Many an emotion prancing by: joy, sadness, wonder and drag,
Some chronic wounds with piercing needles, some odd tatters in my bag,
I am learning to pick them up, piece by piece, to pull worn out strings,
I am learning to undo the done, to sew my own power wings
To fly deep inside, to find a little more of me today than I knew yesterday,
To question my questions, but also my answers along the way,
To find who I am, to discover just me,
And to smile at me and just say “I love you unconditionally”
Toastmasters Project 1: Discovering Me, Myself and Sagar
Mr. Toastmaster,
Fellow members of the Buona Vista Toastmasters club and dear guests – A warm
good evening to you. When I found out that my first project would be to
introduce myself I was immediately reminded of the many interviews I have taken
as an interviewer as well as those I have given as in interviewee. Interviews
are all about self-reflection – they say you learn a lot about yourself in an
interview than the other person does. Today I will introduce myself through
some oft asked interview questions. I like to surprise myself and hope I discover
something about myself today as I do that.
Let us start with
what I call the ‘ice-breaking-no-consequence” question – “Tell me something
about yourself”. Most of the times, the question is used to buy time so the
interviewer can prepare for the real questions he/she wants to ask. Let me take
a shot at answering this one.
I am a Biotechnologist-turned-MBA-turned power point slide
churning management consultant. An average Indian with a below average EQ and
above average career expectations, I thought I should do something cool in my
life. As a child I wanted to be a dentist. Well that did not materialize but I
did end up marrying one (more on that offline). At the time I was exploring
options for my engineering degree, Biotechnology was the next big thing – a
solution to the world’s pressing problems. After feeding bacteria and fruit
flies in the lab for 5 years, I decided I was not cut out for a career in
research especially when the next test organism would likely have been a mouse.
Somehow I thought I would be a better fit to management and took up a job as a
consultant before finally going to B-school. My greatest value add from
B-school has been learning ‘jargon’. Suddenly I was transformed into a
professional whose core competency was to add value by creating a buy in for
paradigm shift in the way business is driven and people are engaged and empowered.
Post MBA, management consulting found me yet again, and to date I have been
playing along. From sequencing DNA to churning slides by the dozen - it has
indeed been quite a personal journey!
Let us move to the next common interview
question which I call as the ‘courtesy question before the real question’- What
are your strengths? And of course you can guess the question which follows
this. Nevertheless let me take a shot at answering this one
Well, there are 3 strengths I would like to share (in
consulting there are always three points to any answer):
1.An average person would think in blocks,
categories, models and so on. I can think in power point slides. I have a slide
for almost everything – Slide on how to motivate myself after a mindless
discussion with my boss, slide on 101 ways to be happy, flow chart slide on having
an argument with your wife (we know where that one ends), slide on how to
create a slide. You get the idea
2. I am a creative person so you can count on me
for all the wild ideas on the table. Have been into painting, writing poems,
theatre, elocution and dancing (salsa dancing)
3.I have the unique ability to sell you your own
idea (more of a professional hazard being a consultant else it can be quite a demanding
job)
Let me pick one last
commonly asked interview question - Why should we hire you? I typically have 3
versions of the answer but let me give you version 3 which I use when all else
fails and I want to make a desperate attempt to shock and awe the interviewer.
My association with an organization has a direct correlation
with its longevity and success. And this is statistically proven. My
undergraduate college celebrated its 50 years when I was there, my B-school 25,
my first employer 25 and my current employer, The Boston Consulting group 50
years. So much so that Singapore is also indebted to me for its development.
The year I was destined to move here from India, Singapore celebrated its 50th
independence anniversary.
So you see, you can really flip the odds of success in your
organization’s favour by simply hiring me!
As I mentioned earlier interviews are a lot about self-discovery.
