found here -Kutral Ramesh - Arjuna Awardee.

Kutral, born and brought up in Tamil Nadu, went on to become a marathon swimmer. He swam across English Channel in 1994 when he was just 13 years old. That very same calendar year, he swam across 6 channels to break Mihir Sen’s record of swimming across 5 channels in a calendar year. Kutral’s name was included in Guinness Book of World records for this feat. Kutral went on to win Arjuna Award in 1996.Incidentally, there is a lesson on Kutraleeswaran a.k.a Kutral in Tamil Nadu State Board text book.

Coffee with Kutral Ramesh – Part 2

Me: Kutral, continuing from where we left, how did the English Channel moment happen? Can you talk about it?

KR: Swimming across the English Channel is like climbing the Himalayas. It is the pinnacle & the dream for every marathon swimmer.To cross the channel, you should reach the place month or two before and get adjusted to the climate there. Apart from the climate factor, there is also the money factor! The estimate for the trip was around 7 – 8 Lakhs of INR way back in 1994. So, we approached Jayalalithaa, then chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Apart from granting an aid for this, she also recommended that I should swim across the Palk Strait, which lies between Tamil Nadu & Sri Lanka. I first completed this mission. After this, I went on to cross the English Channel.

Me: And of course you went on to swim 3 more channels that year Please talk about it.KR: Yes. After I crossed the English Channel, someone told us about Mihir Sen’s record.Mihir had crossed 5 straits in 1 calendar year (in 1960s). The record was unbroken for over 30 years. I had already crossed two straits – Palk & English Channel. Palk Strait was completed somewhere in April. I crossed English Channel on August 15th. So, I had 4 months to swim past 4 straits. I decided that I would give a shot at the record.I swam across Rottnest Channel in Australia, Straits of Messina at Italy & Zanone Circeo at Italy. Finally, I crossed the Andaman Channel. In fact, I completed the Andaman Channel on December 30th, just before the end of calendar year :-), and hence made my entry into the Guinness book of Records!!!

Me: Amazing! It sounds like a fairy tale How did you feel after accomplishing the feat?

KR: To be honest, I was too young to realize the fame. I was probably 12 years then. I was enjoying the swimming more than the Guinness Book Record!

Me: You were offered professional training by Government of Italy if you had accepted their clause of representing Italy in the World Series? You declined the offer! How easy or difficult was it? We generally don’t get a chance to a call between passion & patriotism. What was your thought process?

KR: Yes! I was offered this chance. After swimming across 2 straits in Italy, the national coach of Italy offered me a chance to get ‘adopted’ by Italy. They were willing to sponsor my complete training, but I had to represent Italy.But it wasn’t difficult to make the call at all. I immediately rejected the offer. There was no second thought about it and I will never repent for my decision ever. In fact, I didn’t even consult my parents. Remember, I was 12 year old then. They also agreed that my decision was correct! As such, it wasn’t really difficult.

Me: Next in the long list of great accomplishments was Arjuna Award! – The award instituted by Government of India in 1961 to recognize outstanding achievement in National Sports! Please talk about it.

KR: Actually, I was only focusing on solo swims for a while, i.e. swimming across channels etc. It was not a competition. After setting the record, I started taking part in competitions all over the world!I was selected for the World Series in Swimming. This is the Olympics equivalent in marathon swimming. I was the only participant from Asia of the 25 swimmers selected across the world! Between 1995 and 1998, I represented India in over 6 competitions around the Globe and won medals for our nation, which includes the 1st prize in Switzerland.I was awarded Arjuna Award for bringing laurels to the country and for the Guinness Record!

Me: How did you feel at this moment? What was your happiest moment in swimming career?

KR: I was extremely happy! I was probably 17 years old when I got the Arjuna Award! But if I have to pick the happiest moment, I would say crossing Palk Strait & English Channel. Both were equally important and equally satisfying. It had trained really hard for these. I had 8 hour long rigorous training per day before each of these. My happiest moment in my swimming career is shared between English Channel & Palk Strait.

