Placement: a 3 day experience

I don't know what will I write is whether a worth reading for others, but this is truly an incident worth to remember, at least for quite a few periods.

So, from where should I start? Truly speaking, I'm little bemused about the beginning of my experience about placement. Should I include my (or our) placement preparation in the scorching heat of May, June and July at RK hall or should I talk about my confusion between taking up a job and higher studies. Amidst all confusions I think it is better to keep things short to only my experience beginning from the period just before our campus placement procedure. The preparation phase and the other one is not worth mentioning here to me.

Truly speaking, I was not at all ready for the placement. I was planning to pursue higher study (PhD in foreign universities) as I had no hope to get into a job in some core company (companies related to electronics profile). Because those companies seek students repleted with core knowledge which I totally had forgotten and didn't able to manage to rewind previous courses. There was a thing that I wanted to stick to core because I somehow realized that I would not be quite dexterous to outstay the jobs in non-core like finance or management. That is why I had two options in my hand - get through a core company or fight for a PhD position in foreign universities.

Now, as neither of two were sure for me, I decided to apply for all companies' all profiles coming to campus. Because once I get into any kind of job, then at least I will not sit jobless in next semester for sure. The written tests for the companies started in mid-October - after the Durgapuja vacation.

Throughout the whole placement procedure I had three of my friends - Abhay, Debdoot and Priyabrata accompanied with me. Whatever we have done beginning from the placement exam time, we have done together with a slight distortion in case of Debdoot. I had another two close friends in my group - Siddhartha and Susnata. But these two were quite passionate about higher studies and sat only for core ones. There was Soumyajit too, who was nowhere in the placement scenario but was there for constant support.

Anyhow, as far as I remember the first test was there for ServiceNow. Before the test, we had no clue what was going to be there in the test. To our utter dismay there was questions from topics like C++, database, networking etc. in which we were like a layman. There was aptitude questions too, but those CS questions befuddled us in the very first strike. After that we faced a serial strike from companies like Citrix and E-Bay. In Oracle test I managed to deliver a better performance because most of the test were based on quantitative aptitude ability.
Meanwhile I and Debdoot faced a major problem. I missed the test of Codenation as I had my TOEFL exam previous day and went home after that. Debdoot missed Oracle test for some other reasons. I expected no consequences of that. But our CDC posed a punishment by restricting us to be shortlisted at maximum 20 companies. We took the punishment very seriously and by any means we intended to revert that punishment. But after some time we realized that it was a trick from CDC to inject some seriousness (??) within students. The punishment was not imposed in reality and we continued to write tests after that.
The tests went on like a daily routine. Some of them went bad, some of them were medium but in none of them I was fully satisfied. Looking at the huge amount (around 700) of students appearing for all the tests I had little hope to appear in the shortlists of interview for those companies. Before 1st December we had written tests of Credit Suisse, Citrix, Amazon Express, City Bank, Cisco, Walmart, Xerox, Analog Device, Axis Bank, Qualcomm, and Capital One etc. Priyabrata cracked the test of Oracle and already wrote the second round of the same.
Now as November was coming to an end all of us was waiting for the interview shortlists to be published. For December 1, I was shortlisted for EXL Services. Frankly speaking it was much unexpected to me. Priyabrata was shortlisted for American Express and Abhay was there for massive four companies - EXL, Credit Suisse, Visa and Cisco. We were all sure that he will crack any one of them. As per all of our expectation Abhay was through Credit Suisse. This was a huge day for him. Priyabrata could not do much in American Express interview as he had to face some random questions there.
EXL services was first proper interview I faced in my life. During internship the interviews were telephonic. I was bit tensed before my EXL interview. I practiced some questions like, 'tell about yourself', 'why this company' etc. I also came to know that EXL will ask for some guess estimation and puzzles in their first round. That is why I also had a look on them. Moreover I had to put on formals kike suit, pant and tie. At first it looked somehow awkward. The interview was in TP-206 at Nalanda Complex. My name was 60th in the shortlist of 102 candidates. That means I had ample time to gather the questions they were asking previous candidates. I was preparing my mind for that. I heard that EXL was going to hire around 35 students this year. Therefore I was little hopeful that I may crack this one. The interview process started at around 2:30 PM. As there was a single interviewer, the whole process was moving very slowly. My turn came up at around 7 PM. The initial scary feeling within me had gone that time and I was prepared to face the interview confidently.
As I entered the room, the interviewer greeted me warmly and told me to have a seat. Then he asked a few questions from my CV. Next he asked three questions and I answered almost all of them efficiently with little fumbling in last question. Though the questions were not hard at all, still I was very glad that I performed well in that interview. I was very confident that I would get a call for the second round. I waited in the venue only for that call. After some time I asked the placement committee who was conducting the whole procedure about my second round of interview and to my utter surprise he told that I was not selected for the same. I felt little sad that time as the reason of the rejection was not realized by me. I came to hostel after that and had my dinner. I told myself that there might be something within me which the interviewer did not like at all and that is the reason for the rejection. I treated that as a bad luck and prepared for the next exams. Meanwhile I had to complete the MTP report and send to my guide. I somehow managed to complete writing the report, but it was not that good.
Anyway that day we had tests of Flipkart and Snapdeal starting from 11 PM. I was preparing my mind mentally to give cent percent at those tests. The test were in Nalanda. That evening I and Priyabrata kept our cycles in the stand and the stand was closed after 8 PM. So, we had to call a rickshaw to go to Nalanda. Flipkart test contained normal aptitude and verbal ability based questions. I was much satisfied writing the test. In Snapdeal test there was 50 questions and the time limit was only 12 minutes. Basically it was a speed test and you have to be really quick on your feet. That test also I managed well.
Next day, I got my name shortlisted in Flipkart. It gave me an immense satisfaction as I had performed well in the test and also got the result for the same. In the waiting list of Axis Bank too, there was my name. Priyabrata was also there in the same waiting list. On the same day Siddhartha was also got shortlisted in qualcomm.
So, again I started to prepare mentally for Flipkart interview. The venue of Flipkart was TP-401 at Nalanda Complex. When I reached the venue I came to know that Flipkart will conduct a GD round for elimination. Now I fainted. I had no experience of GD before. Whatever I heard about GD before that, my realization was that, GD is the toughest hurdle to me in a selection process to cross. Anyway, I thought that I would get some time to prepare mentally before appearing in Flipkart GD session. The first thing I did, I went to TP-103 where Axis Bank selection process was going on to check whether my name entered into the main list. There I found that I as well as Priyabrata were through to the main list of Axis Bank. I again went upstairs to Flipkart venue.
But there, I felt an immense shock - my name for GD was being called out. So, at once I rushed to the GD room and to my utter surprise as soon as I took my seat the moderator of GD announced the topic - "Make in India" and allowed us two minutes to think. I was not even fully settled in the room. I was totally confused for around 30 secs. After that I wrote some points on a scratch paper and was waiting to the signal of the moderator. But, suddenly one student started to speak out and the GD began full fledgedly. That left me dumb founded. I was not getting any scope to speak as whenever I tried to do the same I was getting obstructed by others. As far as I remember I could speak and made others listen only two times. Finally, when the moderator told us to summarize the whole session individually then I talked about few points and after some time the session ended. I was little dejected as I could not perform well in that GD due to lack of experience. The placecom members told us to wait for some time till all the sessions got finished.
After that, I went to Qualcomm venue and came to know that Siddhartha's interview was going on. I was very confident that he will convert that interview into a successful one. Then I went to Axis Bank venue and there also the placecom told that my turn will be there after a while. Meanwhile I called Priyabrata to tell him that he was promoted to the main list of Axis Bank from the waitlist. But when I called him, Siddhartha picked up the call and told that Priyabrata was selected for the interview of Qualcomm in digital profile. It was another good news for us as we were all confident about his knowledge in digital electronics. By the way Abhay was also there to bolster all of us and he was also coordinating me as I had two interviews - one in ground floor and another in third floor.
Meanwhile I got the news of my rejection at Flipkart GD. I was expecting that kind of result. And after a while my turn in Axis Bank came. Like previous day, here also the interviewer greeted me warmly. He asked me a guess estimation question (no. of people in Kolkata using specs) and I confidently explained that. The interviewer looked impressed at my answer. After that interview as the placecom told me to wait for the next round I again rushed upstairs to Qualcomm venue and got the good news that Priyabrata and Siddhartha cracked Qualcomm. They looked very joyful there. They were just waiting there for the final confirmation. I also cheered them. After a while the HR of Qualcomm asked all the selected candidates inside and they went into the room.  I also moved downstairs to check the status of Axis Bank interview.

