Wanna explore different interests,views and experiences...Then itz for you...: 2016

Friday 2 December 2016

What are some mind-blowing facts that sound like 'BS', but are actually true?

Have you ever wondered what is the toughest animal on the planet? Well, the answer is not a lion or an elephant not even a dinosaur, it is this little creature called a Tardigrade aka (Water Bear).

These small animals are nearly invincible, able to tolerate conditions and temperatures that would kill nearly any other living creature.

Here are some of the unbelievable facts about them:

Tardigrades have existed for a very long time. The fossil records show they have been around for 530 million years, even before the dinosaurs
They can be boiled, crushed, frozen, live in space and live without water and food for a decade.
They can live anywhere from ocean beds at depth of 14,000 ft to high up in Himalayas at a height of 20,000 ft.
A European team of researchers sent a group of living tardigrades to orbit the earth on the outside of a FOTON-M3 rocket for ten days, despite being exposed to vacuum space condition and rays, they managed to survive.
Scientists have frozen them to temperature of -200 degrees Celsius and they still managed to survive for days!
The lethal dose of Gamma Rays to kill Tardigrades is 5,000 Gy while the lethal dose of heavy ions is 6,200 Gy. For humans, 5-10 Gy is lethal.
Still not amazed? Okay then, did you know they could survive a nuclear explosion?!

Monday 25 July 2016

What is not important in life?

Nalira Rumaizan

I got 94% in class 12, science group. Now I'm doing CA, nowhere related to science, even 60% in 12th would have sufficed.
My sister got 65% in class 10. While everybody was busy bashing her, she scored 94% in class 12 and people called it luck (WTH!?!?!)
My cousin got 75% in class 12. Went on to do B.Sc in computer science. Later went on to become a gold medalist in MBA, now working for an MNC with a jaw dropping package.
My friend scored decent marks in class 12, had the means to fly abroad for higher education, now owns a house in that country.
And here in my country, parents and students fail to understand that grades have nothing to do with success, and the students pay their lives as the ultimate price…

Education is important, no doubt. But the marks, I doubt. Scores don't define you, scores don't decide your life.

Wednesday 13 July 2016

What is the most beautiful word in the English language and why?

1) Curglaff - the physical sensation experienced from diving into cold water.

2) Staycation - at home vacation.

3) Agerasia - youthful appearance in an aged person

4) Ataraxia - a pleasure that comes when the mind is at rest.

5) Silhouette - a darkened shape shown as someone’s portrait.

6) Quatopygia - the enticing movement of a man’s or a woman’s rear end (buttocks)

7) Panacea - an all-healing substance

8) Pareidolia - recognition of images in random patterns

9) Roscid - moist with or as if accompanied by dew

10) Vorfreude - the intense, anticipative joy derived from imaging future pleasures.

11) Shangri-la - a blissful place imbued with delight and peace.

12) Tryst - a secretly scheduled meeting of two lovers.

13) Epeolatry – the worship of words

What is the best answer to: "Why me?"

Arthur Ashe, the legendary tennis player who once held the no 1 rank and winner of several tournaments including Wimbledon, was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. From all over the world, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed:

“Why does GOD have to choose you for such a bad disease”?

To this Arthur Ashe replied:

The world over — 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals. When I was holding the trophy I never asked GOD: “Why me?”. So today in pain, I should not be asking GOD:

“Why me?”

Tuesday 12 July 2016

What is a typical day like for a software engineer at Google?

In short: Google Engineers are pampered!

Typical day starts with:

Get picked up by frequent Google Shuttles near your home

Bike to work or take your bike in the shuttle racks for an evening biking.

2. Free wifi in the bus to start checking your mails, calendar or just browse

3. If you did not bike to work have a workout at the gym

4. Have free breakfast with some variety

5. Some teams have daily standup meetings

6. Start coding. All Engineers either get 2 24" monitors or 1 big 30" monitor.
High end workstation. Ergonomic chair, Ergonomic keyboards. Macbook pro/Macbook air/Linux/Windows laptops! Bean bags lying nearby.
Attend a meetings. Based on your role you might attend one to tens of meetings every week. Attend meetings at different buildings spread over a vast campus and use shuttle service or help yourself with gbikes.

