Gap between academia and the industry - A thought

Long time back one of the staff in my university administration commented that an education institution is there to impart degrees not jobs. Was he true or just candid?

Well he was not exactly aware about the processes that are in place to ensure that a graduate lands up with a decent career. There are career counseling cells, Training and Placement Officers and various other units who help a student take next steps for his or her career. There are campus visits by various companies for hiring potential freshers. However these visits are usually limited to professional courses. Educational institutions offering specialized courses attract the highest number of companies from the relevant industry, breeds of the IITs, IIMs and top notch central universities take the lions share when industry goes on a hiring spree.

My point of focus and concern are the educational institutions which lack in their expertise and vision to gear their students for their foray into the big bad world of professional industry. Is it a vision or resources that many institutions lack which result in not-so-ready-for-job graduates and companies think twice before finalizing such an institute for campus visit or simply dont-care attitude. I think latter is not true given the level of competition.

The other side of story
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Industry would love to have some degree of professional skills in the fresh graduates they hire both soft and technical. That is the reason why many companies spend much on induction programs and training sessions for the selected candidates. Big companies have a built-in mechanism for such programs oiled and in-place with time, whilst small companies prefer to hire experienced persons reducing the training cost, if freshers are hired then at a very low CTC than their big CMM level counterparts.

Being on both side of the fence, I do understand and believe that both the academia and industry have their requirements and expectations from each other. Academia would love to have more of industry participation in honing skills of their graduates so that their employability factor . Vis-a-vis industry would care for a more ready-on-the-floor type of hires fresh from college.

So where does the problem lie or rather the solution. Frankly speaking right now I don’t know, but this is a question bouncing in my mind for quite sometime.

Googling and surfing on the net has resulted in some interesting links, articles, case studies and anecdotes which did hinted at the same issue. India is on the good side of a resource pool which is youthful and educated but less employable.

I did come across some good Samaritans who are working in the same direction but with varied paths. One such set-up is co-cubes (http://www.cocubes.com/)

excerpt from their website homepage..

"The word CoCubes comes from the first two alphabets of three words, connecting colleges and companies. The idea is to bring a paradigm shift in campus recruitment by bringing all colleges, recruiters, training firms onto a single platform. We are the pioneers in online campus recruitment and currently swamped with colleges wanting to go online and corporate looking for an efficient and effective campus recruitment process. To know more about us click here "

I know there are many more such helps available and another one doing a pioneering work is http://www.siliconindia.com/ in online mentoring and making easy for graduates to interact with industry professionals.

I strongly believe that this is a need of the hour .. a bridge for the gap between academia and the industry. The more there are such bridges the better it is. Destination should be same 'Enhanced employability of indian graduates', paths can be different.

What say? Any comments.

The Great Delhi Run

Nov 1 2009
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Gearing up...

A beautiful misty morning would have not been more enthusiastic without this marathon. Presence of 30,000 odd delhites and athletes from all over the world made it look like a mini-carnival. But carnival it was, fancy costumes, drums beats, thumping music, laughter and zest were all there. It went successful beyond the imagination of even the planners of the event, people were jostling for space, but nobody was in a hurry. People had come with lots of plan, prepared well in advance for the event.

The Airtel Half-Marathon attracted around 30,000 runners (refer) who competed in one of the four races: the half marathon, the 7 km Great Delhi Run, a 4.3 km run for senior citizens, and a 3.5 km wheelchair race.

I along with my collegues participated the Great Delhi Run which started and finished at Nehru park covering the satya marg, african avenue and vinay marg. we collected at the holding area after parking our vehicles at Race course. The holding area was a huge ground where thousands of people collected and it was difficult to search for someone. A helicopter was hovering above to capture the event. All Appluads to Delhi Police and organizers of the race for such a successful event, yes indeed we delhites showed so much restraint in presenting ourselves as a great sport (in the right manner). It was an international event with people from many different countries running along side.

Check-out the Great Delhi Run Route






Not only did delhites turn up forgoing precious weekend sleep but also there were many famous personalities (like from our film fraternity Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Bose ..), delhi CM Shiela Dikshit, MTV Anchor Nikhil Chinnappa to name a few



The Great Delhi run was a 2 hour affair with race beginning at 9.30 AM and ending at 11.30 AM, but what 2 hours it had been. Great fanfare, enthusiasm and fun. It was no less than a mini-carnival. We had joined with a theme of celebrating Common Wealth Games 2010 hosted by Delhi and pitching for Olympics 2020 for which Delhi is a contender.

