Santosh Avvannavar's Blog, page 51

Real Queen: Phiona Mutesi

This year my best movies so far have been: ‘The man who knew infinity’ (story of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan) based on a book written by Robert Kanigel; ‘Race’ (story of an African-American athlete) & ‘Queen of Katwe’ (extraordinary dream of a girl to be a grandmaster) based on a book written by Tim Crothers. The common strings in these movies/stories: poverty, struggle, desire not to settle for less than being a champion, coach/mentor, acceptance of failure, hope for better tomorrow.

Real Queen

This is first time in my life I clapped at the end of the movie! For me ‘Queen of Katwe’ is a real queen. I’m very grateful the script was in the right hand (Mira Nira). I have seen her magical hands earlier and she has done it again much larger than one could ask for. Madam, are you listening, eh?

I inspired five aspiring students to watch ‘Queen of Katwe’, the five students Divesh (aspiring to be a naval officer); Yeshwanth (aspiring for hiring education to contribute to the society); Ganesh (wants to be a great engineer) & other two are in the process of overcoming stutters with help of McGuire programme.

(Writer to the piece of the above article is the author of She: Ekla Cholo Re & BUGman)

Tech Mahindra Drive:Interview with Sriram Bharani S

Dear Readers, Today we have sociable Sriram Bharani S, a campus placed student. He is here to share his experience on Tech Mahindra campus drive and how he succeed in it.

(Interviewer is the author of She: Ekla Cholo Re & BUGman)

 

Sriram Bharani ji

Interviewer: Hi Sriram. Tell us about yourself.

Sriram: Hello. I’m pursuing final year, Computer Science Engineering. Hailing from a good family background that has been very supportive. My mother has been a great motivator and instrumental. This success of placement goes to her because she put interest in learning new activities from early childhood. Mom, I hope you hear it out! (smiles) I took up the stream of Computer Science because “idea of how computer works”. It has been a great learning through seniors, juniors, faculties and books. I believe in ‘learning and sharing knowledge’.

Interviewer: Good to know some of your principles of life. Why did you choose to apply for Tech Mahindra?

Sriram: (Smiles & thinks) Sometime its required to prove a point. I certainly wanted to avoid criticism that often people would make on rejection. The only a way out was hard work. At end it was not only satisfying but also fulfilled dreams of parents. Specifically my mom is proud about the achievement! (smiles)

Interviewer: Yes, I agree! Success can bring joy. What were the different rounds conducted?

Sriram: It is scary to visit back the first round (smiles). The first was aptitude, the computer screen that would announce the result on-spot. I was scared to see windows popping ‘sorry’ message for my friends. But my hard work seem to have paid off (grins recalling the moment).

Second round consisted of an image “girl holding a pen seemed stressful” displayed on the screen. I tried best to describe (Readers can look at an example: click here). The third round had really long waiting (smiles again), the third round was technical round, which was interactive. But (pauses) there wasn’t positive goodbye. It did sound different the way then. But there was relief for getting invited to the final HR round. It was very interactive with the HR thinking I’m a North Indian. The HR misunderstood my nativity as he often referred me ‘Bharani ji’ (laughs). I think people up are called with ‘ji’ suffix. I was advised to do some look up/read on ‘Artificial Intelligence’.

I would like to share some of the questions that were asked –

Tell me about yourself.

What is domain/area of interest? Why?

Explain about the mini project.

What are the classes in SQL?

Explain OOPS concept.

Write a program to swap two numbers.

Interviewer: Look like the final round was fun. What is/are your take away from the process?

Sriram Bharani ji

Sriram: I had a best lesson was to maintain calmness throughout the process. There are likely to be stress indicators but not to loose hope. Being bold and expressive would surely help.

Interviewer: Thanks for some interesting tips! What are your suggestions for future aspirants?

Sriram: A friendly advice is ‘its never too late to begin your preparation’. Carrying positive motivational thoughts like ‘I Can’ can really help to see positive outcome. Having said positive pointers let me give statutory points – avoid blabbering! One could decline politely incase doesn’t know the solution to the problem. Some questions like ‘among the dishes your mom prepares, which one is your favourite?’ might sound silly but there could be perspectives on decision-making or agility that the HR might be checking.

Interviewer: Thank you ‘Bharani ji’ oops Sriram ji for the great tips and advice on Tech Mahindra recruitment process. I hope it will help the readers. Wishing you a great career life and career ahead.

Sriram: (big smiles) Pleasure is mine! Thank you too!

