Thursday, November 20, 2008

Ice Breaker... All about me

Jet...
Jam...
JB....
Bujji...
Mentu..
Guruji...
SJB... All these names refer to me.
Do you want to know more about me?
Can you repeat all the names that I have just mentioned?

Mr. Toastmaster, members and guests, a very Good Evening!

When I was asked to give this ice breaker, I started penning my thoughts on the paper. I was clueless, not knowing where to start from. On thinking for a while, my thoughts reminded me of my birth in a small town called Tuni in Andhra Pradesh.

I was born in the family of Zamindars of Pithapuram. I did my schooling from Tabitha English Medium School along with my only younger sibling Sirisha. When it comes to studies, till 4th standard, I was always 1st in my class. (Come on clap.. applaud me..) I was always first in the class, not by the rank but by the attendance rolls. I attribute this record to my cute and sweet little girl friend dolly. In my fifth class, dolly’s father got transferred to some other location. Dolly left not only the school but also a big void in my little heart. Till that point of time, I don’t have a hobby. So, I cultivated an inclination towards watching movies, sleeping and forgetting.
For a change, I appeared for an examination conducted by Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. After going to the examination center, I realized that I forgot to bring my hall ticket. I know that if I tell this to my Dad, he will definitely kick me out. I thought for a while and said “Dad! You have 20 minutes to get my hall ticket from our home. Lets see how quickly you can get it. Come on! Start! Quick” He stared at me angrily and said “You Idiotic fellow!” and rushed to my home and got my hall ticket. Somehow, I secured an admission to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya.

In spite of being a home maker, my mother encouraged me a lot to work hard in studies. My hard earned efforts in +2 fetched me a berth in BITS Pilani. During that time, I had to make a decision of my life. Whether to catch a train to Pilani or to watch my favorite hero’s movie “Thammudu”, which was released on the same day. I went with the latter. After watching the movie, I went directly to the railway station. At the same time, the train also came on to the platform. I saw my father furiously staring at me on the platform. He said “What the f**k is this?” I said “Cool Dad! Let’s get in” After reaching Pilani, I realized that I forgot my admission letter to BITS. You can imagine how my Dad had reacted. He ran after me to kick me. I said “See Dad! All the girls from my batch are looking at us. Please don’t insult me. I’ll come out with something” Somehow, I could convince “my identity” to the authorities of BITS. I had a great time in my college and many funny things happened to me.

In my college, one day the Chemistry Professor entered the class and said “Dear Students, today we are going to have an interesting and interactive session”. But within five minutes, to his consternation, he found me sleeping in the very first bench. Professor got angry with me and asked me to get up and get lost from the class. The next class is scheduled on 14th of February i,e. the Valentine’s Day. As soon as the professor entered the class, everyone stood up and wished him “Good Morning”. But I stood up and wished him “Happy Valentine’s day Sir!”. Listening to this, the Professor jumped a feet backward and said “Hey man! Go and tell this to your girl friend. Why are you telling this to me? What would others think about us?”

No prizes for guessing what others would think

Later I was placed in Tata Consultancy Services, Hyderabad, where I worked for more than three years. Afterwards I joined Siemens IT Solutions and Services in Bangalore. Initially it pained me a lot for not getting married yet. But after looking at the troubles of my friends who got married, I deem myself to be lucky enough for not getting married yet. I am really fortunate enough to become a member of TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club in Hyderabad. In the last few years, life has taught me many lessons. In Toastmasters session, whenever I come on to this podium, I am bold enough to face audience. My association with Toastmasters for the last two years helped me to be bold enough to face life. I want to take this association forward by becoming a member of LA 1924 Toastmasters Club and this is the reason why I am here before you today.


I won "The Best Speaker" award for this speech.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

My Photo on the front Page of The Times of India

Recently I represented Siemens in Banglore IT.Biz.... I chalked those details about IT.Biz and CEO Conclave in my previous blog. The CEO Conclave was a private affair in which the press was not allowed.. Somehow, my photo appeared on The Times of India (Bangalore) front page on 7th November. To check the same... go through the following steps..:)

Please follow these steps :
a) Copy and paste the link in your browser (The browser should be IE): 
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Archive/skins/pastissues2/navigator.asp?login=default&AW=1226473486921
b) Select the following :
Publication : The Times of India Bangalore
Year : 2008
Month : November
Day : 7th
Go to front Page…
You can see one article on Front Page of The Times of India Bangalore about the IT.Biz. And you can even check the snap embedded in the article. Check the Snap below Sachin Tendulkar's snap:))

Yeah! It’s me!!!


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Rebooting a Memorable Thread ------

My Boss called me and said “Jayanth! The presentation to Siemens Vertical Heads is postponed for a week. Meanwhile, you need to attend an open marketing event “Bangalore IT.Biz” and represent Siemens IT Solutions and Services. You have to explain the IT solutions we provide in the manufacturing sector. In this event, there is a good scope to get business. Can you take up this job?” Without sparing even a second to think I said “Yes. I can. I will attend IT.Biz”

I prepared slides about Product Lifecycle Manufacturing, Manufacturing Execution Systems, Supply Chain Management, etc. The next day morning, I reached the venue, Palace Grounds. I was surprised to look at the number of the security personnel present at the IT.Biz. I was shocked to see the names of the guests who are coming to inaugurate the event. The names were that of Chief Minister (Gujarat), Chief Minister (Karnataka), many ministers and MLAs. Later I came to know that this event is open to only a few delegates especially CEOs and MDs from small and big companies.

I met my colleagues at the Siemens stall. My colleagues are Sales Managers who represented Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace and Communications. All the guests visited a few stalls before inauguration. Fortunately, I got a chance to shake my hands with Mr. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat. Afterwards many CEOs and MDs of small and big companies visited our stall. Some executives even expressed their interest in initiating business with Siemens in different areas. I collected the business cards of the executives and handed those to Siemens. After visiting the stalls of other software companies, I got a good picture of the different directions in which the current software products and services are going. Mr. Sanjeev Sinha, MD, Siemens, India had visited our stall and spent some time with us.


We had an extra invitation to CEO Conclave. I accompanied Mr. Sanjeev to the conclave when he invited me. CEO Conclave was a private meeting in which press reporters were not allowed. I met many CEOs and MDs from topnotch IT companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, AMD, Wipro, etc. We had a social get together. I was lucky enough to initiate a brief talk with many of them. Later Economic Times editor invited a panel of ten CEOs and moderated a discussion. The topic was “What is the impact of recession on India and how to tackle the melt down?” The discussion was very interesting with the facts and figures. Finally, they concluded “The impact of the melt down is severe and we have to seek opportunities and invest cautiously” After the discussion, all of us had a sumptuous dinner. Even during the dinner, I got a chance to interact with few more executives and directors.


I deem this to be an unforgettable experience and a very good professional exposure.


Check out the snaps in the following link.

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/jet706/BangaloreITBiz2008#

To Nandi Hills - In search of Sunrise

I thank my friend Ramana for relieving me from the pain of posting a blog on Nandi Hills trip. Please go through the blog to find how the trip went.
http://kvramanas.blogspot.com/2008/11/date-with-hills.html

Check the snaps of Nandi Hills trip
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/jet706/NandiHillsTrip#