Me: You were 17 when you had achieved all these. I think you would have been in your 10th Standard at this time? How did you manage your academics?

KR: My school was very supportive. I am honest here. I didn’t even attempt my final exams in 7th & 8th standards. In 9th, I couldn’t even go to school. I didn’t write any intermediate exams. I spent all my time in training & competition. But I had to write the final exam, which I managed to clear with some 60 odd percent.When I reached my 10th standard, I was at the far end of my swimming career. Also, I found 10th standard to be easy. I was able to manage it well.When I was in 12th, my primary focus was academics. I decided to give a break to swimming. When I joined College of Engineering, Anna University, I thought I could straddle between swimming & academics. But with frequent internal & external examinations, it wasn’t really feasible.I chose to focus on Engineering to make a career. I didn’t want to take risks. So, I didn’t take part in any major competitions after that. After my engineering, I joined University of Texas at Dallas for my masters. Subsequently I joined Intel at California. I am joining MIT Sloan this fall for my MBA. But amidst all this, I swim for hobby and fun, but I don’t take part in any competitions these days.

Me: Along with your school, it is needless to say your family supported you!

KR: Of course! My dad was the one who gave me the push. He used to take me along to all the training lessons. He took a sabbatical from work to focus on my swimming career. My mother was always there with me. My brother used to come along for the all the competitions. He used to handle all the operations issues & he was an informal PR for me. The whole family played a big role in my success.

Me: You mentioned earlier that it costs a lot to take part in these contests. How did you manage the funding?

KR: I couldn’t get sponsorship and that was also one of the reasons why I quit swimming. Actually, for the last few tours, we had to spend money of out my own pocket. These international trips are extremely expensive. And the prize money is not very high. So, it was not a sustainable model :-)I don’t know what the status of sponsorship is today, but I don’t expect it to be any better – especially for marathon swimming. The short course swimming like 100m, 200m etc are bit more popular. But I don’t think it is substantially better, though I see a big improvement from what it was 15 years ago!The sports awareness & the infrastructure are quite bad in our country. Going further, the prize money has to increase, else it is not sustainable. In Australia or US, an average sports guy makes much better than an engineer at Google. But take the case of India. An average sports man can’t make a living. He hardly earns anything with sports. He should start looking for supplementary income.

Me: But just compare that with cricket in India. Forget the Dhonis & the Tendulkars. The rest get a minimum salary in IPL is 20 lakhs.

KR: Well that’s true.Take my case. I am swimmer. If there is a cricket match & a marathon swimming live on TV, I will choose Cricket!. Cricket has viewership. The huge fan base drives the business houses to pour money. But consider hockey, our national sport, I assume it too falls into the poor visibility spectrum, if not as bad as swimming.There is a vicious cycle here. Businesses put money only if more people watch. More people watch only if there is a good quality sports. But the quality can be improved only if there is more money. Most of the sports in India are stuck with this cycle.

Me: So, how do we break the loop?

KR: The only way to improve this is to give better salary to players who reach district level. To reach a district level, you must be a decent sportsman. The state government or central government or private sponsors should assure him financial independence. This is the only viable option for improving sports in India.Just think about it, an engineer can lead a decent life with good monetary benefits. But a sports person can’t do it today. So this has to become better.

Me: But that brings us back to the vicious cycle. In other words, you see no hope?

KR: Well I won’t be too pessimistic. Things are becoming better in India. Take for example, tennis or carom or chess. They are getting good coverage these days. The number of swimming pools in India is increasing. The infrastructure for squash is becoming better. India had its best Olympics last year.There needs to be some changes at the Grass Roots level.

Me: True! No doubt things are improving. But the rest of the world is improving at a much faster pace! Anyways, what your future plans?

KR: Well, in terms of “looong long”-term, I want to be an entrepreneur and I want to settle in India. But if you ask me details like what sector, what business model etc? I still haven’t thought about it.In terms of sports, I want to open an academy to train people. May be sports academy is my entrepreneurial venture. Not sure yet!But in the short term, I want to focus on my MBA at MIT. After that I would like to work in US for sometime before returning back to my mother land.

