Month: April 2010

Good morning! Have a nice day!! :)

|Still searching for a better photo..|

Wow.. I’m already into my last school week here. There’s going to be a lot of lasts coming up..

Prince George’s Park Residences or PGPR has been home to me. As one of the management office guys put it, I’m a veteran of 4 years now as I have never checked out of a room in PGP thanks to staying back most vacations for work..

PGPR or PGP has been ‘home’. I still remember the first time I called PGP ‘home’ on phone in my 2nd semester – and still remember Mom and Grandmom saying their hearts fell heavy as my dorm room had become ‘home’ now.. :)

Having lived here – 3 big things I remember..

1) My Rooms:

28-7-K: My most scenic room. I still remember times when I used to walk out and enjoy the breeze on the 7th floor overlooking the harbor.. The only drawback is that the room would get flooded if there was rain and I almost lost my laptop to a shower. Oh, and it was very far from the bus stop = no lectures!

Had very friendly clustermates who had to deal with late night saturday night movie sessions, and did so without too many complaints.. I loved this room!

21-2-E: This one was like a microwave oven. Always very hot! My talk show adventure began in this room.. so sweet memories of video-ing in an around this one!

17-B2-H: I dreaded being in a room in basement 2 but being right next to the ‘forest’ (a bunch of trees really) behind PGP, it was generally pretty quiet. The only trouble was unwanted visitors that included weird looking moths, lizards and the like.

22-3-H: My current room right opposite the canteen. A little low on privacy, tends to be hot at times.. but I love it..

Learning: I realized that we are happiest when we make every place we move into, ‘home’. I was most happy when I finally made my 1st room look exactly like my room at home – yellow lights, a bed on the side(for friends to sit! :)) and great speakers. When we know where home is, we are just happier..

2) Foyer, Blocks and Mcbreakfast: Some of the most memorable times were sitting down at the PGP foyer and blocks with friends and just chatting around..

In fact, one of the more memorable memories was to finish studying and meet together with a bunch of friends at around 5am, order Mcbreakfast and then go to bed!

Learning: As time passes, it’s the small and sweet things that stay in our memories..

3) Lounges, food, chat and game nights: This one is remembering all the nights we stayed playing Risk, often for 5-6 hours with full intensity. Other memories are games of dumb charades which were a big craze last semester among others.. All these nights had a couple of things in common – staying up for chats and then ordering Mcbreakfast!!

|Mcbreakfast generally involved delicious sausage mcmuffin with egg, Hashbrowns, incredibly tasty pancakes with maple syrup and butter|

Learning: Risk divided opinion. Games of risk involved intense strategy often leading to serious atmosphere and arguments. I am on the ‘I love it’ side purely because tension strengthens bonds and would love to do it once a while as we used to.. :)

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This post doesn’t include the many many many nights spent with friends just listening to music, the many nights spent working on concepts like Sparkz, the many nights spent just enjoying student life. PGP became an amazing place in our 2nd year with food options all the way upto 2am which greatly helped as well(given typical schedules)..

It also doesn’t include the wonderful Georgie’s/Nanyang Mart which always has everything we need, the awesome tennis court and the beautiful sight of evening from foyer..

And in my heart of hearts, I know I’ll probably miss PGP more than I will miss anything else in NUS.. there wouldn’t be any NUS without PGP.. :)

A calm mind.. Here’s why.

I’d just worked out a rather detailed plan for the week yesterday night. It already looked like a pretty tough week with 3 big presentations on tuesday, wednesday and thursday but I woke up today morning(afternoon) and bam – 2 new blocks popped up.

While one is an errand, the other is a task that requires significant preparation and worst of all, needs to be done asap..Now, maybe I could have planned with this in mind, but it doesn’t work like that – does it?

The only thing that could save me is a calm mind..

I, however, pressed the panic button and began reacting – requested a friend for help, told groupmates I’d be late etc.. Only then did I realize that I can be proactive and make the rules and decide how it should flow..

I did.. The week has gotten busier but atleast I’m in control and that’s satisfying.. Should make a mental note to pause more than I do right now when thrown off balance..

Its all in the mind really..

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I’m having one of those days.. it’s funny how a lot can go wrong all at once! :)

Good morning..

