Google robot is so lazy!! I have been trying hard to get BLG Construction Services in the hits - but nothing seems to be working. Ok here is my last attempt..

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Mom had by then moved to a new School and was making her way quickly up the hierarchy there. I remember that her typical day was something like -
Morning 9 - Afternoon 3 --> School, 3 - 6:30 --> coaching classes (we had almost around 50+ students from various schools) and then she will try to spend a quality time with us (playing a variety of indoor games) and then to act as fillers, there were chores. During school vacations, she would take hobby/ culinary  classes
My typical day was like - Morning 8-1:00 PM School, 1-2:30 Table tennis in school..... 3 - 4:00 at home - either reading comics, playing cricket with wall etc. Then I would run to NCC ground with my friends, where we will play cricket till 7-7:30. Back to home by 8, watch TV...start my dinner which would go-on and on and on (my apetite was nil that time!), till Dad or mom will give me a good scolding and then sleep :). Later on I started helping Mom in the coaching classes. When I was in ninth standard, I use to teach maths to students of 8th and 9th standard and I really enjoyed doing it.

This entry had to wait for a complete week, which I guess is well justified. I have moved to New Mumbai office - it takes around 4 hrs just to commute. For last few days, have been pushing off from office a little late because of work.

I had my next round of Microsoft interview on wednesday.  I did not perform well, and I don't think I could have performed any better. That round was a technical round - I wish I had that sharp memory to retain linklists, arrays, sorting algorithms etc..  I was so keen on in making it through, but ....Anyway..this is an interesting piece of snip from Matt Goyer's blog entry on Program managers interviews at microsoft
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What makes the Microsoft interview process unique is that as the candidate you do not know your interview schedule beforehand and that at each step of the way the interviewers are communicating with each other. This means that if you have a few bad interviews in a row your day could end very early. Conversely, if your interviews go well then at the end of the day you will get an 'as appropriate' interview which is typically with a general manager or executive. So at the end of each interview the interviewer will send you back to the building's lobby for ten to twenty minutes while they go talk to the next interviewer. Each interview was in the office of the person interviewing me except for the lunch interview. All my interviews were in the same building except for my last. I knew it was the as appropriate because my interviewer told me my day was done and then double checked this but exclaimed that I had another interview. He wrote down the details and I went back to the lobby and got on a bus. At the new building the front desk people called up to tell them I was there and it was clear that they were talking to an executive assistant. But it went well and I really enjoyed the opportunity to be grilled by the general manager of Outlook.

I think that Microsoft's Program Manager interviews are difficult to prepare for so I think what you should do to prepare is know what to expect, that way there are at least fewer surprises.

What also made this interview experience unique is that before I got to Seattle they asked if there was anyone I wanted to have dinner with. Wanting to take advantage of this I chose Robert Scoble as my dinner date. I met him at Anthony's in Kirkland and had a nice dinner with him and his wife. In hindsight, I was a little too tired to do dinner but whatever.

I got back to my hotel around 9:00pm, met Ming, had a drink, and then packed while watching a bad movie.

Final word of advice.. During my last HR interview I was asked why I would choose Amazon over Microsoft and I was quite honest. Later on Microsoft went out of their way to ensure that the reasons I listed would no longer be valid. So be honest and tell them what you want.

What are they looking for?

I'll disclaim that I do not know what they are looking for. This is just what I think they are looking for.

• Programming questions
  • Asks clarifying questions
  • Doesn't start coding immediately
  • Rejects bad input
  • Checks boundary cases
  • Efficiency
  • Cleverness
• Design questions
  • Asks: Who, what, why, where, when, how
  • Thinks outside the box
  • Tests the design
  • Sells the design
• Brain teasers
  • Doesn't back down
  • Explores all avenues
  • Challenges assumptions
• In general
  • The best. These companies interview a lot of really good people. You need to stand out as the best. If your work or school experience doesn't make you stand out then pursue something in your spare time that will.
  • Persuasive. If you can't sell yourself and your ideas how will you then sell the companies products?
  • Well spoken.
  • Confident.
  • Relaxed.
  • Can work on a whiteboard in front of an audience.
  • Verbalizes thought processes while working through problems.
  • Can I put this candidate in front of a customer? A partner? an executive?

