Elocution Speech: Creation Vs Evolution
[This is what won me the Department's elocution competition today. My speech pattern was pedestrian...]
Good evening, respected teachers and my dear friends. My name is Kush Meshram, and I am here to talk about evolution Vs creation. I know its a slightly dry topic, so for those of you who want to go off to sleep, I promise I'll wake you up in 5 minutes. But for those interested in rock music, spiderman and breakups, hold on...
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light." Thus begins one of the most famous paragraphs in the history of mankind. It goes on to talk about how God created the sun and the stars, the flora and the fauna before finally creating "Man".
A sufficiently detailed explanation of how life came into existence. But is that how it really happened? That, i guess, is the million dollar question we are here to debate today.
The bible isn't the only source which talks about how life came into being.Hinduism with its 33 crore gods, has multiple stories of creation.
Consistent in all these explanations is a belief in a higher supernatural power which brought life into existence.
And if we really accept, that yes, a higher power exists, that God exists,then we must accept the related symbolisms too. But do thunder and lightning really mean that God is angry with us? And does the falling of rain-drops indicate that God is shedding tears? Infact, I distinctly remember studying that rainfall is nothing more than evaporation followd by condensation. And that lightning is just an atmospheric discharge of electricity.
But what about modern day miracles which continue to occur to this date? And you needn't even look very far for such miracles. In our very own city of Mumbai, statues of Lord Ganesha drank milk on September 21, 1995. Yes, statues of stone and clay drank milk. A miracle, isn't it? Yet,scientists at CSIR and IITB dismissed the claims of a miracle by saying it occured mainly due to capillary action and surface tension.
Conversely, a religious person may cynically argue that science tries to justify everything and anything. In the words of St. Bernadette of Lourdes ”For those who believe, an explanation is unnecessary. For those, who don´t believe, an explanation is impossible.”
But the real question here is, is the scientific approach correct, or rather justified? On one hand religion asks us to accept ideas on blind faith, while on the other hand science presents us with hypothesis verified by empirical data and rigourous experiments. Religion asks us to trust while science teaches us to reason. Religion has answers for everything while science has explanations for some.
In such a case how feasible is it, to ask that we believe in the scientific approach? Not very feasible you'd say. But, in the words of Aerosmith's rock music legend Steve Tyler "life is a journey, not a destination"; and sometimes the path we take is more important than the goal. This is probably why the followers of the scientific approach of evolutionism continue to increase with each succeeding generation while the believers of creationism continue to diminish. Naturally, the next question that comes to mind is, how does science explain the origin of life?
Scientists have used techniques like radiometric-dating to determine that the earth came into existence around 4600 million years ago when fragments of a young solar system combined. During this period the the heavier molten iron sank to the core while the lighter material rose to the the earth's crust.
OK, one might say, this was how Earth was formed. But how do you go from here to today's advanced civilizations? How did mere dirt and rain water give birth to life? How did living organisms come into existence?
The credit for an answer probably goes to Stanley.(pause) I know what some of you are thinking. Spiderman first created life on Earth and now goes about saving it. Actually, I wasn't talking about the comic writer Stan-Lee who gave us Spiderman, but a scientist called Stanley Miller who recreated the early earth's primitive conditions in a lab experiment in 1950. His tests showed that repeated lightning strikes on a mixture of water, methane and ammonia can lead to the formation of amino-acids, which are the basic building blocks of protiens. Thus Miller showed how organic life originated from inorganic matter.
So now we have amino-acids, which could form protiens, and lead on, to the eventual formation of primitive bacteria. But, it still requires a great leap of over-active imagination to go from bacteria to human beings. I mean, imagine you went up to your girlfriend tomorrow and told her, "You are a descendant of bacteria", Result: Break-up! MTV Splitsvilla! World War 3! So how does Science make this great leap of imagination? Magic?
Well science doesn't have much use of magic, just logic.