Me: Sure. On behalf of all CWS-2 readers, I wish you good luck in whatever you do! Before we finish, what is your advice for young aspirants and more importantly, their parents?

KR: Well I am not too old or consider myself accomplished enough to give any ‘advice’ per se :-)I can share my opinions though - I have been noticing that these days’ parents are forcing kids to take up a number of hobbies. These days’ kids attend 3 or 4 classes like piano, tennis etc. This adds too much burden on them. I believe that Kids should do what they like. So, my suggestion to parents would be to give them some time to see if the “passion sticks on” to them, instead of trying everything at one go. But once you decide what you want to pursue, you should do it with a lot of commitment.So typically what I believe in is -1. Figure out what you like to do2. Work Hard! Work Hard! And Work Hard at what you like the most! That’s the only way to succeed.

Me: Thank you so much Kutral. It was really amazing having you on the first show in CWS-2! Thanks once again for you time. I am sure the readers would have enjoyed this chat with you!

@CWS-2 Readers: I hope you enjoyed this first show on Coffee with Sundar – Season 2! If you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms & praises (Of course! :-)), please do leave a comment. If you want to contact me personally, you can do it at the contact page.

See you later!

Kutral Ramesh - Arjuna Awardee

Sundar Rajan G S — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:04:49 +0000

Hello Everyone,

We have a very special guest to kick start the Coffee With Sundar - Season 2.It is my pleasure to welcome Kutral Ramesh.Kutral, born and brought up in Tamil Nadu, went on to become a marathon swimmer. He swam across English Channel in 1994 when he was just 13 years old. That very same calendar year, he swam across 6 channels to break Mihir Sen’s record of swimming across 5 channels in a calendar year. Kutral’s name was included in Guinness Book of World records for this feat. Kutral went on to win Arjuna Award in 1996.

Coffee With Kutral Ramesh

Me: Hello Kutral, Welcome to the first show on Coffee with Sundar – Season 2

KR: Hello Sundar! Glad to be on the show.

Me: Can you please introduce yourself to the readers of CWS - 2? Also talk a bit about your family & early childhood days?

KR: Sure! I was born in Erode. My parents moved to Chennai when I was just 1 month old. I was brought up in Chennai, where I studied from LKG to 12th in DAV school. My dad was an advocate at Madras High Court. My mom is a home maker. I also have an elder brother. This is my family.

Me: Kutral, so can you talk about how you were introduced to swimming? How did it all start?

KR: My dad had a lot of interest in sports. During his days in the 1960s he wanted to take up sports, but he couldn’t make it. So he wanted his kids to take up sports. So, when I was in my 2nd standard summer vacation, I was introduced to swimming classes. In fact, the next year I was supposed to learn tennis. So, the objective was to just go & learn.Before that itself, I was always interested in water. I always enjoyed jumping into the well at Erode with a tube tried around me. So I wasn’t new to water as such.

So, when I started with swimming lessons – I learnt the 4 strokes of swimming in just 7 days. My coach Mr. Chandra spoke to my father and told that I am doing really well. He suggested to my father that I be given formal training in swimming. After hearing this, my father sent me for a proper formal training in swimming. That’s how it all got started.

Me: Wow! So they caught you young.. What were the competitions you took part in? How did it all start?

KR: A couple months after I joined formal training, I took part in my first contest. It was a district level swimming contest. It is called the “Ribbon Meet”. The reason it is called a ribbon meet is because the top 6 out of the 8 district level finalists get a ribbon. In that contest I got sixth position and I also got a ribbon. And I was very excited about the whole thing.

After that I took part in many district & state-level contests where I was runner up. I also took part in national level short circuit events, but I didn’t manage to win anything there.In 1990 – 91 there was a 5 km swimming competition in the sea. I took part in that just for fun. All these days, I was only taking part in swimming pools. So, I thought this sea competition could be a lot of fun. I was probably 9 or 10 years old then. I was the youngest taking part in the competition. I think I came 3rd or 4th in that.This I think was one of the important turning points of my swimming career. In fact I felt much better swimming in these long distance races. This was the event which introduced me to marathon swimming in the sea! In the next couple of years, I swam in many parts of India – Gujarat, West Bengal, etc and I did really well at my age group.