I got to know that I was selected for the final round of the interview of Axis Bank. They gave Job Application Forms to be filled up by all the final shortlisted candidates. The form was about candidate’s personal bio-data and all. While filling up the form I thought that as they were asking to fill that kind of form means the final selection is almost guaranteed. I was much ebullient at this thought. Meanwhile Priyabrata, Siddhartha and Abhay came to me and wished me best of luck for the interview. Qualcomm gave them a good-looking sweat shirt each. By the way my turn for the interview in Axis Bank came and I entered into the room with a confident attitude.

The interview went on for 45 minutes. One may conclude from this prolonged interview that it went absolutely well. But, truly speaking it went horrible. It went so disastrous that I can tell that I have not felt so embarrassed in front of someone for this much of time span. They asked me a guess estimate question and what I started to guess was childish. They laughed at me, they pranked me and finally they were fed up with me. I was so psyched that time that I forgot the full form of RBI in the middle of interview. I was feeling like running away from them.

After the interview I remained very frustrated with me. I at once came back to my room. The time was around 5:30 PM. At 6 PM the schedule for that day’s test came and there were a lot of written test of Flipkart IT, Snapdeal IT, Synopsys and Texas Instruments. I was not in a mood to appear in any of the tests. Moreover I had my MTP presentation next day and for that I had to prepare my presentation and I did not get my report signed. I called my guide and he assured that it was ok to get it signed next day.

Anyway I made up my mind to appear in those test and perform at my level best. The tests were scheduled to start at 7 PM. I at once went to Nalanda and started to prepare my PPT. I called Debdoot there also to give me company. While making our PPT we were also keeping a look on notice board to know the tests’ venue. But time went on, no such notices appeared on the notice board. We thought that as usual the tests were getting delayed. We also called some of our batch-mates and they were not picking up the call. They seemed to have a sleep after a hectic day. We took first few of those tests got cancelled. So we remained seated in the same room at ground floor. Susnata was appearing for Texas Instruments test which was scheduled last that day. I called Susnata about the situation and to my utter surprise he told that the test of Synopsys was about to start at some room at 1^st floor. We at once rushed to the venue and saw that all of our batch-mates were there. We also came to know that all of the tests scheduled previously has already been finished. Now my frustration level grew twice. What were we doing there? Just seating like morons and passing the time. I had no intention to write the Synopsys test. Before that I thought that I would do well in that test as it is one of the best companies for ECE folks.