There are two major mechanisms that drive evolution. The first is natural selection, a process causing genetic factors that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common in a population. It is also known as Darwin's theory of "survival of the fittest". The second is genetic drift, an independent process that produces random changes in the genetic factors. So primitive bacteria gave way to algae which in turn gave way to amphibians. Then came reptiles, dinosaurs, birds and a long long time later, primates like apes. Man, of course, descended from apes.
So this is how evolution explains the origin of life.
People might say, I have talked of creation,I have talked of evolution, but I haven't really talked of evolution vs creation. And wasn't that the real topic? Well, lest you think that I have digressed, I 'd like to say that I have just done what science would have wanted me to do. The speech was an experiment. This giant hall in which you are sitting is a test tube. And YOU are the subject.(pause) I have given you the facts. I have shown the methods. Good luck with the results.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Proof that Economics is boring…
Since time immemorial, poets have sung paeans to love and romance. History is littered with examples of enduring love and spell binding romances; and the ultimate embodiment of lasting love – a successful marriage. Yet, economics, (to its credit?) has managed to reduce the hallowed institution of marriage to nothing more than business function supported by a ‘theory’.
What crap, right? Obviously, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences strongly disagrees, for in 1992, it awarded one G S Becker, the Nobel Prize in Economics for his use of basic principles of economics to address problems in sociology. So what exactly did this G S Becker do?
Gary Stanley Becker, in his pioneering “Theory of Marriage” argued that the existence of the marriage institution is associated primarily with the reproductive function. Thus the question of whether to marry at all, and to whom, are related to what happens within the marriage, specifically, what the gains are and how they are distributed and what division of labor they rest on.
According to Becker's theory of marriage, the decision to choose a particular individual is based on the assumption that a better match cannot be found within the marriage market. The mate selection process involves search costs: generally, the longer the search, the higher the costs, and each person must decide whether to continue searching or to settle for the match he or she has found.
Becker holds that people marry only if they believe that the total utility of the union will be maximized. Part of this utility is based upon assortative mating, or the process of mate selection in which partners choose their spouses based on the utility of the traits they will bring to the relationship, such as attractiveness, height, intelligence, education, and income. Positive assortative mating occurs for complementary personal characteristics: for example, highly educated women are likely to attract and marry highly educated men, white women marry white men, and so forth. Negative assortative mating may take place for characteristics that are substitutes: for example, highly attractive women may choose to marry men with high income, partly because men tend to place higher value than women on physical attractiveness, while women are less willing to marry men with low earnings and unstable employment.
How then, does the science of economics deal with divorce (love flying out of the window and the associated tribulations)? Simple: divorce is treated as a consequence of imperfect information in the marriage market and children are considered capital that stands in the way of divorce.
While Wordsworth and Keats are probably turning in their graves as I write, I have to agree that Becker certainly put forth his arguments in a logical manner. So the next time your girlfriend accuses use of being miserly about money, and having a calculator instead a heart, tell her, “yeah, you may be right, there’s an economic theory about it”. And for the eternal hopeful, who still believes in love, remember “love conquers all”.
Since time immemorial, poets have sung paeans to love and romance. History is littered with examples of enduring love and spell binding romances; and the ultimate embodiment of lasting love – a successful marriage. Yet, economics, (to its credit?) has managed to reduce the hallowed institution of marriage to nothing more than business function supported by a ‘theory’.
What crap, right? Obviously, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences strongly disagrees, for in 1992, it awarded one G S Becker, the Nobel Prize in Economics for his use of basic principles of economics to address problems in sociology. So what exactly did this G S Becker do?
Gary Stanley Becker, in his pioneering “Theory of Marriage” argued that the existence of the marriage institution is associated primarily with the reproductive function. Thus the question of whether to marry at all, and to whom, are related to what happens within the marriage, specifically, what the gains are and how they are distributed and what division of labor they rest on.
According to Becker's theory of marriage, the decision to choose a particular individual is based on the assumption that a better match cannot be found within the marriage market. The mate selection process involves search costs: generally, the longer the search, the higher the costs, and each person must decide whether to continue searching or to settle for the match he or she has found.
