I am on a high!

after 17 years of slogging,it finally happened.I got a job.After waiting for so long and making it a central point of my engineering life,The moment has finally arrived-i got placed-and how do i feel-ecstatic? don't know for sure.........

april 21st: I get up and think,god plz,plz let me get placed today-at the same time keeping in mind that at the end of the day,it might just be a dissapointment-a sinking feeling of having blown it...which i had after company W.

the usual flurry of SMS'S wishing me luck arrive.I read up logic design,hoping to make sense in the interview when I say it is my favourite subject! Go through the usual motions and start feeling pretty confident of clearing the written atleast.Start walking to the coll from the hostel with 'sunrise'-Norah Jones in my head.The company in question:A.the seminar hall is choc-a-bloc with the ppl giving the test and already placed 'package enthusiasts' wanting to take a look at A's package.The PPT(pre-placement talk) is precise and excellent unlike W a few days back clearly detailing the growth of an employee from the Juniour Software Engineer level to the senior exec level .The audience is pleased with the pay-package which is much more than T,I and W before it.I sit beside Aniruddha who asks me to give him my unbiased ,frank opinion about T.

The process begins....first is a written round which is a breeze considering that it is mostly pretty basic stuff.Out of the 200 odd eligible....150 get through written round.Then we are given an employment form to fill and an essay to be written in 10 min.After this we are shunted into a GD-group discussion....a 14 member one and the topic is-"should the private and the public sectors join hands to improve bangalore's infrastructure".The GD is fish-market and only 5 of us make it through the round.along with me Akhila and Ashish make it and I feel sorry for Dinesh,Manvil and Suhel who dont make it despite speaking well.I have a quick lunch and rush back to the seminar hall to wait for my interview call.I try to brush up my microprocessor subjects and logic design but fail bcoz of a jack-hammer headache shaking my system..........

I wait and I wait patiently at first then begin to get anxious.....the tech interview+HR interview takes long....I see gaurav get through and then Beena and then Akhila.....get the news that the team interviewing is not asking tech questions even in the tech interview stage...feel confident about my prospects and keep wishing that this torture,agony and anxiety end soon.everyone who completes his/her interview seems to be getting through.....I wait still and finally they call me for interview at 10PM!........

I am let into the interview room and the interview goes like this:
I(INTERVIEWER):sorry to have kept you waiting up so long.
ME: its fine.
I:tell me about yourself
ME:I did my schooling in.....and i m doing my engg. in....... and I like quizzing and reading
I:(ignoring the hobbies cue) do you have a valid passport?
ME:yes, but i don't remember the number.
I:ever had any visa rejections?
ME:never travelled abroad
I:tell me why A in 3 words
ME:global exposure+growth(should have said high performance.delivered damn!)
I:do you have a driving license?
ME:yes
I:which vehicle do you drive?
ME:Tata Indica
I:what do you think is your greatest achievement and why?
ME:my winning the NTS scholarship coz it is a very prestigious schol and blah blah..
I:why did you take up Electronics&Communication engg?
ME:when i joined engg. ,i was very much into and still am into computer hardware and wanted to know what makes a computer work and blah blah
I:It says in your resume that you are an active member of the art of living foundation.what is the art of living all about?
ME:The Art of Living is all about...................
I:thank you.It was nice meeting you.

after the interview i am informed that i have got through the HR round and that i had to be prepared for the tech round.The mood ion the placement cell is relaxed as everyone seem to be sailing through thier interviews.finally after a 10 min wait i am called for the tech interview.

the interview goes on like this:
I:(after the initial greetings)tell me about yourself.
ME: i did my schooling in .... and ....
I: but you seem to have a very south Indian name?
ME:I am actually a kannadiga brought up in the east.
I:you seem to be from M.S.Dhoni's school did you know him personally?
ME:(sensing my opportunity to steer the interview ;))actually he was my sister's classmate.
I:how was he like in class?
ME: he was a very shy person and never use to talk to the opposite sex ;)

and a few more questions on Dhoni....couldnt believe this was my tech interview.....
I:what programming language are u comfortable with?
ME:C
then she asks me some basic questions on c/c++....
I:any plans of studying further?
ME:absolutely none(lied through the teeth!)
I:any questions?
ME:what is the day to day routine of a s/w engg. in A like
she gives me the details.....

I come out.....and I feel pretty positive...all interviews and rounds over....but unlike others.... she(the interviewer) doesnt tell me on my face whether I am selected or not.I wait outside...tentatively,nervously...though there was no reason for anxiety.I am thinking how bad it would be like to get chucked out at this stage.
I sit in the training hall and wait.....then this guy(a member of the organization which is conducting the interview process) comes and tells me I am selected..................shock!!!!!!

fast forward to 1.5 hours ahead:
I am doing 80 on vast empty stretches of JC road and pass through Hudson circle...its strange as i have never seen this place without traffic...my legend-sans silencer,sans headlight&tailights and sans brakes!! looks like a bullet in the darkness.....I am going to MG road to SAVERA...the only restaurant which is open in the wee hours of the night in the whole of bangalore.....and though it is pretty unbeliveable....its true... and shocking!!('some moron actually offered me a job??'-me thinks)and though i know it is yet to sink and the initial euphoria would lead to satisfaction would lead to boredom.....at this moment i am happy, excited and terribly terribly relived.......this is my hour and nobody can take it away from me...........................................................................................