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I have to go to bank now..will sign off for the moment. Will continue with this entry......

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Ok I am back :)..... Jumping back to where i left.
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I vividly remember the first day when I went to school on my cycle. That full day I made almost 10-12 visits in the cycle stand - just to see my beauty was standing there, with all its shine.

There were some funny moments which I think will remain fresh in my memory for ever:

1. In school, we had this game of taking shots and throwing chalk stubs at each other. It was a normal phenomenon after almost every class lecture we had chalks flying in all direction and people ducking to save themselves, from being the target. In one such attempt of throwing a chalk piece, I really don't know how..but i missed my aim and the chalk landed on the  head of our bald-headed vice principal who was just passing by. That day till 5.30 in the evening, I was standing outside his room with my hands pointing towards the sky.


2. I started playing table-tennis sometime in seventh standard - it started with using lunch box covers as T.T. bat and a normal small plastic ball as the T.T.ball. This innovation with table tennis went to the extent of - using study desk in the class as table and "notebooks lined in inverted V form" as the net. We always had our annual day function on Sunday's, and a day before that i.e. on Saturdays we had a dry run/rehearsal for the entire event and it was compulsory for all the students to attend that. During one such rehearsal, I and horrick (my classmate), we sneaked furtively in the class room (which was on the second floor), made our artificial T.T. table and started playing. Even though it was a huge campus, the sound of the ball was echoing right upto the place where they were having this rehearsal with an audience of around 1000 odd students - "TOC TOC..TOC TOC..TOC TOC..)... The game ended with both of us running full rounds of the amphitheatre with our hands up and the audience cheering..

Bit late today... am deep in work too, nevertheless thought of writing few lines. Well coming from a meeting, and am impressed the way, i was introduced ;o)... i like being on the popularity charts...:))

Something is happening on job front as well....I hope it would streamline in the course of time. I am at new Mumbai office today - was planning to leave early but don't think would be able to make it. Yesterday for a couple of hours - I was on this site - "Indianguitartabs.com", never anticipated me getting so addicted to a "discussion forum". I had to literallly,  push myself out of the office... awesome site.

Ok opening my history book again ;)
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Just had a fruit plate - so still have some vacuum left in my stomach. I don't like the veg pulao in the canteen on Wednesdays. .

So far so good.... third day when I am connected and am on this site. Have some deadline to meet - so will keep it short and simple.

The fourth one day international cricket match is in progress in Ahmedabad. Even though I have a rediff score windw open, I am not that passionate about it - the way I was for cricket, some years back. I have the window open, may be just because the natural inclination is towards doing things which should be ideally avoided. So, when I need focus to complete my work - I have rediff and rushpost mail account open - let me better close them ;)!


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We moved to Jodhpur in 1985. Dad opted for a transfer to Jodhpur as his elder brother (my tauji) was based there. It would have helped us in two ways -  we had our relatives there and since tauji was moving to his own newly constructed house, we had an option of occupying his old house. Jodhpur is a nice place, but over all these years I have started believing that it did more harm than any welfare. Had we continued our life journey in Udaipur, things would have looked better than they stand today.

A scorching monday-afternoon.. it could be devastating to my efficiency - particularly after a sleep packed lazy weekend ;)!

Last week went to a French folk rock show. The name of the band was Louise attaque...as the name was not familiar, I was initially bit reluctant to go. But the experience was truely amazing, music really has no language!


