My Digital Designs

So in IIM Indore I was selected in the creative and Design Digital Team. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself at being the only girl selected in to the team of four…until the work started flowing in ..no make that… deluging me in a heavy downpour 🙂

All are designed in photoshop…I have unabashedly used shortcuts wherever possible, as delivering an aesthetic product within the deadline and juggling all this with the demanding schedule of any IIM student has been my prerogative.

Positive critiquing welcome.

 So that’s it for now… will keep updating with more of my works.

My foray into Oils….

Still Life - Fruits

 

Still Life - Vegetables

 

Flamingoes in the glade

My IIM-S Interview

Today was my very first IIM interview at the Catering College, Dadar (has beautiful food exhibitions I hear…:D) with IIM-S.

At around 9.05 am a guy (looking like he was a native of the Khasi tribe) came in. With the beautiful accent that northeasteners give to their English, he took our attendance asking to be excused if he mispronounced our names (as we find their names a bit hard to roll our tongue around so must they too :D).

A few people were absent (those with an ABC no doubt). Fifteen of us were split in to two groups. Mine had 7 in total. Then we were led in to the GD room, where the chairs were arranged in a circle, so that no one has the advantage of position, mine was bang in front of the panelists’ table. We were asked to keep our CAT admit card and photo identity proof out which one of the panelists then checked. He seemed quite surprised on seeing me and had to double check on whether I was the same person.

We were then given 10 min to write our understanding about a case: A young port engineer is proud to be the executer of a multi-million dollar repair of one of the ships of his shipping company. But then he finds that the contracted firm has overcharged his company by 1/3^rd of the original amount, which he then brings to his boss’s notice. Though the officials then set up a meeting, they agree to split the amount and seem to him to be very cavalier about the entire deal. He then realizes that though the company respects his integrity, they will not do anything about this (ie they are corrupt themselves etc etc).  If he does not sign the passing order, he may very well lose his job, and that there were not many company offering the kind of role he wanted. Also, in a very unimaginative Bollywood addition hero has an ailing mother (thank God they did not say with TB). What can he do now and so on.

Discussion was healthy; with everyone speaking at least twice (some people kept repeating their points). I entered around 3 times with original points and 3 times with counter-original points to others’ points… I was also able to sum the discussion up a bit. Being the kind of case where there is a lot of grey area, it could be interpreted in many different ways, however, one guy kept rambling aggressively about how one can never sacrifice ethics (Satya Harishchandra who sacrifices his family :D). I did not take any stance, but debated the fallouts of various scenarios that were available. Many looked at me alone while they were speaking!

After 15 min we were told to stop and they then collected the case study sheet and the Shillong interview form. Then we were bundled out and the interviews began. Being no. 5, I thought I would be called soon, but I became the last person interviewed (First and last were parallely interviewed, middle became lastL).

The same panel that reviewed my GD interviewed me. P: Panelist. P1 – A smiling guy in his 40s, P2 – mock serious young guy (30s), P3 – A very respectable looking oldie (seemed 60+)

The interview:

Me (grinning like a Cheshire Cat): Good afternoon Sir, Good afternoon Sir

P1 (indicating me to sit): Good afternoon

P1: So where are you from?

Me: Andhra Pradesh

P1: Where in Andhra Pradesh?

Me: Visakhapatnam

P1: OK. Tell me something about it.

Me: It is a port (blah!). Located in coastal Andhra region. HQ of the Eastern Naval Command. (Here I completely lost my head) Its beaches are much cleaner than Mumbai’s. (Damn, I could have talked about the flourishing ship manufacturing, but no, I was set to prove myself a compete joker). Also, I felt that the people are very hardworking always forward looking kind of people.

Then the obvious –

P1: So what differences do you find in the people here and there?

Me: Mumbai is so much more cosmopolitan, we have a never say die attitude…Blah blah

P1: So you are saying that Visakhapatnam people are not?