Becker holds that people marry only if they believe that the total utility of the union will be maximized. Part of this utility is based upon assortative mating, or the process of mate selection in which partners choose their spouses based on the utility of the traits they will bring to the relationship, such as attractiveness, height, intelligence, education, and income. Positive assortative mating occurs for complementary personal characteristics: for example, highly educated women are likely to attract and marry highly educated men, white women marry white men, and so forth. Negative assortative mating may take place for characteristics that are substitutes: for example, highly attractive women may choose to marry men with high income, partly because men tend to place higher value than women on physical attractiveness, while women are less willing to marry men with low earnings and unstable employment.
How then, does the science of economics deal with divorce (love flying out of the window and the associated tribulations)? Simple: divorce is treated as a consequence of imperfect information in the marriage market and children are considered capital that stands in the way of divorce.
While Wordsworth and Keats are probably turning in their graves as I write, I have to agree that Becker certainly put forth his arguments in a logical manner. So the next time your girlfriend accuses use of being miserly about money, and having a calculator instead a heart, tell her, “yeah, you may be right, there’s an economic theory about it”. And for the eternal hopeful, who still believes in love, remember “love conquers all”.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
JOB SCENE@IIT(B) aka Cut Throat War
I don't get out of bed for less than $10000 a day.
If only JEE had been an exam based on morals and not analytical skills, Linda Evangelista(a top supermodel) would have been an IITian. Except for the lucky few who are actually studying what they wanted to study(and I am not talking of Comp Sc. or Elec. under-grads), most of us enter the hallowed portals of IIT with dollar dreams in our eyes and our feet firmly in the clouds.
When in a few months, the grind of daily academics snuffs out the glow of achievement, all that is left is of the 'The Great Indian Dream'(Get into IIT-Get a job-Go to US) is GET A JOB.
A pseud senior, in a rare moment of confession(fueled by a few shots of whisky and beer) spoke thus:
"
What are investment bankers more than glorified bean counters,
What are managers more than glorified shop floor supervisors,
What are software programmers more than glorified data entry operators,
and what are we,IITians, more than glorified whores,
ready to sell our brains to the highest bidders?
"
So this is what we say to all recruiters who come to IIT(B):
I don't care who you are
Where you're from
What you did
As long as you 'love' me
Mind you, we IITians are nothing if not ultra-competitive and intelligent(and jealous).
So in an institute where there is a paucity of girls (and those there are wouldn't be touched by a ten foot bargepole otherwise), the real show-stopper when it comes to the game of one upmanship is:
THE JOB SCENE
And this is one area where love(job) ke liye kuch bhi karega holds true.
I don't get out of bed for less than $10000 a day.
If only JEE had been an exam based on morals and not analytical skills, Linda Evangelista(a top supermodel) would have been an IITian. Except for the lucky few who are actually studying what they wanted to study(and I am not talking of Comp Sc. or Elec. under-grads), most of us enter the hallowed portals of IIT with dollar dreams in our eyes and our feet firmly in the clouds.
When in a few months, the grind of daily academics snuffs out the glow of achievement, all that is left is of the 'The Great Indian Dream'(Get into IIT-Get a job-Go to US) is GET A JOB.
A pseud senior, in a rare moment of confession(fueled by a few shots of whisky and beer) spoke thus:
"
What are investment bankers more than glorified bean counters,
What are managers more than glorified shop floor supervisors,
What are software programmers more than glorified data entry operators,
and what are we,IITians, more than glorified whores,
ready to sell our brains to the highest bidders?
"
So this is what we say to all recruiters who come to IIT(B):
I don't care who you are
Where you're from
What you did
As long as you 'love' me
Mind you, we IITians are nothing if not ultra-competitive and intelligent(and jealous).
So in an institute where there is a paucity of girls (and those there are wouldn't be touched by a ten foot bargepole otherwise), the real show-stopper when it comes to the game of one upmanship is:
THE JOB SCENE
And this is one area where love(job) ke liye kuch bhi karega holds true.