The very fact of FINISHING WITHOUT QUITTING was thrilling me. This started my career in adventure marathon swimming. I swam from islands to main lands, swam across countries etc..Then came the biggest moment – Crossing the English Channel!!!To be continued.. Stay tuned..

CWS-2 is coming soon!

Sundar Rajan G S — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:29:13 +0000

Dear CWS readers,

I am glad to inform you that CWS-2 is back!!

I completed a telephonic interview with Kutral - Long distance swimmer who holds holds the guinness record for swimming 6 channels in 1 calendar year!! He was just 13 years old then!!

This was my first telephonic interview.. And I liked the experience.. It was a 45 - 50 mins long conversation..

I am planning to put the write up in a week to 10 days..Stay tuned for this exciting interview!!!

Winding down CWS Interviews

Sundar Rajan G S — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:57:28 +0000

Hello All..

I am sad to say this.. But you saw it coming.. Didnt you.. I have decided to wind down the CWS Interview series…

The frequency of posts have become very low.. I did not do a single interview for the past 4 months.. I have been just posting some of my older interviews.. I also see huge delays in sending thank you cards to the guests who have been kind enough to spare a lot of their time for an interview on CWS.. There is a huge time gap between completing an interview and posting it on the web.. And most importantly.. I am seeing a monotony in the type of interviews that I am doing.. It was this very same monotony that I wanted to avoid… when I started CWS..

I have stopped counting how many interviews I have done so far.. probably 70 odd interviews I think.. It was an awesome experience.. I am glad that CWS has become a cozy interview show in which people *actually* want to be featured.. (@ Balaji: I dont know if you still read my posts.. but if you do.. this is real :-)) I am glad that I got a chance to create a site which has a good viewership.. may be not a million visitors who come & go.. but a nice small group of 150 friends.. I dont want to distance from them by calling them visitors.. I honestly make friends.. This is a small community which respects & appreciates the experiences of cab driver to an astronaut.. There was this variety in CWS.. And I got a lot of kick in this *Variety*… Now, it seems to be missing when I open the website..

No doubt that the career interviews & life at universities are very useful.. Infact it was this which prompted me to do a start up on Career planning.. But CWS was not meant to know just life at university.. It was meant to know the life of a PERSON.. It was about adding spice to life of monotony in the corporate world of cubicles.. I am missing that spice now..

What does that mean to this website? Is this going to be one of the gazillion zombie sites on the web?

No.. Its too close to my heart to let it die… CWS is something which helped me discovered myself.. and I would certainly not let it go into the drain..

I have decided to do the following..

1. Keep all the main stream - career related interviews for the start up - What Next.

2. I am going to write a lot of personal experiences on CWS website.. like the one of about my life at IIMB.. my birthday experience etc.. Hopefully pull off some master pieces (atleast thats what I think) like Life stops at bus stops & NIT Trichy speaks up..

3. Start a CWS Interview series - Season 2

Koffee With Karan & Koffee with Anu also has a Season 2.. Why not Coffee With Sundar :-)

I will assure that every interview will be special.. every post will be special.. I dont knw whether I will post once a week or once a month.. but when I post, I will ensure that I will add some value to your time..

So.. I have decided to focus on three themes of CWS-2..

1. CWS Wizdom: This will be a series of interviews (if & when it happens), which will cover the life experience of a person who has had a lot of experience in the corporate world.. I intend to interview people who have had 10+ years of experience.. Just to talk to them about what are the various experiences they have had.. interesting moments etc.. Its all about knowing the person…

2. CWS Start up: I want to talk to entrepreneurs who have run a business for atleast 5 years… speak to them about their life, their experiences, their business model.. the evolution.. the passion.. the good days.. the ugly days etc..