Anyway the Synopsys test started within a while. It was a paper based test. There was three sections – Aptitude, Coding and Digital electronics. The duration of the test was one hour. There was negative marking for each question. But I was so nonplussed at the beginning of the test that I wasted at least 10 minutes of time solving the very first question. Then I realized that I had to leave the tough one and should only go for the relatively easy one as there was negative marking. None of the questions were straightforward and it was taking time for all the questions. Somehow I managed to solve a fair amount of questions in all three sections within the stipulated time. But, I was not confident to crack into the interview because many of the students would perform like that. Next, there was the test of Texas Instruments (TI). This time TI came to hire in Analog profile only in which my knowledge was almost null. TI test had two sections – analog and aptitude ability. In analog section there was 20 questions and all of them were germane to my knowledge. I guessed 10 of them. The aptitude section was regular to me as I had appeared for so many aptitude test by then. Susnata did really well in both of the sections and was confident to get into the second phase.

I returned my room at around 3:30 AM.  Then I finished preparing my PPT within 30 minutes and slept. I could not sleep for more than an hour. I opened the notice board and saw that I was shortlisted for Synopsys. I was little ecstatic at this. From that moment I decided that anyhow I have to perform very well in the interview. In that morning there was test of ZS Associates. I intentionally missed that test as I was not feeling well too. From 9:30 I had my MTP presentation also. I decided to keep myself calm. I went to Priyabrata’s room to get my copy of MTP report which he already got printed. He told me to perform well in the interview. In course of time I finished my MTP presentation.  Even now I don’t know what I told that day in the presentation but it just went on.

As soon as I finished the presentation I rushed to my room to suit myself up and then hurried to Nalanda having the digital notes with me. I was feeling a sheer bit of tension within me. But after the previous 3 rejections I was just thinking that I have to accept whatever would happen. I have to just keep going.

The interview was scheduled to start at 11 AM at TP-304 to TP-307. As I reached the venue, one of the interviewer told each of us the respective rooms of the interview. By the way Susnata was shortlisted for Texas Instruments. While I was waiting for my turn to come up I saw Abhay and Priyabrata coming there. They came at their own risk as there was a rule that the placed students should not show their face in Nalanda. Anyway it was good for me that they came because I was feeling much tensed and I could ease myself a little bit by talking to them. They discussed some digital and data structure stuffs with me which could be helpful in interview.

At around 12 PM my turn came up. I had to look confident before entering the room. So, I pumped myself up and went to the interviewer. There was three interviewers and all of them asked questions separately. Surprisingly, the first interviewer was a Bengali one had our conversation fully in Bengali. Actually, I reckoned later that all of the three interviewer were Bengali, though next two interview were in English. First the interviewer asked me about my current project. Then they asked about some basic data structure and algorithm related questions. Some of them I couldn’t answer at my first attempt but could able to tell when they hinted me. They also asked me about the questions which I couldn’t solve in the written test and also about the procedure by which I solved some of them. All was going well. At the end of the interview I asked the interviewer about my interview. He told me, “If you want to join Synopsys or if we want to hire you, you should do coding frequently.” Now I could not decipher the tone of the interview, whether it was an acceptance or rejection. Anyway, I came outside and saw Abhay and Priyabrata waiting for me. They asked me about the interview and I told them that it went well.

I got the news from them that Susnata was almost selected in TI. There was no surprise in it anyway. After myself there was at least 20 candidates whose interview was yet to be completed. So, I had to wait there for some time to know the result. Now, waiting is the thing which grows tension within you. I was so tensed that for next few hour I didn’t have a seat - I was just moving here and there in the corridor. From time to time I was analyzing my interview and deciding whether I could satisfy the interviewers or not. Sometimes I was thinking that I could not solve some questions in my first attempt and that could have a negative impact on the interviewers. Sometimes I was also have this thought that I solved those problems quickly after having a hint and that might speak in favor of me. Off and on the interviewers were coming outside and having a chat with the placecom. I was trying to hear them by reading their lips from distance. From time to time I was asking placecom what they were saying about the result. I was very much desperate to know the result. Meanwhile I felt hungry and told my mates. They took me to the canteen downstairs and ordered puri-sabji for me. Though it was a favorite food to me, I could not pass that down my throat as I was very much tensed by that time.

Priyabrata told me not to worry much. Again I went upstairs and saw that the interview was almost over. They were waiting for only one person. Eventually that student came and after a while his interview was over. Now it was just a matter of time for the result to be published.

Usually I do not believe in finger crossing or praying to god or something like that. But this time I was searching for something which can bring me some luck. Though I knew that it was not the end of placement season and many companies were yet to come, but I wished to get it done as another rejection would lead to more waiting and uncertainty.

I saw the interviewers were out of the room and discussing something with the placecom. One of the interviewers was telling to a placecom boy pointing to me, if I was not wrong that time. Next moment that boy took me some distance apart. I thought there would be another round of HR interview. But to my deadliest surprise he asked me, “If Synopsys gives you an offer, will you accept it?” I was like telling him, “What! Is this a question to ask?” I told him, “Yes, obviously!” and thus I got placed in Synopsys.

