Thursday, February 16, 2006 

IIM K GD/PI Experience


I had my IIM Kozhikode Interview on the 15th of Feb at the beautiful IIMB campus. Hmmphh….. Pretty miffed that it messed up my Valentine’s Day plans [Get real dude ;-)]… anywayz I did try my best cramming up for the interview. I was in kinda fix as to how one should go about preparing for an IIM interview, but thanks to highly enlightening and useful comments like - ‘Be ready for everything under the Sun’ - I was able to give direction to my preparation….duhhh.

I was told that I needed to focus on my strengths. So I had diligently joined a GYM and worked hard on increasing my strength…. After toiling over a month I now proudly sport biceps that would put Narain Karthikeyan to shame. But horrors of horrors!! I realized that I was expected to wear a formal shirt and tie to the IIM interviews (why on earth?). All that toil… all that sweat … came to no avail. Sob Sob…. I was counting on impressing the panel a la Salman Khan or at least wanted to try a Ganguly shirt swinger. Maaan, was I shattered…..

But, Life goes on…so on the 15th of Feb I decked myself in an atrocious tie, a blazing shirt and hid them with a serene blazer and set out early morning to the IIMB campus. Hey, I dint forget the pants…wore them as well along with a tight pair of shoes (the chappals did look inviting though). So after an uneventful auto ride there I was in the crystal maze that they call the IIMB campus. Let the games begin ……

After navigating through a whole lot of corridors, hallways and endless passages I joined about 25-30 nervous, immaculately dressed people who had come to attend their IIMK interview. I immediately scanned through the crowd, like a responsible young man, HEY WAT THE HELL!! Just 2 girls in that sizeable crowd!!…. I immediately sat down and did a rethink as to whether I wanted to join an institute that was going to be this competitive. Imagine if there will be only 15 girls among the 180 students who eventually make it through, that would make it a boys: girls ratio of 11:1. Maaan tatz helluva competition!!!

So as I was slowly ruminating over such scary figures, a prim and proper gentleman lead us to the room where we were supposed to have our GD (Group Discussion to the uninitiated) I got to sit at the head of the table (Yippee!!) but the elation receded when I realized that I will be sitting farthest away from the panel. There were 10 people in my batch (9guyz and 1grl) and after a couple of mins we were given our topic:

'Globalization is having a devastating impact on the environment.'

We were asked to start in a couple of minutes. The discussion started and was perfect for exactly the first 8 seconds and then boy-o-boy all hell broke loose. An easy topic meant every tom-dick-harry (me included – and No, I was not the dick) had lots to say. Pandemonium, chaos, anarchy… yeah we had all the elements that makes up a beautifully disastrous GD and I am proud to say I did my fair share to add to the crazy noise. We would have put dogs outta business if we had carried on like that for long. But thankfully, the shell-shocked panel ask us to Shut up in about 8-10 mins. So out we came all disappointed and remorseful over our 10 minutes of complete madness, should put it down as completely due to the Valentine’s Day hangover.

That done, we all got ready for the next ordeal, a gruesome and mortifying experience they call Personal Interview. I guess it’s aptly named because things do get a little personal out there or so I am told…duhh.

My interview slot was number 6 and it was a long wait till I got my chance to be tandoorified. A few freshers preceded me into the interviews, among them a smug IITian and couple of confident REC/NIT dudes. Most of them came out with an expression, which said, “Hey was that a Bus that ran me over!!”
Finally, my turn comes and I am called in by one of the panel members. I felt exactly like a goat being led to slaughter, and so I entered with butterflies in the stomach and a stupid looking grin that implored for sympathy.

Panel from IIM Kozhikode, arguably the most beautiful IIM campus.

Now lets assign nicks here:
Ranjit that would be Me
Panel1 the Mooch
Panel2 the Chubby

I sit down after the usual exchanges.

Chubby: You have been at a good company for 2 years, working in a good domain and doing the same line of work you were taught in Engineering. You have also received recognition at work. So why do you want to enter into a management career?
Mooch watches me with a sideways look that’s giving me the creeps.
Me: Sir I am looking for challenges, responsibilities ……blah blah. As an engineer I feel I am limited to a narrow band. …(Boy can I fart!). I want to understand all aspects of business because.… and so it went on…

Chubby quizzes me about my college and he seemed to know quite a lot about the organization that it was a part of. I manage to tackle that easily enough.

