How Benny made it big
“You will never be a playback singer,” an established music director screamed, shutting the door on the young singer. The young man didn’t say anything. He just went home quietly. He couldn’t sleep for nights. He slipped into depression.
Life over the last few months had been hell. It had been an uphill struggle after college. Benny had been the cultural convenor of Madras Christian College and as long as he was singing and winning inter-college competitions, he was a hero. As long as he was playing with his bands, he was a rock star. But our story begins after those wonder years when Benny Dayal had his first taste of the real world. Every single music director he met had nothing to offer. He would plead to get a chance to sing, at least in the chorus. No breakthrough.
Cut to Amethyst, earlier this week. Benny is running late for this interview, stuck at a recording. He has another appointment later that afternoon. He needs to be in Ethiraj College on invitation. They would make him sing a song or two and he was prepared. Just a week ago, a few hundred boys and girls from NIT Trichy went crazy during his concert. And the incident involving the music director telling him he would never make it was now a distant memory. How did he cope with the struggle, we ask as he sits for the interview. Apparently, he would sit and brood at home for hours. “My father had just had an open- heart surgery,” Benny recalls. “My parents had to shift back to India from the UAE.
I couldn’t ask for money or tell them anything. My brother was just settling down into his job. There were days, I didn’t have money for rent or to eat three times a day. There are certain things I cannot talk about.”
With no money to cut a demo, Benny had little choice but to take his senior’s advice and shelve his dream of becoming a singer. He signed up to work with a BPO. “My offer letter said I should join on September 11, 2006 but my senior Pavan wanted me to join on September 3 because they were short-staffed. So, it came out of the blue, when three days into the job, I got a call from Rahman’s office. They wanted me to sing harmony later that night. I was hoping it was not a prank.”
Incidentally, A.R. Rahman was the only music director he had not approached for a chance because he had heard it was too difficult to even meet him. That late night recording was the first of many. Rahman changed his life and took his voice to millions of homes and his name flashed on playlists around the world.
And, Benny has only Pravin Mani to thank for that. “Pravin Mani is like my Godfather. He’s the one who imparted knowledge about professional singing. Before that, I was singing only in culturals. He taught me a lot of the technical stuff. My first song was for his composition for S5, the band launched by SS Music.”
Early days
Benny had been performing ever since his schooldays in Abu Dhabi. “I joined MCC in 2002 because it was well-known for its culturals.” MCC gave him a lot of confidence — be it literary events, JAM or the performing arts. Benny wouldn’t think twice before signing up for competitions.
After his graduation in MCC, he did a diploma in journalism from the same college because it would keep him connected to the band scene. He continues his association with bands till date because he believes he’s always learning while performing live with other musicians and singers.
The Hit List
Yes, we know he was part of Rahman’s brat pack that sang ‘Pappu Can’t Dance Saala’ and ‘Delhi 6’. But the first songs he ever recorded for Rahman were for “Varalaaru” and “Sakkarakatti”. “It was during Ramzan; it happened around 4 a.m. Rahman wanted something in Arabic and Spanish and called me to sing ‘Chinnamma Chilakamma’.”
“When I started singing regularly, Rahman sir said I should quit my job. Finally, I had to leave the company because someone did an article about people in dual careers. My song from ‘Azhagiya Thamizh Magan’ had become a hit by then. So, it became a policy violation. The same night, I got a call from Rahman sir for a recording and later that night, he said: Shouldn’t you leave early or you’ll be late for work tomorrow. And, I told him: No sir, I quit. He shook my hand and said: Congratulations.”
“I like being single because I am focussed right now. Marriage is not on the cards anytime now,” says the bachelor boy who lives with his brother. His parents live in Kerala and are happy that their son finally made it. Did Benny ever meet the music director who told him he wouldn’t? “Yes, definitely. I even recorded a song for him. I have learned from my parents to not keep grudges. I don’t think he even remembered saying it,” he smiles.
Benny’s Bands On Vibrator Mode
A rock band he started during his MCC days with Akash, Themsu, Zuala, Chuba, Ajung
S5
The pop band launched by Southern Spice Music and Pravin Mani. Not functional anymore.
Hexachords
A light music band consisting of his buddies from MCC that won Saarang 2006 and today does pro-shows in colleges around the country.
Subject to Change
A recent pop band he formed with his rivals from Stella Maris College, Anjana and Anisha.
Rainbow Bridge
Sanjeev Thomas’s band that plans to bring out an original album soon.
Source from:thehindu.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pulkit Khanna (IITian), TOEFL Scholarship winner
This IITian won a TOEFL scholarship worth US$ 5000, and is heading to the London Business School for higher studies.