3. CWS Pot Pourie: This will get be a ”talent show-case” interview.. Just enjoy a few small moments with someone who has different skills, passions etc..

There is always trade off in life.. Quality Vs Quantity.. Today, I have decided to choose Quality over Quantity.. Probably, a year back I would have chosen quantity over quality.. Those were the days when I was posting interviews every 2 or 3 days..

I dont knw when CWS-2 will start… how it will go.. whom we are going to meet.. what we are going to learn.. What we are going to experience… But I promise you one thing.. Every interview will be special.. And like always.. I promise you.. every INTERVIEWEE is going to be especial..

Today, I bow infront of you.. Thanks a lot for all your support & encouragement.. It was your praises.. and criticisms which helped me learn a lot & run the show CWS interview series..

I hope to come back again.. with CWS Season 2.. with more interviews.. more experiences.. more fun..

I am sure that I am going to come back soon and come back strongly.. I am very confident about that.. Coffee With Sundar has made me famous.. And I love being famous!! My heart says that CWS - 2 will start very soon.. Lets see what IIMB schedule says..

Hasta Manana.. Till we meet again..

The year that was - Term 3 Life at IIM Bangalore

Sundar Rajan G S — Sat, 02 May 2009 21:32:46 +0000

So.. Here comes the much awaited term 3 I am sorry, I hate to say this, but I was really busy with getting adjusted to this London city life. Ofcourse, that includes touring around the city over the weekends
Also my computer is infected with some crazy virus. It doesnt let me reboot half the time.. Hence this delay in writing about term 3 life..

Alrighty Alrighty!!! I woke up at 9 AM.. Fully fresh. All set to start a new term.. This is the freshness which you find when you do something new.. Like joining a new job.. or like joining a new university.. or internship or something like that.. You know.. that feeling of “looking forward to”.. I had that in me..

Sadly, good things dont last for long in life.. The fresh “looking fwd to” thingy is also one of the good things which lasted only 12:00 PM..

I was all set to attend my elective classes at 12:00 PM.. All these days you had the liberty to crib that the prof was bad.. But you know.. the IIMB administrators are smart.. They ask you to pick the courses.. So.. you can no longer blame the prof.. So your lame excuses dont hold from the start of term 3.. Actually it still does hold for half the term.. because we have only 3 electives.. the other are 3 core subjects.. which cant be avoided.. basically!!

There is an unspoken gospel truth when you enter this god forbidden place called IIMB.. Basically, higher the weightage given to CP (for the greater mortals, who havent stepped into this ugly world called B - School, CP means - Class participation).. coming back to CP.. higher the weightage given to CP, more the rubbish expected from you.. What do you expect from the cream de la cream to do.. follow the rules?? naah.. We “break barriers”.. We all entered this unknown territory where “we dont put fight!”.. We have all become better human beings.. and started respecting each others views (if we ever have one).. Some thing must be hidden behind all this right.. How can the super enthu people in term 1 become so calm by term 3.. Whats the secret??? Well nothing much!! The summer placements are done man! So this term you would expect a bit of lethargy to set in. Thats it.. You stop fighting for petty 5% Quizzes.. and all the crappy CP.. You soon realize that attendance plays a significant role in CP marks.. So you start attending classes (and ofcourse, you can doze off.. Only attendance counts.. Not attention :-)) Life also treats you a bit better.. There were consecutive weeks without quizzes. The number of surprise quizzes also reduced. On the whole it was a ok-ok to cool term..

Oh my God!! “Cool” in IIMB.. How can this happen… Yes.. Actually, we were all mass hypnotized to believe that we we had a cool term.. Almost every single subject had 20 - 25% given to projects.. And we had to submit all of these a couple of days before end term.. We are engineers at heart.. We know about projects one week before deadline.. We start work only 2 days before deadline.. Holy crap!!

How are we going to download so many things from Google at one go.. Doing one project itself requires so much googling.. I should recommend this to my former Google Collegues.. to have Google BSchoole.. which helps us to do market search better.. I am sorry.. market research better..