Finally at around 12 noon we left the race ground with a great feeling and needless to say headed for the first restraunt in-sight. Although there were many suggestions but we zeroed in on Andhra Bhavan and had a delightful lunch.








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Some more pics from the event

Be careful while choosing a company

While surfing through the net this morning I came across an interesting article on Rediff.com on layoffs right from a manager on other side of table engaged in decision making for some layoffs in his company.

For detailed article go through this link
http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2009/may/13/be-very-careful-while-choosing-a-company.htm

He writes his story and sums up with some pieace of advice as below :

My advice to any management

• Do not hire people unless you are sure about their roles


• Make long-term priorities.


• Employees should not be treated as physical assets but as living beings with emotions. If you are not able to afford them do not hire them

My advice to any youngster or an employee

• Be very careful while choosing a company.


• Small companies are becoming cheats these days by adopting American work policy of hire & fire


• Before joining a company, go for a history check.


• If an employer has the right to verify your professional background, an an employee you too have every right to verify the company credentials.


• Contact its previous or current employees and take feedback from them. You may get the real picture of the company


• While on the interview table, clarify each and every point with your employer.


• Do not hesitate to ask the HR manager to mail you the company's HR policies for its employees


• Last but not the least, do not always blame your manager for the pink slip you have received.

Nano – Changing face of Traffic

A major concern of traffic Pandits, that come Nano and traffic in some cities like Delhi will hit chaos. Traffic apart but this people’s car is surely creating waves. This is one luxury item which is going to penetrate across all segments. People in as humble as a profession like cobbler, pan-wala etc. are eyeing for this once upon a time Sahib’s vehicle. Not only the lower middle class but also the upper middle class segments are vying for Nano. One of my friends (who already owns two luxury cars) pointed out that even though they have enough cars in their household but taking a Nano would ensure you have one for any emergency when no other is available especially for ladies in the home.
Kudos to Mr. Ratan Tata for his dream project which holds the potential of making many a dreams come true. I couldn’t help but share this incidence when I visited two prominent banks and was amazed to see the crowd which was there to book a Nano. Right now banks have associated several personals and designated a counter specifically for these bookings.
What happens to fears of Traffic pundits that time will tell, but right now there is this celebrity which is getting all attention.

So much for words want to have peek into peoples car then browse through this link
http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/

Closing Open-Source

When I saw the news of Oracle’s takeover of Sun after IBM exit, the first thought was where is Open-Source headed. First it was a take-over of MySQL by Sun which worried many hearts that if MySQL would remain free. Now this news of Suns acquisition is a major concern for open-source community. The ever increasing materialization in professional world with much respected open-source companies available for a price is a jolt for community itself. Free software is more popular than propriety software especially in students, entrepreneurs and small organizations and startups. Although personally I see Oracle as more open-source friendly than some of other giants but this surely gonna hit free software in some way or other. On the other side it might be possible that all my fears come out rubbish and this acquisition comes out as a boon for MySQL, Java and hordes of other open-source technologies with support available from expertise of Oracle.

Elections 2009 - Hot Season of Politics

In India or may be any other democratic country Elections are a big part of life. The drama and activities may be doubles and tripples in as large a democratic country as ours.
Well the current government is completing it’s five years in office and is time for another general elections. Time to elect our new leaders. The election process is generally preceded by high drama of speeches and of promises (which usually have a way to remain unfulfilled till the next election), fight of words and flight of shoes (lastest emerging trend).
The amazing thing is the remark of politicians on each other, the language and the mud-slinging. Instead of coming together for betterment of country and new policies for youth they are busy in making plans and schemes in how to retain or gain their kursi. Ah! The dance of democracy indeed.
But this time there surely are winds of change which may not necessarily bring about a difference immediately but surely pave way for good in the future. The youth of today is the change, the literate, educated, informed youth of Young India. The leaders will be decided by them, smart, suave, visionary leaders. A leader whose ambition is the progress, peace & development of India instead of fighting to hold the post even if it is for one-time only or once in a life-time only. Time to see a person who is always with the people is a social reformer, a visionary, a preacher (if required), acts like a head of a family and shows up whenever required or may be each day but not only once-every-5-years. A determined personality who can make this country terror free, generate and cultivate fresh & new ideas for youth, let religion be a personal topic – a choice of an individual. Take India to next level of development and in a commanding position within our neighbours, generate jobs and opportunities for all, make education more available, take up social and national issues and make efforts to solve them atleast one-by-one. I think that is what we require from a Leader and much more.
Now is the time. We have to cast our powerful votes which is the wand for change to make India more developed, peaceful, terror-free, corruption-free country.