DELHI boy and avid football fan Pulkit Khanna, who won a TOEFL scholarship worth US$ 5000, is all set to pursue a Master’s in Management programme at London Business School. Of 300 applicants, only 30 were shortlisted for the telephonic interview, and only seven won a scholarship. He talks to Priyanka Jain about the application and selection process.
Q. From BTech to management, how did you get interested?
A. While pursuing mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi, I took part in Ace Manager, a six-week long finance consulting competition by BNP Paribas Bank. We finished with a worldwide rank of 18 out of 1,100 teams, a top rank for a team with no business background and no management institute.
I have also completed an internship at Parthenon group, a consulting firm in Mumbai, which strengthened my belief in wanting to take up consulting after studies. So, I started researching on higher education and opted for a broad-based management degree from London Business School.
Q. Why study abroad?
A. I have spent most of my life in India and want to have a global outlook, meet more people, understand different viewpoints, and see how businesses are conducted in different countries. Also, London School of Business is one of the most reputed schools across the world and was ranked No 2 by the Financial Times. It has a good mix of students, faculty and alumni network. Also, it is centrally located in Zone 1, which, in my opinion, is a great place to live and study as you have access to theatre, gardens, etc.
Q. How was the scholarship application process?
A. To apply you need to have taken the TOEFL test. My score was 180. Though there is no score eligibility criterion, the higher it is the better. They also look at your overall undergraduate performance.
The most challenging part was to write the essays. You may have great ideas but being able to express that in a limited number of words on paper is a different ballgame. I spent close to a week writing the answers and revising them.
Q. What was your essay topic? How did you prepare for it?
A. It was 1500 words and the topic - How would you improve the education system in India. I had to write about things I feel should be icluded in the system, today . For instance, I feel that everything is so standardised in a large country like ours even though there are so many culturally distinct zones. I feel that it does not work to teach English or Hindi to children in tribes of Andra Pradesh or Karnataka. They need to appreciate their own local language, dialect and local occupation. A rural development Centre, also helped me in the essay. The short essay questions focus on things like leadership qualities, who influenced you the most etc.You can’t really prepare for that. If you have done all these things or experienced them, you will be able to write it.
Q. Tell us about how your telephonic interview.
A. I did mock interviews with my friends, and went over things that I wanted to say and the best way to say them. It was normal interview preparation stuff. In my case, there was one interviewer at the other end and we had a lot of discussions about my essay, which lasted about 25 minutes. Apart from that she quizzed me on what I felt about education in general and about my short essay answers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world belongs to those with passion and drive!"
ONCE students get into a top B-School, after having cleared the highly competitive CAT examination, they tend to believe that they have arrived. Clearing CAT becomes an end in itself and successfully clearing this examination seems to dampen the fires of both ambition and learning.
There are scores of young graduates of top business schools with all the right credentials who ultimately amount to nothing much. They get a job in a top company, and feel that now they can relax. Five to seven years into their careers, they realise that they are out of the reckoning because they have not worked hard to prove themselves.
By the time they realise this, it is too late to cultivate new habits of listening, respecting, observing, learning and delivering. Students need to clearly re-examine the notion that being bright and from a top school, is enough to ensure success.
Think of the success stories of people from deprived backgrounds in small towns, with no networks to support them, yet end up making it really big. While they are no doubt intelligent, what fuels their rise and rise is the power of their drive, their resilience, ability to think on their feet, sharp observation and quick learning. Imagine if you were bereft of all the advantages your parents gave you, would you be able to even survive, leave alone succeed?
The world belongs to those who have the drive and the passion, not legacy and brand alone. It is therefore a good idea to use the B-School as the transformative crucible, where there is opportunity for rich and varied experiences. The classroom has its own contribution to make, but so do all the off classroom opportunities – clubs, competitions, the sheer fact of living on the same campus together, organising various events etc.
Students ought to take opportunities to interact with people in as many kinds of groups as possible so as to expand their understanding of both others and themselves, across various social and work situations. Enhanced self-understanding is one of the big takeaways which will be of great use to students since they can commence on their self development journey relatively early in life.
This also provides the chance to take initiative and work with people. In addition if there are exchange programmes on offer, do take the opportunity to travel abroad. In today’s globalising world, the more you know about different people and cultures through first-hand experience, the better one is equipped.
Secondly that chip of arrogance and cultivate an open and curious mind. Sharpen your sensitivity, learn to observe and understand people and situations around you. This is more easily said than done. In my experience, engineers typically come with the desire to operate in a perfect world where everything can be controlled and predicted.
In fact I have heard students actually say that the human factor brings in ‘bias’. It is important, though difficult for people with such mindsets, to cultivate the capability to understand not only numbers, but also people.
Above all bring clarity about what you want to achieve in your life. This will help focus your energies in the right direction and transform yourself, provided you have the drive to prove yourself, the curiosity to understand and the humility to learn.
