The depth of innocence

The lights had turned off and a tear flowed silently with a soft sob. Introspection and reflections through the mind. Small hands unfurled the blanket, kissed a few times on my nose and cheeks and said "its ok mamma, don't worry I'll give you some medicine."

My 3 year old son replayed his experience of how I sooth him when he is hurt physically noticing I was sad.  I was touched by his kind gesture and I hugged him close. An innocent expression of love, a healer.

He asked "Mamma am I naughty or am I good?" I said "you are good". 

Then came the next question "Mamma have you been naughty?" and I said "No dear"

He thought for a while and maybe could not find the answer as to why I was sad. Curling next to me he said "Never mind I love you very much. You can dream about your favourite car today"

The depth of innocence is more than ignorance, naivety or gullibility.  Innocence is being able to experience life without the filters of fear, preconceptions or cynicism. It is unconditioned and spontaneous. As we grow we get hardened by experience and loose belief in the power of innocence.

Now more than ever, I feel the necessity to tap into my innocence and nurture it, to let go, enjoy and dream innocently, release the worries and open my mind to miracles and possibilities. So let me unlearn as I learn from my child to reawaken a creative and joyous me. 

x

Perception and Bias

It's been a few years since we all have been hearing about perception and bias.
Thought of sharing some of my learnings and thoughts on this topic and reflect on them.

An interesting TED talk I heard recently, spoke about the neurological reason why it is so hard for anyone to change bias and why all of us have it in some form or the other. We all have perceptions and bias depending on race, gender, culture, nationality, religion, color, age, achievements to name a few. There are many other aspects of differences. In most cases these factors matter a great deal in forming our opinions about a subject or a person, in understanding topics, in questioning new facts and even reflects in our body language.

Bias is unconscious. Our brain is designed to make certain inferences and learn from historic experiences and facts that we have read, heard or seen. In future when the brain perceives any event it tries to match it to experiences it has already learnt and then it tries to make shortcuts to get solutions on how to deal with the present scenario. So to recognise and acknowledge you have a bias is definitely helpful but it is not a corrective or preventive measure. If we compare it to a scenario, it's like learning about how the pancreas works but not knowing how to produce more insulin to cure diabetes. Like diseases need intervention in the form of medication to stop them from becoming worse, bias needs strict processes as methods to stop them and it has to be build 360 degree in an organisation.

During hiring and promotions it is important for hiring managers and decision makers to highlight their positive and negative bias explicitly and record it with scores. If I am hiring an employee for the role of a system engineer it is important for me to not only score them on their technical capabilities and company cultural fit but to also have a score on my positive and negative bias. For e.g. a smart and intelligent female employee will score high on my positive bias. However if the interviewee is wearing makeup and high heels it could score negative on my bias scale in perceiving commitment to work. Its about a perception my brain has formed to the role of a system engineer. I have seen most system engineers who are male and not as many engineers who are female and coming to work with make up hence my mind recognises this pattern to identify a hardworking individual and penalises someone else for no apparent reason. If we honestly do this exercise over a period of time we will be able to explicitly identify if we are penalising someone more than others and can normalise that bias. Once the bias is identified I can then focus on removing those aspects out of the persons profile and focus on skills needed for the job only.

Why perception and bias is a hurdle to overcome before we can bring about diversity and inclusion in workplace today?
Perception and bias is relevant for every judgement we make during hiring, building team culture, promotions and almost all professional interactions. Are we loosing on identifying and fostering talent, motivating people, increasing productivity all of which not only affects the overall growth of an employee and leaders and even affects business in the long run.

A few interesting exercises I did in this aspect to improve my understanding on these topics are given below: These are simple exercises you can do with your colleagues:

1. The Catwalk

This activity is fun and will give lot of points for discussion, if you are in a large group (10 or more ideally). A few things needed for the activity: post it notes (or just paper cut into small slips) and pen/pencil

1. Divide yourself in 2 groups.
2. Lay a mat or carpet on the floor to walk on or draw some lines to create an imaginary ramp
3. One group (group 1) is given post its/papers and pens. This group then stands on the side of the walk
4. The other group (group 2) lines up at the beginning of the ramp
5. Start some music and ask group 2 to walk the ramp one by one slowly
6. Group 1 writes a single word about their perception of the person who is walking the ramp and sticks it on his/her back. Don't forget to write your initials on the perception note you are handing over. Please make sure you write your perception for everyone walking the ramp.
7. Hand it over to the catwalker or post it on his/her back
7. Repeat it by swapping the groups
8. Pick random volunteers to discuss some of the perceptions within your group

Reflections:
- Does the perception tell more about the person who is walking the ramp or about people who have that perception?
- Why did people have certain perceptions about the volunteer? Was it accurate?
- Should a person handle negative perceptions about him/her? Explain your thoughts on why or why not and how.