In a lighter vein
Since job scene is no different from other things in life, it has its fair share of winners and losers. But ultimately, when it comes down to the cool index, it all boils down to style.
Soooo, here goes....
What is passe:
Having the following resume...
Manager in d 2nd year(unheard of)
Manager in d 3rd year(heard of)
PAF winning Hostel Cult-Co in the 3rd year (lucky bastard)
Comp Science 9 pointer(oh shit)
What is not:
Getting an offer from Google (even before the start of the placement season), and THEN getting a personal call from the India Partner of McKinsey to coax the guy to join McKinsey
What is passe
Getting shortlisted by McKinsey, BCG, Lehmann, Goldman Sachs, ITC, P&G, and the likes
What is not(in a way)
Not bagging a job in any of the above (seriously unlucky)
What is passe
Forgetting to apply for jobs (official reason: lone slumber party) and then cribbing about lesser mortals getting a job
What is not(and this is definitely not cool)
cribbing about the above to a junior who already has doubts about landing a job(ever) and generally making his life miserable
What is passe
HAVING THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR CV:
Manager, Entrepreneurship-Cell
Inter IIT
Depatment Pacement Nominee
8 pointer (CPI)
And GETTING THE FOLLOWING JOB:
'A prominent data analytics company' (5.5 lacs PA)
What is not
GETTING THE FOLLOWING JOB:
'A prominent data analytics company' (5.5 lacs PA)
And HAVING THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR CV:
6 pointer (CPI)
A couple of FRs (failed courses)
2 X chromosomes (aka being a girl)
What is passe:
Getting stoned out of your mind to try and forget that you haven't got a job yet
What is not:
Having the binge spree of the century, coming back to the hostel at 6 am, dousing yourself with ice-cold water(its winter, remember), then going to the Placement office at 8:30 in the morning.
Of course there are a number of guys whom I like who've ended up on the what is passe list and a few whom i don't who are on what is not,but then life's like that and the old adage rings true: nothing succeeds like success.
Since job scene is no different from other things in life, it has its fair share of winners and losers. But ultimately, when it comes down to the cool index, it all boils down to style.
Soooo, here goes....
What is passe:
Having the following resume...
Manager in d 2nd year(unheard of)
Manager in d 3rd year(heard of)
PAF winning Hostel Cult-Co in the 3rd year (lucky bastard)
Comp Science 9 pointer(oh shit)
What is not:
Getting an offer from Google (even before the start of the placement season), and THEN getting a personal call from the India Partner of McKinsey to coax the guy to join McKinsey
What is passe
Getting shortlisted by McKinsey, BCG, Lehmann, Goldman Sachs, ITC, P&G, and the likes
What is not(in a way)
Not bagging a job in any of the above (seriously unlucky)
What is passe
Forgetting to apply for jobs (official reason: lone slumber party) and then cribbing about lesser mortals getting a job
What is not(and this is definitely not cool)
cribbing about the above to a junior who already has doubts about landing a job(ever) and generally making his life miserable
What is passe
HAVING THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR CV:
Manager, Entrepreneurship-Cell
Inter IIT
Depatment Pacement Nominee
8 pointer (CPI)
And GETTING THE FOLLOWING JOB:
'A prominent data analytics company' (5.5 lacs PA)
What is not
GETTING THE FOLLOWING JOB:
'A prominent data analytics company' (5.5 lacs PA)
And HAVING THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR CV:
6 pointer (CPI)
A couple of FRs (failed courses)
2 X chromosomes (aka being a girl)
What is passe:
Getting stoned out of your mind to try and forget that you haven't got a job yet
What is not:
Having the binge spree of the century, coming back to the hostel at 6 am, dousing yourself with ice-cold water(its winter, remember), then going to the Placement office at 8:30 in the morning.
Of course there are a number of guys whom I like who've ended up on the what is passe list and a few whom i don't who are on what is not,but then life's like that and the old adage rings true: nothing succeeds like success.