Imagine if you were bereft of all the advantages your parents gave you, would you be able to even
survive, leave alone succeed? The world belongs to those who have the drive and the passion, not legacy and brand aloneBeing bright is not good enough to ensure a successful career, imbibe values that foster a rich work culture.
survive, leave alone succeed? The world belongs to those who have the drive and the passion, not legacy and brand aloneBeing bright is not good enough to ensure a successful career, imbibe values that foster a rich work culture.
source from:careers360.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft's future vision on banking
-------------------------------------------------
Civil Services exam: This engineer got 2nd rank!
AN engineer by qualification, a stint in the corporate world failed to entice 24-year-old Prakash Raj Purohit. Instead, he aspired to go back to his roots in Rajasthan (his home state), serve his people and be an agent of change, especially in the field of education. At second rank in the All India Civil Services examination, Prakash is poised to be a ‘yes-we-can’ man.
Q: How does it feel to stand second?
A. Honestly speaking, I was a little disappointed when I heard that I was in the second place; I hoped for more. However, I felt better when I found out that Dr. Shah Faesal was the one who bagged the coveted top rank, because I believe he deserves it more than me.
A. Since I am very fond of Mathematics and perform well in it, I joined IIT to pursue my engineering ambition. As an engineer and code developer, I experienced the corporate world, but was never inclined towards it.
So, I left my job in 2008 to prepare for the UPSC examination because I felt the civil services was a more diverse and challenging option. I reached the interview stage in my first attempt in 2008 but could not get any further. Failure propelled me to work very hard and achieve my goal.
I always wanted to do something for our people, and the challenges posed by public service and directing policies positively, as a member of the bureaucracy, drew me to the profession.
Q: And your UPSC coaching?
A. I never took up any coaching, as I believe that hard work and a thorough study of the syllabus is the key to success. You must enjoy whatever you do.
My focus was to complete the syllabus and revise as many times as I could before the exam. Reference books were numerous; more than 50. I distributed my time among various topics and made monthly, weekly and daily plans. I was regular with my academics and did not skip any day without an urgent cause.
Q: What were your reasons for your choice of the optional subject?
A. I selected an optional subject I was proficient in. Since I studied Electrical Engineering in my graduation and I am keenly interested in Mathematics, the two served as ideal choices.
Q: Which service and cadre of the services would you like to join?
A. My preferred service is the Indian Administrative Services in the Rajasthan cadre, as I belong to that state. I wish to go back to my roots and serve my people, be an agent of change who brings about positive policies. My focus will be on education, as I personally feel that education will be the biggest factor, which changes the face of our country.
Q: Who were your mentors and how have they shaped your career?
A. My parents were a constant source of inspiration and strength for me. My friends and my teachers at DAV School (particularly Ms. Mamta, who taught us Chemistry) have been a guiding force and have constantly looked after me.
Q: Who is your political idol?
A. My political idol is Mahatma Gandhi. I am a firm believer that by using the Mahatma’s principles, we can bring a lot of change in our people’s lives.
-----------------------------------------------
Meet Vipul Singh: AIEEE, IITJEE Topper
THIS young gun from Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) achieved two accolades this year – he earned the first rank in AIEEE and the fifth rank in IIT-JEE. He shares with Nitin Jindal his journey to the top, his hopes, plans and the upcoming International Physics Olympiad in Croatia, this month.
Q. Congratulations. Which institution are you opting for?
A. Computer Science branch at IIT-Mumbai because I’m interested in things like Logic and programming, and also because I’ll get a good recommendation for further studies from there. Another factor is that IIT-Mumbai Computer Science degree has a very good value in the market.
Q. So you plan to go for further studies after your engineering?
A. Yes, I plan to do my MS and PhD and get into research.
Q. Now that the results are out are you enjoying the well-deserved break?
A. Not exactly. I am preparing for the International Physics Olympiad right now, which is being held from July 17-25 in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. 80 nations are participating, India is being represented by five students and I am one of them.
Q. How were you selected?
A. I was selected by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science and Education, Mumbai. There are two national-level written rounds and the third was a camp held there. I cleared all three rounds and hence got this chance to represent India. At the camp, there were orientation lectures by professors from various colleges including IIT-Kanpur and Guwahati. Then we had an experiment session and five tests ; three experimental tests and two written theory tests.
Q. Who inspired you? Who’s your role model?
A. My parents have always guided me very well. They’ve always motivated me and inspired me a lot. There have been students earlier from Bhilai like Shashank Shekhar Dwivedi who secured AIR 1 in IIT-JEE 2003 and is currently studying in MIT Boston. Also there was Shariq Rizvi who secured IIT-JEE AIR 5 and is running his own company in the US. So from their experiences I knew it could be done.