Me: (Some statement to correct my foot in mouth moment…) actually sir, it’s been years since I visited Visakhapatnam, however, when I went there, this was the impression I got.

P2: So what is happening in Srikakulam?

Me (mishearing as ‘so have you been to Srikakulam?’): I have never been to Srikakulam.

P2 repeats.

Me: Oh, sorry. No I don’t know, I only know about the Telangana issue

P3: So if there is a separate state of Telangana created, where will you belong?

Me (I belong here, to dear, aamchi Mumbai): I will still be in Andhra. (Explained the location of Vizag and coastal Andhra)

P1: Ok. So you take painting commissions (seemed amused). Should we commission you for a painting.

Me: (Gave a ‘why not’ smile) (But don’t expect any discount).

P1: Do you like reading books?

Me: I love reading books. But more than that I like to write short, witty humourous stories on life.

P1 (ignoring last comment): So which authors?

Me: P G Wodehouse is my all-time favourite (he smiled, must have been his too). Also, I like books that talk about human behaviour, Agatha Christie’s books, especially her novellas under the name of Mary Westmacott, rather than the detective fiction.

P1: So you said you like humour. What is the humour you can see in this situation?

Me (I screwed myself royally with my answers above you must be laughing inside): Well, with a no. 5, I expected to be interviewed atleast before the logically last person, but I am the last person to be interviewed.

All three smile so as not to hurt my feelings. P2 is slow on the uptake, but follows the lead of the other two.

P1: And outside of this interview room?

Me: Well, some people came out with rather embarrassed smiles. I could not imagine what must have happened inside :D…what happens that one becomes so embarrassed?

Real laughter this time (whew!).

Me: Also, I could see many R K Laxman expressions on some faces. (Like a fool I mimed like the lion in ‘Madagascar’)

P1: So do you like to observe others’ expressions while you travel?

Me: Being an artist, I think it helps me, I do it quite unconsciously.

P1: So draw a caricature of me. (Hands me a notepad and arranges his face into a boring, uninterested expression, looking up toward the skies)

Me: Sir, you must promise to not be offended. (He nods and I rapidly sketch him with a broad smile and hand it over, he passes it along to the others with a mixed reaction)

P2: So you are a Mechanical engineer. How much do you remember?

Me: Most of it, I hope.

P2: So let’s start with IC engines

Me: Ok. (Here the questions are quite basic, so I will not bore you with answers)

P2: What is a camshaft used for?

P2: Why should the valves be controlled?

P2: How does the camshaft operate?

P2: What is a fuel injector?

P2: Jet or spray? Why?

P2: If some water has entered my bike last night and I want to start it in the morning what will happen?

P2: What is the A/F ratio for diesel engine?

P2: Knocking?

P2: What is a clutch used for?

Barring two unsatisfactory answers and one wrong answer, I answered the rest to my satisfaction.

P3 then quizzed me on moral dilemma. Later –

P2: So you graduated in 2010 july and started preparing for CAT? (I have a gap of 6-7 months)

Me: (I tell them how the time was spent… but P1 rescues me by saying she undertook commissions)

P2, P3: Really!?

Me: I retailed around four of my paintings

P3: For how much?

Me: Around 5000/- (Some gyan about the paintings.. I am a professional Tanjore Artist) P3’s eyebrows go up in to his hair.

(Some discussion about why I want to do an MBA if I am so good at Art)

P1: So do you keep updated yourself about current affairs? Can you tell us about some?

P3: So what about the Satyam Scam?

P3: Do you support R Raju? (Where did that come from?!!)

P3: Do you think corrupt people are becoming more and more common in India Inc?

P1: Can you name some clean persons?

(Here I say that really clean persons do not come in the limelight. Guffaws all around.)

P1: What do you think about Manmohan Singh?

Barring one factual mistake in the Satyam case, I answered satisfactorily I guess.

P1: Ok thank you. Take a chocolate and get the hell out of here, we want to have our lunch. (Last bit is imagination)

Me: Oohh thanks. (I pick up a mentos).