7. If you get bored have fun with slide

or play

or bowling at

or climb

swim at endless lap pools

or have some refreshments at micro kitchens in less than 100 meters from your desk

or just relax at

7. Get back to work

8. Decide which cafeteria you would like to have a meal today!
Enjoy the different cuisine tasty food with a hell lot of choices.
The number of choices is much more than that for breakfast and dinner

Don't forget the desserts!

9. Get back to work

10. Have dinner again at these amazing cafes and get dropped with the frequent comfortable shuttles.

If its a Friday, celebrate TGIF with snacks and alcohol.

If you want to take a break from these perks you can work from home too :)

Occasionally you would also use onsite haircuts, onsite doctor, massage, attend tech and non-tech talks!
Go for team offsite and ski, snowboard, go-kart or Las Vegas ...

The best part is everyday you get to talk to the smartest people, learn and grow!

Google is definitely a dream company!!! Keeping employees happy with great culture and keeping users happy with great products.

What are some of the best rare natural phenomena that occur on Earth?

Let me present you this picture.

No, this is not a painting. It’s actually a rare cloud formation called the undulatus aspiratus.

The wavy structures are actually caused by alternating upward and downward movements of air that sometimes arise after the passage of fierce thunderstorms. Cold and warm air slide past each other and at the interface arise these wonderful clouds.

Wonderful, isn’t it?

Sunday 1 May 2016

What is your monthly salary?

I do business. I sell rolls.

Rolls of different types, flavor and ingredients. While I just sit at the counter and collect money from the customers, I also read a lot on Quora and contribute some small pieces in Quora. After-all, mutual contributions has made this site prosper.

To people who wonder what a roll looks like?

A kati roll (sometimes misspelled kathi roll; Bengali: কাটি রোল) is a street-food dish originating from Kolkata, India. In its original form, it is a skewer-roasted kebab wrapped in a paratha bread, although over the years many variants have evolved all of which now go under the generic name of kati roll. Today, mostly any wrap containing a filling enfolded in an Indian flatbread (roti) is called a kati roll. _ Source- Wikipedia

My Education: English (Hons.) year 2011.

My Age: 27

I have hired four people in the shop. I belong to Pune, India.

My Income: I will share a detailed analysis. And as my sales vary, my income varies too. I will give an average sales. (I earn in INR, For $ conversion I have taken 1 USD= 65 INR)

Number of rolls sales per day: 250

Average margin on each roll = Rs. 30 ($0.46)

Monthly income from sales = Rs. 30 * 250 * 28 = Rs. 2,10,000 ($3231)

Rent for the place: Rs 20000 ($308)

Salaries of workers = Rs 48000 ($739)

Other expenses = Rs 10000 ($154)

My income = Rs. 1,30,000 ($2000) approx.

Why do I write this?

A couple of years back, when everyone in my family and the extended family had recognized and certified me as a blot on their family which consisted of numerous engineers over decades, I decided to quietly slip to somewhere far. (I am from Bihar, India) A friend (whom I will be grateful to for my entire life) gave me shelter for 1 month. I started as a small joint two years before. Now I sell 200 rolls minimum in a day. On weekends, I have sold up to 1000 rolls a day.

What my family thinks of me now?

I am still an out-caste. They think I am barely surviving. I never disclosed to them how much I make. And perhaps never would. Let them guess. (My mother, though, knows each and everything.) While I sit and watch all the IT crowd come and eat at my joint, I remember some of my family "grown" engineers. I earn much more than them.

Do people respect me?

I smile. I always do. Some people are rude. But most of them are good. But you dont get respect. They call you "Roll-walla" when you meet them outside. Once, I went to a disco and saw a group laughing at me. "Aren't you the one who sells rolls out there?" The saddest part is all the girls calling me 'bhaiyya'.

Reason for going anonymous:

There are many people coming to my joint who will be on Quora. I was introduced to Quora by one of my repeat customers. If they know this, I will be asked to cut down my prices :P
My family engineers. They would die wondering!!
You know the respect is low in the society. I know Quorans are different but still, I won't take a chance.

In two years I have seen so many up and downs. I have enough money in my bank account. I have bought a flat. And planning to start another roll joint soon (expansion of business, you know).