This will be the week of converting thoughts to actions then! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M

Astronomy is indeed humbling..

I’m glad I’m writing these posts as I’m getting a nice opportunity to look back at my time at this wonderful place. Most importantly, my days are happier as I’ve decided to make a wish list of a few things I would like to do before I leave..

This is THE toughest post of them all just because of the sheer enormity of the contribution that Nineo has had on my life as such – not just my university days. Of course, it was never the company or the idea, but the people.. It has taken a LOT of reflection to come up with the 3 biggest things I will remember as there are so many. But, here goes..

Background:
Nineo.com was a dot com start-up dedicated to helping people find work they love. The business model has largely been scrapped thanks to a successful realization of the goal, without generation of any revenue(The story of many a dot-com, I dare say). The website now just consists of a page which talks about 27,0000 students and 9000+ projects. I applied to Nineo thanks to a senior of mine I was inspired by – 3 months into my 1st semester. And ever since then, spent my waking hours at the office till I decided to take a break from work 3 years later in July, 2009.

1) 15000 sign up target: I’m proud to say that I had a big part to play in the 27,000 student number. However, the achievement of that number was anything but easy. The toughest time was when we were a website with 3,000 students and one fine day, my mentor said to me -‘You have 3 months from now.. To hit 30,000 students’.

I was all of 18 years and 4 months then and such numbers sounded fictional. Nevertheless, I decided it could be done and somehow sat on it for 2 months. One day, things came to a head when my mentor basically told me that I better start doing else there would be ‘serious’ consequences. That was one of the many days I felt I was on the brink of being let go from the company. But, I realized later that it was never the case.. It was just in my head. That aside, I basically had a team of 3 who worked day and night signing people manually (as 2 months of ‘thinking’ had not resulted in any smart ideas) and we did hit my mentor’s intended target 15,000 right on the dot of our deadline – 12 midnight, September 29th.

Now, during this period, I had given my 3 teammates hell as I was a perfect example of an unhappy moping dog who was trying to ‘inspire’ 3 others. These things changed though with time as I had time to reflect on this and..

I learnt a BIG lesson in proactivity. A lot of the suffering I felt was self-inflicted. I had just looked at this target as one I was doing for my ‘boss’ rather than one I was doing for myself. Years later, I am very proud of the part I played but during the time, I had adopted a slave-ish mentality. It was one of those turning points.. I had a tough few months then but I also grew up a lot..

It was not the last of my tough times at Nineo. I had a very challenging period between January and June 2009 after which I decided to take a break.. More on that in a later post.
This second tough time practically was the making of the person that I am today. The sign up challenge was like the appetizer.. :)

2) Hard work and 9,999 failures: One of the biggest things I realized during this time was the value of hard work. I was working with people who had achieved more than I could even comprehend at that time and what I realized was an unfaltering willingness to work hard. More so, we also tried out hundreds of ideas at Nineo – almost none of them ever worked but I don’t remember ever being down because an idea never worked..

Failure was seen purely as an opportunity to get better. And as long as we were keen and hungry, there was ALWAYS a way.

Learning: At school, there is a lot of funny marketing about smart people who get good grades. There are rumors like ‘he barely studies/he barely needs to touch a book’ which I used tend to fall for. There’s no substitute to hard work. As my grandfather puts it, think straightforward! If you want something, you’ll have to sacrifice to get it..

And winners do..

3) ‘Tough, yet so gentle’: This is a people thing. I guess, at Nineo, the focus was entirely people which is why the people who came and went became much much better for it, even if the company didn’t (which itself was a big learning in business). The most amazing thing that I noticed was the ability of this special mentor to be tough, but yet so gentle.

He was a person who would never take ‘no’ for an answer. I was always stretched, always challenged, always made to look beyond what I could see, always hammered for talking too much, taking too much attention, lacking planning and organization, approaching tasks randomly with just execution and no thought, never using my brain among many other things..

When I look back now, I’m just glad that I got that treatment. I am someone who needs a whack when it comes to it.. And I got plenty of that. The difference was there for the people close to me to see..

Learning: Every hard hammer was balanced with a lot of love and care. I always knew a tight hug was on its way.. I had lot of tough times, but I never doubted that these came out of care..

