Blue blooded

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.

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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.