Blue blooded

Here's my first attempt at some cartooning .. This is completely a work of 'fiction' and any parallelisms drawn are at your own risk ;)

IIM Calcutta interview was scheduled the day after the disastrous A interview. Here's my experience, which I don't think would be of any use to anyone .. and you'd know why.


Date: 23rd March, 2010
Time: 1400 hours
Venue: IIM Calcutta (Joka, to be precise)


GD Topic: The art of deception is necessary for achievement

My Performance: I thought I was a bit aggressive. Though I raised pertinent points, the panel thought otherwise and I had to defend my views. Also, in a bid to try and project both sides of the topic, I somehow came across as "shifty" to the panel, as they told me later. Again, I had to explain that it was a conscious effort on my part to see both sides of the coin before coming to a conclusion. We were given approximately one minute each at the end of the discussion in which I made a stand.

Personal Interview:


Before writing about that, let me give a brief background of what happened, which is very pertinent to the whole interview. The first person interviewed by my panel was Nilu, who happens to be my department-mate and close friend. Similar profile with similar tastes in some aspects like books. I was the seventh candidate to be interviewed.

Characters - Moi, 2 Lady professors (one of whom was a professor of behavioral sciences) - referred as L1 and L2, 1 Male professor (professor of Economics) referred as M

Moi: Good afternoon professors.

L1 - Show me your I-card and your certificates please. (They see your I-card before beginning the interview. Kahin Osama na aa jaye)
L1 - Ohk. So you're from IIT Kharagpur, Chemical Department.. Another student was from there na?
Moi - Yes ma'm. The first candidate you interviewed.
L1 - Right.

L1 - (She did most of the talking .. the behavioral professor was mostly writing and the economics professor was .. yaad nahi) So, what do you think how did you perform in your GD?
Moi - Ma'm, I think it was decent. Though I felt I was a bit aggressive and ..

L1 - Oh thank god you felt that! (Thank God I said that .. I almost did not want to say that I was aggressive :P )
L2 - Did you feel you were aggressive or your friends told you?
Moi - No ma'm, it wasn't my friends. Actually, I had realized this halfway through the GD itself and tried to tone myself down.
L1 - But it didn't seem like you did that.
Moi - (ehh .. ) I'm sorry ma'm if that was the case. Maybe my efforts were not enough to be evident.
L1 - hmm .. and I thought you were quite shifty in your arguments. Sometimes speaking positively, sometimes negatively. It seemed that you did not have a viewpoint on the topic.
Moi - (hadh hai! isn't it a general funda that we should not draw guard from the beginning of a GD and should look at both sides of the argument before coming to a conclusion) I then went on to explain that maybe because I got to speak in patches, I might have appeared to be shifty and that if given a chance to express myself continuously, the gradual gradation to the conclusion might have been better displayed. Also, I explained her that I did reach a final stand when concluding to which she agreed.

Now, they turn to the hobbies section of my application form. It had Table Tennis and Reading books mentioned. I had also mentioned the books - To kill a mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, White Tiger and a couple more. Interestingly, Nilesh also had "to kill a mockingbird" mentioned in his form.


L1 - How is that everyone has "To kill a mockingbird" mentioned in his form?
Moi - (Arey meri kya galti Nilesh ka interview pehle ho gaya aur usne bhi padhi hai kitab) Ma'm, infact it's my favorite book.
L2 - Very unusual book to have as a favorite.
L1 - Goes into some discussion over the book. Questions like - Who was Scout and Jem's friend? Who according to you was the Mockingbird in the book? and a couple more I don't remember.
Moi - Answered them all. Who'll miss the chance to speak half the time of his interview over his favorite book :P

L1 - And you've also read Catcher in the Rye.
Moi - (happy happy :D ) Yes ma'm.
L1 - Another discussion ensues on the book. Some questions on what was Caulfield's dream and what the title of the book symbolizes?
Moi - Again happily took the opportunity :D

L1 - How come you have read these books? For preparation of CAT?
Moi - (Who reads books to prepare for CAT :O) No ma'm. It was just one phase of college when I was reading books which were listed in the Times top 100. (Tried to explain that my peers had reading habits in a completely different horizon and I wanted to expand my range which made me take up these books)