I saw Priyabrata and Abhay standing in a distance apart. I ran towards them and gave them the news. They congratulated me warmly. My eyelids began to wet by then and what I had to do was to control my flowing emotion in front of them. I heard the phrase “someone’s joy knew no bound” but could not really appreciate it before that day. My joy really was not able to know any bound and I was very much ecstatic that time. Except feeling joyous what I was feeling a sigh of relief – no more late-night-early-morning combination, no more waiting in Nalanda to begin a test, no more spending some tensed moments after an interview and lot more. The interviewers also congratulated me and I asked them about the job location which they told Bangalore. Then we left Nalanda and headed towards Tikka. We had Debdoot with us too. Now he was the only one left within us for placement. Susnata, who went department for his presentation after being selected in TI and Siddhartha who was in department for presentation joined us later in Tikka.

Now this is the whole story of three days about how I got placed in Synopsys and the ups and downs involved in it. I would be extremely thankful to my closed mates – Abhay, Priyabrata, Debdoot, Siddhartha and Susnata as they were always beside me for these days even after they got placed themselves. I may not ever forget that after my interview of Synopsys – Abhay and Priyabrata was also with me at my tensed moments waiting for the result to be disclosed. Had Susnata not called me at the night of Synopsys test, whether I would get placed in Synopsys ever, is still a question. I will remember that Priyabrata helped me a lot to cope up with MTP presentation stuffs and placement interview simultaneously. I will also remember the funny discussion with Debdoot about my terrible interview in Axis Bank which helped me to be easy in that situation. Actually I will ever remember a whole lot of things happened so quickly in those three days.

One thing I learned from my three day long toil (though many people toiled a lot harder than me) – not to expect anything from any incident. Because expectation leads to unhappiness if failed. Just perform at best and success will come for sure some day or other. Obviously there should be some luck involved in it. I will recognize this incident of getting placed as my biggest success till date. Whether it will remain as the biggest success, time will tell eventually.

Enjoying life - younger or older

Yes I agree with the statement that "Young people enjoy life more than older people do." There are various reasons behind my agreement. Those are summarized below.

Firstly, to enjoy life one has to be full of energy, enthusiasm and fearlessness. Young people have that level energy and courage for which they can do whatever they want to do. But, older people are generally lack of energy. May be, the older people wish to do a lot of activities. But their level of energy does not permit them to perform those desired activities. For an example: Skydiving is a thrilling activity which a major portion of young people perform. They are able to do so because they have necessary amount of energy and enthusiasm within them. But, an older person is generally incapable to skydive because lack of courage as well as energy. So, due to their energetic and courageous feature young people enjoy life more than older people do.

Secondly, older people are generally full of tension. They have been exposed to various incidents throughout their life. They have gathered much verisimilar experiences. This incidents and experiences left them tensed all over the day. They critically judge every incident and foresee the worst outcome from them. So, they can not enjoy their life. On the other hand, young people possess a careless like attitude. They do not think much of future rather they believe in present. They are confident enough to handle any situation. So, they are brave enough to explore various stature of life. From that they get immense enjoyment which older people generally unable to achieve. For an example: if there is a plan to travel in a hilly area then the older people will always think about the accidents there may happen, the landslide there may occur. So, they may refrained to go there. But young ones will tell that they will manage themselves whenever such situation will arise. This difference between old and young matters to enjoyment.

Thirdly, young people have not their family burden. Mostly they are student. They are dependent on their parents for their fooding and living. So, they can spend a great amount of time towards enjoyment. In contrast to that, the older people have family. They are bound to feed their family. So, they always have to think how the family will survive. For that, they spend most of the time of the day in earning money and get exhausted in the later half of the day. Therefore, they are not getting any time for enjoyment. For an example: if someone visits a cinema hall in an evening show they can realize that there are more number of young people than the old people. Because, older ones are tired then after whole day of hectic schedule. But, young people are not. So, they are enjoying the movie.

Finally, in their old age people are worn out of various chronic disease which is a huge hindrance in the way of enjoying life. But, the younger people are generally disease free. So, their health permits enjoyment. Therefore they can hang out with their friends, party with their closed ones which older diseased people can not do. For an example: many old people become down with spondylitis which prevent them to go and enjoy in some party. Which is not in the case of younger ones.

Therefore, the energetic, restless, fearless, tension-free young people enjoy their life more compared to the worried, burdenful, diseased old people due to the reasons discussed above clearly.

Professors going to TV

In the lecture the woman stated that there is no real benefit to anyone when a professor appears on TV.

Firstly she told that the professor who are attending TV programs may miss important meetings or conferences. Their motivation changes from education to entertainment. For that they may face difficulty to get money for their research work. Moreover appearing on TV wastes a major amount of time of the professor which he could utilize in university research. So, neither the professor nor the university is getting benefit from this phenomenon. And by making this point clear, the woman also opposes the points made in the passage as it has been stated in the passage that both university and professor becomes beneficial by getting in touch with public when some professor appears on TV.

Secondly, in the lecture the woman also refused to agree with the argument made in the passage that people watching the interview of the professor get a deeper knowledge in a specific subject area. The woman told that actually the TV channel company does not want to telecast a serious conversation on TV. So, what they telecast is a mild, narrow discussion with the professor about an academic title or a brief incident. This can also be accomplished by a mere reporter with some background work.

So, finally, the woman in her lecture cogently repudiated the fact that there is a huge benefit to university, professor and public on attending a professor in a television conversation.

Altruism - human and meerkat

In the lecture the professor told that the meerkat group was observed very closely than before. Then some interesting facts came out which oppose the arguments made in the passage.

Firstly, the meerkat who stand as guard eats before its work. So, being in full stomach it has no need of food any more. Therefore, not taking food as stated in the passage is not altruism.