P1 (amused and thinking I have a sweet tooth): Take a couple more.

Me: No, one is fine. Thank you sirs (Enjoy your lunch).

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 8,700 times in 2010. That’s about 21 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 4 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 28 posts. There were 14 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 3mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was August 31st with 61 views. The most popular post that day was Some of my more Recent Works.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were en.wordpress.com, facebook.com, images.yandex.ru, en.search.wordpress.com, and 74.125.67.100.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for balaji, balaji photos, peacock drawing, warli art, and warli.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Some of my more Recent Works February 2008
1 comment

2

A Few of My Works February 2008
14 comments

3

TRACING MY ROOTS June 2008
8 comments

4

Monsoon Musings July 2009
3 comments

5

Articles I like:The Madness in Matrimonials July 2008
1 comment

The Longest Night of my Life

I never had any problem falling asleep, in fact, these past few years of engineering college have made me realize that the Sandman is always just around the corner, ready to bless me with a healthy slumber. It is a different matter though that I had to keep him at bay, mostly.

So, I imagine my surprise when yesterday (technically today), no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get any shuteye!

It was around 12:30 am. Keeping down the just finished Frederick Forsyth, I thought of turning in for the day/night. At the time, I was really very sleepy – remember that I had to be really attentive to make sure the KGB agent (or Illegal, if you please) was well and truly caught.

Like most people, I’m sure, I went to the washroom, washed hands, face and feet, applied lotion, brushed my hair, applied lotion, drank a glass of water, placed the jug of water and a glass near my bed, checked to see whether all the windows and doors are properly fastened (that’s my duty in the house), removed blankets, covered my already sleeping sis with one, and hit the sack.

01:00 am:

But I just couldn’t sleep! I puffed the pillow, removed the bedsheet, replaced with it with another, turned this side and that, but nothing.

All the while the steady patter of rain outside – it usually calms me, but this time I felt it pounding the insides of my head. Then, (very skeptically), I started counting sheep and succeeded in boring myself exceedingly, but no sleep.

‘Sleep!’ I told myself. ‘You will not get enough once you start working, so sleep’.  But I could not convince myself.

I looked at my cell phone. It was 01:37 am. Heck, I did not stay up this long for even exams!

I started playing ‘Qudrapop’ on the phone. Broke my own high score record with 37,400 points. Then ‘Jewelquest’ – solved all the boards. Racing fever next. Unlocked 5 more levels. Feeling that this was making me more and more alert rather than groggy, I kept it down.

02:10 am:

Should I watch the TV? Mom and dad wouldn’t be too happy. Hell, I will mute the sound. Thank God for the subtitles. I plonked myself on some 4-5 cushions on the sofa and debated on which movie to see. Only two seemed interesting. One was a ‘scary movie’ on StarMovies. Somehow feeling that it might just keep me awake trying to peer into the darkest corners and alert of the slightest sound, anyway, I didn’t want to see teens pulped to death ala Rajnikant style situations (read: highly unrealistic), I settled for the other on Sonypix.

It had Al Pacino and Robbie Williams and Hilary Swank and guess what was it? ‘Insomniac’! Life can really get so ironic!

However, the climax saw me dozing off (nothing on the actors, they were great). Not wanting to miss it, I rubbed my eyes, and stayed awake. 😀

03:30 am:

Movie over, me wide awake, thanks to the efforts of yours truly. Talk about cutting the branch you are sitting on!

Feeling that watching TV wasn’t going to help any more than making ‘High Scores’ on the cell, I started on a book: ‘Winter Hawk’ by Craig Thomas. This time it was the indomitable Americans going to foil the Russians. Within half an hour, I felt the book work it magic – there only so much of Cold War dynamics one can take in 24 hours – and it lulled me slowly but surely, to some much needed sleep.

04:30 am:

The alarm which my sis had kept so as to catch a flight at 6:00 am, rang.