Btw, I had taken Business law as one of the electives.. In one of the 22 classes in which I was awake.. (probably the only one of the 22 classes), the professor said Copying from the web is not actually illegal.. you can actually copy from the web!! But copying from the web and not referencing them in the article is illegal.. Wow I love these Laws.. They are so filled with loop holes.. We were all cursing ourselves for “feeling guilty” all these terms when we did precisely that.. We have been very sincere in referencing to articles actually..

Actually, jokes apart.. We dont copy and all.. We are certified “Ethical” people.. Dont know if I have mentioned this in my term 1 post, we have already under gone a boring workshop on Ethics.. I am Serious!!

So.. The Cool term was actually “Hot” in the end.. In this land of nocturnal species, no single organism ever respected the other.. But when the term ended.. there was a lot of demand for each other.. Statements like “Trinadh, please be with our group today evening.. Dont go with them” etc are made.. I mean.. Whats happening around.. You generally are not a part of this groupism etc.. How are you brought into this.. You slowly realized that it was statement made by Strategy group people.. Basically you have to sit and do strategy project and not spreadsheet project.. Just imagine.. 6 subjects, 6 projects.. and every group wants you.. Not that you are a valuable resource or something.. Dont feel too proud.. just that somebody had to retype the copy pasted stuff from the web.. Ofcourse, there will be a project “leader”.. Managers should have leadership qualities you see.. The self nominated super-enthu “Leader” will check if the references are all in place..

Talking of spreadsheets.. I fundamentally believe that this world (of IIMB) is full of good people.. (What has this got to do with spreadsheets… ???!#@@@”).. I also watched a lot of hindi movies this term on LAN.. I told you right.. it was “supposedly” a cool term.. Like all good hindi movies, good people are always troubled (like the courses we have here).. But there will also be something good.. like a romantic song.. or a dream sequence where the hero feels good.. Spreadsheet was something like that for us.. Trust me.. 33 hours of class and I didnt sleepy for a single minute.. It was just too good.. Although, it had a bit of random grading.. i wouldnt complain.. It was just tooo tooo too good.. the professor was great.. it was this term’s silver lining.. I enjoyed the way the excel sheet could be used to solve various problems.. be it marketing, finance etc.. It was so great!!

How I wish, spreadsheets can also help us solve our life’s problem here in IIMB. Oh my spreadsheet.. please make life half as beautiful as my life at NIT Trichy.. Oh NIT Trichy.. I miss you everyday!!

PS: This is just a sarcastic & hilarious recollection of life here.. Life is not all that bad.. Infact, It was this place that helped me realize that even I can be an entrepreneur.. I started “What Next Online” last term.. The Website is still under construction.. Will definitely post updates about that the start up and all the lessons I am learning from it..

Have fun! Hope you enjoyed by recollection of life at IIMB.

The year that was - Part 2

Sundar Rajan G S — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:46:50 +0000

Hey guys..

I reached london…. A blog post about my first week at London a bit later.. For now.. let me continue from where I left..

Term 2
——-

As the second term starts.. you will slowly start getting your first term grades.. Thats when the reality will sink in.. You realize that you are not god’s gift to mankind.. The lectures get more “interactive” (read more arbit crap discussed in class.. infact I made a horrible CP in marketing class after that I took a vow not to speak crap again!).. The subjects get more “subjective” (read.. the grades are depend on the mood of the TA :-)) And ofcourse you come across this new concept where students will come and make presentation in the class.. and professor will just answer the doubts.. (How many times have you cribbed about lazy profs in your B Tech days.. You will find more professionally qualified lazy profs here :-))

While all these usual class room boring stuff keep happening.. the “Big” thing starts.. The summer placement process..
The first step for that submitting resumes to company.. You would surprised by the quality of resumes which you get out of this place.. Trust me.. Extremely brilliant resumes.. After reading such resumes, I would never ever recruit anybody on the basis of resumes.. It would apprear as though 280 odd “gifts” to mankind have come down to earth at the same time..