Jai Ho !!

Indian Premier League 2009

Enjoy fresh from oven the much awaited Indian Premier League 2009 matched...for a detailed list of matches have a peek at
IPL 2009 Schedule

ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup 2009

Plan your schedule according to ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup 2009

ICC 20-20 World Cup Schedule

WhiteWater River Rafting

As I sit down to write this post I have three objectives in mind. One to make it a relive-your-experience for the guys who were on this adventure trip along with me, two for those who already have visited this place and would instantly connect with our experience, three for those people out there who have yet to don their naturalist/adventurist hats and start exploring these places away from the usual ho-hum of professional world.

11.30 am: Thursday the 9th day of April
Final update and meeting a day before leaving

4.00 pm: Friday the 10th day of April, when after doing our usual chores at office we
set off for our journey to Rishikesh/Shivpuri for White Water River Rafting.

First let me introduce you to The Team of 12 who were part of this expedition.
Ahmad (that's me), Kushagra (will be referred to as KD), Ritesh, Rohit, Gaurav, Ajay (will be referred to as DJ or the-Manager), Yogesh, Navneet, Binay, Ranjeet, Deepak and Vikas.

Most Important Note: I have deliberately removed the last-names from above team-list as there was a resolution passed between us that nobody will be called by his last-name within the journey as well as during our stay at camps (intelligence derived from one past incidence...for those who know the infamous Agra journey).

7.00 pm: Reached KDz in the evening where generous drinks and snacks were awaiting us,
thanks to Shoili and Mom (and oh yes it was her B’Day too..Happy B’Day mom from all of us) for all the efforts.

the-Manager (DJ) along with Gaurav and Ranjeet went out shopping for some travel necessities though he did a great job but forgot ‘Salami’ which was to be a hot topic for discussion in our next two days of trip, but yes they did bring a Bucket (which was supposed to be a ice-bucket for keeping drinks chilled). After that we devoured our dinner and were all set to set-off for the much awaited trip, waited for the destined vehicle - Tourist Tempo-Traveller to arrive as we watched movie (Ugly-Pugly) on KDz home-theatre.

10.00 pm: As luck would have it, at that moment of bliss a production problem arose and some of us were dragged into solving it (problems have this nasty thing of coming at the wrong time), but we did successfully resolved it.

12.10 am: Saturday the 11th day of April

Finally..at last we are on our way to white waters of the great Indian river Ganges (Ganga)…everybody finds their respective space in the Tempo and get ready for the wonderful journey.
…well somebody might argue that what’s so wonderful about a bus ride….man go on a adventure vacation and that too with friends and that too with loads of cans and that too just after the appraisals and you will know.
Note- for all those cynics, increments/decrements or no- increments at all, doesn’t matter when going on a fun trip.

The Route
Delhi --> Meerut (bypass) --> Khatauli --> Muzaffarnagar --> Roorkee --> Haridwar --> Rishikesh --> Shivpuri --> Marine Drive --> Byasi (Camp Nirvana)

3.30 am: Rampur Tiraha, stopped at a highway Dhaba (Restaurant) for some tea and snacks.

5.50 am: Just crossed Har-ki-baudi in Haridwar..most guys in religious mood and god-fearing what a change or may be for-a-change.

6.20 am: Climbing the Himalayan Range at Rishikesh…crossed Laxman jhula...excellent resort and hotel options, breathtaking view, Hair-pin bends, and green water of the holy Ganges. Now headed straight towards our camp, camp Nirvana (apt name) at Byasi around 35 kms from Rishikesh.
7.20 am: Reached our camp. From where the bus dropped us it is a 1 km journey vertical ly downwards to reach actual camp location, here tastefully done tent houses (make-shift) awaits us and oh yes there is nothing called Electricity here.

7.50 am: Unpack
8.00 am: Beach Volley..played 3 games ..excellent warm-up before the rafting begins
9.30 am: Breakfast calling. Sandwiches with sauce, parathas with pickle and curd, macaroni and tea

10.45 am: Left for rafting and reached the location where our boats awaited. In between also visited a cave in the mountain a few adventurous souls vent deep inside...thankfully they came back fine.
11.00 am: Marine Drive Took possession of our rafting gear..Helmet, life-jackets and rowers. There was a briefing on safety and raft maneuvering by a senior instructor.