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Setting my eyes back to the rear view mirror


I have some fond memories of Udaipur. I rate it as the best place in rajasthan. Udaipur has a tinge of Gujarati culture and unlike most other places in Rajasthan - it is very green. There are few things which I guess can never forget, like our (dad, mom, sister and myself) daily post dinner walk from our house to Sukhadia Circle (this place used to be beautifully lit at night). This site has an image of Su Cr. I somehow detested walking long distances and would ask my dad to carry me, and I guess he detested doing that more than I hated walking.... we found a solution to it -  the pact was, I would walk from one lamp post to second, from second to third he would carry me :).

Mom was a teacher in primary school at that time. Probably it is the best profession to be in, if you have small kids at home. Her handbag was not less than an amusement park for me, and with all my dexterous hand scooping I always managed to get something or other interesting from that bag. I remember having a huge collection of ball point pens, erasers and candy wrappers (the remnants of the sucrose pill which I ate with great pleasure!). She would also get me some comics from her school library - which I guess i treated like my own property. When we left udaipur, I had a huge collection of all Pran's comics (Chacha Chowdhry's, Pinky and billoo's) along with twinkles and chanda mamas :))

There was one student of her, which gifted us a white rabbit. I am sure we did have a proper name for that snow white-ball, but time has proved its majesty over my retention power... I just remember an orange color basket, which dad got for it and those visits to green fields where that little thing would have its meal. I think when we left Udaipur, that rabbit was handed-over to the security guard of our house.
During this time, my mama also came to Udaipur - to complete his studies. He was indeed a great company and we had a good time together. Dad also bought a yellow bajaj scooter - which is still with us :) (Hamara Bajaj!!) - this was his third two wheeler, the previous two were gifted to my cousins.
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Right now working on - Identifying prospective alliances for FS vertical.
Right now listening to - Nothing..
Am reading the book - "My Life" by Bill Clinton
Last article I wrote - IT roadmap for Securities and Investment industry for 2005

Going back to work

Looks: People born in this Mars ruled fire sign are of medium height, slim and wiry built with a rough and medium complexion. They have a long neck and the head is held forward from the body. The eyebrows are thick and bushy and bend and meet forming the sign of the Ram. Normally there is reddish or brownish tint to the hair and there is a mark or mole on the forehead. They invariably use their head by nodding and shaking quite a bit while they talk. The features are sharp and normally the hair is slightly wavy. The famous Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is born with sun in Aries. The famous Astrologer Linda Goodman is born in Aries Sun sign. 

Nature: Arians are adventurous, ambitious, bold, impulsive and independent by nature. They are quick tempered and blow a fuse when they get angry. But they also cool down quite fast and do not hold a grudge. They like doing things their own way and do not like the interference of others in their affairs. They love a challenge and get provoked easily. They are quite intelligent and are full of original ideas. They are somewhat stubborn and obstinate and even after a defeat they make repeated attempts and do not give up till they are convinced that they are wrong. They love change and variety in life. Their life pattern is usually a mixture of extremes of laziness and over activity. They invariably take interest in sports, war and martial arts. They have a good sense of humor. There is no middle path for them. Either they like something or somebody or they don’t. The Arians tend to be somewhat flashy and flamboyant in their dress. They have a sense of vanity. They are extremely concisions of their head and hairstyle. Normally an Arian combs his hair several times a day and examines it from several angles.

 

Profession and finance: Arians shine very well in any profession requiring originality, confidence and adventurous nature. Army, police services, engineering, computers and sports related professions suite them very well. They do make a lot of money but impulsively tent to spend most of it.

Love and domestic life: They are romantic by nature and the opposite sex always attracts them. Their partners usually like their adventurous nature and their zest for fun and variety in life. Normally they are very loving and caring partners and parents. However, they tend to be dominating by nature. Arians are attracted through and get along well with people born under the sign Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarians and Aquarius.

Health: Arians are normally prone to head injuries, headaches, backaches, blood disorders and high BP related problems.

Lucky days: Monday and Tuesday.

 

Lucky numbers: 9 and 1