Mooch is still watching me ….probably he is assessing my strengths or my biceps?? I try to puff my chest out and try my best to give a good account of my manly strength. He seems convinced and asks me to give him my certificates. I do that with obsequious politeness.

Mooch: You were School Captain? Which school? What did you learn in that role?
I tell him and go on to fart so much more, but then decided to stop because I felt that a little more and it would have begun to stink.

Chubby: What is the unit of Strength of Materials?
Me: Cough, Hic… Ahemm (Darn now I remember a subject by that name in my first year…but dammmit I am a macho Techie, not a Civil bore!!)
Sir, I am not able to recall

Mooch: How do you think the GD went from a personal point of view.
Me: Hmm told him that it was a chaotic one. I should have done a better job of giving structure to the GD and also should have somehow tried to bring down the noise levels, though it was admittedly a next to impossible task. And yeahh I could have contributed a few more points…
Mooch: But you did contribute a lot of points…(He goes on to mention all the points that I had said, which though substantial, I felt had been lost in the tumultuous noise….but hey the guy had heard them all and noted them down as well….Yippee!!!)

But I am brought down by his next question
Mooch: Do you think you were a little dominating during the GD
Me: I don’t think I was too dominating …
Mooch: (interrupting me) I dint say too dominating…a little ….from the point of view of the other aspirants
Me: (Somewhat relieved) Yaak Yak Yak (go on to give a lot more gyaan…about how the situation demanded it. Natural for everyone to be a little animated. Positional, Voice advantages that I had over the others and so on…I finish it with a wisecrack ….
…(Smiles all around)

Mooch: Okay, so you play Football for your Company. Which position?
Me: Right Midfield…

Mooch was in all probability a football fan because at this juncture we launch into a long discussion on football. Role of midfielder, my qualities, why I dint play forward, football formations, qualities of a forward, Rudd, Rooney, Maradona….and lot more

This goes on for about 5-6 minutes and was a very amiable piece of discussion.

Chubby: What do you know about OOAD? Do you have it being actively implemented at your company?
Me: Give him an overview of OOAD and then go on talk about OOAD at my company, Reuse repositories, Knowledge zones and so on…

Mooch: How many Indians have won Nobel prizes? Name them.
Me: Could recall only four and listed them along with their fields

Mooch: What was Amartya’s work on?
Me: I can’t recall exactly sir, but it involved the study of the situation of the poor in India.
(Later came to know it was a study of Famine and Poverty in India)

Chubby: What is a continuous function?
Me: Fumble…Mutter…(Duhh buddy …does my face displease you??)

Chubby: As an Engineer you should be knowing these things.
Me: Grin….that gets more stupid with time. (Sir, puhleease check out my biceps)

Chubby: Okay how about Applications of Differentiation?
Me: I mention about 3-4 applications of Differentiation….. (Not impressively though )

Chubby: Okay, that’s it. Thank you.
Me: Thank you Sirs. (Smile) (Was sorely tempted to emulate Ganguly and swing my shirt, blazer, tie wateva – more out of relief than anything else)
Mooch and Chubby smile
Chubby: Good Luck!

Time taken: About 15-18 mins
Feeling: Not a bad interview, but hey they passed no comments about my biceps that I worked so hard upon… and duhh people say you should always exhibit your strengths during interviews. Watever, was just happy to be out of the place .

Thatz all, folks!!!

5:47 AM | |

Tuesday, February 07, 2006 

Rang De Basanti


I watched Rang De Basanti a couple of days back. It did burn a hole in my pocket but nevertheless a movie with buddies at one of the new age multiplexes is worth the dough. Now what was Rang De Basanti all about?? Patriotism? Jingoism? Awakening of the youth? Hmmm…. Well it was a little bit of all these. The treatment of the movie was a little unique, with the sepia flashbacks to an era of brave, patriotic and valiant young men juxtaposed against the unconcerned, disillusioned youth of today. However I felt that the movie fell short of what it could have been. It promised much but failed to live up to the promise mainly due to the melodramatic and irrational tripe that constituted the climax.