For instance today I learnt that maybe I am not all the bad at putting a smile
on someone’s face. I am glad to be part of the Buona Vista community club and
hope have shared a few things about me which help you get to know me better. Before
I sign off would like to share a few lines from my poem which quite mirrors my
attitude towards life– It is called ‘Yearn’
Ihave castles to build,
I have dreams to gild,
Places to go,
And people to know,
To scale my fears,
To fight the jeers,
To undo the done,
To be second to none,
It is all about wanting what is due,
'Coz if you didnt get it, you never wanted to!
अपने अन्दर के कलाकार को जगाकर कापी के पन्ने से बनायीं मैंने एक नाव, भावनाओ के बहाव में बहता हुआ निकल पड़ा में अपने अगले पड़ाव |
अनंत सागर मेरा बिस्तर तारो से जड़ा अम्बर मेरी चादर, अंजान हवा मेरी सहेली मेरी नाव थी मेरी दुनिया अकेली |
तूफानों से झूजकर में बड़ा इठलाया नए रास्तों पे ढूंडने नई मंजिल, एक किनारे से दुसरे, बड़ते रहा अल्हड शौर्य, सुकीर्ति, स्वाभिमान किया हासिल |
जीत की ख़ुशी थी, लेकिन तब भी मन था खोया सा इस बहाव में ठहराव कहीं था सोया सा, विचलित मन में खयाल विद्युत् से दौड़ने लगे लक्ष्यहीन अधूरे सवाल लहरों से उठने लगे |
भटकते हुए एक दिन, किसी टापू के किनारे एक अर्धनग्न नर दिखा, करता हुए कुछ इशारे, रमता जोगी सा कह रहा था वह ये - "जो तेरा आधार है, वोही तेरा संसार है"
असमंजस में फसा मन समझ न पाया उसके स्वरों की गूँज फिर जवाब ले आया, अपनी कश्ती के कागज को खोलकर मैंने जब देखा पन्ने की छोर पर मेरे घर का पता था लिखा | _______________________________________
"A traveller goes around the world looking for something and comes back home to find it"
As IIM Lucknow gears up to host its annual management fest (incidentally named Manfest) here are my two cents on the theme of the fest: India – Expect, Explore, Experience.
15th August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation, “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” Today, with 62 years of freedom behind us, the moment has come yet again when India steps into the future with a lot to expect, explore and experience.
Expect the ‘Sone ki Chidiya’ to fly to greater heights on its way to becoming the next superpower, to grow by leaps and bounds across sectors especially R&D, pharmaceuticals, BFSI, telecom and to go global shopping – far beyond JLR, Corus, Novelis and Betapharm. Expect the services industry to fuel the future growth of the economy as well as generate employment even in rural India. Expect the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid to guild India’s success story.
Explore the hearts and minds of Indians and what you will notice is a pent up energy waiting to explode. Explore ‘Incredible India’ crowned by the Himalayas in the north and the backwaters of God’s own country in the South and you will be amazed how this nation of over a billion dreams and diverse opinions still manages to “get things done”.
Experience the beat of micro-entrepreneurship in every Indian – right from the vegetable vendor with his mobile phone to the NRI with his new software venture based out of Bangalore. Experience the melting pot of diverse cultures, religions and traditions, of the old and the new, of the brain and the brawn, and of kama and karma.
Back when I was in school we were a very special batch – the batch of the millennium or the batch of 2000. I miss school, the white uniform, the tie, the all girls’ school next door…every li’l bit of it.
Cut to engineering at IIT Kharagpur, my institute celebrated its golden jubilee. And yes! I was fortunate enough to be studying there when this happened. I miss IIT, Netaji, RK, Biotech and most importantly my friends….they mean the world to me.
Zoom to my job. My two year stint there was spaced with the 25th year celebrations of ZS Associates. Miss my colleagues, my stay at home, Pune…miss all things fun.
Back to the present. As I turn 25 this year, so does IIM Lucknow!
Tho my friends wud say tht I'm smitten by a maniacal frenzy I'd rather say tht I am a debonair n jaunty guy who believes in diligence,desire n deja vu.