It will so glorified.. Oh my god!! If you had ever moved a ladder from 1 room to another, you can write that also as a “resume point” or “bullet point”.. Something like this.. “1 among the 200 people to be selected as part of the Infrastructure team at India’s leading Business School” - I mean all these for just lifting ladder… ha ha.. Then imagine the people who have “actually” accomplished something in life here.. It will be very difficult to differentiate..

Then there is this concept of “Spikes” in the resume.. If you have consistently proven that you are good at something.. say you have lifted ladder 2-3 times at IIMB.. and also 2-3 times at you B Tech college.. you will have a spike in this area.. Ofcourse, it should be well written and al.. And please dont use the same words again.. then.. it will look ackward.. what would be your spike would actually start pinching you.. So dont use words like “1 among 200″ three times.. you should use “Amogst top 100″, “Selected among top 500″ etc..

OK ok.. jokes apart.. it was term filled with summers process.. very hectic.. you have to attend almost every single PPTs (Pre placement talks)… hectic period..

Amidst all these… there are more interesting subjects once in a while.. the quants just got more interesting.. so did corporate finance etc.. So.. life is not all that bad @ IIMB..

When the term ends.. you will feel extremely releaved.. You know.. that feeling.. “Its finally done for god sake..” Its a “one week vacation”.. after that.. gone are the days when we had two month summer vacations.. Finally.. even before you could make up for your lost sleep in term 2.. term 3 comes staring at you….

About term 3 in next post..

The year that was - Part 1

Sundar Rajan G S — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:13:35 +0000

The following is my sarcastic or cynical recollection of the last 3 terms at IIMB.. To be honest, I am happy that I started wearing the “cynical hat”.. IIMB life is good.. but my B Tech life was far more better and lot more fun.. Here goes my life at IIMB for the past 3 terms..

Term 1
——–

It was that phase of your life.. when everything about IIMB looks scenic to your eyes.. Right from dustbins to the lectures.. How can it be bad.. You are at I… I… M… B.. Whenever you meet new people.. the first thing you end up discussing is about your other CAT calls.. I got A B L I K C X Y M … whatever… But you know what “B” is the best.. It was that phase of life when all the status message should have alteast one “B” like “B - The place to B” or “To B or not to B” etc..

After some funfilled 1 week orientation, the lectures finally start.. Its that part of the year when you say.. “Dude.. you know what.. I enjoyed enough in B Tech.. I am here to Study..” Imagine what would happen if each & every student takes a resolution like this.. Well thats exactly what will happen… I remember studying for a Quiz - 5% component - 4 days before the test!! Holy Crap!!

After 2 weeks, you slowly realize the profs are as lousy as your profs in B Tech days.. Subjects unfortunately more lousier..
Yeah!! I mean.. Financial Accounting and the crazy question papers which the profs set.. Oh my god! Business Government & Society.. the subject names itself will make you go dizzy.. wait a second.. its not over..

Anyways, amidst all these crazy subjects you will find some interesting mathematics.. trust me it was more challenging & enjoyable than my engineering mathematics, micro economics etc.. Somethings in life will make you stay alive..

Apart from all these usual academic rigour (or rather unusual rigour), you will have “n” number of so called interesting activities… L^2 dance floor.. which is empty more often than not.. The club induction etc..

The club induction is one of the most political thing you will ever come across in life.. If you utter a word meritocracy, you will be fired even before you are hired.. The selection process is a very simple straight forward process..
1. Are you a good looking girl
2. Are you a junior from my college..
3. Have exhibited “interest” by interacting about club activities etc..
Ok Ok.. its not so bad.. there will 2 people selected on the basis of merit ok..

Well its not so bad afterall.. More to come in the next few posts..

But you will have to wait till I say “Namaste London” tomorrow..

I prefer it the old way!

Sundar Rajan G S — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:54:37 +0000

Along with Coffee with Sundar’s first birthday.. It was also my 24th birthday.. My first birthday in front of such a big crowd..

