Ripples on the brain

Yes, that’s what it looks like - this placement season. I can feel the stress levels are increasing by the day. It is as if the stress hormone Cortisol is being secreted in good amounts and the anti-stress mechanism has somehow failed to work . There are applications and more applications everyday. Hopefully the companies realize the effort that I put into these applications and short lists me atleast for that alone .

I realized some changes that are gradually taking place at the campus as it gears for the placement season. I finish my classes in the evening and walk back home and the only sounds that I hear are birds chirping and an automobile moving somewhere outside my vicinity. All the students have locked themselves in a room with their respective focus groups either cramming some current information or going through their mock interviews. Dinner time is consumed by conversations about different companies and progress in placements. “12-2-10-0″, somebody says, “who’s bowling figures are these?”, you might ask. It actually turns out to be “number of postions applied-number of applications not shortlisted-number of applications in progress-number of applications shortlisted” . I dread to open my mailbox and see the mail “Dear Karthik Ramachandran, You have been not shortlisted for ___ post in ___ company. Please go to the website and look at the status of the application” and the website hosts an irritating icon that almost mocks at me and says “Not shortlisted”. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. All the effort gone waste.

As usual calls from home come frequently (twice/thrice a week) but the conversations have changed a little. Just before we finish our call, everytime a stereotype conversation takes place:

Mom: Nee nenaikkara vela unakku kedachudum ille da
Me: hmm

Mom: Antha ezhutha aathla ___ oda payyan irunthaane, avan velaikku poga aaramachuttaan
Me: oho, good

Mom: Market romba nanna irukku nnu ellarum solraale?
Me: hmm

Mom: (after failing to get any favourable replies from me) Seri, udamba pathukko. Bye.

:). Sometimes I laugh at how stressed I can become, but sometimes the stress really takes over me and I end up thinking very pessimistically. Hopefully everything will be over in a fortnight.

Here I go. “Har har Mahadev”…