L1 - Ok. So you're from Asansol. Are you a bengali?
Moi - No ma'm. My native place is Jamshedpur. My father is posted at Asansol.
L1 - Oh! So you're a Jharkhandi .. you know, these people don't like themselves to be called Jharkhandis and Biharis (smiles all around)
Moi - Oh no ma'm. I have no problems as such. (how much I wanted to give the ishtud dialogue of "I am an Indian" :P )
L1 - Ok. So tell me what you think on the performance of the Jharkhand Government.
Moi - Explained about it being a failure of the ideology on which it was formed - the upliftment of the region. Also a bit about the large scams attributed to Madhu Koda.
L1 - What other calls do you have?
Moi - Ma'm, Ahmedabad. (Here, I made a slight mistake. I also mentioned Calcutta after Ahmedabad, though slowly.)

L1 - Ok. That should be all I guess. Any questions sir? (referring to the Economics professor)
M1 - No no. I'm done. (kuchh kiya hi kahaan jo done :P)

Moi - Thank you ma'm. Thank you sir.

-----------------------

I come out with the feeling of "Ye kya tha!" . The interview was over in 17-20 minutes with a large part coming from my hobbies. Could make out no head and tail of the interview. The only good thing was, that it was way better than the interview of Ahmedabad.

PS1: Fingers crossed
PS2: Hands crossed
PS3: Everyone else who interviewed in my panel had similar interviews. I believe, it was a completely behavioral interview.

Equanimity - 29.xx seconds
Irreverent - 4.xx seconds (third-fastest by any team)
Lectern - 3.8x seconds (fastest by any team)

Bronze.

This post is dedicated to my WTGW (What's the good word) team-mates Nilu and Bhat.

Two awesome people to hang out with (It would be too much to call those meetings as practice sessions :P). Luckily or unluckily, the two of them were already walking dictionaries, which meant I could makhofy a bit, but also implied I had to do some catching up. What I learnt from all those sessions? - Poker :P

Plagued with postponements, the event finally took place today. Second last event of the Soc-Cult GC which has seen a dramatic turnaround. A gold would have sealed the fate, but it was not to be. The timings of the second and third rounds show how neat we could have been, if not for the first round. Somehow, I misinterpreted Nilu's pass and went in the wrong direction and by the time we recovered, it was too late. The team deserved far better results - though, every team in the competition would say the same about itself :)

Cheers team!

PS1: Tomorrow, the Soc-cult GC 2009-10 shall find its taker :)
PS2: Will miss the SF word events :(
PS3:  Infact, as an afterthought, who knows if there'll ever be another such event.
PS4: One improvement in WTGW could and should be - a greater number of rounds. 3 are too less.
PS5: Title Credits - Our very own gujju, Dhavy :)

When your interviews begin with that of Ahmedabad, it couldn't get bigger worse.

And what an interview it was. If there was any chance to get selected, I made sure it was obliterated. Here's my experience besot with my comments in italics. I have not written my answers at times due to either me forgetting what I answered, or I do not want to make a greater fool of myself in front of you.

Date: 22nd March, 2010
Time: 0845 hours
Venue: Hotel Kennilworth, Kolkata  (Had been here just three months back)


Essay Topic: Corporate houses should take greater social responsibility

My Performance: I think I did decent. Within the stipulated 10 minutes, I gave a short introduction, two examples and almost concluded.

Personal Interview:

I just had to be the first candidate to be interviewed .. darn!


Characters - Moi (M), Two professors referred to as L (left) and R (right) here on.

Moi: Good morning sir!  (I had not decided on the salutation till then :|)
L&R: Good morning .. please sit down.
Moi sits.


R: So, Moi, where are you from?
Moi: Sir, I'm from xyz near Asansol. Gives a little description about Asansol alongwith distances from Dhanbad and Kolkata. I really had prepared, or so I thought. Until I faced the next question.
R: Ok. So, if you join Kolkata and Asansol with a straight line and extend it further northwards, could you tell me what all places would lie on that line?
Wham! WTF! Completely stumped.
Moi: Sir .. err .. I won't be able to tell you about the straight line, but maybe I could tell you the places which come as we move northwards on the railway line from Kolkata to Asansol. (Big big mistake. . why did I have to go along the railway line)
R: Yeah, go on.
Moi: Kolkata, Burdwan, Durgapur .. blah blah .. Ghaziabad, Delhi.
R: That's it? India ends there?
Moi wide-eyed.
Moi: No sir, but I don't know the places which come next.