(yet another) RDB Overkill
[
Note: this is an excerpt from another article I improved upon for a very close friend of mine. While my opinions are slightly jaded in this regard, I still agree with the spirit of the article. The original article in its entirety may be accessed at http://celestabeats.blogspot.com/2006/02/national-anthem.html
]
On the Day of Reckoning, when St Peter stood at the Gates of Heaven and asked "What have u done 4 ur country?", thus spoke Gandhi "I secured India it's freedom"; and I shalt say "I stod up 4 the national anthem before the screening of Basic Instinct II:Risk Addiction"
I suppose as a statement on generation gap(vis a vis patriotism), that pretty much sums it all; it also gives new meaning to the term: respecting the national anthem. It is a measure of our times that 50’s fervour has been replaced by pop patriotism and AR Rehman is the new age Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
So in this surfiet of patriotic songs, the question that springs to mind and begs attenion is, "why have a National Anthem?" In a world where patriotism is the new fashion statement(thanks to RDB) and every year brings a new challenger to the crown(be it border, lakshya, swades, or now RDB), is the national anthem truly relevant? Doesn’t ‘Lose Control’ or ‘Yeh jo Des Hai Mera’ connect more easily with the masses than Jana Gana Mana?
In such a skewed scenario, does enforcing the national anthem on us (as the Maharashtra govt does every time we go to a theatre) really work? And if not, why have one?
Was it made to evoke the feeling of respect towards our motherland? But how could a song do that?? Well, this one does it good (and I'll help you see how).
History tells us that no hero has gone unsung (Ofcourse you do remember the theme of Indiana Jones!).
As a musician who has tinkered with his craft, I can attest to the fact that a verse having a melody has a much greater recall value than a verse without melody or even a melody without verse . Proof of this fact may be found in how the lyrics “Choli ke peechhe kya hai” transformed a cacophony of clucking hens into the morning raga of UP and Bihar. Quod erat demonstrandum, I think.
Recently I asked ran a National Anthem Awareness Index(don’t get confused by the fancy words, it was just an informal survey). Most of the respondents weren’t confident that they could recite it without mistakes, and ever fewer knew what it meant. The general consesus was that it's just a bunch of Sanskrit words supposed to be sung in a melody, when asked to.
But is it that simple? The song which supposedly brought tears into Nehru’s eyes evokes little more than a yawn now. "Nothing Else Matters" has become the new anthem of a generation which has revelled in the benefits of liberalization and forgotten the desperate times which made Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram the rallying points of the masses.
Today’s generation feels at home discussing Hotel California, and its alleged links to the Satanic cult. Bono and the Edge are the new poster-boys and Bhagat Singh elicts little more than a yawn. Do I have issues with that? Not really, because Bono is a good musician. But truly, is youth music the exclusive preserve of rock and pop? Is it just the head banging and screaming till your vocal chords go bust? Or can it mean more, can it extend to going beyond the words to the meanings and emotions which empower the words.
[
Note: this is an excerpt from another article I improved upon for a very close friend of mine. While my opinions are slightly jaded in this regard, I still agree with the spirit of the article. The original article in its entirety may be accessed at http://celestabeats.blogspot.com/2006/02/national-anthem.html
]
On the Day of Reckoning, when St Peter stood at the Gates of Heaven and asked "What have u done 4 ur country?", thus spoke Gandhi "I secured India it's freedom"; and I shalt say "I stod up 4 the national anthem before the screening of Basic Instinct II:Risk Addiction"
I suppose as a statement on generation gap(vis a vis patriotism), that pretty much sums it all; it also gives new meaning to the term: respecting the national anthem. It is a measure of our times that 50’s fervour has been replaced by pop patriotism and AR Rehman is the new age Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
So in this surfiet of patriotic songs, the question that springs to mind and begs attenion is, "why have a National Anthem?" In a world where patriotism is the new fashion statement(thanks to RDB) and every year brings a new challenger to the crown(be it border, lakshya, swades, or now RDB), is the national anthem truly relevant? Doesn’t ‘Lose Control’ or ‘Yeh jo Des Hai Mera’ connect more easily with the masses than Jana Gana Mana?