Need I say anything more? Sometimes it’s just not your day (or night!)

A Coverpage I designed…

Theme: 'Forts and Monuments of India'

I designed the Cover Page of my College Mag ‘Nirmaan’, the theme of which was: ‘Forts and Monuments of India’

This is my first official Coverpage design, and I must say, it feels great to hold one’s own creation in one’s hands…

The Great Rat Story

Once upon a time, not very long ago and in a land of which most of you know, there lived a Father Rat, his wife Mother Rat and their little son, Remy (also, incidentally, a Rat).

Like all typical rat parents, Remy’s parents wanted him to have a good life, so, when Remy was only 3 years old, his parents took him to a large, open ground. The sight before Remy was one which he had never seen before – a huge race track, extending for as far as he could strain his eyes to see. But, even more astonishing (to Remy, i.e.) was that rats of every kind – Big rats, small rats, brawny rats, weeny rats; black rats, brown rats, grey rats , ebony rats; furry rats, skinny rats, geeky rats, beefy rats – were running for all their worth on this monstrously huge track. (It actually was very funny, thought Remy, looking at the absurdly contorted and serious faces of all the rodent contenders).

“What’s this papa?” asked Remy.
“Welcome, son, welcome to the ‘Great Rat Race’”, exclaimed Father Rat.
“And what’s that?”
His mother took over, “A race we all rats run – we’ve been doing it for a long time now –you will run it too.”
“But what if I don’t want to?”
“Enough of your questions. Everyone your age has already started in his tracks. About time you did too.”

With his fate thus decidedly sealed, Mother Rat (a formidable barn rat, if I may say so) joined him up for the nursery track that very day.
Remy had started off on his life’s Rat Race.
Years passed. Remy took part in all the major races. He also began to understand a bit about the ‘Great Rat Race’. There were a great many tracks laid out. Some very well maintained but these were few – most were in a bad shape, with stones strewn all over the track. The young rats running over these were usually shabby looking, worn out ones. Luckily, his was a good track. And then there were local races, state-level races and National races too (the rats running for the last usually had large, owlish eyes). His mother and father ran races too – but they were on a different track, called ‘employment’ – which was a long track indeed. He also saw that the mother rats liked to compare their children’s finishing times, the lesser the better. It was passable if you could just about finish the race – but splendid if you finished first of all the other rats. Thankfully, Remy was always one of the top three rats, so his mother was happy.

The turning point of Remy’s life came when he finished his Higher Secondary State Race in the Science track with a merit to his credit. Mother and Father Rat were very proud. And then –
Mother: “He’ll do the Bachelors of Rat Technlogy (R.TECH) of course or RBBS…”
Father: “Shouldn’t we ask …?”
Mother: “Nonsense! You will be wasting his merit to his credit”
And so Remy had his work cut. He wanted to look at the other sparsely populated tracks, but being run by happier rats, however, with his choice limited to just two, and seeing that RBBS track seemed too long and drawn out, he opted for the R.TECH course. And then again –
Remy: “Hey! Why is my track so small?”
Track Admin: “Are you a special rat?”
Remy: “Wha… I guess no. I came first though – does that count?”
Track Admin: “Well, all general rats run with only 65% track. Special rats run with 135%”
Remy looked to his father for explanation.
Father: “Life is unfair kiddo! Get used to it”
Remy (unknowingly mimicking Calvin): “Why the heck isn’t it unfair in my favour!!?”
Father (a little helplessly): “Those are the rules, son, and we all run by them.”
Remy (The dutiful Rat Runner): “(Sigh) Alright…for you, a 1000 times over…”
Father: “See son, I know you are disappointed. Its time I told you what I should have a long time ago…”
“Earlier, there were no rats, only people – we used to be humans, each one doing the thing that he loved the most (well, at least the majority) be it designing, creating, discovering, exploring, painting…but I guess, somewhere that was not enough for us…we wanted more – there’s nothing wrong with that; but instead of wanting to achieve something more, we all just wanted to get rich quick, forget about learning. The inevitable soon happened. Too many contenders for the few good resources meant that we all had to compete against each other. Thus was created that ‘Great Rat Race’, which mid level rats like us are forever doomed to run.”
“What happened to all the people?”
“Many forced to run the race like us became rats. But there are some people still at large. Most of them call themselves Rat-sevaks. RLAs, you know, some of which haven’t run even the ‘Primary Race’. They eat into the cheese we earn too, and do not save it for a rainy day, with the result that we have a huge cheese deficit. But that’s a different story. However…”
“What?”
“There are other people who… but what am I saying… Remy, please run your race.”