Tech Mahindra Drive: Interview with Soundarya

Dear Readers, Today we have scintillating Soundarya S, Tech Mahindra campus placed student. She is here to share her experience-

(Interviewer is the author of She: Ekla Cholo Re & BUGman)

Soundarya

Interviewer: Tell us about your self.

Soundarya: Hi. I’m Soundarya pursuing undergraduate course B.E. Computer Science and Engineering. My hobbies are singing, gardening and internet surfing. I believe in punctuality and smart work. I strive for perfectionism.

Interviewer: That’s interesting! Why did you choose to apply for Tech Mahindra?

Soundarya: (Smiles) Tech Mahindra being a Day 1 company for campus drive is a dream company for campus aspirants. There has been constant motivation from trainers that has lead to participate. However, I too wished the same. There has been great relief from anxiety after the selection. Success does bring joy, it has definitely made parents proud (smiles again).

Soundarya

Interviewer: What are the different rounds conducted?

Soundarya: There were four rounds. The first round was online assessment that tested out Time Management skills through aptitude tests. It seemed pretty tough job to as each question gets less than a minute. Add to this there seem to have sectional cut-off. The results of this round pops on the screen in less than 15 seconds. It was a great relief of clearing the round. The second round had a picture displayed on the screen and the task was to type a passage for about 1200 words in 15 minutes. The picture I received showed a poor family where children are studying. I framed a story about hard working and positive attitude. (Readers can look at an example: click here) The third round was Technical HR where I was asked to introduce myself with several basic questions on various subjects. Most of these questions came from the resume – paper presentation, workshops, seminars, internship and inplant training. The final round was general HR. The questions were about family, passage that I attempted for round 2. I was asked if there are any questions to ask. I did ask them, ‘If I’m selected in your company in which domain will I be working for?’

Interviewer: Thanks for some interesting views. What are your take away from the process of recruitment?

Soundarya: Success of getting through the drive has given a hope. I learnt that its fine to be bold to express right views. I was appreciated incase I didn’t answer a question.

Interviewer:  What are your suggestions for future aspirants?

Soundarya: I wish a great luck to get through the interview. One could focus on technical components of interview and basic programming languages could be really helpful. Being bold and confidence with calmness is going to be like icing on cake.

I was asked the following questions-

Technical HR

Tell me about yourself.

What is your contribution to the project?

Tell me about your internship/inplant training.

Describe your project in brief.

What is cloud computing?

Name the various SDLC process?

Tell me about IOT.

Draw LAN, WAN.

How computer network work?

What are different layers in network?

How does the different layers of network work?

Why everything is based on cloud?

Give me few best examples for cloud computing.

Interviewer: Thank your time and wishing a great success in Tech Mahindra. Readers, I hope this was inspiring for your preparation and tips were helpful.

About Abroad IELTS: Andrew & Akshay

Dear Readers, Today we have adaptable Andrew & ambitious Akshay, an aspirants of higher education. They are here to share their experience on IELTS.

Interviewer: Tell us about yourself?

Andrew: Hi! My name is Andrew Joseph V pursuing final year, B.E. Mechanical. I’m keen to pursue Masters in Engineering Management.

Akshay:

Hi! My name is Akshay pursuing final year, B.E. Mechanical. I’m keen to pursue Masters in the field of Supply Chain Management.

Interviewer: Thank you! Nice to see great smile. Let’s move to the next question, what does IELTS stand for?

Akshay: It stands for International English Language Testing System.

Andrew

Interviewer: Some might wonder, why such simple question?! Could you please brief on the sections in the test?

Andrew:  (Smiles) It consists of four sections namely

Speaking : Its mostly for 13 minutes that includes 2 minutes of speech

Listening : It consists of four sections with ten questions each, totalling to 60 minutes (one hour)

Reading : It consists of three sections with 13 or 14 questions each, totalling to 60 minutes (one hour) & the final one is

Writing : It consists of two tasks, totalling to 60 minutes (one hour)

I would like to brief a lit more on each section.
Speaking: A general discussion takes place where the examiner asks multiple questions about general things. Then a spot topic is given with a minute to preparation. Then one has to speak for two minutes. Then the examiner asks questions about the topic given and grades in the scale unto 9.

Listening: An audio related questions appear on the screen to answer or need to fill out directions or questions on the passages played. It is also graded in the scale unto 9.

Reading: Passages appear with related questions. There will be about three passages. It is also graded on the scale unto 9.

Writing: As I mentioned earlier that there are two tasks. Task 1 could be to analyse the given paragraph or a picture and write about it. Task 2 is general a topic or problem is given to write the view.