There were quite a few moving situations in the movie. The bonhomie, the attitudes, the disillusionments were something that I could identify with. However the paucity of genuine causes for the youth to fight for is something that came across in a sorry manner. In a country like India, with corruption at every corner, a zillion crimes everyday do we really need an odd incident to awaken us? Have we lost the zest to fight? Have we lost the ability to rise above the ordinary and bring about change? Perhaps we have…

Saala poora system hi karaab hai… I hear that everyday, and what’s more that’s my favorite excuse as well, to defend my own inaction. Hey maan, I have a tough time living my own damnn life! Why in the world would I want to try to correct something that is beyond redemption? Fair enough, its not your job, neither is it mine, but who’s job is it then? The corruption, the political creeps, the all pervading mistrust and hatred sickens every one of us. But we have chosen to turn our back to all this and get on with our own lives. Sad, yes it is, but hey back off mister!!!

Can we make a difference? Can we turn around the society, which is seemingly going to the dogs? The answer is an emphatic YES… But that was an easy question. How about – Will I do something about it? Why should I do it? That’s a tough one ehh…

I hope I can find the answer to that, I hope every one of us can. Some people have found their answers in the past and many more will find answers in the future. Five IITians have launched their own party and have declared their determination to make a difference. I am happy for them. To be enthused about a cause that seems hopeless requires lots of motivation and lots of guts. Herez wishing them all the luck for a tough fight ahead. They will need all the help they can get. Good luck mates!!!

As for guys like me and most of you, lets hope we can discover the fire in us to fight the tide and make a difference. It won’t be easy, it won’t be smooth but hey, wars are like that and this is the biggest of them all…

1:28 AM | |

Thursday, February 02, 2006 

Crossroads

I read the Alchemist about a year back when things were not going too good for me. A discovery of the self, finding your destiny hmmm…. yeah the book did speak about all that and a lot more. However I feel the book is meaningful and applies to only a very niche audience. Most people in this world don’t need to find their destiny. In fact they are better off just living their lives without concerning themselves with anything non-existential. Nevertheless there are a few people to whom the book would have been a poignant experience, a reflection that mirrored their own quest.

It’s surprising that though we all know that we are such insignificant beings in the universe, we still attach so much importance to our quest for our destiny. Does this pursuit make anyone smarter or more sensible than a person who doesn’t give a damnn??
Why is it that we need to find the reason for our existence?

There are times in all our lives when we need to take decisions, decisions that shape our future or send us to a spiraling fall. It’s at times like these that we try to understand what is it that we want from life. I believe that its one of the toughest questions to answer and most of us will have finished a major part of our life before we even come even close to finding an answer.

I believe that we are at crossroads at every moment of our lives. There are no signposts telling you which road leads to where. All that we can do is that we put up our own signpost and follow that road. Yeahh and hope that when you get to the destination, it is where you hoped it would be :-)

7:16 PM | |

 

The Cookie Crumbles

Its done! I have held off valiantly all this while, but no more. Inspite of all the misgivings, trepidations that I have regarding blogging I have decided to bite the dust and commit the heinous crime of subjecting all mankind to my deranged musings. Not that I feel sorry for them unlucky souls ;-)

So what do I start off with ?? How about a poem.......a melancholy one.....yeahhhhhh

Young? Got Dreams? Met failure? Scared of your future? Never thought of future? Got hope? Have trouble understanding the world? Have trouble understanding yourself?
Wondering what the hell you are doing on this planet???

Good, read on......

CROSSROADS


Faces fly past, too fast to stop
To realms that even they don’t know
The dark sky, the first rain drop
Trees all green and the lush rainbow
Time flies on, who cares about these
Got to go somewhere, just like geese

The world goes dark, the silence deeper
I stand in the midst to hear the call
But I hear my heart tell me in a whisper
I really don’t want to go anywhere at all
That cannot be true, I tell myself
Everyone has to find his destiny himself

So what do I want, where do I go
Many paths to take, choices galore
I can’t decide, so let the winds blow
Just take me somewhere, I ask no more
Not a poet, nor a knight, all I ask
Make me someone who doesn’t need a mask

Staring at the crowd that rushes past
I realize they too are trying to cope
With shattered dreams, sorrows that last
With pains of failure and lure of hope
And my heart screams, in a numbing chant


Is this what I want? Is this what I want ?

I am sure that many of you will be able to identify with the thoughts and general angst that comes across in this poem of mine. If its touched a chord with any one then yeaahhh its served its purpose.



6:06 AM | |