Secondly, when the guard meerkat cries an alarm upon approaching a predator then the sentinel has the greater possibility to escape as it sees the predator first. Moreover, when the meerkat group hears the alarm then they will gather together or scatter. So, they will catch the attention of predator putting themselves in danger. Therefore, actually the group of meerkat are in danger when predator comes. This also opposes the altruistic behavior of the sentinel.

Finally, the group of meerkat not the sentinel go in search of food which also is dangerous for them. Now, it can be told that the sentinel is nowhere altruistic.

There are example of human being also in the lecture. In the passage it has been mentioned that, when a person donates his/her body part selflessly then it can be an instance of altruism. But the professor opposed this point saying that the donor achieves much appreciation and recognition from the acceptor as well as from society. So, the donor is actually getting something which may be non-material, and that's why this cannot be regarded as pure altruism.

Cooperation or competition

In the given issue it has been stated that the best way for society to prepare its young people for leadership in government, industry, or other fields is by instilling in them a sense of cooperation instead of competition. I am readily agreeing with this statement. There are several reasons behind my agreement. Those are summarized below.

First of all, leadership in government, industry or any other field is such a position where the leader has to think constantly the good for his followers. If his followers are not in good situation physically, mentally or financially and if the leader is the reason for this then the people will no more follow him. For an example, if a state minister randomly hikes the prices of essential commodities without any reason then the residents of that state will surely not elect that minister in next election. So, the leader has to cooperate with his follower. He has to understand their needs and work accordingly. This cooperative attitude should be grown from the very young age only. Because youths are malleable enough to assimilate anything good.

Secondly, it is also important for a leader to create good relation with other leaders in same fields also. If he cooperates with other leaders then he may learn some leadership traits from them too. He can know whether those leaders are more successful and if yes what are the reasons behind their success. But if he has a harsh competitive attitude then others will not cooperate with him and that may lead to an unsuccessful leadership. For an example, suppose there are two industries - A and B. Both industries are successful in some extent. Now, A's leader want to collaborate with B's for betterment of both. In this case, if B's leader wishes to cooperate with A's then both industries together will become a huge success. But if, B's leader has competitive attitude and refuse to collaborate then A's leader may ask some other leader's help and they will make a huge industry together which in turn affect B's success. So, here B's leader's attitude is directly linked with his success.

Finally, leadership is not a rocket science that if it is executed, the leader will be a highly successful one. A leader has to always keep in mind that whom he is leading. He has to realize that he became a leader because his followers and other leaders have chosen so. If he does not cooperate with them rather try to compete then his position will not be intact. So, cooperative attitude is mostly required to be a good leader. But, they have also to mark his enemy with whom he should compete. Because he has to go much further than his enemy.

So, young people should be taught the cooperative attitude from the very beginning of their life. If they adhere to this marvelous trait then they will implant this attitude into their work or action in future also. They should know the stories of successful leaders. These can make them a successful leader in future also. And successful leaders in a society make it a more healthy place to live.

Movie production

In the given passage the advertising director of the Super Screen Movie Production Company has made a conclusion about the betterment of his industry. He has some arguments behind his conclusion in the memo. But, there are some questions which need to be answered before taking the decision. Those are discussed below.

The first question which needs answer is what is the cost of those movies when it is screened in cinema halls or sold through digital media. The movies produced by Super Screen Movie Production Company may be good enough but the cost also may be so high that it prevent people to attend those movies. There may be other production houses which are producing similar type of good movies but at lower cost. So the cost factor is a big question behind the success of the Super Screen Movie Production Company.

Secondly, it is written that the percentage of positive reviews about specific Super Screen movies increased during the past year. But, the actual number and the comparison with other production company has not been discussed here. May be, other production companies are making many good movies unlike Super Screen's "specific" movies. It also may be the case that other production companies' increase in positive review is much higher than Super Screen's. So the real improvement in quality of movies produced by Super Screen Movie in comparison to other company is another question which seeks answer.

Thirdly, who exactly are the reviewers discussed in the argument and how exactly their review is matched with common people is also a point of doubt. The reviewers may judge Super Screen's movie as a good one but their judgment may not be unanimously accepted. The reviewers may not be aware of current trend and they are judging the movies of Super Screen Movie Production Company from their viewpoint only. So the quality of reviewer is a question which need to be answered.

Next, it has not been mentioned about the current advertisement policy of Super Screen Movie Production Company. May be they are already investing enough budget to advertising and it is also reaching to the people. But, people are not liking it. If it is, then there is no need to increase the budget. Because increase in advertising will have no more positive effect on people. So, current advertising quantity of the production company is also a question

Finally, success does not depend on a single parameter only. When multiple criteria meet together then success occurs. Here also, to get success, the director of Super Screen Movie Production Company has to concentrate on various aspects rather than thinking about a small change. He has to talk with public to know the public demand. He should not realize only on reviewer's words. Because ultimately he is serving the public, so their concern matters largely.

Therefore the director of the movie production company has to closely analyze the above questions before taking a final decision.

Invention

If you could invent something new, what product would you develop? Use specific details to explain why this invention is needed.

To create something new which was not familiar to the world is something called invention. Every creative mind in the earth wants to invent something. May be the invention is in the field of arts, maybe it is in the field of science or maybe it is related to some other field. Whatever be the invention, to me an invention is successful only when it is of some use to human being to facilitate their living.