Interviewer: That’s a lot! Thank you for the break-ups of each section and detailed information. How did you prepare for the test?

Akshay

Akshay: A good foundation of conversational English would make the preparation easy. For IELTS, I started preparing two months prior to the date of test. I did take coaching (crash course) for a month to make sure the pattern is practised. After the crash course, I took several practice test (thinks), 20 tests for all the sections that Andrew mentioned while ago.

Interviewer: That were plenty of tests! How about you Andrew?

Andrew:  For the case was different. I had lesser time than Akshay for the preparation. But my consistent preparation couple of weeks before the test paid off (smiles). I should really thank the regular English reality shows that became handy to prepare (smiles again).

Interviewer: Do all universities accept the score?

Akshay: Certain universities located in USA accept only TOEFL instead of IELTS. However, most of them accept IELTS score.

Andrew:  I have nothing less to agree with Akshay.

Interviewer: One test could open several opportunity. What is the minimum score/cut-off asked by the universities?

Akshay: Most of the universities ask 6 band out of 9. But certain universities have their individual sectional cut-off requirement. I assume, some courses might require reading/writing skills largely. Or huge number of applications are received each year.

Interviewer: Could you please let us know your band?


Akshay: (smiles) Its 7 out of 9

Andrew:  (smiles) Its 7.5 out of 9


Interviewer: Thank you Andrew and Akshay for your inputs and time. Readers this tell us: IELTS is achievable with focus, practice and practice. I hope this was helpful. For more information one could visit: www.ielts.org

– Interviewer is the author of She: Ekla Cholo Re & BUGman

SSB Prep: Divesh

Dear Readers, Today we have daring Divesh, a naval officer aspirant. He is here to share his experience on preparation for defence.

Aspiring Officer

Interviewer: Tell us about yourself?

Divesh: Hi, my name is Divesh. I’m active person with bubbling energy, average at studies (smiles) and deeply interested in sports and extra curricular activities like club events. I love to gather information that would help to enhance general knowledge that includes current affairs. I do all these because they act as a motivational dose. I’m active in nature to help and motivate others. These add to my list of good characters (smiles again). I’m a goal orientated person who strives to achieve. Though attimes lag in decision making hinders the process/action.

Interviewer: Among several careers, why did you choose to apply Naval Officer?

Divesh: According to me, defence is a structured organisation. Several other career often pushes the persons thinking on matters like income, promotion, popularity etc. Though it isn’t wrong to desire but it doesn’t seem to match my aspirations. It would be very hard for me to act to gain, but rather I believe in sacrifice life for the nation. Its hard to imagine a career that seem monotonous or just 9-5 shift job. I could say this,

“If you are excited of an idea that no one else, all that should matter to you is focus. Progressive thinkers are driven by their interests, not whether others are interested.”

Interviewer: How are you preparing for the naval officer position?

Divesh: The preparation is beyond the just table study. Preparation demands in an attitude shift to mould character through knowledge, current affairs, stories of warriors etc. I feel that application of learning will play an important role in developing the OLQ’s (Officer Like Qualities). Some of OLQ’s are – planning & organising; social adjustment; social effectiveness; dynamics etc.

Interviewer: What is the ideal time required for one to prepare?

Divesh: Time could be estimated based on several factors of individuals but for me its like a daily bread. However an ideal time of 6 months – 1 year preparation is desirable.

Interviewer: Could you brief on the selection process?

Divesh: In the selection process three things are looked for –

What you think?

What you speak?

What you do?

These are checked by three examiners that consists of a psychologist, G.T.O and I.O. Further details on the application and selection process is listed on their website (http://www.joinindiannavy.gov.in) & search for ‘afosop’ (youtube)

Interviewer: Why do you think several eligible candidates don’t apply for a career in defence?

Divesh: According to me, some might think that they don’t possess or cannot build qualities that are required to be an officer. Or they may be lazy (smiles). I see its a gradual phenomena for one becoming an officer. Their may be myth that officer need to sacrifice life to the nation.

Interviewer: What message do you like to give for aspirants?

Divesh: Create, follow and have a role model (martyr), mentor and successful officers to encourage you. Leaders always create others as leader. My hero and role model if Major. Mukund Varadharajan. A. C.

For further information one could visit: ssbcrack.in

Interviewer: Thank you Divesh for several interesting insights on SSB. I hope it will help the readers. Wishing to see you as an officer.

Divesh: Hope to see several others coming forward to join defence! Thank you too!