In such a skewed scenario, does enforcing the national anthem on us (as the Maharashtra govt does every time we go to a theatre) really work? And if not, why have one?
Was it made to evoke the feeling of respect towards our motherland? But how could a song do that?? Well, this one does it good (and I'll help you see how).
History tells us that no hero has gone unsung (Ofcourse you do remember the theme of Indiana Jones!).
As a musician who has tinkered with his craft, I can attest to the fact that a verse having a melody has a much greater recall value than a verse without melody or even a melody without verse . Proof of this fact may be found in how the lyrics “Choli ke peechhe kya hai” transformed a cacophony of clucking hens into the morning raga of UP and Bihar. Quod erat demonstrandum, I think.
Recently I asked ran a National Anthem Awareness Index(don’t get confused by the fancy words, it was just an informal survey). Most of the respondents weren’t confident that they could recite it without mistakes, and ever fewer knew what it meant. The general consesus was that it's just a bunch of Sanskrit words supposed to be sung in a melody, when asked to.
But is it that simple? The song which supposedly brought tears into Nehru’s eyes evokes little more than a yawn now. "Nothing Else Matters" has become the new anthem of a generation which has revelled in the benefits of liberalization and forgotten the desperate times which made Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram the rallying points of the masses.
Today’s generation feels at home discussing Hotel California, and its alleged links to the Satanic cult. Bono and the Edge are the new poster-boys and Bhagat Singh elicts little more than a yawn. Do I have issues with that? Not really, because Bono is a good musician. But truly, is youth music the exclusive preserve of rock and pop? Is it just the head banging and screaming till your vocal chords go bust? Or can it mean more, can it extend to going beyond the words to the meanings and emotions which empower the words.
[
Note: This is was something I did for a friend, and while it was my first time doing this kind of a thing, it was enjoyable. I had the following credentials to mould into a credible SOP.
- have been selected for summer internship at Deloitte Consulting, a premier consultancy company (the only UG to be thus selected)
- During my internship at ISB (Hyderabad), was the team leader of a group of 5 very senior research trainees working on a topic related to an industry study on the micro finance activities in India.
- held the post of a knowledge management portal coordinator (KM) at Wipro Technologies, managing a team of more than 120 software programmers.
- have worked as the secretary of the marketing department of AIESEC (working on the student exchange program).
]
Statement of Purpose:
It is said that your 12th standard grade sheet is an index of your academic career. Similarly, I think it is safe to say that one's final job offer is an accurate score card of the 4 years one spends in IIT. Naturally then, placements have a certain awe factor associated with them which comes second to none. In fact, the challenge of coordinating the placement season would rejuvenate even the most jaded aspirant. Placing the best brains in the country will always have a certain cachet associated with it, and when the institute name is IIT(B), it adds a certain gloss value which is second to none. The challenge apart, I have always envisaged a role wherein I was able to give back, to contribute, in however small a manner, to the institute. I have always tried to contribute towards the institute, be it through participation in sports, hostel or departmental affairs. In particular, I think my experiences, especially after coming to IIT, place me in an ideal position to satisfy all that this post entails.
During the course of my summer internship I had the opportunity to work at Wipro Technologies as a knowledge management portal coordinator (KM) for a team of more than 120 software programmers. As the KM I was responsible for monitoring as well as collating individual daily progress reports from all the 120 software programmers and then presenting consolidated overall project development reports. As a placement nominee I would be responsible for over 900 students on an almost daily basis (especially once the placement season starts). Having already handled a group of 120 individuals for a reputed company like Wipro, I feel confident that I will be able to handle the function of co-ordination on the student front and the figure of 900 merely adds to the challenge and provides additional impetus to perform well.