The fun part is: I have tried to convince a couple of people that this is a good business model. They don't believe.

Edit: Whoa!! I wrote this answer when my people were getting the ingredients ready for the weekend sale, and now when I look at my Quora account, it is flooded with notifications. I will reply to each and every comment and question - after this weekend. I mean on Monday the 2nd of May. While randomly going through the comments, I would like to clear a few things:

I am based out of PUNE and not Kolkata. Though two of my roll-makers ( they are my family) are Bengalis.
To disappoint some of you, that picture of rolls is NOT from my food joint. Some random internet picture. I will post some photos of my rolls soon.

Thanks fellow Quorans. Your love means so much for me. I felt I had gone strong in these years. But you guys made me cry like a baby. After two years. I felt better.

As I finish writing this edit, it is already 1st May. Happy labor's day. That's the day I celebrate. :)

Edit 2: For some people, the margin of Rs 30 appears a lot. I will just take an example of chicken roll. The rate at which I sell a double egg chicken roll is Rs. 80. Consider the ingredients: Two eggs - Rs 10, the outer roll (roti/wrap) = Rs 10 (includes oil cost), Fillets including all the spices = Rs 10 (they contain onions, mayonnaise, sauces, other cut vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes.), Chicken = Rs 20. How much that comes out to? Rs 50. Believe me, with the scale, you can reduce the costs even further. Now guys please don't start finding me on the basis of the price of a double egg chicken roll.

Edit 3: Some (or many) people have asked me whether I pay taxes. I haven't paid taxes so far. The income I mentioned is what I have started earning in the last couple of months. Again, that is varying. But I will pay tax for sure from this year. It is a promise.

Saturday 23 April 2016

How wonderful is the journey in becoming an IAS officer in India?

Haha. You will find many such success stories of people who have cracked the exam. They are posted everywhere across the internet. Read them and get motivated and have full sense of optimism. :)

But, let me answer the "other side" of the coin.

How wonderful is the journey in *not* becoming an IAS Officer.

Well, allow me to give my brief history here.

Civil Services 2013 - Interview Fail.

Civil Services 2014 - Mains Fail.

Civil Services 2015 - Prelims Fail.

RBI Manager Post 2015 - Interview Fail.

SSC CGL 2015 - Tier 2 Fail.

Every year, I almost reach the Final stage of some or the other exam and then get kicked out in the end. I have missed the Final List by a few marks, every single time.

So close, yet so far.

Three years of studies. Did I waste my time? Has it been a wonderful journey? Am I happy? Many unanswered questions for my simple life.

What exactly is "happiness"? Various definitions for various scenarios.

Every year, 10 Lakh people apply for the Civil Services Examination. Who exactly is happy amongst them?

More than 5 Lakh people fail to attend the Prelims. They either forget, or have family obligations or other work related tensions. The fact that they have applied for the exam means that they have a dream to become a Civil Servant. And the fact that they could not even attempt, would surely make them unhappy.
More than 4.85 Lakh people who take the Prelims examination fail to clear it. Some must have studied, some must have given it for timepass. Irrespective of the intention, they would be unhappy to fail an exam.
Out of the 15000 who clear Prelims and write Mains, more than 12000 fail to clear Mains. They must have written those tough 9 papers for over 5 days after preparing for more than a year. Ofcourse they will be very sad when they see that they didn't clear Mains.
2000 people out of the 3000 who give the interview will not be shortlisted for the final list. They would be shattered. Most of them lose it by a few marks, and their careers have taken a setback of more than a year now. So close, yet so far.
900 people of these 1000 who get selected would be unhappy as they did not get their dream IAS post. I have many friends in ITS, IIS, IRTS etc. who are disillusioned now because they are just glorified Group A posts. (Indian Trade Service, Indian Information Service, Indian Railway Traffic Service etc.) They felt that Civil Services gets it's charm only because of IAS, IPS and IFS. All others are normal sarkaari naukris. So, are they happy? If they got 1 mark extra, they would become IAS officers, it will prick their souls for the rest of their lives. So close, yet so far.
Out of the Top 100, the bottom 30 would be unhappy because they would get cadres they don't like. Someone would want a Mumbai posting, but they would get a Nagaland or some far off post where they don't speak the language or understand the customs. For the rest of their lives. Even though they are IAS officers, they would be stuck in a foreign land. One mark more, and they would have got their Home states or some metro city. Just one mark. So close, yet so far.