R: Ok, since it seems you know a lot about railways (Arrey arrey! maine aisa kab bola :( ) tell me who is the railway minister, and speak on him/her for 40 seconds.
Moi: 40 seconds :O :O Sir, Mamta Bannerjee (40 seconds :O :O) .. blabbered as much as I could for around 20 seconds. That's all sir.

R: hmm. Have you heard about Delhi being in Pakistan? Any advertisement?
Moi: (Ye kya ho raha hai .. Delhi in Pakistan :|  Turns out, there was some Indian Railways goof up in an advertisement which I did not know about. This despite going through the whole of last week's newspaper religiously) No sir. No idea at all.

R: Achcha tell me what is government?
Moi: (Kahaan fas gaya mai subah subah :( ) Blabbered something ..
And then a barrage of W questions - What, why, who, where, when etc etc is government of India .. Don't even remember what all was asked, and what all did I answer.
Somehow, the discussion came on the term "company" .. and soon, W's of company .. what is a company, who can form a company, etc etc.
Yaar nahi pata mere ko kya hota hai government aur company. Chhodh do mere ko. Bachao!


L: (Finally comes into the picture by the time I am completely psyched and shaken by R) So, how do you rate yourself in academics?
Moi: (Lagta hai kuchh prepared chizo pe finally sawal aayenge) Sir, above average.
Went on to give details such as class rank, institute rank and was asked to compare the two ranks and explain why I was doing better in the institute as against the class. Did that. (Kuchh toh kiya/bola)


L: Ok. So, tell me the second law of thermodynamics.
Moi: (yippee! kuchh toh jana pehchana puchha) Told. And missed out on the "unless external work is done/heat is supplied" part .. :iamwithstupid (how could I do that when I had prepared so much :x)
L: I think you missed something.
Moi: (Blank) Sir, I can't seem to remember.
Told him three different statements of the second law. And only in that one particular statement, missed out on that part again.
L: Have you taken any management course?
Moi: Yes sir. Operations Research (I had prepared that well)
L: Hmm. I won't call that as a management course. But ok, tell me what is a dual variable?
Moi: (Hadh hai .. pure OR mei yahi ek question puchhna tha. I had read the breadth of OR, but depth nahi :( ) Sir, I don't remember :(

Ab toh kuchh bhi nahi bacha tha. Geography, Civics, Current Affairs, Academics, sab mei maar li.
R: What are your hobbies?
Moi: (Ab ye kyun puchh rahe ho .. dekhna hai ki itna bhi pata hai ki nahi?) Sir, Table tennis, reading books.
L: Tell names of some books you've read over the last 5 years.
Moi: Told.
The situation was such that with every book I mentioned, R asked me the author. And it was only after he asked me, I told the author's name. My brain had went dead by then.


R: Ok. That would be all I guess.
Really!?! OMG .. thank you so much. I almost thought it was a never-ending ordeal.


My performance: Kuchh kehne ko baki reh gaya hai?


That's it. A complete waste of an opportunity. It was probably the best chance one could ever get to convert an A call due to the high seats:gdpi calls ratio.


PS1: IIM C experience to follow soon.
PS2: IIM A logo trivia - It shows the "SEEDI SAIYED JAALI" - the entrance to a famous mosque in Ahmedabad.
PS3: I don't care I got just A and C calls. Would not have even appeared for calls from other IIMs (apart from B) .. But I care :|
PS4: I am stupid.
PS5: I am stupid :(
PS6: WTGW today.

Greetings

If you are or have been a final year student of engineering, you'll know exactly why I've devoted so much time to build up a new blog. I wonder how will I ever be able to shed off the hangover of this excess dose of 'vellapanti' in just about a couple of months once Kgp becomes history for me.

Anyway, will love to know if the banner looks good enough or needs a touch-up.