Another function which is intrinsic to the job of a Placement Nominee is managing and leading the team of department placement nominees. Owing to the sensitive nature and importance of placements, ego clashes, personality mismatch and personal agendas among team members are not only common but also to be expected. In such a scenario, it becomes the institute placement nominee's job to delicately handle the situation and evolve a common consensus which is in the best interests of everybody. As a part of my internship at ISB, I was the team leader of a group of 5 very senior research trainees working on a topic related to an industry study on the micro finance activities in India. Due to their individual expertise as well as their higher age, I couldn't very well force my decisions on them as a team leader and direct them to do the needful. Instead I had to approach any matter with great tact and understanding so that individual egos were kept to a minimum and a common consensus was built so that everybody was satisfied. This role called for delicacy in approach, ability to soothe ruffled feathers as well as ease in diffusing tense situations. I m sure that my prior experience at ISB will help me manage the team of department placement nominees just as effectively.
It is a general consensus that a placement nominee's primary function is interacting with various companies. As the secretary of the marketing department of AIESEC (working on the student exchange program), I was able to establish personal contacts with HR departments of numerous companies to raise the funds for the organization. This was a great opportunity for me to both increase my personal contacts as well as polish my business networking skills. While this sort of rapport building is part and parcel of any placement nominee's work profile, and obviously prior personal contacts matter, I also believe that job placements is such a big platform that other prior opportunities pale in comparison.
At the end of the day, companies are just groups of individuals and contacting companies is just another form of business networking. Hence, more than the number of contacts, it is the level of contacts which matter. In other words quality takes precedence over quantity and this is where I think I have an edge over others. I have been selected for summer internship at Deloitte Consulting, a premier consultancy company (the only UG to be thus selected) and I think the same communication and persuasive skills, which helped me bag this internship will hold me in good stead when I interact with blue-chips from around the world.
Another important thing which merits consideration is effective utilization of the industry contacts of professors. While the placement body receives more than enough management and/or software related job offers, there is a visible paucity of good technology related department specific job offers, especially if computer science and electrical departments are excluded. Though it is expected that with the booming economy (and the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector in particular), the number of technical jobs will increase, the onus is on us, as placement nominees, to ensure that rapidly growing job market translates into increased number of technical job offers for IITians. This is where I think professors can play a pivotal role in job placements. In this regard, I would like to formulate a policy for increased and systematic approach of technology companies in tandem with the relevant department professors.
Further, I will work actively towards organization of workshops for GDs, PIs and resume writing. Another aspect to which I have been giving active consideration is a mentor program, which would involve students who have already secured jobs helping those who are yet to do the same.
A common question towards the end of any interview is: name your single biggest quality which you think will secure you this post. In this instance, while others might cite communication skills or personal contacts, I would say that my single biggest asset is the unanimous support of my department mates, in spite of the fact that I did not hold any formal post in the PT team. In fact, it was personal initiative on my part which led to my taking up this role and I have a feeling of great pride and satisfaction in the fact that I was able to come through for my batch mates when the internship scene was in doldrums; and have secured more internships for my department mates through personal contacts than both the department placement nominees put together.
Note: This is was something I did for a friend, and while it was my first time doing this kind of a thing, it was enjoyable. I had the following credentials to mould into a credible SOP.
- have been selected for summer internship at Deloitte Consulting, a premier consultancy company (the only UG to be thus selected)
- During my internship at ISB (Hyderabad), was the team leader of a group of 5 very senior research trainees working on a topic related to an industry study on the micro finance activities in India.
- held the post of a knowledge management portal coordinator (KM) at Wipro Technologies, managing a team of more than 120 software programmers.
- have worked as the secretary of the marketing department of AIESEC (working on the student exchange program).
]
Statement of Purpose:
It is said that your 12th standard grade sheet is an index of your academic career. Similarly, I think it is safe to say that one's final job offer is an accurate score card of the 4 years one spends in IIT. Naturally then, placements have a certain awe factor associated with them which comes second to none. In fact, the challenge of coordinating the placement season would rejuvenate even the most jaded aspirant. Placing the best brains in the country will always have a certain cachet associated with it, and when the institute name is IIT(B), it adds a certain gloss value which is second to none. The challenge apart, I have always envisaged a role wherein I was able to give back, to contribute, in however small a manner, to the institute. I have always tried to contribute towards the institute, be it through participation in sports, hostel or departmental affairs. In particular, I think my experiences, especially after coming to IIT, place me in an ideal position to satisfy all that this post entails.