So out of 10 Lakh people, 9.99950 Lakh are unhappy. For some or the other reason. With various degrees of unhappiness.

Should we define our state of mind based on external events which are out of our control?
Should we base our levels of happiness based on successes in examinations?
Should we be sad about things which cannot be changed?

I don't know. You decide.

I shall tell you how I feel.

After slogging for 3 long years, without a source of income, living off my parents' money, in my gloomy room, and not doing anything productive as such, I feel I haveinternal mental satisfaction.

Yes. I am at peace with myself. I have transformed a lot in this journey. I have had many experiences which have changed me, for the better.

In 2013, back when I was in college, I was this goofy, immature kid who was the clown of the class. I was annoying, funny and noone ever took me seriously. I was made fun of by the whole college.

And then, I started my preparation.

For Civil Services, I had to study - Indian History, World History, Geography, Polity, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Public Administration, Sociology, Current Affairs, International Issues, Science and everything else under the sun.

In these three years, you can say that I did an MA in all these subjects. MA in 10 different areas. :D

Then, for SSC CGL, I studied Maths, English, Reasoning, Logic. That too at a high level. I did practice a lot. So, maybe add BA in 3 different areas.

And for RBI, I again did MA in Banking, Finance, Insurance, Economics and Monetary systems. I studied all the CFA material, did many Coursera lectures, and studied all RBI reports in depth.

End of three years, I was transformed from this goofy, immature kid to this mature, knowledgable adult. Now when I meet my friends, they are in a state of shock to see this change. I can talk about any topic, any subject at length. I can have productive debates and can have an opinion on everything. I sound smart when I talk. :P They genuinely *respect* me now.

What more do I want?

Thanks to writing so many examinations I had cleared one. A good job with the Ministry of Home Affairs. (Legally obliged not to tell which one)

At the end of this journey, I have a decent 60k paying Central Government Officer Post.
At the end of this journey, I have found love. One who understands me, one who supported me at my worst. One who has always been there.
At the end of this journey, I gained respect from everyone I know. Friends, parents, family, relatives and Quora.
At the end of this journey, I am more mature, knowledgeable and aware.
At the end of this journey, I understood that Life is neither fair nor unfair. Life is just life. That's it.

Everytime I failed to clear an Exam, I thought I hit rock bottom. I was sad and depressed. I was frustrated. Then the next failure came, and then the next, and then I realized that there is no such thing called a "rock-bottom".

There is no point in getting frustrated for things which are not in my hands. There is no point in being sad for your fate. I learnt that I should be happy for what I already have, and that has been a huge relief for me. I have been so much better since this realization, and have been much more productive.

Have I failed all these examinations? Yes.

Have I failed in life? Heck, No.

I love my life. Even if I am not successful, I am internally happy.

I may not have everything I want, but I do have everything I need.

What more could I ask for?

So, yes, this has been a wonderful journey. A wonderful experience. A wonderful ride.

But is this the ending? No, I have only just begun.

Thursday 21 April 2016

What is your experience as a general category in India?

Vichitra Zawar, Been sober in a environment hard to survive sober

JEE 2012,

My score :192 (I worked my ass off 12 hours a day)
His score :92 (He worked his ass off 2 hours a day)
Yes , we share same college.

College Fees,

I pay INR 30,200/semester. (My family income is less then 5 lacs)
He pays INR 6,600/semester. (His both parents are earning)
Yes, we share same hostel.

Mess Fees,

I pay INR 15000/semester.
He pays INR 15000/semester which is almost reimbursed.
Yes, we share same mess.

Pocket Money,

I spend INR 5000/month (Earned by taking tuition's and some from my dad )
He spends INR 10000/month (Scholarship)
Yes, we share parties.

CAT 2015,

My score : 99 percentile. (Expecting a miscall from IIM)
His score : 63 percentile. (Selected at IIM Ahemedabad)
Yes, I taught him aptitude and reasoning.

OIL Campus recruitement,

Me : Rejected. (My OGPA 8.1)
He : selected. (His OGPA 6.9)
Yes, we studied same course.