2. The Duo

Group with someone you perceived as completely opposite to you and then spend about 30 minutes with them. Then reflect if your perception about this person was correct. Thereafter inform them about the experiment and tell him honestly the perceptions you had and let them confirm if they really fit into the perception or not. You can do this experiment both with strangers and also with known people where can pick up random topics and discuss perceptions about it.

3. Havard experiment: Try it
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

Do career breaks brake your career?

From my experiences in the past 10 years, I feel organisations need to encourage and consider opportunities for professionals taking voluntary career breaks. A voluntary departure is looked upon skeptically by many, with some recruiters assuming lack of commitment or low performance.

I have taken two career breaks in the past 12 years. My first break was to handle family responsibilities and the second one was because I was unhappy with my work environment.
During my second break I reflected on critical points where I was handling difficult situations and people at work and it helped me get clarity in my thoughts and improved my confidence and resilience. During my breaks, I worked hard on entrepreneural endeavours. I worked on security protocols for surveillance UAVs, IAM and learned about ideation, forming business case, product pitch etc. In my second break, I co-founded a pre-school in Bangalore. In this process I learned and developed skills like setting up infrastructure from scratch, influence, marketing, resource management, business operations, finance to name a few which I could not have gained experience in my regular job. To setup the pre-school I researched extensively about child psychology, various methodologies for teaching, networked with founders and principals of other schools and social entrepreneurs to understand curriculum and processes they follow and did market survey and meetings with more than 300 parents in the neighbourhood to understand their requirements and needs.

In my breaks I worked with NGOs mentoring children from vulnerable backgrounds and learned more about child psychology and counselling. These trainings taught me to listen and accept without judgements, to control myself from preaching and empathise. I am still learning but this experience was an eye opener.  I also volunteered to lead technical and entrepreneural teams in Grace Hopper Conference for women in technology. I heard stories from women allover India, the achievements, the struggles, the persistence in pursuit of passion. I learnt about managing large teams, event management and networking. I networked with a large group of women in different levels of their career. All the skills that I got an opportunity to learn and practise during my voluntary break help me build a foundation for my long term career and life.

So for anyone applying for a job after a break, highlight your story and what specific skills you have build during your break and be patient, persevering and optimistic 

NYC Subways

NY subways are a pulse of the city. The subways traverse through what must be, yard-for-yard, the world’s most ethnically diverse area, where immigrants from several countries live side-by-side. As one rides through this incredible ethnic patchwork, amidst the clattering cacophony of the rails, you realize that the entire world is right here!

The subway was started in 1904 in New York, the Mecca for successful enterprise. In an incredibly short time (about 4 years only), inspite of legal and civic hindrance, construction of one of the most stupendous feats of business and mechanical engineering, the world had ever seen, was accomplished. New York made the joke of "fifteen minutes to Harlem" become a reality. Till today the subway provides vital assistance to its citizens, in their hurly-burly existence. Running 365 days a year and 24 hours a day it definitely stands true to the spirit of New York – the city that never sleeps!

A NY subway ride requires all your five senses. You can feel, taste, hear, smell and see the city’s diversity in these trains. Keeping to the fast pace of New York, this rapid transit rail system is the fourth busiest one in the world. It is a mirror of the vibrant life of New Yorkers. As your train car rumbles out of Manhattan's Times Square/42nd Street, you hear multiple languages being spoken at once. In case you have an adventurous palate, you can try cuisines from different parts of the globe at the concourse at the Grand Central. If you are riding a train that pulls into Queens, it rises out of the city's depths onto elevated tracks. Turn your head behind and you can capture the breathtaking view of Manhattan's skyline. On the other side, you see Queens, the lively borough who is perpetually eclipsed by her glittering sister.

Art and entertainment of all disciplines pervade the subways. The tile artwork tradition which started in 1904, continues even today. You will find interesting mosaics, murals and photographs in many of the stations. The sheer diversity of musicians plying their trade under the traffic-clogged streets of New York makes it perhaps one of the most vibrant performance spaces in the country. You will find a mix of melody, jazz, hip-hop techno and noise in the subway music. For many tourists in the Big Apple,subway musicians add local color to what can be a frustrating attempt to navigate the city’s labyrinthine transit system. For New Yorkers, live tunes make their stuffy commutes a little more pleasant.

This post will be incomplete, without mentioning the bizzareness that you encounter on a subway. The incidents can be surprizing and sometimes shocking to the extent that you may need to get off the train at times! You may encounter strange people you would generally label as a single sample of a differnt species.During Halloween and New Year you will witness the wierdest tattoos and costumes on the subway. You will more often than desired witness the unimaginitive methods of public expression as well. It is sad but true that the crime rates in NY subway is high. Hence you should avoid travelling alone at late hours.

