Joy

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good, things really are - Marianne Williamson

Funny thing - I

I had a VERY funny moment right now. Moments rather. I was in the shower. I tried to think of all questions on my mind that needed creative approach. I thought about things. Munched over ideas.

Somehow I landed at my parents anniversary. I was thinking about how they were going to celebrate their 25 years soon. Then I started counting from the marriage year to now. 23. Two more years to a grand party. Yay. Wait. that means I must be turning 21 soon. But I am not. I was turning 20 soon. At least thats what I thought.

What followed this exact thought was a frantic 5 minutes were I counted their anniversary over and over to check. Then counted my birthday another umpteen times.

The conclusion: I was 21. Yes, I was going to be 21 in another month. Somehow the world had conspired into making me thing I was going to be one year younger. Either I was being stupid or the entire world had been wrong. Well, the former couldn't be the case. I had counted SO MANY TIMES. I had to be right.

Me and a friend had been discussing our next 4-5 years of life and we had constantly referred to us being 20 now. How wrong we had been. To think of forwarding all those plans by one whole year. The conspiracy smelt of bad blood. The world could not have been so mean to us.

I freaked out some more (a lot more). Rushed out of the shower back to my room, to call some one. I pinged a close friend and he was busy. I dint know how to solve the crisis. Thankfully another close friend came online and I called her. I told her the whole story with all the jazz.

Well, guess what. It was 2011. Not 2012.

All the while, I had been keeping 2012 in my head for some weird reason and had counted everything up to it. Oh. Dear. God.

Save. Me.

PS: The past few days seem to be featuring a lot of comic episodes like this one. While I am losing my mind, why don't I record it along I thought. So this is Funny thing - I. Many more to come, I assure you.

Conquer Yourself

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell 

- Buddha

Thankyou Nithya!

Just skypeeeee

Ever wondered about how you can change a kid's life? All it takes is a skype conversation! Talk to these kids, tell them about your day, sing along, dance with them or even teach them how to make tea. They just need a spark of inspiration to make it big!

http://pudiyador.org/newsletters/PudiyadorTimes_Issue8.pdf

#3 - Application Letter

Dhanya Balasubramanian 

25, Prince George’s Park, 

Residence 6, 

Blk 30, #05-05 Room I, 

Singapore 118424 

HP: +65 905* ****

e-mail: dhanya91@gmail.com

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to apply for the Entry-Level Consultant position. I am a final year undergraduate civil engineering student from the National University of Singapore.

My initial impression of Oliver Wyman was from your website that spoke of the firm’s excellent work in Management and Financial Services Consulting. However at the recruitment talk I saw much more - able, passionate and driven people who enjoyed their job and were glad to be talking about it to a bunch of curious undergraduates. That and their speech about the culture and importance of meritocracy showed me that my principles were a suitable fit for Oliver Wyman. 

My internship at CDM Smith which gave me exposure to the fastpaced nature of consulting firms, got me interested in facilitating businesses to run smoothly. This will certainly help me in adapting to the culture of Oliver Wyman. Consulting requires strategizing and planning ahead when bringing an idea from conception to completion. I learnt how to do that when I led a team of 5 for an Infrastructure Design Project and won an ‘Outstanding Individual Award’ from the Faculty of Engineering, NUS for my performance. I was also the President of an NUS art club where I organized many successful student events. These experiences that have taught me to be a team player, a keen observer and listener, highlight my potential to be an apt candidate for a consultant position. 

I interview leaders from various walks of life who have inspiring stories to tell and blog about it every fortnight. What started with interviewing friends and family, became interviews with Richard Stallman and Bijan Sabet. It has grown over a year now and makes me believe in the power of passion as an essential ingredient for success. My training as a civil engineer has helped me hone my analytical thinking which I believe is essential for a consulting position. It also makes me look at the big picture while simultaneously taking note of the details. My analytical abilities are further evident from the fact that I scored 100% in ‘A level’ mathematics and qualified for the nationals of the Informatics Olympiad, India.

I believe that I am a candidate who has a passion for creativity, an eye for detail and an interest for learning. I hope you will review my application to discover that I am suitable and pertinent for this position.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Dhanya Balasubramanian

(Edited / 01 October 2012)