In spite of the massive advancement in science and technology there are many issues with which human are still uncomfortable. One of those issues is cancer. Today biological science has got its stature but not enough to produce some treatment of cancer. There are some techniques like chemotherapy which can slow down the pace of spreading cancer in an affected body but no permanent cure of cancer has been discovered till date. Truly speaking, if I could invent something new, I would invent one medicine which can cure cancer totally from an affected person. This would be an invention from which many people from different parts of the world would be benefitted. There are several reasons behind my choice of inventing treatment of cancer. Those are summarized below.

Firstly, a large part of premature death in USA as well as South-East Asia occurs from cancer. Many people lose their near and dear ones due to cancer. There are many families where the earning person dies of cancer. One of my nearest one was suffering from cancer for a couple of year. I have visioned the pain of suffering with my own eye. Recently he passed away. He was the head of the family. Now his family has been totally ruined. They have no income source now-a-days. So cancer snatched away all from them. I want to prevent this kind of massive destruction caused by cancer and I believe that my invention would do that.

Secondly, cancer is almost a hereditary disease. Once a family is affected with cancer, its descendants have high probability to get affected too. So, cancer is like a curse to human and none can remove the curse - once spelled, nothing can be done. If I would discover a cure for cancer then it would no more be a curse. It would just like a mere disease as cough and cold.

Moreover today the adulteration of food has got such a height that the chance of affected by cancer is increasing day-by-day. If the situation sustains like this, then getting down by cancer will almost be inevitable. The death rate due to cancer will be so high that mankind will be at stake. So, my desired invention will prevent this life taking disease from destroying mankind. People will at least feel safer than before.

So, my development of the treatment of cancer will restore many precious life throughout the world. Not only it will save people from premature death, but also it will bring smile in the faces of large number of people.

River sports

In surveys Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating, and fish - ing) among their favorite recreational activities. The Mason River flowing through the city is rarely used for these pursuits, however, and the city park department devotes little of its budget to maintaining riverside recreational facilities. For years there have been complaints from residents about the quality of the river’s water

and the river’s smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason River. Use of the river for water sports is, therefore, sure to increase. The city government should for that reason devote more money in this year’s budget to riverside recreational facilities.

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

In the above argument it has been stated that the city government of Mason city should devote more money in this year's budget to riverside recreational facilities as city park department devotes little of its budget towards maintaining riverside recreational facilities and people are complaining about the quality of the river's water and the river's smell while they rank water sports among their favorite recreational activities. But there are some assumptions taken behind the argument and the implications of those assumptions may prove the argument unwarranted.

First of all, it has been said that Mason City residents rank water sports among their favorite recreational activities. It implies that there are other recreational activities also in their favorite list besides water sports. And it may be the case that if city government devotes money in this year's budget to other leisure activities then also the residents would be happy. Currently residents are complaining about riverside recreational facility because there may not be any other option of recreation besides watersports. So, that riverside recreational activity is the only activity which people of Mason City love to do and government should pour money is a one unstated assumption and it makes the arguments an unwanted one.

Secondly, in fore stated argument there is no information about the usefulness of the survey. The usefulness of a survey depends on the sample space it is considering, questioner it is preparing and efficiency of the people who are interpreting the survey. So, if the survey has not efficiency then it may mislead to a wrong result. Therefore, the statement 'Mason City residents rank water sports among their favorite recreational activities" may no longer be valid. If the survey's sample space is too small then the result should be interpreted as “a part of Mason City residents like water sports". In that case, if government spends money in a field where most of the resident have no or little interest then the investment may be a total loss. Therefore, the survey is an efficient enough is the second unstated assumption and this also is making the argument unwarranted.

Finally, it has been described that the residents of Mason City have complained about the water quality and the foul smell coming from water. But whether the complaints are strong enough or the residents are making one small issue a big one is another area of concern. Therefore the weight and truthfulness of the complaints are also an assumption of the argument and which in turn may oppose the argument.

So, looking at the above facts, it can be concluded that the government of Mason City should take the decision of devoting money to riverside recreational activities only after treating those assumptions scrupulously.

Shopping Mall

It has recently been announced that a large shopping center may be built

in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use

specific reasons and details to support your answer.

Yes, I support the plan to build a large shopping center in my neighborhood. There are many reasons for my agreement. These are summarized below.

Firstly, if a shopping center is built in my neighborhood then it will be easier for us to procure essential items which are of reliable quality also. As there is no such shopping center currently, we have to depend on cheap, low quality, local materials. Moreover, sometimes there are shortage in supply of those materials and we have to suffer for this. Therefore, upon building a large shopping center we can get quality materials with abundant supply.

Secondly, many people will come from different places to visit the shopping center. So, to facilitate their visit our municipality will decorate our neighborhood. May be they will increase the number of street lights operating on the roadside of our locality. They may keep our locality more clean. This will make our neighborhood more quaint and vibrant one.

Thirdly, as there will be a gathering of many people from many places, our locality will be widely known. At present, outside our locality, very few person have knowledge about our area. If, the large shopping center is built, then our area will be familiarized by many people in the city. So, our locality will then get a prominent place in the map of the city. Our neighborhood will be no more a lesser known one, rather many people will know about our locality and we also will get a feeling of being acknowledged.

Moreover, establishment of a large shopping center will necessitate further establishment of some side business also. For an example, there must be some food corners around that shopping center. At present our neighborhood has no renowned food corners like KFC, McDonald's or Domino's. If such shopping center will be in reality, then we will no longer be lacking of those much needed food corners.

Finally, the newly built shopping center will be a place of leisure and relaxation for us. Whenever I will get bored, I may take a troll to the shopping center with my friends to get rid of monotonous times. The view of many energized people will make me charged to be able to get back into my work.