All my life.. I have celebrated my birthday in a completely different way…
Silent… Without talking about it to anyone.. Thanking god for a wonderful year.. Even if the year was tough.. I live through the major events for the previous year.. both good & bad.. I tell myself birthday is just another day in my life and go to sleep..
I sleep well before 12.. Wake up around 6 - 7.. Have oil bath.. Wear new clothes.. Go to temple.. Proudly showing my new clothes to everyone at home.. “How is my new clothes”.. Ofcourse the answer would be “It is really nice..”

When I was very young.. I used to give coffee bytes to neighbours and school mates.. As I got into high school.. it became 5 stars/cadburys to a few selected friends.. Then came the concept of treats.. Go to to hotels or CCDs.. and spend a good time with few close friends.. At the end of the day.. when I come and sleep.. I always wonder.. what makes this day so special.. It was just yet another day of my life..

But here at IIMB.. I had to face a huge crowd.. They ripped me apart in the name of birthday bumps.. To be honest.. It was unbearable.. especially for a saadhu praani like me.. What a night!! Oof.. Scary!! I had tears in my eyes.. It was truly unbearable.. But some good soul in the crowd realized that I couldnt take it anymore and convinced the crowd to stop the torture.. Thank god they stopped!! Else I would be a hospital..

Then there is this funky cake smashing.. I always wondered what it feels like when someone smashes the cake on you.. there is this one second of breathlessness.. But thats kind of cool.. This is far more “non-violent” way of celebrating birthdays.. Then they pour water from all angles.. I always thought it was waste of water.. but its a lot of fun when somebody throws a bucket of water on you.. You dont knw which side it is going to come from..

After that I came back running to my room.. As Alumni committee had scheduled a meeting at 12:30.. When I just left my room.. I realized that the meeting was to celebrate my birthday.. I felt really good.. My special thanks to all you folks After that…. what else.. Here I am writing my first experience of birthday bumps..

To be honest, I still prefer the old way.. the old way of sleep early.. waking up early.. thanking god & boasting about new clothes Anyways.. Next birthday its going to be the old way
Happy birthday to me!!! Have a great day! Have a “yet another” great day!!
After all.. Birthday is yet another day in my life..

Thanks a lot of all the junta to who were both kind enough to give me my first birthday bumps and also kind enough not to give me birthday bumps.. It was quite an experience.. (They say in life there are experiences & happy moments.. )

Please find me after “cake-abhishegam”…..

Well.. I honestly prefer it the old way!!!

Coffee With Sundar! - 1st Anniversary

Sundar Rajan G S — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:24:17 +0000

Hi All,

Come 12:00 AM tonight, Coffee with Sundar - http://coffeewithsundar.com will celebrate its first year birthday

Thank you all for the support..Keep visiting..

My first date with entrepreneurship

Sundar Rajan G S — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:54:06 +0000

Hi All…

Let me start off with a good news!!

A friend of mine here at IIMB - Suraj Holla & I are setting up a new initiative for career planning of Engineering students.. It is an extension of Coffee With Sundar..

We are calling it as Whatnext Online. The website is getting developed.. Will update you when it gets going.. But the offline part of it has just got started.. We had a session at Dayanand Sagar College last saturday.. And it was quite successful. We had an overwhelmingly positive response..
Around 69 students enrolled for a 3 hour session.. I was amazed with their curiosity & communication skills.. This is our last show before we go for summers.. After our internship, we will resume our career shows in campus.. The next 3 months will be spent in building a top class website for the same..

What does this mean for CWS readers.. All career related interviews will be moved to the new website.. And CWS will again get the “informal, yet classic interviews”.. CWS will have generic interviews.. but one thing is for sure.. I will make it a point to ensure that every post on CWS from now on is going to be special..

You will also hear a lot more from me as we tread the path of being an entrepreneur You know what.. the past 1 month has been a lot of learnings.. negotiations.. designs.. what goes in.. what goes out.. how to distribute work.. finding right people.. questionnaires.. etc… Watch this space, as I update some of my learnings about setting up a new venture..