Well . . .well . . . If someone is closely following my posts s/he would realise that the previous 3 posts have formed a sequel - 'How I became . . . ' sequel. But believe me this has been purely unintentional. But this is just a very very small coincidence that my life has witnessed. The last 3 posts elaborate something, something that Shubham posted on his blog about me. I quote - "This guy is unbelievable.. He’s never been rejected in any interview in his life.. not during MBA admissions.. not during summer placements.. and now, not during finals either.. It's a record very few can boast of.." Why did I quote that? Self praise? you might think so, but no - I do not intend to magnanimate myself. I am but a very very fortunate person who has since long had a terrific luck and the right people around him. But this sequence of 'no rejections' has pscyhed me out. I find it more than a coincidence that I have never needed to try a second time. Its like some

Just back from Khetan's room, and what were we discussing ?? How much will be the variable? How much is the current rent of a 2BHK in Bandra? and what all investments options are available . . . 3 days and our topics of discussion have changed from Zameen to Aasmaan . . really !! Yes - this is just one of the indications that Placements are over - PGDIM10 is finally placed !!! I rewind back to 2nd January 2005, night 10.30 PM: I sent a multicast "KPMG closing in 1/2 hr, all interested please apply by 11PM". Kartik walks into my room and the following conversation happens- K: 'Apply kar diya?' me: Main apply nahi kar raha . . . K: kyon? me: yaar IRM ke baare mein mujhe kya aata hai?? and with so many work-ex junta what chance do I stand? K: Abe saale IRM is a very good field for a person like you. See, a consulting job is like a freelancer; an entreprenuer; you can very well handle it; you have the skills. And then Kartik went on to describe the

So there was I roaming around in Pune 2 days before my NITIE interview. Still ignorant about NITIE's ranking (careless chap u would say. . . well my teachers till date say the same) wasn't very keen on getting into it. The interview was cooooooool . . .rather than narrate it here let me refer you to my old webpage [ http://kulkarninet.tripod.com/tscript.htm ] . And so I found myself on the NITIE final list. It was now that I finally cared to find out NITIE's ranking and finding it in the top 10 ended up joining. I still feel I was lucky to be at the right places at the right times, more importantly surrounded by the right people. Talking of luck, even my summer placement was similar. I was very conservative while applying to companies - being a hard core IT guy - on Day 0, I had just one shortlist - went to the GD, cleared it, proceeded to the interview cleared it again. Just one shortlist, one GD, one interview and summers was through . . . Man!! I should say I am lucky.

Its 1st January - the new year has just started and for me with placements round the corner and NITIE life coming to an end, the new year will indeed usher in a new beginning. I was reading Manish Chauhan's Blog [ http://manishchauhan.blogspot.com/ ] and found his recent posts about friends and his lucky-and-intelligent friend Timir quite near to what's going on in my own mind nowadays; so thought why not pen it down(rather type it down). As NITIE comes to an end I am reflecting to around 1 1/2 years back. I was never gung-ho about management as a career path, actually had thought about giving GRE and doing an MS. My father kept on pursuing with me to try for an MBA rather than a techie thing - but I always thought I was made to be a techie (dunno why?). He tried for 3 years before he could succeed. It was March and he was (I could guess) tired of trying to change my mind about MS. Both of us were standing on the railway station; I was leaving back for my college after Holi