All Good Things End....

I am often asked by my juniors, as to why i joined the students placement committee and why should they join it when its their turn. I too was faced with these questions once and the most unanimous response i got was that placements are the best thing going on in our college, and one of the biggest factors for that was the functioning of our Training and Placement division. Being in the students placement committee would let me absorb the work culture in that great place and learn from the man responsible for that...Mr. B. B. Pant.

Ofcourse there were several other reasons provided to me for joining the team. Here, we can learn and interact with officials high up in the hierarchy of various companies, we can work for the good of the larger student community and gather some memories that will last with us for a lifetime in the process. Another reason, (suggested by my elder brother), in any case you will have nothing to do during the final year, there is nothing better to keep you busy!

I remember the first task we were given was to organise the farewell party for our outgoing placement committee. I still cant beleive how wonderful that party was. We all chipped in and coordinated so beautifully that it was hard to beleive that this was the first time this team was doing something collectively. All the right chords were hit and all the notes blended perfectly, to create a smooth symphony.

The first company on campus was TCS, and i would be lying if i said that i was'nt scared stiff at the prospect of co-ordinating a process involving almost 400 people (all curious and worried) sitting for an exam that could decide the course of their lives. I am also sure that the rest of the team felt the same. But that morning when we all got down to our job, we drew confidence from each other and with a few minor hitches, the job was done. After handling the TCS campus visit, we knew we were ready for any situation. Bring on the heavy artillery!!

Other companies were a breeze mostly. One incident stands out though. Tata Motors was on campus, and the interviews were on when Maruti arrived for selecting its candidates. Now the Tata Motors interviews got prolonged and before Maruti started its G.D. phase the results werent announced yet. Now this was a sticky situation because the same set of people were sitting for both companies and we couldnt allow guys selected for Tata Motors to sit again for Maruti! To make it worse, Maruti had brought a long an HR guy who was so touchy, he got twitchy and started screaming even if there was no rough paper in the interview room! Amazingly, somehow we managed to whisper into in the ears of the selected candidates and stealthily pull them out of the line for the Maruti G.D.!

It was incidents like this and other occurences that leave me amazed as to how we managed to survive the placement season. Also, astonishlingly this turned out to be the most hectic placement season in terms of the number of candidates appearing, number of final offers, and also number of companies on campus! I speak for the team and the placement office when i say that we never felt stretched for a bit throughout the gruelling period.

All of us were so different yet we almost always were thinking along the same lines. Ofcourse there are differences in every team, but thats the beauty of it all, differences were ironed out in such a way as to arrive at the best solution, and this solution was always better than that we would have arrived at had there been a single train of thought. Everyone shared a common goal and worked to achieve it, it was never an issue as to who worked more or who did the better job, the end result mattered.

The 2k3 Students placement coordinators' committee consisted of:

1. Aditya Devurkar : The brains of the team. Any technical problem was almost always deflected to this guy, and he was more than happy to tackle it.

2. Dhruv Bhardwaj : He should be christened Dhruv 'creativity' Bhardwaj, not only for his talent of designing but also for coming up with the most innovative solutions for any situation.

3. Mohit : The life of the team, he was the heart that pumped energy and freshness into us whatever the occasion.

4.Narayan : He was literally the big brother in our team. He has such a big heart that he gave emotional support to atleast half the batch as they waited for their interview.

5.Pritpal : The jolly sardar, always cool, always calm, always bearing a smile. I call him Sunshine Singh.

6.Rahul sharma : Sharma as we all call him, brought a great sense of humour to the team, nobody else can take a joke as well as him.....hats off. It was his personal agenda to ensure that EEE core companies come to the campus.

7.Rajiv : Our Man Friday, he was the go-to guy whatever the task at hand. Hardworking and the epitome of a perfect gentleman.

8.Saloni : The soft-spoken, miss charming, whenever at the tnp, things seemed just so much easier for everyone!

9.Sohini : Bubbly, she is not just endowed with the soothing voice of a nightingale, but her presence is soothing, just like her voice.

10.Swapnil : Mr. Perfect. His demeanour and his attitude rubbed off on all of us, the confidence he exudes is just so contagious.

11.Tanya : Good things come in small packages. She is a bundle of energy, enthusiasm and joy. Capable of sindle handedly controlling an entire horde of students, we are still amazed at how she did it.

12.Vani : She is always in command of a situation. Whenever something used to go wrong, we instinctively knew that it was because vani was'nt around to stop it from happening. It is people like vani that make a team work. I dont know where she gets the drive from to work this hard.

13.Varun : Have you heard this guy speak? He can rattle of one-liners at speed that would put Najot Singh Sidhu to shame! A gentleman to the core, and one of the coolest guys i have ever met.

14. Vineet : He can mimick anyone on the face of this earth to perfection, but he himself is inimitable. Extremely friendly, it is hard to cross him or be cross with him.

15. Saurabh : A guy who is too humble to praise himself.

Priyank Sir, Prabhat Sir, Pratyush Sir were all our bosses, our friends, our support structures.


A word for our mentor, guide, and driving force.
Many times when you are working, you stop and wonder at the usefullness of it all and wonder wether you should chuck it all and have a good rest. At such times when you see a man twice your age, up till 2 a.m. for a cause that should'nt really concern him as much as does to you, the meaning of the words inspiration becomes evident. All good things come to an end, and the only things you can take with you as you leave, are the memories and the things you've learnt. I will have a handfull of these things to take with me and a majority of both of these i owe to Mr. B. B. Pant.