Gate Score,

My score : 39.66 (Disqualified and hence no scholarship of INR 1,68,000. )
His score : 26 (Qualified and gets additional scholarship.)
Yes, we shared same notes.

Who am I?
A student from General Category in India.

Doesn't he have two legs to walk?
Doesn't he have a hand to write?
Doesn't he have a mouth to speak?
Doesn't he have a brain to think?

Why aren't we treated equal then?

P.P.S. - we aren't against reservation and neither does this post implies anything offensive. But we ddefinitely say, only deserving ones should get the incentives.

Many people asked, "What is his caste? "
It doesn't matter what caste is he, What matters more is I am a general category candidate!

What is the greatest trick in mathematics?

In elementary school in the late 1700’s, a class was asked to find the sum of the numbers from 1 to 100. The question was assigned as “busy work” by the teacher, but one of them found the answer rather quickly by discovering a pattern. His observation was as follows:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + … + 98 + 99 + 100

He noticed that if he was to split the numbers into two groups (1 to 50 and 51 to 100), he could add them together vertically to get a sum of 101.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + … + 48 + 49 + 50
100 + 99 + 98 + 97 + 96 + … + 53 + 52 + 51
1 + 100 = 101
2 + 99 = 101
3 + 98 = 101
.
.
.
48 + 53 = 101
49 + 52 = 101
50 + 51 = 101

He realized then that his final total would be 50(101) = 5050.

He was none other than "Carl Friedrich Gauss"
Thanks to him we now have a formula S=n(n+1)/2

What is the rudest thing you have ever done?

When I was in 7th standard we faced a huge loss in our family business. Even managing the day to day expenses became very difficult. At one point my parents had to choose between the school fees and the house rent. So we moved to a small unit house from a huge 3 bedroom individual house.

Life was totally different from what we were used to. We understood that it was a huge loss and our circumstances are not going to change for a couple of years at least. I didn’t want my friends to know that we got downgraded so I ensured to keep them away from my new house.

One day we received a letter from our school about the upcoming 3 days educational tour to Bangalore. The tour fee was INR 1000 / person and a particular date was mentioned as last date to pay the fee.

In my school only cool & rich kid’s pay and go for tour and since 5th standard I have never missed the school tour. I knew I was not that rich kid anymore but with no second thought I threw a tantrum. Dad gave in and asked me a week’s time to arrange the money.

I was all excited and made plans with fellow cool kids. Dad called me the day before the last date. According to me he is going to give me the money. But my dad kissed my forehead, brushed my hair and said in a broken voice that he tried his best but he couldn’t arrange the money. He also promised that when we become rich again he will take me to Bangalore in plane.

Till then I never knew I can shout that much. I shouted at my poor, broken dad.

‘You always say no money, no money. I really wish I had a different father with lot of money than you’

I didn’t wait for his reply. I took my bag and went to the bus stop to board the school bus. To my surprise when I returned home dad gave me 1000 rupees for the tour. He kissed me as always and spoke to me like nothing happened. But my mom didn’t talk to me for a week. Later I learnt from my little brother that dad cried non-stop for quite a long time after I left and it was a hard time for mom to pacify him.

I was emotionless; I never apologized to my dad but i didn't go to the tour. That day mom told me that he didn’t cry even when his mother passed away.

My dad is 50 now. Love towards his stupid daughter is only growing with every passing day.

I still wipe a drop of tear every time I remember this.

Wednesday 20 April 2016

What's something unusual you said or did during a job interview that got you hired?

It happened during our campus placements. Company had shortlisted 20 students for interview round and intended to take only 2.

I had cleared first 2 interviews and was being interviewed with regional head of the company..

Interviewer: " So tell me.. What will you do if any better company with same profile but better package offers you the job?"

Me: "Sir I will take that job."

Interviewer: " This means you are not loyal to us. Even if I offer you the job there is no guarantee that you will join our company. So why should I offer you one?"

Me: "Sir if you are talking about being loyal, so let me ask you, if you find another candidate better than me then you will offer him the job. Isn't it. So going by your logic company is not loyal to me. But let me tell you it isn't about being loyal. Everyone wants best for himself. You want best people to work for you and I want to work for the best. Don't you believe you are best in the industry??"

Result : Selected..