And so he ran. And he ran. Meanwhile he saw his fellow runners running two or more races. Curious he asked his friend Jerry, “Hey, what’s all this fuss about running two races?”

Jerry expounding 'Cheesiness' to Remy

“Don’t you know – rats that run more than one race have a better chance at getting more cheese?”
“Obviously, I don’t”
“See these are races for being ‘Master of Cheesiness Administration’ or MCA. We usually run the races of CAR, TRAP, MAP, SLAP, XAR and PMS. But these are national races. We can also run a GNAT race that gives us a chance to race in foreign rat colonies.”
“But won’t that change our track to ‘Administrative Cheesiness’ then?”
“Who cares if we are getting more cheese! See everyone’s running them, and that’s good enough reason for me to run them too.”
“What works for you works for me too”, said a ‘by now robotic’ Remy.

And he ran some more. At the end of it came the results. Remy finished in the top 1 % of all the racers. All around, everyone was overjoyed as they expected him to do very well thereafter.
But there the joy ended. Because now, Remy’s track was cut by 52.5 %. Also, the top MCA race tracks’ Admins started playing by new rules over which they themselves had no consensus or understanding. Being a consistently good runner was not good enough as the results of the finishing times were botched up. Many an expectant rat was left running in despair. Poor Remy was dumbstruck. Not having tasted failure ever before really shook him up.
“Why Dad, why me?”
“Don’t worry son, you can run it one more time”
“I should have won it this time itself… and what if they change rules again?”
“Umm… you keep running till…”
Remy (Suddenly struck by a revelation): “No Dad. Tell me what happens even if I win a race – any race?’
“Well… uhhmm you can earn more chee…”
“No! Whatever race I run, whichever race I win – I am still a rat! Don’t you see?
“Dad, you said there are other people right?”
“But they – you can’t – these people Remy, they run on off-beaten tracks, why, sometimes they have to cut their own path – your mother…”
“So what? They get to run on their own terms.”
“But Remy, see! This path is safe. Your Return on Cheese is assured. What you are talking about is very uncertain”
“Thanks to the wonky results, I have been given an awakening slap. I’ve always wanted something completely different for myself, Dad; I’ve never wanted all this Rat Tech stuff. I am doing a double injustice, to myself and to R.TECH too.”

However, this story is not a utopian ‘Rattywood’ Film, so fathers don’t have a sudden change of heart.
Father Rat: “Remy, please complete your race”.

Hang on! Remy is still the Hero though.

Remy (to his Dad): “For you, a 1000 times over” (To himself): “A race to live on my own terms – the race to be a PERSON”.

I am a PERSON!

Stripey!

For a long time Aircel has been running ads about how the no. of tigers in India is only 1411 and dwindling. Though I suspect that the actual no. is far lesser ,  meanwhile here’s my bit for the loveable Stripey!!

Save our national animal, do not encourage animal products!

PS: Who would want to poach this little fellow …or his mother who gave him his obvious good looks?

And finally, the Puma!

Monsoon Musings

Monsoon Solitude

I was pining for the monsoon which was delayed this year, and believe it or not, as I was adding finishing touches to this painting, it started raining heavily!

Parrots

This painting is dedicated to my Mom…she loves parrots.