So, looking on the various advantages, I readily support to the plan to build a large shopping center in my neighborhood as it will facilitate our lives in more superior ways.

Reward system

     In the lecture the person blatantly opposed what has been discussed in the paragraph. In the lecture it has been told that actually rewarding the employees for their better performance has an adverse effects on the productivity of the company. In the passage it has been pointed out that rewards encourage the workers to work more efficiently which in turn increases the productivity of the company. But in the lecture it has been told that the reward system builds an expectation within the workers and when an employee is not being rewarded as per his expectation then the worker becomes disappointed. In addition to that,  this incentive procedure will make the workers think that they are being manipulated. Because of these negative attitudes within the workers, the productivity of the company reduces.

      Moreover, according to the passage, promise of rewards improves employee attitudes. But according to the lecture, what workers want is respect not the reward.

      Besides, in the lecture it has been said this rewards system exacerbates the relation between the boss and workers. Workers do not want to share (with the boss) what problem they are facing, as it may create a negative impact about them. This kind of behavior in turn affects the productivity of the company adversely. So, according to the lecture, the traits of improving productivity through rewards is not a valid way to improve productivity in company as said in the passage.

Food product

The following appeared in a memo to the board of directors of Bargain Brand Cereals.

"One year ago we introduced our first product, Bargain Brand breakfast cereal. Our very low prices quickly drew many customers away from the top-selling cereal companies. Although the companies producing the top brands have since tried to compete with us by lowering their prices and although several plan to introduce their own budget brands, not once have we needed to raise our prices to continue making a profit. Given our success in selling cereal, we recommend that Bargain Brand now expand its business and begin marketing other low-priced food products as quickly as possible."

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

In the given memo, the board of directors of Bargain Brand Cereals has decided to extend their business from breakfast cereals to other food products as well. Apparently, their logic behind the decision is correct. But if we examine closely, then it can be realized that there are some questions which need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is reasonable or not.

First question which needs answer is whether there is already some reputed company which sales food products, Bargain Brand aiming for, in cheap price? If it is so, then it will not be easy to Bargain Brand to establish a firm market with those food products. Moreover, if other companies are sailing those products in sufficiently low price, then to make the price even lower, Bargain Brand can suffer loss in their business. So, the directors should closely examine the position of other food products companies in terms of reputation and their price of the products too. Because, if Bargain Brand starts to make loss while sailing products in low price, then it will not be a smart business strategy.

Secondly, it is not mentioned in the passage that, besides breakfast cereal whether Bargain Brand are equally efficient to produce other food products or not. May be they have a good set of workers who are expert to produce breakfast cereal only. For that, they are gaining reputation. It is not so obvious that, if one company is producing a specific product very well, it will produce other products well also. Before venturing to the new business, Bargain Brand should be confident enough that they can make those ‘other food products’ equally good.

The other information which is not clear from the passage is the demand of breakfast cereal in comparison to other food products. It may be the case that, there is a high demand of breakfast cereal. For that, Bargain Brand has become reputed in a short span of time. Besides, the amount of consumption of breakfast cereal per person may be so high that people tend to buy cereal in a lower rate. But, for other food products, the demand may not be the same. People may not even bother about the price of those food products. They can simply ignore a new company with low price and continue their own familiar old company as they are consuming that products in a low quantity. In that case Bargain Brand may not acquire equal success with other food products.

Finally, success in any business does not depend on single variable. It needs some mastermind, some good strategy with good set of workers. So, the answer of the question, whether Bargain Brand will fetch success in marketing other food products or not, completely lies on how good their business analysts are deciding strategies and how efficiently those are being implemented. They will not get success by only lowering the prices of the food products.

Laws and their usefulness

"Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws and to disobey and resist unjust laws"

The characteristics which differentiates human being from other living bodies is that human being is a social animal. So being in society every people has his own responsibility to make the society a better one in terms of peacefulness and humanity. Peacefulness in a society can only prevail when there will be certain rules and norms pertaining to equality, justice and other aspects. These rules in written form are laws. Each people have the right to explore those rules and give opinion to the correctness of those laws otherwise the main motivation of making those laws will not be fulfilled. Whenever there are some unrest within the society, then applying those laws and with proper evidences, the wrongdoers should be punished.

As every dwellers of the society should look into the betterment of the society, it is apparently true that each individual has a responsibility to obey just laws and to disobey and resist unjust laws. To me, to certain extent this is correct. Because unjust laws can’t do the betterment of the society rather it can insert more turbulence within it. However, if the argument is examined closely then there will arise some reasons which will oppose the apparent freedom of every individual in a society.

First of all, the word ‘just’ and ‘unjust’ are totally relative to the large population of the society. What is ‘just’ to a man of a society can be purely ‘unjust’ to others and vice-versa. The situation may arise like, every laws are unjust to some people. If this is the case, then there is no need to make the laws. And if there are no laws then an anarchy will prevail. When there is certain law, then it has been made after considering certain situation. It has to have some good prospect which may not be realized by every people in the society. The laws which are ‘unjust’ to some people now, may prove a purely ‘just’ one when such kind of situation will arrive.

Secondly, resisting laws means some people are recalcitrant to the authority. There is no point to resist laws. Things people in society can do is they may discuss with the authority about the disadvantages of such laws. But blatantly refusing laws will not be the intelligent solution. They can make the laws an adaptive one which becomes rigid in pressing situation otherwise flexible. But they can’t disobey the laws because disobeying laws means disobeying the lawmakers which may otherwise provide an adverse effect to the hierarchy of the society.