Q. How did you come to have so much clarity at such a young age?
A. I knew I had to go in this field and IIT was the best in this line. I was in Class 6 when Shashank topped IIT-JEE. My parents also knew about IIT well and told me about it. Then I participated in National Level Science and Mathematics Olympiad and I always secured a top 25 ranking. They told me that with such a good ranking I could get in the best IIT in the country, so I knew I had to go there. When I was in Class 7 I had also participated in the India Child Genius Contest conducted by Mr. Siddhartha Basu, I was the national semi-finalist at East zone runner-up over there. I’ve been to many national-level quizzes after that and it gave me a lot of confidence when I won in these where participants were there from all over the country. So I knew I was amongst the top in the nation and knew I could do it!
Q. When and how did you start your preparation for IIT-JEE?
A. In Class 7 and 8. I was clear that IIT was my target. In Class 9 I started studying advanced topics, and joined a Brilliant Tutorials correspondence course. If there was any topic in NCERT textbook, it was covered in the Brilliants course with higher concepts. For example, if there was something about mechanics then it used to cover Newton’s Laws, which are actually taught in Class 11. So I had some idea of what was going to be taught in Class 11, too.
Q. What really helped you score such a high rank? Was it coaching or long years of preparation?
A. I was very clear from the beginning that the main part was self-study only. I joined FIITJEE because the course was integrated with the syllabus at school. Computers and English were taught to me by my school teachers whereas Physics, Chemistry and Maths were only taught to me by my FIITJEE teachers. So, I didn’t have to study these subjects separately at school and run after tuitions in the evenings.
Q. So you saved time. How come this was worked out?
A. They had a tie-up with our school, M.G.M. Bhilai with such arrangement. It is optional for the students. Actually the fees for the same is Rs. 2 lakhs but I got a 100% fee waiver since I stood All India 2nd in a written exam conducted by them in December of Class Xth.
Q. So you used to study only Computers & English at school and PCM at FIITJEE?
A. No, I was taught PCM by FIITJEE teachers inside the school campus only. So I didn’t have to waste my time running here and there in the evening and therefore I could spend a lot of time on my self-study. From my self-study I used to gather all my doubts and discuss them with my teachers for hours at a stretch. The FIITJEE teachers were very good at doubt clearance too.
Q. Did you have any separate strategy for Physics, Chemistry and Maths?
A. I used to give equal weightage to all the subjects, because questions can be from any topic.
Q. Any difference in your preparation for IIT-JEE and AIEEE?
A. Actually I didn’t prepare for AIEE separately, just prepared for IIT-JEE throughout. There were some additional topics for AIEEE from Maths and Physics which I covered in the two weeks between IIT-JEE and AIEEE.
Q. Is the level of questions same for both the exams?
A. The level is same and also there are objective questions in both but while in AIEEE all questions are “single-option correct questions”, in IIT-JEE you have a variety like match the following, multi-correct questions, some numerical questions etc.
Q. What was your course material?
A. Apart from FIITJEE ’s packages and Brilliant’s packages, I used some books referred to by my teacher like Paula Bruice for Organic Chemistry in which I was weak. This I had discovered through the various national level Olympiads I had participated in and also my exposure to Organic Chemistry in Class Xth.
Q. How did you overcome this weakness? Who helped you?
A. When my teacher was teaching Physical Chemistry, that time only I approached him and said my Organic Chemistry is weak, so he suggested I buy the book and I used to read it regularly when Organic Chemistry started and discuss all my doubts with him. He helped me a lot by giving some extra papers and summaries of this topic.
Also, I was good at Physics but used to score a bit less in the All India Test Series in the subject. In the last 5 to 6 months, I came in touch with the HOD of Physics at FIITJEE, South Delhi and we used to interact over the phone and email. He helped me improve a lot in Physics and now, I am representing India at the international level in Physics, thanks largely to his efforts along with my own. I dedicated entire January 2010 to strengthening my Physics.
Q. What would you say is the mantra of your success?
A. Time Management. Many students first go to school and study all subjects there and then in the evening time run to various teachers, typically two each for Physics, Chemistry and Maths. For me, everything was over in school time only so I had a lot of time at home for self study. Also I had only one teacher each for all subjects and they were all good.
Q. I heard you also went to Japan recently?
A. Yes I went to Japan in August 2009 to attend Asian Science Camp where I got the opportunity to listen to 7 Nobel laureates. There was a contingent of 30 participants from India within which I was one of the 7 who had got scholarships from the Japan government for the tour. The rest 23 had been sponsored by the Indian government.
Q. Any message you would like to give to IIT-JEE and AIEEE aspirants?
A. Focus on your topics and don’t try to study from too many teachers. Try to gain exposure as it helps build your confidence.
source from:careers360.com