11.30 am: Set off for the great rafting expedition from Marine Drive.
PART-I : The whole rafting thing was divided into two parts – the first section was till Shivpuri and second from Shivpuri to Rishikesh. The seating arrangement was such that there were 2 persons in front (known as Leaders), then 2 in middle and 2 in the back, the guide who also was the Navigator was in back-most part of boat.
The stretch was 26 kms of plain (stable) river and Rapids. A Rapid is a section of a river which is fast moving water sometimes forming whirlpools, highly untamed and intimidating. This is where you get to see the actual white-water from the green water of Ganges.

The Incident: In this first part of rafting a un-fortunate but small incident took place. It so happened that two of our friends took adventure to their heads and tried swimming in the river, although the boats along with guides, divers and all of us were nearby but they being non-swimmer somehow lost control and had to be rescued. One of them gulped some water and we thought he had become unconscious, thankfully no such thing happened and they were all fun again.
In another, one of our friends lost control into a rapid and went down into the river. An excellent swimmer he quickly gained control and was helped onto another boat (his saviour happened to be a Girl on next boat. Incidently all of these 3 guys were on my boat. Kudos to the guide who acted quickly and saved and helped each one of them.

The rapids were divided into four level 1,2,3,4. Some of the rapids in this 26 km stretch were Three Blind Mice (2+) because nothing is visible before this rapid approaches, Cross Fire (1), Rocky One, Roller Coaster (3+), Tee-off, Golf Course, Cash Flow (2) because cash (purse) flows out if one is caught in the whirlpool, Club House, Initiation and Double Trouble. Another one was The Wall (4+) were only expert swimmers are allowed.

PART-I I: Halt of 5 minutes at Shivpuri, re-group and continue to next level phase of rafting. Till now we have covered around 15-16 kms another 10 kms remaining. In Phase-I rapids were of upto Level 2, in Phase – II Level 3,4 rapids appear which includes Glof Course and Roller Coaster.
Before winding it all, there was another interesting part i.e Clif-jumping. Here people were allowed to jump from a hight of about 25 foot into the river below. Most of our team tried it, I jumped straight and went about 10 feet deep, the thoughts at that moment were something I cant explain but it was exhilarating. Two of our guys took some nasty hits one at his Butts another at his andes.

05.30 pm: Back to camp, totally worn-out and exhausted. Lunch awaiting
07.30 pm: Drinks and jokes sessions start along with all bc-stuff (bc is short for Bakwas-chat...believe me). Interesting part was how we kept our drinks cold....any guesses..well the river was our refrigerator. In a sack all cans were stuffed, the sack tied to a heavy stone and thrown into the river.
09.00 pm: Snacks both Veg and Non-Veg arrive along with bornfire.
10.30 pm: Dinner served, devoured
11.45 pm: Retiring to tents for a hard-earned sleep morning @7.30

07:00 am: Sunday the 12th day of April
Morning happened early, attended the important chores of morning (loo etc) though the experience was as tough as rafting in those make-shift tents, some chose to go into the jungle to relieve themselves.
08.00 – 09.30 am: Beach Volley
09.30-10.00 am: Breakfast (as as previous days)
10.30-12.00 noon: Individual kayak, Rapling and Beach Volley
Adventure by Ajay our DJ to cross the river and reached the other side onto the mountains. Some different adventures by other team members

12.30 pm: Bath, Packing and Lunch
1.30 pm: Retreat










On our way out visited RajMahal Restaurant for some curd-rice (as one of our guys got hit by Stomach infection) other fiested upon Lassi and Lime-Soda and Sambhar (only Sambhar)
Visited Raja Ji National Park: Wild Bisons, elephants, monkeys in sight.
Back on track for delhi. Though faced some traffic jams and wrong turns but finally made it to home.
1.00 am Monday: Going off to sleep also have to make it to office tomorrow

....

missed an important part of the trip...there was this Antakshari contest (type of song competition) between us while returning back, it started when we were at Rampur Tiraha and continued non-stop till Ghaziabad. The team of 12 was divided into two - one Lead by Rohit and another by Gaurav. Well we didnt intended to go back to college/school days but it so happened that we got stuck into a traffic jam and had to do something to kill time...there was no option to play cards (kd who had 2 packs somehow forgot to bring along)...one more thing about KD he has got 26 pair of shoes (no pun intended)... coming back to Antakshari Binay & Yogesh came out to be the Best Debut (not to mention the huge collection of Altaf Raja that Yogesh has..tum to thehre pardesi, saath kya nibhaoge...). All-n-all absolute fun, Lo and behold we didnt knew when we reached our destination. The trophies are yet to be distributed.

For those planning a trip to Rishikesh can contact below for details
Mr. Ravi Rai (Senior Instructor)
Email : raftwithravi@rediffmail.com