– Interviewer is the author of She: Ekla Cholo Re & BUGman

Tech Mahindra Drive : Interview with Selena

Dear Readers, Today we have smart Selena, a campus placed student. She is here to share her experience on Tech Mahindra drive.

Selena 

Interviewer: Hello Selena. Tell me about your studies.

Selena: Hi! I am Selena, pursuing 4th year BE, ECE.

Interviewer: Why did you choose to apply for TechMahindra

Selena: I chose to apply for Tech Mahindra basically because of the structured

learning and the creative freedom it provides to pursue other interests. I am in

contact with a few of the seniors who tell me about how they are doing so

much, apart from working. Most of them are studying part-time, or they are

actively engaged in other organizations. So, I like being busy and that’s

something that Tech Mahindra offers to their employees. Also, this being a day one company,

I see that I will have 57 familiar faces by the time I start my career.

Interviewer: Thanks looks promising career for a fresher. What were the different rounds conducted?

Selena: Rounds conducted were : the first round was the aptitude round. Once we cleared

that, we had the creative writing round, we had to write a 1200 character

passage on an image on the screen. Everyone gets a unique image. The

picture that I was given was a red dot. The next round was the Technical HR

round. It was fairly simple. We only had to answer confidently, and answer

right. For streams other than CSE and IT, they had asked mostly from

questions that can be found online. So it helps in preparation to Google

technical interview questions. And the final round was the HR round where I

was asked about my contributions to my projects and my communication skill

was checked.

Interviewer: Some interesting rounds! Huh? What is/are your take away from the process?

Selena: Takeaway- the first take away that I had was my first interview experience

where I did not know the interviewer. I also learned the kind of questions

that we could probably ask regarding the interview. And I understood that

when you attend an interview, you tell the company what they want to hear.

Interviewer: Interesting! What are your suggestions for future aspirants?

Selena: For my juniors, I would say work super hard. Because, there is nothing that

equates to that. And do ‘smart work’ more than ‘hard work’. And for the

technical HR, it is expected that we know what we study, for Tech Mahindra.

That is as an ECE student, I was asked questions on ECE, not on CSE.

Interviewer: Thank you Selena for the some smart insights on the recruitment process. I hope it will help the readers. Wishing you a great career with Tech Mahindra.

Selena: Pleasure is mine! Thank you too!

– Interviewer is the author of She: Ekla Cholo Re & BUGman

 

BUGman Book Launch

BUGman book launched by Suresh Narasimha, CoCreator, Entrepreneur along with Narasimhan Iyengar, Co-founder of Socialmedia Nascor and Praveen Praveen Desai Ex-Yahoo!

 

Ebook: click here

Paperback: click here

Book blurb: 

“Knowing the unknown is better than not knowing at all”. Sa & Sa journey of ‘Testers’ & challenges.

Sa and Sa unveils the journey of software professionals.

Sa and Sa Unveil this journey, they show how the software industry works, people, organization, expectations, behaviours etc.

Key thing we are trying to convey is to learn everyday, develop your skills and help share the knowledge.

Amazing Awareness talk on Stutters & SSB

Mr Divesh, aspiring SSB officer and Mr Yesvanth, aspiring scholar who was stutter once. Both presented insights on their respective aspirations to inspire a group of students.

She More

Aishwarya Damodar
She – Ekla Chalo Re – a subject matter often untouched is an intriguing story written by Santosh Avvannavar and Dr. Shayan Haq. The quest to find one’s own calling and destiny is a journey we all embark upon but how many of us actually find the answers? How the protagonist seeks it forms the crux of the story line. Highly motivational. Must Read!!
Dheena Vinoth
Thank you for sharing this book sir. It is very motivating! 
Ananya P

Shelves: owned, giveaways, short-stories

This was a great book for a short read . It is different from what I generally read but I have no regrets . The writing was simple but the story was powerful and is sure to leave a lasting impact. The ending was great and unexpected . I liked that it ended with a better hope for future. Apart from a few grammatical errors, it was pretty good for a quick read. I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.
Over 150 reviews –
Goodreads
Amazon India
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BUGman Review

From my side, it’s 4.5/5

The authors have succeeded in keeping the narrative tone light throughout the book using simple, lucid language. The occasional gleams of humour even make you smile amidst the technical jargons used.

I highly recommended the book to the freshers who are about to start their professional life, to all the students and even to seasoned ‘bugmen’. Because, as it has been said, in IT, you learn something new each day.

For further reading: Maniparna

For paper back: BUGman &

For Ebook: BUGman Kindle version