In short, Nineo was not like a normal internship (as you might have figured by now). Nineo accounted for half of my university experience. I did not quite lead life like a normal student would – I used to be permanently dressed in formal shirts (usually in shades of blue.. Haha) and black pants. I worked all the way from Monday to the early hours of Sunday morning. The number of times I’ve walked back from Science to PGP at crazy hours is countless..

And.. Today, I can’t thank everyone at Nineo enough for making it so special. It takes years of pressure to make a lump of coal into a diamond. And I always felt that pressure with loads of love, care, trust and belief..

Let’s hope the results are coal-like..

I know I promised Nineo today but given Nineo is a significant part of what defined my NUS life and given I do not have the time right now to do justice to it, I will go on to another thing that is very close to my heart – FOOD!

Now, for some background – during my time at NUS, especially thanks to work, I’ve had the opportunity to taste many a cuisine. I always loved mediterranean and hence, the stall at the business school, Thai food(no good thai stalls on campus), Indonesian(Science, Engine) and absolutely love Sushi and Genki sushi..

Having said that, on a regular note, I am an Indian food guy. I’ve heard things change once work starts but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the food experience in NUS and here are 3 big memories –

1) Double Rice: I may be on the thinner side but I do have a pretty healthy apetite. One of the highlights is the nickname I have at the Indian stall in the Non AC canteen at PGP. I am called ‘Double Rice’.. I’ve seen 8-10 staff come and go in the last 3 years and every one of them has eyed me suspiciously when I ask them to give me 2 cups of rice instead of the usual 1 cup but then, they’ve gone on to smile and joke about it since..

It’s a memory that’ll stay.. How many of us are called ‘Double Rice’ with lots of love, eh?

Learning: The Indian stall were the first sponsors of my talk show(coming soon in a post near you..) and it is amazing how much
I’ve felt love and care from them. I’ve heard a lot about them being slow, food not being good etc but I’ve always been a loyal customer.. :)

Thanks to Alice and the aunty and uncle who run the Indian stall.

2) The Science Canteen Indian stall: The next 2 memories come from the science canteen primarily because the Nineo office was at Science and I spent a significant part of my 4 years eating at Science. Here again, I have been touched by the love and affection. I am generally very happy with my rice, egg and yoghurt and so many many times, they’ve kept yoghurt aside just in case I came by..

I was especially thrilled when Alan Uncle and Anita aunty were blessed with a baby boy(Asher) recently..

Learning: It’s attention to small things that makes all the difference. The many times they’ve saved a yoghurt for me has made my day.. from time to time..

Thanks to Asha as well from the Science stall..

3) The Science Canteen Drinks stall and Mr.Wong: We were very regular customers at the drinks stall at the canteen as we would normally be up all night at the office and walk across for a curry puff, donut and some drinks. Mr.Wong became a GREAT friend.. he’s the person who runs the drink stall and overtime, we(the Nineo team) and him developed a very special friendship..

He was practically the caretaker of a board we had placed in the Science canteen on Nineo’s behalf and more so, just a great person who always spread joy and happiness. He always had his stories, about his kids, his basketball sessions on Wednesday. All in all, a great person!

Learning: This one comes from our mentor at Nineo. In my early days, I was amazed at the attention he gave to Mr.Wong, when normally, I would just pay the required amount and move. I realized that it is about how we treat EVERYBODY around us that defines us.. not just our obvious superiors/people we care.

Moreover, listening never hurts.. :)

A final special mention goes to Uncle Vincent from Sheares supper. Another fantastic person.. again, I enjoy the extra extra whipped cream the sheares team puts on my pancake just because I get thrilled to bits.. haha

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It is a close friend’s farewell dinner today and it is time to run. I’m sure I’ve not done justice to the whole food experience. As I’m a big food person, I’ll probably come back and edit it.. but these are a few memories that are sure to stay for a very very long time! :)

3 for the week.. :)

1) Empowerment: Empowerment comes as a result of trust, capabilities and transparency. He brings in an interesting point of how empowerment can fail if capabilities do not match.

I realize I didn’t take it into consideration in my last couple of experiences as empowerment works only if the people being empowered are up to the job.

3 aspects of competence..

a) Technical competence i.e. skills required to complete a job
b) Conceptualization i.e. ability to see the big picture..
c) Interdependence i.e awareness that everything in life is interconnected

2) Trust and trustworthiness: The noun always comes after the verb and always takes longer. The biggest question here is – are we saying and doing the same things?