Finally, to make the society healthier and smoother to live, there should be a good understanding within its people. They must care for each other and feel for one another. Then only a society will be a happy place which can’t be obtained from just condemning some laws which are felt ‘unjust’ to a stint people.

A vacation worth spent

After a long, tiring one month of college days I came my heavenly home for more than couple of days on the Independence Day with an ebullient mood. To me vacation in home means spending time with utmost leisure keeping myself a safe distance away from academics. But this time what I did in the vacation is worth mentioning.

I had the book “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini with me for more than a year. But I could not manage to read even a single page of it. The pressure of day-to-day packed schedule of college did not allow me to do that. This time I was fully determined that I would finish the book within this vacation. Though the task was too arduous to accomplish, I almost reached my goal. I could not finish the book, but right now Mr. Hosseini overwhelmed me with his splendid creation. Talking about the book is not a very easy task for me as the marvel of the book is truly ineffable. The book as far as I have gone through is centered with two teenaged boys, one Mr. Hosseini himself and another is his so called lower caste ‘Hazara’ friend Hassan. It describes all aspects of the author’s childhood. Basically his childhood was entirely filled up by his best friend Hassan and the ambivalence towards his own father. The novel gradually turns to be a haunting story of love, loss and betrayal which is truly heart touching. But what I liked most of Mr. Hosseini is his lucid, terse and laconic writing style with a fabulous choice of words. He merely ridiculed his novel and presented in a very ground-to-earth manner. The Times truly reviewed the book by stating “He’s not afraid to pull every string in your heart to make it sing”. I loved the book so much.

Another notable thing I did in this vacation is, I watched a movie named “The Cast Away”. The movie is directed by Tom Hanks. It is a superb movie to watch. In this movie a head of FedEx becomes solitary in an island after a plane-crush. The movie pictures how he survived in that island for 14 long years and how he escaped from that island. It sounds the truth, “Human has to move on with time, because tomorrow the sun will rise”, all along the movie.

Alongside, I devoured the savored dishes made by mother scrupulously. I enjoyed the outing with my friends. It was more than special to me for some reason. And all these made my holiday a fantastic one. 

Politician especially indian

Now the foregoing discussion will be centered to India’s most dangerous (not sarcastically) species called politicians. The name politician should itself bear a great respect as politicians have the responsibility to make their surrounding environment more facilitated for carrying on daily life. But this is not true in a country like India.

First of all Indian politics is like a mire. The more animosity you will give it the more it will seem to be less. To common citizens of India politicians are as filthy as a bin full of garbage. Indian politician can do anything for their own good but nothing for country’s good. They want the comfortable chair of the political position not for serve the country but for serving themselves.

Indian politicians are enough adroit to hoax people so that public elect them as the owner of supreme power. Politicians assures them with some equivocal lectures by which people get attracted to them. In one word this is a perfect example of shenanigan.

Not only that Indian politicians are true picture of larceny and purloin also. They think public’s wealth as their own and enjoy the same like nothing. They have no attention to various breeding problems of India. May be they do not treat their country as their motherland rather as a land of luxury.

It is not like that public are not vexed with politician’s behavior. But what is the point to oppose them when the ultimate decision makers are them only. Politicians get involved in many reprehensible crimes. But either they are exonerated or their crime are proved to be misdemeanor. Sometimes some insurgent people try to foment but those malefactors still remain safe.

So, it will be better not to discuss about Indian politics because it will kindle more pugnacity but may be remain futile.

Indian cinema

Indian cinema in my view

Indian people have an immense fervor about cinema. In India, movies, both Hindi and the regional one, are released in a sporadic fashion every year. Many of those are much popular amongst a greater part of Indian population, but there are many reasons to be solicitous about the growth of Indian movies.

Many will repudiate the inferiority of current trend of Indian cinema but there are much space of reproach towards those motion pictures. The idea of criticism lies in the fact that the production of Indian Film industries are nowhere popular within global viewers. The characteristics which are making the picture an adverse one are many.

First of all the theme of Indian movie has suffered much digression from the eclectic amalgamation of ingenuous, artless and simple daily life stories of 60’s and 70’s to predictable, hyperbolic and banal unrealistic stories. Exacerbating the fact some movies are too long to be soporific and at the end of the movie it would seem to be inconsequential. Moreover in contrast to those so called ‘anachronous old’ movies, recent movies have no internal message to learn within it.

Apart from that, now-a-days Indian film-makers are not concentrating to make something of their own rather they are delighted to copy the parts of the films from some other sources and demand the result a superior one. Not only that, there is a new style of adaptation from some not-so-familiar, obscure works of others so that the viewers can easily be duped to take those plagiarized material an original one.

Adding to those facts, the current Indian movies contain too much levity. Film-makers have realized that some ‘item songs’, some ‘foreign location’ shooting, some bombastic action will hit the viewers and so those filmmakers are incorporating some ostentatious embellishment rather than even mild creativity. These situation has make the viewers inured to enjoy those reprobate films. They have forgot to appreciate the new, creative one. This is not the fact that no creative, out of track movies are being released, but they are not popularized for that reason, becoming the innovation inchoate.

Apart from all condemn, there is way out to ameliorate the situation. Film-makers, producers should make films not for money or just for entertaining the mob but they should also try to make Indian film industry a familiar one to global market. For this, they do not have to make plenty of films at a time but they should concentrate to make some better films taking much time.