Inspite of the rising crime rate, NY subway remains the fastest and most convenient mode of transport carrying 3 million commuters everyday. To allow New Yorkers to re-live their past, a special holiday service, using train cars in service from 1931 to 1977, started as the 'Nostalgia train'. Never mind the dirt and crowd, the NYC subways remain more than just a mode of transport for New Yorkers. It definitely brings back memories of the city to all commuters, regular and tourists alike. 

Vegas - The Sin City

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! Yes and its true as you cannot pen down the excitement the city offers you.....

Vegas has something to offer to everyone! The city is throbbing with excitement all night and there are so many avenues to enjoy, you just can't get enough of it.....Don't ask about the day time activities coz probably like everyone else U'd be tucked in your bed till late afternoon :)

Well renowned for the umpteen number of casinos. clubs, mega hotels, Vegas is a glittering city amidst the desert zone of Nevada. If you are going to Vegas for the first time, do stay on the strip..... There are 5 strips with plenty of hotels (East, West, North, South and Center). You can probably visit Vegas anytime of the year. It does get pretty cold in the winters and vey hot in the summers, but that does not stop the inflow of tourtists to this place

List of 10 things, I feel, you must do while in Vegas:

1. The Cirque de Soleil show (I would recommend 'O' as one of their master pieces) - Cirque is a Canadian troupe globally renowned for their acrobatics and synchronized performances. As you have to pay a price for most good thing sin life, watching a Cirque show is no exception to that....the prices of the tickets range from $200 - $500. However the good news is there are half price tickets or discounts available throughout the year and you can get tickets as low as $60 (though it would probably be the balcony or last row) to about $150 (front rows).

2. The laser show - Vegas downtown has laser shows on weekends. I am not sure if there are shows on week days as well during tourist seasons.

3. Walk through the strip - There are plenty of mega hotels and walking through each one of them would probably take 2/3 days. Each of these hotels have a unique architecture.
Luxor is designed as the pyramid, then there is disney land, new york new york, mgm grand, mandalay bay, paris, venice, stratosphere and so many more ..

4. You can catch one of the hyonotic shows - magicians include the audience for these acts....I wont leak this one....check it out!

5. The Bellagio Dancing Fountains - You must and should see this in the evening. You can watch it on youtube to get a preview and know why I recommend this one. The synchronization of the fountains is perfect. It was one of my best Vegas experiences.

6. If you want adventure in Vegas, go for the stratosphere ride. From the top of a very tall tower, you almost hang and then spin around to catch one of the best views of Vegas. Its thrilling and one of the scariest rides.

7. Casinos - Invest some amount (start small as the city sucks ur money forever) to play on the tables or slots. There is a high chance you would not win anything but you never know.....Blackjack, poker, roley and slots are one of the few choices available.

8. Buffet - These buffets have a huge variety and its worth your money. Most of them are $20. But some including alcohalic drinks can cost you between $50 - $100. We had ours at Luxor. I would recommend the desserts.... there was a large variety and it was delicious!

9. Clubbing - If you love to dance or booze, there are plenty of choices from cheap ones to super expensive ones. Ladies you can skip paying as several clubs allow women in for free! :D
So enjoy your advantage as one amongst the fairer sex! I would recommend going to the club on the top of Mandalay bay, great view, classy place. Make sure you know the dress codes. Most of these places will not allow you in jeans and t shirts.

10. limo ride through the strip - I will recommend this to a group of friends. Probably will be fun to do it after you are really drained out by dawn.

So GET, SET and Go Wild in the Sin City!

Kam-pei HanGawi! - recommendation for best Korean vegetarian food in New York City

With plenty of time today, I thought I should definitely pen down my last nights experiences....

If you are in NY and want to get the best vegetarian healthy meal....this is the place to go....
HanGawi -on 32nd between 5th and Madison Av. http://www.hangawirestaurant.com/
The philosophy of this resturant is to introduce in your food by adding nutrition, taste and peace to make it one of your best dining experiences.

From the external look of the place, it definitely does not seem like a great place for dinner, but as you pass the waiting zone to the dining zone, you are definitely transformed to a venue where u can just forget everything and be ready to enjoy one of the best meals....

You are not allowed in the eating area with your shoes, so get comfortable and relax....This is restaurant has a unique ambiance....low tables, bamboo straw mats, Korean clay and wooden dinner sets and above all authentic Korean cuisine. The service is great too which makes it just the perfect.

If you are a birthday boy/girl, 'Kam-pei' or Cheers as they call it.....be prepared to click a picture with your traditional Korean attire and hear the gong....

