Chapter 5

We always have a feeling of 'feeling incomplete' on certain days . I could explain this with a very small example( my brain works like a 17 yr old). Suppose you see someone of the opposite sex, and you really like that person. You wish to get to know that person, get more friendly, get close and then, etc., etc. ( you know ). After that suddenly one day , you really dont care much and you move on to next target.This is how I have been mostly all my life. I knew i was getting the job, so no point to continue searching vigorously as before( its a bad habit in a way).

How? Simple , I signed the work contract then and there. The feeling was unique. It was a building block to initate my bank account( in dollar). I felt like a man, a grown up man.Little did i know , the tax would kill me.



During this time, I forgot to talk about my third apartment mate. You need people like this, joyful, cheerful, loves to get drunk. As soon as he entered out apartment, he came all the way to my room. Not to greet me, but to see if i was taller than him.
He was dissapointed that whole night.

He has been used to staying in a hostel back in India ( SITUATORY WARNING: The experience in some hostels can be very dirty and very scary). I knew what was coming, the feeling of living in unhygenic condition. And he did not dissapoint me even one bit. But I was ready, if this is a battle, I was ready to go at war!

Chapter 4

Finally, the time had come. It was time for the long weekend. I have always been amazed wondering as to why do people here get so excited about 'long weekends'. People wait to buy all the stuff they need for months together on the longweekend , as there are special deals on that specific weekend. It beats me and always will. I used to think that everything has a price to pay for, especially when you are desperate for it. And then when I heard about the epic 'thanks giving ' sales story, I stopped bothering.


So it was a tuesday, the one waiting for the the labour day weekend and I had lost all hopes for an on-campus job. I started planning my schedule to take 4 courses ( BU has a very strange fees structure. If I take 3 courses, I pay a certain X amount and if I take 4 courses in that sem , I still pay that X amount. So If I have no income the best I could do was try to save my expenses). I couldnt decide on 2 and now I was planning to take 4. My favorite selection method has always been 'In pin safety pin' and "Inky pink ponky'.



I was out shopping for files ( I miss those cheap stationary stores in India) at staples, when all of a sudden I got a call. The caller said that there is a technical assistant position available and wanted to know when I could come and meet him and discuss about the position. First,I thought it was the routine call where I end up appropriately dressed, just to lose that job. However, , I just couldnt place this job in my head as I had no idea which application this was. Dont blame me , I applied to around 21 on campus jobs in 2 weeks. I was honest and I told him, "Sir, I really cannot remember who you are and what this job is about as I have applied to many other job opportunities". And then he said something that got me stunned for a second! He said "this is not posted as an on-campus job,so when can we talk more about this?".



At that very moment, I felt that god truly existed (I am a god-fearing guy).I have been running around and behind jobs for almost 3 weeks and then suddenly, I get a call without even applying for one. First I was wondering if people recogonized me as ' The guy who dresses up to get a job' and knew that if they couldnt find someone suitable for a job, I was still in the hunt. I really dint care , that evening I was excited . Was it time to get my first on-campus job? Big or small, a job is a job and a salary is a salary( framed from the words of Simon , a bar manager I met in singapore. He said ' Young or old , a wh*** is a wh****. I call it Simons First Law.)

Chapter 3

In the second week,I finally got few job responses. It was a strange feeling. I had never tried for employment before this. I used to introduce myself to girls as an unemployed youth( Some thought I was really funny, I was just being honest). Even during my under-graduation placement fair, I did not sit any placements. Maybe because I was sure that I wanted to continue studies in the land of opportunities( good choice hopefully). I just sat one placement , that too on being forced by my mom . She felt that I would gain some experience ( the only experience I try to hunt for at this age is the art of understanding women and making money in a casino). I sat for the placement paper test , and I did not even clear it ! Well it was a mock CAT placement. If I could crack that , I would have been sitting in IIM-A and not in Boston writing a blog. ( NOTE : all those who did pass the mock test (placement paper), hardly made it to the IIMs) .

Now on the day of my interview, I was dressed to to get that (part-time)job. The whole morning I was telling myself infront of the mirror that 'I was the man for the job'. And then during the interview , it was a different story .I met my interviewer in a strange manner . He was a nice guy , I met him first outside the toilet ( I was tensed) and then later we met formally in his cabin. I spent all the time trying to convince him, I can do the job. I was telling him about my research interests, my past experience and my future plans. Whether he was convinced or not, it did open a road for me . He said he would refer me to someone soon. My hopes were shattered . I knew I couldnt wear that same shirt in the same building for that week again :(

Rejection has always played a big part in my life . Girls constituted the highest percentage of the total number. Second has been getting what I really want in the first attempt ( besides girls ofcourse). I always hated rejection in school , but then slowly when u grow up you realize ' Whatever happens , happens for good ; or atleast you make situations sound that your a winner second time . My uncle was right in saying , either you are on the top or your at the bottom and at both the places , u are lonely.
At the moment , I was at the bottom. And he was damn right . I was lonely as hell.

The days passed on with some more job interviews , some asking for my schedule and rest saying they would call me up if my resume gets selected. If there is something in boston , I would not crib about , it would be my apartment. It is on one of the most noisiest street. I had an option to choose 2 rooms . One was facing the alley and one was facing a house which had 3 girls sharing a house in the first floor. I chose my room that very moment( no prizes for guessing which). Little did I realize, they would shift out of there on the much awaited 'September First' moving day.

Chapter 2

So then the story continues. I spent the first few days in my uncles house ,1 hour away from boston . I felt good somehow . Why ? Maybe because I had unlimited access to food and drinks . However the various essence required in a student's life was missing. Socializing with the same age group ( for me preferably opposite sex with age no bar).
On the first weekend , I decided to go meet my new roomate, an Indian born but residing in the US for 17 years now. I was excited , He was too , but out of no option .Back itself in India , I wanted to stay with an american. The reason being , I loved their lifstyle as depicted in movies such as American pie . However little did I realize that the life here would be similar to Harold and Kumar ( without the drugs ofcourse).

I shifted to my new apartment the following week along with him . The days were pretty much the same . Wake up , search for employment online( part -time job) , mail resumes for ever posting available , try and get them on the phone in the evening to check if posting was still available ( sister's idea) and wait till the next morning. As this went on , there was one thing confusing me , which courses to choose for my MS.

When I was ready to start my new Graduate life , I had a vision of trying my hand at Bio-electronics. I had a fanciful idea to make a portable device to diagnoize HIV ( curse for mankind , restricts random sex )and many other diseases without the cliche blood tests run in laboratory. What do I mean ? Yes a device which scans through the crowd and beeps red when it detects someone with the disease I am looking for. But then when I reached here ,I snapped back to reality . Its not that its impossible , but since its a specialized field , I would have to do my PhD.

When I was a kid , just for fun, to see what aspect of physics I was interested in , My uncle brought me a 'assemble your own electronic project kit' . He wanted to see if i was interested in hardware or in computers .
I never touched it.
However one day , I sold it to my friend as he desperately needed it, for a good profit( he must be pretty pissed on reading this). Thats when he knew , I was made for management.

And so after careful thought ( nightmares in the night) I decided to choose my courses as the last thing one would want is finish your MS and not get a job. Its worse than your girl running away on the wedding day. Because then I would be the epitome of practical joke played by destiny.