For example, we could talk about building team spirit within our teams but have an on-going competition amongst the team members with only 1 winner. Why would the team ever want to collaborate then? The way to do this would be to align rewards to the success of the team so everyone has incentive to improve..

Personal trustworthiness (in Covey’s view) comes from –

a) Integrity i.e. walk the talk..
b) Maturity i.e. dealing with tough situations with compassion and empathy..
c) Abundance mentality i.e. see life as having enough for all so as to always feel happy for others’ success and hence, always focussing on win-win agreements rather than win-lose or lose-win..

3) We have the freedom and power to choose: We are not just a result of all that’s happened to us. We are not ‘like that’.. Every habit of us is just that – a habit and can be changed. Of course, unlearning it is a bloody difficult process but not impossible nevertheless..

Just the fact that we are aware that it is WITHIN our power to change our scripting is powerful. So, basically, if I am always rushing/always doing things in the last minute – I can change..

First, to Matthew, for introducing ‘Music of the Night’ to me..

Matthew was one of the finalists at Sparkz and sang ‘Music of the Night’ at our auditions – a performance that captivated my music side..

Listening to the original now.. must say he did a great job! :)

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Amazing how I’ve been enjoying Opera and other new performances thanks to influences from our 10 finalists..

Batti Batti – Thanks to Bei Yi

Broken Sorrow – Thanks to Crystel

Ommagio – Performed to perfection by our eventual winner Richard..

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PS: Our Sparkz CD’s are finally out..

Now, the danger with these nostalgia posts is that they can become very very very long. So, I’ll try and keep it to 3 points each – so as to remember the 3 biggest learnings..

Just as background – When I landed in Singapore on the 21st of July, 2006, I –

-> Had never used YouTube..
-> Did not know what buffering a video meant..
-> Had used the internet primarily for a few google searches, downloading and chatting..
-> Had never stayed up beyond 2am for 2 nights in a row – the thought was unimaginable..

Anyway.. that changed..

3 things I will remember from my first few months..

1) The Admission and the excitement: 7 close friends had made it together – all of us knew on the same day that we were getting together. NUS seemed like a picnic of sorts – we did our medicals together, got stuff for university together.. the excitement was crazy..

I had a bit of an issue getting my 1 day visa and could not fly with the other scholars(which was bloody disappointing then!) and reached 2 days late. Though my heart fell a bit when I first turned into PGP (the residence looked run-down then), I thought the place was, in one word, wizard!

The first few days were crazy – no cell phones meant you never know whether you’d meet again. And thanks to forgetting to set an alarm, I ALMOST missed my QET (or qualifying english test), but hey, no harm done.. Apart from getting frozen at the ‘exam hall’.. all went well..

Learning: Some things are worth working hard for. That feeling of excitement was worth slogging the entire year at DAV Boys Gopalapuram..

2)Orientation: So, here I was, a rather insecure(and hence egoistic to cover up) 17 year old kid who thought I had achieved a lot just making it into NUS when we were supposed to stick to tradition and make a fool of ourselves in front of our seniors.

Now, that was obviously extremely hard for someone like me.. I mean, what about my big ego? Haha..

Anyway, I did survive.. erstwhile pissing a few circles off thanks to not agreeing to certain lines being crossed.. but all in all.. I made a couple of senior friends that changed the course of the rest of my university life and that was worth it!

Learning: Some experiences are worth it just for the people we gain from them..

3) The jobless days: Few lectures into the semester and I was certain Electrical Engineering was not for me. Now, I had some pretty big plans for university and I was now actively on the lookout for something else..

Since studies was not going to be it, I tried my hand at CCA’s and soon the enthusiasm wore out. The excitement at excessive freedom turned to a complacency.. And soon I was up until 5 or 6AM every morning doing god knows what..

A few goofs came and went – like leaving my windows open in my lovely 7th floor room resulting in my IBM dripping in water etc etc.. All in all.. the best thing that happened was that I was looking for something to do..

And that led to the next phase – the Nineo days.. coming up tomorrow!

Learning: It’s only when we are in the brink that we do something to bring about change.. :)