OK...TATA...HORN PLEASE

It just had to happen some time didn’t it…sooner or later. Well, it happened sooner than I thought it would (before I sit for my campus placement that is :( )Yes, I would very much prefer a core job but think about it…not everyone is assured a job in a core company. You need to pass written exams and get through multiple interviews, and oh, have something like a 9 point GPA. For most college students, the only thing which is likely to touch 9 is their blood alcohol level during weekends ;), and that’s not gonna get them a job in a brewery let alone a core company.

I might be wrong about the exact statistics in this particular piece of information, but this year, IBM recruited 106 students from a particular city, and a couple of months after being handed the offer letter, they were called for yet another set of interviews, where 60 were eliminated and only 46 survived with job in hand! Now that really sucks for those poor guys. And from my college placement list, the number getting placed in MCRs (Mass Recruiting Companies) has come down visibly, and I’m told the case is the same everywhere. Anna university vice chancellor actually advised students at the time of counseling not to take computer science this year because the sector seems unstable.

I was at the RTO waiting for my driving license last month, and a pleasant man next to me who introduced himself as an income tax advisor got chatty with me. We exchanged pleasantries and when he learned I’m an engineering student (sigh…isn’t everyone these days?), he clicked his tongue in a sympathetic manner and said something which sounded like this.”Last year, numerous students who received jobs in a major company (read IT), were given a joining date which was sometime in August 2007. A couple of months later, they received another letter from the company which said their joining date has been postponed to January 2008! Come January, and another letter makes its way home saying their date has been further postponed and they will be intimated about the same when the company sees fit. So obviously, many of these boys have either found other jobs in the past year, or they’re sitting through every course offered by NIIT, or worse still, they’re rotting at home in the hope that they will be called by the company soon.”

I don’t know how much of his story is true but he seemed to know his stuff and looked respectable enough.

We’re not yet there but I guess we’re all soon going to say “Gone are the days when you can bank on SWITCH (Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, TCS, CTS, HCL) to give you a job when you pass out”.

But wait, seems there’s a good side to this story too. Core companies have started increasing their intake (or so I heard).It might not be proportional to IT but its something to hope for right? And I’m not talking through my hat either…it seems true.90 guys out of 150 from my branch (mech) in final year in coll have been placed in core so far, the remaining either have software jobs or are not planning to sit for placements, or are not eligible for placement as they don’t have the minimum 6.0 GPA required for placement application, and companies are still coming.

So now you might ask yourself, why is this guy bummed out about it then? Ill tell you why. New rule enforced here cos of the sudden reduction I the number of jobs. Only 1 job allowed per head! That’s right, you get placed in one company, even if that company is a dhaba on the roadside, you’re done. It might not sound like a very bad thing but it can seriously screw your life up. Because earlier, when you were allowed 2 jobs, you could get placed in an MCR and at least ease the tension a bit, cos you have something in hand. And after, you can sit through core and hope for something good.

The crux of the problem lies in the time of arrival of the companies. Software comes towards the wee end of your 6^th sem, whereas core arrives in the beginning of your 7^th.Get the picture?

Hypothetical situation: Mr. X is a student of, say chemical engineering, in his 6^th semester. He really loves his branch and wouldn’t dream of working in any other line. His grades aren’t that great but he has hopes of getting into core. SWITCH and others comes and recruit, X leaves all of it cos he doesn’t wanna get stuck with them without an option. He goes home, chills during his vacation, gets bored like he always does, and comes back for his last stretch in coll. Cometh the ppl he has been so eagerly waiting for. He applies for the biggest of them, doesn’t get in, no problem he applies for the smaller ones too with less attractive packages. Bad news, he doesn’t make it through any of them, he’s now extremely low on confidence, has to face his parents who shelled out for his not so cheap college education.And to add insult to injury, his classmates with grades lower than his own probably have a job in hand.Nice soup hes in

Whatever it is, the road ahead seems dark for students of CSc and IT. We can only but hope that the situation improves before our time comes, so keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best,or SWITCH to a line which holds better prospects.

P.S: Comments welcome. Please give me your opinions, more info, and point out factual errors, if any, in my post.

Have a pleasant stay in the cultural capital of India Sir"
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"Neenga kettukittu irukkirathu 98.3 FM Radio Mirchi...Ithu semma hot machi"
"Ayya...ethavathu dharmam pannunga ayya"
"Moonu pathu rooba sir.Moonu pathu rooba"
"Meter-ku mela ethavathu pottu kudunga sir"
"Kausalya supraja Ramapoorva sandhya..."