During the course of my summer internship I had the opportunity to work at Wipro Technologies as a knowledge management portal coordinator (KM) for a team of more than 120 software programmers. As the KM I was responsible for monitoring as well as collating individual daily progress reports from all the 120 software programmers and then presenting consolidated overall project development reports. As a placement nominee I would be responsible for over 900 students on an almost daily basis (especially once the placement season starts). Having already handled a group of 120 individuals for a reputed company like Wipro, I feel confident that I will be able to handle the function of co-ordination on the student front and the figure of 900 merely adds to the challenge and provides additional impetus to perform well.
Another function which is intrinsic to the job of a Placement Nominee is managing and leading the team of department placement nominees. Owing to the sensitive nature and importance of placements, ego clashes, personality mismatch and personal agendas among team members are not only common but also to be expected. In such a scenario, it becomes the institute placement nominee's job to delicately handle the situation and evolve a common consensus which is in the best interests of everybody. As a part of my internship at ISB, I was the team leader of a group of 5 very senior research trainees working on a topic related to an industry study on the micro finance activities in India. Due to their individual expertise as well as their higher age, I couldn't very well force my decisions on them as a team leader and direct them to do the needful. Instead I had to approach any matter with great tact and understanding so that individual egos were kept to a minimum and a common consensus was built so that everybody was satisfied. This role called for delicacy in approach, ability to soothe ruffled feathers as well as ease in diffusing tense situations. I m sure that my prior experience at ISB will help me manage the team of department placement nominees just as effectively.
It is a general consensus that a placement nominee's primary function is interacting with various companies. As the secretary of the marketing department of AIESEC (working on the student exchange program), I was able to establish personal contacts with HR departments of numerous companies to raise the funds for the organization. This was a great opportunity for me to both increase my personal contacts as well as polish my business networking skills. While this sort of rapport building is part and parcel of any placement nominee's work profile, and obviously prior personal contacts matter, I also believe that job placements is such a big platform that other prior opportunities pale in comparison.
At the end of the day, companies are just groups of individuals and contacting companies is just another form of business networking. Hence, more than the number of contacts, it is the level of contacts which matter. In other words quality takes precedence over quantity and this is where I think I have an edge over others. I have been selected for summer internship at Deloitte Consulting, a premier consultancy company (the only UG to be thus selected) and I think the same communication and persuasive skills, which helped me bag this internship will hold me in good stead when I interact with blue-chips from around the world.
Another important thing which merits consideration is effective utilization of the industry contacts of professors. While the placement body receives more than enough management and/or software related job offers, there is a visible paucity of good technology related department specific job offers, especially if computer science and electrical departments are excluded. Though it is expected that with the booming economy (and the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector in particular), the number of technical jobs will increase, the onus is on us, as placement nominees, to ensure that rapidly growing job market translates into increased number of technical job offers for IITians. This is where I think professors can play a pivotal role in job placements. In this regard, I would like to formulate a policy for increased and systematic approach of technology companies in tandem with the relevant department professors.
Further, I will work actively towards organization of workshops for GDs, PIs and resume writing. Another aspect to which I have been giving active consideration is a mentor program, which would involve students who have already secured jobs helping those who are yet to do the same.
A common question towards the end of any interview is: name your single biggest quality which you think will secure you this post. In this instance, while others might cite communication skills or personal contacts, I would say that my single biggest asset is the unanimous support of my department mates, in spite of the fact that I did not hold any formal post in the PT team. In fact, it was personal initiative on my part which led to my taking up this role and I have a feeling of great pride and satisfaction in the fact that I was able to come through for my batch mates when the internship scene was in doldrums; and have secured more internships for my department mates through personal contacts than both the department placement nominees put together.
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