I definitely recommend this with 5 stars to all my vegetarian friends....and for the strictly non-vegetarians....its worth a the experience and I can bet you wont be disappointed at all!

My first day in Pitt

Going through my albums for the last two years I smiled and memories of the awesome time I have had in this city came alive. 

After months of hard work ....GRE, getting an admit, arranging for funding, VISA, immigration finally when you reach this city, in spite of the jet lag and heavy suitcases, you will definitely feel a sense of euphoria. I did not have the first 28X experience as most students of CMU do. Unfortunately I had to wait for another day to get the $2.60 worth of Pittsburgh sight seeing. As I was landed I was rather lucky to have met the parents of an Indian post graduate student who offered me a ride in their cab. As we emerged through the dark tunnel, the downtown skyline of Pittsburgh left my eyes agape.

YES finally I was here to achieve my dreams! I am sure many of you will concur to the same feelings. Coming from the most populated country of the world,  you first need to set your eyes to the emptiness of the city. Where are all the people you wonder? However, as you ride through the city, your eyes get accustomed to it.

Pittsburgh used to be the steel city. It has numerous beautiful bridges over the Allegheny and Monongahela river. In fact it is called the city of bridges as well.  We rode along Shadyside, a pretty green neighborhood. IGSA (Indian Graduate Students Association) at CMU, help new students every year with temporary accommodation help till we finalize on our apartments. This is a great service for the confused students who come after a long travel from India.

As I got down from the car, Shivangi came over with a pleasant smile. She helped me with my suitcases and we went inside the house '407 S. Aiken'. I had no idea how dear that house would remain to me for the rest of my life. :)  The house was cozy and tidy. She had prepared an awesome Indian lunch. I suddenly felt like a kid in a new world. As I left Kolkata, I remember having this uncertainty and somewhat fear to traveling so far from home for the first time. I had no family or friends in the US. At this moment in 407, even though I had met these people for not even an hour, I felt so secure and quite at home.

I had just finished lunch, when the doorbell rang. A slim, tall, cute looking girl came in with a smile and said hi. She was Dhanu, my room-mate-to-be. I had a quick liking to this bubbly & chatty girl. We started talking about apartments in the area and about our third room mate who I was yet to meet. Soon we decided we should take a walk around the neighborhood. Dhanu suggested I should go to school and get my ID from the Hub (the enrollment center). We walked to the bus stand. There was a beautiful church facing the Marriott hotel. Right near the Marriott lobby area was a Starbucks. I recollected my Uncle's recommendation 'Don't miss having Starbucks coffee. Its so much better than Coffee Day'. I did not have time to go in but I decided to check it out soon.

The school bus arrived shortly. Shivangi informed us about the bus schedule. Following her advise we left the house 10 mins before to avoid having to wait at the bus stand. All this while I was looking for a telephone booth to call my parents. Unlike India, there were so telephone booths. Dhanu assured me there is a pay booth in school for which I carried coins.

It took us about 20 mins to reach the university campus. Even though I had seen enough pictures of CMU on google before coming over, the actual site of the campus excited me. The central part of the campus is a huge lawn surrounded by 2 storey building. On the right hand side was Cyert Hall, where we were supposed to go. At the entrance to the campus, stands a tall tilted pole with people walking up to the sky. A man standing with a kid are gazing the pole. Seemed an apt entrance for Carnegie Mellon. To realize how many great men and women this university has produced and to be reach the campus gave a mixed feeling of humility and pride at the same time. 

I got my CMU id card at the Hub. We looked through the administrative block trying to find a pay phone. The notice boards were an amusing and colorful site. Right before the information center there was a small enclosure where there were yellow color 2 pay phones. It was around 7 pm but it was broad daylight outside. Both Dhanu and I spend the next few minutes talking to our families back in India. I was excited and happy to talk to my parents and described everything to them hurriedly. I wish my parents could have come with me to see the campus and Pittsburgh. 

We hung around in the campus for a short while and decided to go house hunting. Dhanu had spoken to a few new students who have recommended some apartments in Shadyside. Amberson Apartments and Amberson Gardens both seemed to be popular with the students. The later being the economic and fast-selling one. We took the bus to Amberson Garden. Unfortunately the rental office was closed. Amberson Apartments was right next. This was quite close to our current accommodation 407. The apartment the lady showed us was quite nice. It had all the amenities and utilities were included in the rent. This seemed to be as per our requirements. The rent was a bit higher than other apartments but splitting it between 3 people it would work out fine for all of us. We were quite happy and talked on finalizing this apartment by tomorrow. 

