2/28/09

Saaral-Vizhiyoram



My friend Gopakumar, music composer Sanjeev Philip Thomas, and singer Benny Dayal, released his first video song, Vizhiyoram from their album Saaral.

This song is called Vizhyoram, a melodious number based on love.

Let me put my thoughts about this song shortly:

The song has been shot alongside some beach shore. The picturesque background blended perfectly with the wonderful rendering of the song Vizhiyoram made it a treat to watch. Kudos to the Saaral team for selecting a picturesque location!

Selection of the song: As a fan of peppy numbers, I felt that Vizhiyoram was not the apt beginning for a video album. There were better peppy numbers in Saaral such as Yenthan Nenjil Unmugam, Ethedo, and Oru party. But after listening to this song, I was proved wrong, thankfully. Love is an emotion that is universally felt. I realized the best way to start off a video album was to start with a melodious number on love.

The Singer: I always admire singers who are versatile. Benny Dayal is one among them. Who else could have sung this song better? But I felt he could have improved upon his body language.

Best Thing about this song: Mostly, melodious songs are shot with actors expressing sad emotions. Since this was a love song, I expected these people to portray sad or thoughtful looks, but these guys showed eccentric body language.
For instance, there is a line in this song which reads “Vedantham sollum Vedangal yellam vendaam, vendaam penne (Literally translates to ‘No need for quotes from Vedas my dear girl’)”, this was supposed to be in a thoughtful mood. But in the album, Gopu, Sanjeev, and Benny have sung this verse portraying a sort of eccentric emotion. For me, this was refreshingly different although it looked weird at times. This song gained a liveliness due to the eccentric body language.

Overall, this album was good. Please listen to this song by clicking the link below and provide your comments.
@Gopu: You looked 10 years younger, dude! :D

Click the link below to listen to the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8r9JDNxBbY

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2/4/09

Life is Strange Indeed!!!!


"Life is strange because it provides you with whatever you wish when you expect it the least."- Anonymous.
Well, I am a great fan of proverbs and the one mentioned above is one of my favorites.

Let me explain why?
Have you ever aspired to do things such as enroll for a professional course in a famous college, work for a reputed company, or make it big in some field, and then on one fine day, you realize that you are slowly and steadily moving towards it?

Well, I can't quite say that I am anywhere near achieving my dream. But I just wanted to share my experiences with you.

Ok, so here it goes:

Three years before, I was a fresher, desperately searching for a job in a field that would supplement my skill set. The problem was that I never knew what sort of skills I possessed. Analyzing my strengths and weakness, I decided that I should opt for a career related to content development.
After 3 months of intense job searching, I managed to enroll myself for a two-week program on Instructional Design, conducted by the Ma Foi consultancy. After completing the two-week training program, I and my batch mates were supposed to appear for an interview for a reputed company called SFY.(I learned from my trainer that it was SFY which had actually sponsored the training in order to find fresh talent.)

The D-Day arrived. Being a fresher, I was excited as well as nervous since this was my first interview in a reputed MNC. .
After attending 4 rounds of interview and waiting for a month, Ma Foi announced that I was rejected by SFY. However, my spirits were surprisingly high even after knowing that I missed the offer. Thanking my Ma Foi trainers for their help, I started to search a job in the Elearning industry. Being a fresher, that too a B.sc Bio graduate, I found it extremely difficult to find a job as an entry level Instructional Designer.

After nearly 2 weeks of endless and desperate job searching, I got frustrated and was about to change my mind regarding my career. Just then, one of my Ma Foi mates informed me that there was a company called Expertus in Kilpauk which had openings for Trainee-Instructional Designers. This piece of info was enough to lift my sagging spirit. So, without any further ado, I took my resume and started off to Kilpauk.
Unfortunately, I forgot the exact address of the company and ended up roaming aimlessly. The funny part was that the very next day, I got a call from the same company asking me to step in for an interview. Call it fate or divine retribution, I got the job of a Trainee-Instructional Designer in Expertus. This job was my first ticket into the world of Elearning.

After spending 11 eventful months at Expertus, I resigned and then joined Element K, a reputed concern. At EK, I learned a lot of things which made me a better person both professionally and personally. After spending 20 joyfull months at EK, I decided to leave the company due to personal reasons. Then, finally, I got a job as a Learning Designer(Instructional Designer) at SFY. I joined SFY on August 11th, 2008. Six months have passed by since I joined this company.

When I walked down the memory lane, I realised the following:
During my final year in college, SFY was the first campus interview which I had attended. (I vividly remember how I and 250 of my college friends had attended the test only to find out that there were only two vacancies. The best thing was that my friend MAHESH RAMANI got through.:) )

The two-week course on Instructional Design that I attended, was actually sponsored by SFY. After the training, I appeared for an interview in Sfy for the post of Trainee-Instructional Designer and failed to get through.

Now, after nearly 3 years, I end up working for a company for whom I had aspired to work for in the first place. Wow! Truly, Life is STRANGE!
I wish the same applies for personal desires such as marrying the same girl I love ;)

Note:
The observations made in this post are purely based on a personal perspective. Please do not read between the lines.

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