The air hostess, my cell phone’s operator service message, a hyperactive RJ, a beggar at a traffic signal en route to my destination, a kid selling god knows what , the taxi driver, a sharp reminder that it was morning and I was to suffer the symptoms of jet lag. My journey from the airport every year hasn't been any different. It’s like those deranged VJs say “Same place, same time, we’ll meet, next week.” Not this time...

I reach the doorstep of my ancestral home. My grandmother no longer stands at the doorstep, clad in saree of 9 yards, awaiting my arrival. A temporary hire received me at the airport with a placard, my name plastered on it impersonally. No longer a feeling of belonging. Just the previous year, her (my grandmother’s) long life ended, and she was finally reunited with her husband after a gap of seventeen years.

I walk across the familiar house, where I'd spent a major part of my childhood. Nostalgia, I now realise, is the best feeling in the world. I smile as always, on seeing the well where my mother used to bathe me when I was a toddler. Memories of the time when I used to run into the kitchen when the ladies were cooking, grab the first utensil I could, and throw it into the well before anyone could catch up with me, flood my mind now. It’s like a cinematographer is working inside my brain, as I picture the agraharam styled house back in its prime, when there was always something good cooking in the kitchen, the sight of a well maintained Tulsi plant in the inner courtyard, and the smell of incense from the pooja area.

My mind now jerks me back to the present, where just looking at the place, sans granny’s touch, gives me a feeling of gloom.

I ask myself, "Why did I come back this year?"Was there really any point? Who is here for me now? All kith and kin have shifted out of the homeland, and the only one who didn't, was not in any land now.
I now sit cross legged on the straw mat in the middle of the living room, while the maid serves me coffee and breakfast, both lacking the rich flavour which only my grandmother's hands could produce.

I reminisce all the preceding visits we made. The first few years were normal, when I was more than happy to be reunited with my childhood playmates, spending afternoons playing cricket in the neighbouring street, and they used to sit, awe eyed, listening with rapt attention as I told them stories about America, the land of dreams.
Then, one fine day, back at "home" in the U.S, my father brings the happy news to us that our family has been considered for American citizenship. Both my parents were overjoyed, while I was too young to realise all the implications of the news my old man had brought to us.

It was the next year that I noticed some change in the treatment we received when we came home. We were no longer in the "Indians" waiting line when we awaited our baggage. Instead, we were made to sit with Whites, blacks, and Orientals in the lounge labelled "foreigners". Mom wasn't at all happy with this. She kept telling papa that we should be given different treatment as we were born of this soil, while the poor man patiently tried to explain to her that in order to enjoy the benefits of being citizens of America, we must accept the fact that we aren't Indians anymore.

Why this happened, I did not, and still do not understand. Ever since this episode, during our annual visit, she used to cry herself to sleep the first few days. I thought it unnecessary and showed no sympathy to her, and even rebuked her for the same on a few occasions.

This year, no one accompanied me on my yearly visit. I came alone, traveled my city alone, and left alone. And yes, I cried, finally understanding how my mother felt. I cried for having lost my grandmother. For having lost my homeland. For being treated a foreigner here as well as there. For not having the courage to come back. For being so materialistic.For being lost between two worlds, both of which I cannot rightfully call my own.

All Elliot’s a stage...
The Vettis and Bandhas mere players
They all have hangouts which they call their own
In the beach consisting seven stretches

First comes the legendary broken bridge,
Unknown to the naive and innocent.
Only those brave at heart or crude as cavemen
Enter this realm of illicit ecstasy

Forward to the forbidden strips
If you stray here, go with finger on lips
Not a place for a man with a car
Oorur and Olcott, forever at war

After this comes no man’s land,
Walk not here with slippers in hand.
Strewn with dirt and glass and spike,
Territory of cows and rabid alike.

Now to the area favoured by all;
Gym, cafes, and our own short wall.
This is the place where figures be
Dressed in their Sunday best for the jobless to see.

Close is the stretch with cleaner sand
Where the young play, old walk hand in hand
Shoreward here couples show off their youth,
Not caring at all that it seems uncouth.

Moving on you shall see a half buried road
Serves its purpose as a cricketer’s abode
Right in the midst is the monument of piss
The place where you get a fifty rupee kiss.

Last is the place where food’s aplenty
Lots of MNCs and our own kaiyanthi
All working hard to keep you full
This place has its very own pull

Thus ends this eventful besantful history
All play and no work, naturally no dull boys
Holding memories of friends, adventure and mid afternoon swims
Life has moved us on, sans bessi, sans Cozee, sans everything

Anirudh Ramachandran