On the way back we decided to have dinner and explore around a bit. It was 9 and still well lit around. I was quite tired by now. Walking on Center Avenue we found the delicious 'Palermo Pizza'. I still salivate thinking about the 'hoagie'  this place sells. We shared a 6 inch 'hoagie' partly because we weren't too hungry after the satisfying Indian lunch and partly because we wanted to save $s (as new Indian students you always find ways to save $s). We managed to have free lemonade by naively operating the wrong tap in the fountain. 

Finally exhausted after a really long flight and a long day I fell asleep like a child in the couch in 407, my soon to be home. I did not have a dream that night probably because I was living my dream that day :)

P.S: 

407 was my home for 2007-2008. 

Amberson Garden became my home from 2008-2009. 

Amberson Apartment was where Malay moved in 2008. 

(As it was right next to my apartment we could spend maximum time together)

Dhanu, Somya, Kavya remain few of my closest friends from 407. 

Apt 1,3 and 4 at 407 became the best of friends and 407 continued its tradition to remain a party house.

Thanks to Sid it also became the 'poker house' :)

Fun places in Pittsburgh

They say if you love the Pittsburgh weather, wait for 5 minutes. :)


Excuse the unpredictable weather and Pittsburgh is not all that bad....The city is not as fast paced as New York or sunny as California but it definitely has its own charm. There are a lot of good places to drive to in and around Pittsburgh. Depending on your mood and the weather, you can go to a variety of places: Mt Washingon, Station square cruise, adventure sports (sky diving, white water rafting, skiiing etc), Carnegie museums, Cathedral of Learning are just some of the attractions. You can also catch some great shots if you are here in the Fall season.


In the following part of this post, I have added my review on some of the places in and around Pittsburgh where one can go and enjoy a day of fun and frolic.

Mt Washington: Situated just 6 minutes from downtown, it is one of the best spots overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline and the confluence of the Alleghany and Monoghella river. This spot was rated the second most beautiful vista in America by USA Weekend (and the best urban vista). Its fun to go by train to Station Square and go uphill by the the Monogahela and then enjoy the view and come downhill by the Duquense inclines, the oldest continuous inclines in the world. Its an amazing place to watch the sunrise or sunset from or just go with friends during New Year to watch the fireworks. 

Point State Park - Amongst the numerous crazy things we did, Malay & I spend a winter dawn sitting on the ledge of this park waiting for sunrise. I will not recommend this to you. But I will definitely recommend visiting the park in good weather to enjoy the sunrise with the view of confluence of Allegheny and Monongahela river. This park also has a fountain at the head of the Ohio river, which shoots water upto 150 feet. Today the park provides recreational space for workers, visitors, and residents in downtown Pittsburgh and also acts as the site for major cultural events in the city, including the Venture Outdoors Festival, Three Rivers Arts Festival and Three Rivers Regatta

Schenley Park - Want a walk through the tranquil forest, Schenley park could be the place of your choice. We used to frequent this place on late nights for a stroll. If you walk down to the place below the bridge on a sunny morning, its a beautiful site with butterflies fluttering and ducks swimming in the lake. You can feel the strength of the wind and enjoy the site of the stars if you stand on the bridge on a clear night. The lake is frozen in the winter and it offers skating also. If you want to go for a picnic or enjoy a nice drive, this park offers it all.

SV temple: My first visit to the 'Tirupati of the West' was in Fall'07. After that I have been to the abode of God Vishnu once or twice every semester. The temple is not as big as Tirupati and definitely not as crowded but it is one of the most serene places. The temple is situated on a hill top near Rodi Road and mind it you will never find it with the GPS unless you enter the address: 1535 McCully Rd., Monroeville, PA 15146


The temple opens at 9 AM and closes at 8.30 PM. There are bharat natyam classes and music school at the temple. One of the attractions at the temple is their awesome south Indian cuisine. The temple sells $2 dishes : upama, sambhar rice, curd rice and pulliogre (tamarind rice). On celebration days pulao, eggless cakes and other special dishes are also served. Most Indian/Hindu visitors to Pitt do not miss the SV Temple. So if you have about 3 to 4 hours, do make a trip to the temple.


Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium - Most people skip this one not knowing what they are missing. Its one of the fun places to visit (especially if you love animal photography or have kids). It costs $8 only but its definitely worth the price. Apart from the well fed His and Her Highness of the jungle, the yellow n black stripped soul, the horned rhinos, the long legged ostriches, and giraffes, elephants you will find the milky white playful polar bears which are one of the main attractions in this zoo. The PPG Aquarium is also just awesome. Colorful fishes, hammerhead sharks, jelly fishes, penguins and putins are only some of the residents of the aquarium. It houses a lot of exotic flora and fauna. There is also a glass pool where you can pat sting ray and baby sharks. The Zoo and aquarium would almost take 4 to 5 hours. It opens at 9 AM and closes at 4 AM,


