Brunch - Hediard Singapore

Now that I've started working, I've been exploring places in Singapore for dining and breakfast. I visited a place called Hediard, Paris, at Tanglin road. This is a french restaurant with an amazing ambiance. The theme is red. Once you enter, you see a room full of Hediard's chocolates, spices, wines, savories, tea and coffee. Further inside is the dining space. The good thing today were the weather was brilliant and there was no waiting. I ordered a set breakfast for S$19 which quite a bit of stuff, fine for one person. Alternatively, one can order from their regular menu as well.

Couple of good things I would like to mention for this place. First, they can prepare food for vegetarians (unlike John, The Grocer who is falling short of veg dishes) as my friend ordered Croq Ferdinand without Ham (nice dish with lots of cheese), and, second they obliged my request to put salt and pepper in fried egg :-). Not many restaurants do that.

Nice place to visit and look forward to visit soon.

Singapore - Selling Market

Having stayed in Singapore for close to two years now, I have pretty much good idea on what skills and talent can one sell in Singapore with respect to IT companies. This post is coming out after researching (and further meeting/ chatting) a lot of profiles on LinkedIn. Almost all US MNCs will have regional hub here. So, here is my observation:

Finally, an Internship

Last week I finally secured an internship. I'll be working in Singapore Telecom (SingTel) for a period of 8 weeks. My journey over finding an internship that really adds value to my resume has been quite tough and frustrating. And altogether, I wasnt actually looking forward to do this kind of an internship. I was focusing more on getting exposure to a financial one, but finance just proved too hard to get into at this point in time.

Nonetheless, the internship seems to be very promising and will definitely give an opportunity to look deep into SingTel's business and future strategy. All I can say is the 3 internships I rejected and the time I spent in pursuit of a valuable internship continued is worth the wait.

MBA in Recession

I remember many people saying to me that it is a good time to do an MBA when market is in recession. People have given reasons such as since market wont be recovering it makes sense to get a degree and one can get a good job when it returns back after a period of one year. I agreed to this view until recently when I started realizing one important thing.

Bad Times

Never ever in my life I've felt so low. The time is difficult and opportunities are rare. The MBA has taken a toll on my body, my ambition and my desire to stay in a foreign country. The job scene is difficult and seniors have started to go back to India.

Papaji's Eternal Question

Today, my father asked me THE QUESTION again that he has been asking ever since I went to Toronto, Canada in 2003. I got to intern under a professor for a period of 3 months. When I told him about this, he went ecstatic, however, at the same time got worried whether I would be able to communicate with people over there. So he asked me, “yaar, tum English me baat kar lete ho?” (Can you converse in English?). Well, his doubt was relevant as I hardly secured good marks in English during school time. Though studied in Saint Paul’s Senior Secondary English Medium School from nursery to Eleventh, I could hardly speak English when I went to IIT. I justified my grasp in English when I secured 64/100 marks in 10th Board Examination. But wait, this isn’t true for only me. Take a random sample from any Boys Only English Medium School and I’m sure hardly 50% (very optimistic) of the students will speak good English. That’s the current status of Kota students.

So, while having evening snacks yesterday, he asked me the eternal question again, “tum English bol lete ho?”. I smiled subtly and replied “Papaji, Singapore ja raha hoon full scholarship pe, kya lagta hai aapko?” He said immediately, “doubt”. He is very sure that my sisters know English very well, but not me. Though I don’t rate myself excellent in speaking English yet it is still in much much better state. I explained to him that I worked in a Multi National for 5 years where almost every day I was talking to people located outside India. I told him that I’ve given so many MBA interviews both on telephone and in-person. However, all efforts went futile. Probably it is high time to show him my Toastmaster videos. But then, I think his response will be that this is only one way talk, where are others in this communication? Looks like, very soon I’ll have to give him a live performance.

Rakhi Ka Swayamvar – An Innovative One

No matter what public thinks, no matter what news channels project, no matter what the film industry really feels; Rakhi Sawant is one girl which is gaining popularity day by day. And why not she is the bride to be of the one of the most innovative Indian serial I’ve ever witnessed in a very long time. All the music talent reality shows, MTVs youths’ shows, numerous talent hunts are essentially copycats, oops inspiration, of foreign TV serials. However, Rakhi Ka Swayamvar is one hell of an innovative serial. And no matter what Indian public thinks of Rakhi Sawant, they are still watching the serial. Frankly speaking, my parents and I are following this serial.

At first, this seems quite intrigue, however then I analyzed why people are interested in watching this serial. Here are my two cents:

1. People are tired of watching same kind of serials on any channel. I believe they are watching just because they don’t have anything else to watch. In two days of my stay at home, I’ve realized that the current trend in the television industry is to project the hardships of villagers. New serials are all based on village concept. And the current ones that started before this unique revolution (?) have introduced the concept by marrying one girl into a family that has roots in a village. If you disagree with me, then browse any serial between 8 – 11 pm and confirm yourself. So people are looking for something new. The idols, laughter challenge shows are all old, repetitive and, hence, boring. People want change and the Swayamvar just brings that.

2. People really want to know what the swayamvar is all about. Most people I’ve talked to in this short span of time have two things to say: 1. Have you seen the contestants? All are chosen according to Rakhi’s standard, and 2. Is Rakhi really going to marry one of the contestants? I don’t want to comment on Rakhi’s standard, however, I also found the contestants funny. The first episode was hilarious when all the contestants were introduced. Watch it to understand what I'm trying to say. Even Rakhi’s expressions and his innocent type image where she claims she is looking for love in one of the ultimate contestant will bring a broad smile on one’s face. You will think what stupidity is this, but then I bet if you change the channel. Is Rakhi going to marry the candidate? I don’t know. May be yes but then how much time is spent today in taking a divorce.

But in all sense, the serial has brought refreshment and will going to pull crowd as it progresses.

UPDATE
One of the contestants says he is married. Now thats innovation. Isnt it?