Strange land, strange happenings!

Incredible India!! How true is this statement these days for the 7^th largest nation of the world! Where on one hand we still have majority of our population below the poverty line, on the other hand there are brazen displays of money in the higher strata’s of the society.

Dalit ki Beti, Mayawati, always attracts votes during elections by calling for dalits to bring her to power in order to come out of their current low status in the society. For many years, the political equation in U.P has been defined by Samajwadi and Bahujan Samaj Party which is a struggle between the dalits and the so-called higher class. It’s a comedy of sorts to see one party cancel out or declare illegal the laws made during the tenure of the other party. Out of two evils it is very hard to determine which is even slightly better.

In case of the present Mayawati government, money is spent in tunes of 7-figures to place statues of elephants and Kanshi Ram at prominent places. Such news come filtering out after regular intervals of time.

But this time Behenji took the entire political system as well as the entire nation by storm. A brazen display of a garland made of currency notes enveloping her during the anniversary celebrations of the party made the front news. Against the expectations of party members going on defensive mode the same incident was repeated 2 days later, albeit with a smaller garland.

Having been lived in U.P during the initial years of my life, I consider it as an integral party of who I am now. I am in a kind of a love-hate relationship with the place. It has been 12 years since I left the place with a bitter after taste in my mouth but I can’t still see any major changes which could have happened in the positive direction.

When the central government allocates funds for some sort of developmental activity, it disappears midway. A state with such huge opportunities in terms of land and labor has no huge industry to boast of. There are still huge levels of corruption, low literacy levels and major wastage of latent talent.

When the party members were questioned, they came out with the explanation that the garland was made out of the contributions from them rather than from other sources. But if they have the monetary strength to contribute money to this extent for their respected “Behenji”, then why hasn’t there been any visible development in this state. Why aren’t there any educational institutions to boast of apart from a stray IIM and a handful of engineering colleges? If they have this much money to collect why are still hordes of laborers and daily wage earners migrating to other places? Why is Lucknow, once considered a hub of Nawabi culture, now a witness to its death?

I just hope that these political parties answer these questions before U.P is also considered a lost cause and left without any hope.

My Internship

Ever since I finished my schooling I have been dying to work in the corporate sector….and even uploaded my resume on different sites…but my parents always felt that it’s better to first complete my studies and then start working….so I dropped the plan..

Well I have finished my second semester of the MBA program and am at my home doing my internship. Once I started working here I have realized why a job is perfect for a person like me. Because I don’t have to study eight different subjects these days or stay awake till late in the night to finish my course for an exam or become a parrot J

I am a very moody and lazy person so if I love something I’ll give 100% to it otherwise nothing or no one in this world can make me do it.

When my professor told me that I have been selected to be an intern at Devyani international Ltd. I wondered as to what kind of a company it is….I had never heard of it. And then he told me that it was the franchisee of Pizza Hut for north and east India and a franchisee of KFC and Costa Coffee. The first day when I reported there I was nervous but excited as we usually are about new beginnings…my first day at the corporate world!!!!

I had heard various tales where many interns were ill-treated at their respective companies or weren’t given any opportunities to learn or do something constructive and I was wondering what kind of an experience I’ll have here. My first day was not only smooth but I was also impressed by the company and its people. We were introduced to our respective guides and given detailed introduction about the company. My company guide is a really sweet person as he not only encourages me to go ahead and do my best but also keeps motivating and encouraging me. Before I began my SIP I felt as if I was having second thoughts about taking up HR, whether I was actually interested in it but now after I have a month of experience here, I think I’ll love it.

I have been allotted to the Costa Coffee section of DIL. Since it has only 44 stores till now in india, Costa is on a major expansion spree and is thus focusing on recruitment in large numbers. The manpower is less as compared to the work so my supervisor actually takes me to various interviews and has sometimes also allowed me to actually take PI’s, of course for entry level posts only.

But the most exciting thing is that Costa is the beverage partner of IPL matches which will start from 12^th March for which the company requires Hotel Management students from all over the country. I have been given the task of contacting and recruiting these people, explain to them every thing and then select them. Since it’s a very important event, there’s a lot of coordination between HR and Marketing department, working against deadlines, collecting and arranging the information etc.

So, in short I’m loving my time here!!!!!