Sever Springs - Situated about 1.5 hrs drive from CMU campus, this is also an amazing place to go to in the winter and the spring. The best time to visit would be early spring when the snow has not melted from the slopes and it is also not bitterly cold. There are seven slopes and pretty much from beginners to professional skiers will have fun here. They also have lessons for beginners. Whats amazing to watch at seven springs are some of the 5 to 6 yrs olds who can ski better than most of us. Its a treat to watch some of the professionals skiing gracefully down the steep slopes. Skiiing is a must if you are coming to Pittsburgh in the winter and now you know where you would need to go for that. :)
Kennywood - We had a lot of fun at this amusement park. 1st sem @ CMU, Fall 07, a bunch of the INI gang left for Kennywood. We took a convenient bus ride from school. You can easily spend a whole day at the park. There are fun rides including an old bumpy wooden roller coaster. Thunderbolt and phantom's revenge were awesome rides. If you love the splash, do go for the Pittsburgh plunge.

Lake Erie and Presque Isle State Park - Malay and I planned a picnic to lake Erie in our last spring semester at CMU. It was about 4 hour drive from Pittsburgh. Erie is one of the great lakes. Its vastness gives an effect of a pseudo-sea where you cannot see the shores on the other side. When we arrived at the venue it was quite cloudy but beautiful. Given the weather there were very few people and it was quiet and serene. Right after we munched our sandwiches we thought of wading in the water and oops....it was REALLY cold. We walked for a while, enjoying the breeze and before we could soak the beauty of the ambiance we literally got soaked in the rain :)

Falling Waters - This place was strongly recommended by a  friend and I am thankful to him for convincing me to visit it. Falling Waters is organically designed house on top of an active waterfall. Without disrupting the harmony of its surrounding, this weekend home of the  Kaufmanns, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is considered an architectural masterpiece. The house has small bedrooms forcing people to walk into the balcony to enjoy nature. Going uphill the house are the guest quarters. The guest quarters feature a spring-fed swimming pool which overflows to the river below.

Hershey's Chocolate Factory - On a spring weekend, I had managed to convince Malay and 2 of our common friends to drive down to Hershey's chocolate factory, luring them with descriptions of how we would see chocolate being made in an actual factory. It was quite a let down when we visited the place. This factory was definitely one of the best places for kids but I am not sure how the 3 grown up kids felt about sitting on the chocolate train and tasting 'kisses'. I would recommend it for families with kids as they would enjoy the colorful setting and the fun miniature chocolate making machine. But for others, I guess a happy hour at CMU might be a better option :)


Pittsburgh cruise ride -

Mayakoba, Riviera Maya

One of the best perk which an employee can get is a holiday to Cancun with your loved one to celebrate Valentine's Day! While at HRT, I was part of the lucky lot. Being in the transition phase of F1 to H1B, I was quite skeptical if I would be able to make it  but alas Malay and I were booked for the trip. Tons of thanks to Julia!

Malay and I were to meet at the Cancun airport. Malay was flying all the way from India. I flew from New York to Cancun with a stop over at Charlotte. When there are hurdles you can never rest till you have reached the final destination of travel.  As I arrived at Charlotte, we got to know all flights ( to Cancun and Hawaii) were overbooked. Some flights from New York arrived pretty late due to the stormy weather. As extra flights have been scheduled to accommodate passengers, the airlines was in short of pilots! I was quite scared to know that passengers were stuck in Charlotte for 2 days! The crowd was getting so impatient that volunteers started coming up for flying the plane! The airport was a complete chaotic scene. After a long wait of 6 hours, the good news was finally announced that a plane has been scheduled. Hurray! Oh wait! The bad news was of the 200 waiting passengers about 120 would be allowed on the flight. They declared people with seat numbers below 23 cannot board the flight. My seat number was 23F! When luck favors you nothing, you breeze through all problems without doing much. I was really lucky to be on the flight and even though I felt sad for the ones who would have to wait for an indefinite period at the airport, I was could not help grinning broadly. What could be a better than being able to spend 14th of Feb with him on the sunny white beaches of Cancun!

I captured this breathtaking shot from the flight. Finally I landed at the Cancun airport. Malay had arrived from Mexico City and was already waiting for me. Clearing immigration we started towards the Riviera Maya, our last and final stop. Mayakoba, the Fairmont resort is tucked under a forest canopy. It was dark by the time we arrived. Escaping the New York snow and cold weather, this place was heaven. After a quick check-in we were transported to our casita (villa) in a golf cart. 

The design and decor of the casita was in complete harmony with the mangrove forest around.  They never fell short of ways to perfectly pamper us. The luxurious bathroom had a soaker tub and a garden next to it. Malay and I decided to have a quite dinner at La Brisas Restaurant. There was sensual harmony about the place. Hearing the waves of  the wonderful  Carribean Sea we enjoyed our wonderful dinner. We went to  bed looking forward to the next 3 day of fun and frolic. 

After an good breakfast next day, we went for a walk around the resort. On the way we met several friends from HRT.  Mayakoba had a network of crystal clear waterways. It offered the feel of 5 different ecosystems - mangrove, tropical forest, lagoon, water canals and coastal dunes. As we reached the beach we were stupified by the breathtaking blue lagoon infront of us meeting the blue sky in the distant horizon. Julia had booked a super fun suite with an infinity pool for all of us. We lazed on the hammock and gazed at the sea. 

After a while we decided to take a walk on the beach. As we strolled, it felt like we are time warped. I was walking on the soft white sand, dipping my feet in the warm and crystal clear water, letting the wind in my hair, in the arms of the guy I am going to spend the rest of my life with.... Every moment felt like I was living a dream. 

Later that afternoon we went for a horse ride on a more secluded side of the coast. Malay's horse was galloping in parts and mine was quite excited about trotting on the water, playful and joyous.  

GRE Verbal Section

GRE , as most people say, has a repetitive pattern of questions. So adapting a smart preparation technique always helps. A fear most people have is you have to mug words. akes.

Now coming to vocabulary. The common methods are flash cards. It definitely helps if you prepare the flash cards yourself. However, it is a bit time consuming. But before you target 3000 words or so, it is always advisable to learn the 200 GRE most common words. You would definitely get a few words from this list and they are repeatitive in the exams. So do this first. Alongside start analyzing the prefix, root and post fix words.

Now coming to the flash cards....Sometimes flash cards do not work out for candidates pursuing a full time job. I prepared for GRE while I was working till 1 AM at office everyday. So fI do know how difficult it is. But if you keep the bigger picture in mind, that 3 or 4 months of hard work can change your life, it would definitely keep you focussed. To make it a little easy for you if you are really not able to take 4 to 5 hours a day for GRE, get the flash card packs from book stores. But do make it your life. During your commute, keep reading it. Start with some pattern which is comfortable for you. Try to group similar words in your flashcards. I went the long way and followed the complete barrons word list. I had started with A, then did Z, then went to B ,Y.,C, X etc. However you can choose any technique. Read it on your breakfast, lunch or dinner table. Before going to bed, revise what you have read that morning.

If you are the types who likes to stick to the computer, use guru's software. You can download the first beta from http://grewordlist.groupfetch.com/gre21b.zip

Install this software and you can keep playing with it everyday for an hour or two. Try to beat your own score each time. This tool has most of the Barron's words (all 50 wordlists). So it helps to review yourself after you have read some flash cards. Later on when you are quite comfortable with some of the word lists, randomize the words and score yourself. However this tool only lets you choose the meaning or synonyms. GRE does not test you on synonyms but knowing the meaning always helps in identifying antonyms and is helpful for the other sections as well.

For antonyms I used to follow the GRE big book and do Barron's excercise as well. GRE Big book is a compilation of numerous GRE questions and is one of the best ones to practise from. You can also download the Big book wordlist from here.

For sentence completion, analogies and comprehensions, I practised from Big book, Barron's Kaplans. You can use any other material. Practise fast reading for comprehensions. You will have less time in GRE and you should be able to identify key words and concepts in a comprehension instead of reading all the lines. If you have a reading habbit, it always helps. If you do not read as much, start reading articles from Reader's Digest, News paper editorials. They not only help you pracitise fast reading and understand different topics but also makes your vocab stronger and gives you points for your AWA section as well sometimes.

GRE Analytical Writing Skills

Before you start with the GRE AWA section read the "Criteria for Scoring the GRE Essays" and read some sample essays and arguments (read chapter 6 to get an idea how the issues and arguments are). Also read issues and arguments with different scores of 6 and 5 and see how the rating criteria has been applied to each one. This will give you an idea before starting as to what standard of writing is expected.

In GRE AWA section, always use pencil and paper to jot down some points on the topic you want to attempt. Do not always choose the first topic in the issue section you see but take time to evaluate on which ones you could actually get more points and examples to support your points. Make five or six high level points on that topic. When you start writing maintain a flow. Its very important to make the reader be interested in your style.

Make it lucid. Its not always important to use bombastic words in your issue or argument. Use words which implies the meaning correctly and make your arguments cogent by supporting them with examples. If you can its better to use examples pertaining to the United States or North America. Refrain from only taking examples w.r.t India. You can read more on other cultures and countries to use them in your essays. its always good to cite statistics if you know the source and the figures correctly. Reading New York Times, Economic Times, Wall Street journals and journals and case studies from different B Schools helps. When you have free time read them online. it helps you get adapted to the online reading as in GRE you will read and write everything on the computer unless you want to take a paper based test. (In India mostly everyone takes an online test. )

For the argument section, always refute the notion suggested. Most of the arguments would have major logical mistakes like data give would be insufficient or illogical to reach the conclusion the argument suggests or the comparison cited might not have complete relevance. Like the argument might suggest "Company X made profit A% but did not have policy Z whereas company Y made profit B% but had this policy Z". So policy Z might be necessary for company X to make profit. Most of the arguments might be in this line. Here you may say, well company X and company Y might have several other policies which might have triggered the profit. Its not right to judge, only policy Z has caused a profit without evaluating all the policies and conditions of company X and Y. Also the profit % is dependent on the total revenue of company X and Y and their local markets. It might be Company X did not make enough profit because it spend money in expanding its market in some other country or anything like that. Usually you can follow these leads to refute any given argument.

This section tests your logical thinking ability. How you deal with data and how you respond to suggestions. So to prove your analytical skills in this section, as soon as you read an argument, make note where all it uses statistics and data references. What conditions are provided for the different comparisons in the argument and if they are valid. Do not repeat points. Make 5 to 6 short paragraphs. Start with a very brief introduction explaining what the argument states. Thereafter start pointing out the flaws in the argument. Each paragraph should convey a different point supported by examples. You can use facts or hypothetical examples as well. (like I stated a hypothetical example above). End with a cogent conclusion summarizing why you think the arguments are not strong enough to make the suggested conclusion.

GRE Quantitative Section

Yes, GRE does demand a strong vocabulary but that is not always the only criteria to get you a good score. For technical students, aiming a 800/800 in quant firstly gives u a raise. Its easy, its your strong point so do not neglect it and use it to your benefit in this exam. Practise a lot. Even though it is elementary maths, practising the tricks (vedic maths concepts and agility) gets you ahead in the competition. You’ll have 45 minutes to get through 28 questions in the maths section. Each GRE math question comes in one of three basic varieties: Problem Solving (PS), Quantitative Comparisons (QC), or Data Interpretation (DI). Practising elementary arithmetic (fractions, distance, relative speed, rate problems ), elementary alzebra and area, volume, basic properties of geometric figures will give you a good stand.

If you have joined Kaplan, IMS or some other class room coaching, you would know the techniques to use and what topics to concentrate on. Others who have no guidance, can use Kaplan. It has a fair amount of practise problems which is very similar to the actual GRE pattern. The book also guides you on the tricks to be used. The books guide you on all the topics to be covered. General Math Strategies involve using shortcuts, approximations (GRE is never calculation intensive), avoiding common traps (the most obvious answer is not always the right one, think twice), elimination techniques, using scratch paper and avoiding careless mistakes at all cost.

GRE preparations

Having gone through the GRE preparation process I felt it might be a good idea to share my experience.

Firstly I want to ask students DO NOT have the myth studying in US is impossible due to funds. Funds are definitely something you should think of but there are several other factors on which you should work out.

Before appearing for GRE, think about whether you want to pursue a masters degree or go for a PhD. PhD might be a good idea if you want to research and funding might be an issue for you. However do not plan to enroll in a PhD program because it takes a long time and if you have doubt that you might not like your work and just doing it for some degree, spending so much time and effort is not worth it.

If you want to pursue a masters or doctorate degree in US, GRE is a must.

GRE or Graduate Record Examination is an examination which you can appear anytime during the year. GRE is of two types. General Test and Subject Test. Most schools in USA, look at your general GRE scores and do not want a subject score. However some departments or schools need the subject scores so depending on your subject area of specialization, find out if the schools you might want to aim, need a subject based score.

The GRE General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and critical thinking and analytical writing skills. Verbal and Quant sections are 800 marks each and Analytical Writing section is measured in a scale of 1 to 6.

To start with your GRE prep, buy Barron's. You will definitely need this book for the verbal section. You can also download the wordlist from the following site
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13263450/Barrons-GRE-word-list
Princeton, Kaplan are also good books to have for reference.

If you are in a technical stream, maths might not be too much of a problem for you as they mostly ask elementary algebra, arithmetic and geometry. For students who come from non technical stream, it might be a good idea to enroll in a class room course as they will teach you the tricks for solving the GRE kind of problems.

Class room coaching from Kaplan, IMS (in India) are good. There might be other institutes in your country or state.

Another site which will help you pre and post GRE is edulix.com . So register to this site. A lot of information about preparation, various universities, funding, scholarships, etc can be found here. Usually current students and alumni contribute to this site immensely and the information from this site is updated. Also you can ask several students about the doubts you have.