I feel an unusual calm today. This is quite surprising and worrying at the same time. About 5 hours before I was getting ready for a presentation, but the friken words just won’t stick to my mind. I had spent the better part of my 24 hrs prior to that working in preparing the presentation. It’s not that I’m this hard working guy, but it was just that I enjoyed preparing the PPT (power point presentation) on my latest addiction – Facebook..!!
‘On anything below the Sun, our teacher had told us’. I had almost forgotten about it and was reminded only a day before the actual screening of PPT’s. It’s another story that we got some more time because the thing got postponed and we had a weekend to complete our PPT’s. I’m studying in a B-School, so what our teacher actually meant was ‘Anything under the sun that has a bottom line and a top line!’
So, as I was walking back home with the knowledge of the postponed dates of our PPT screenings and naturally thinking about the topic for our presentation. I just heard someone whisper on my ear, a heavenly voice, “facebook”. I looked around; no one was near apart from the funny teeth dog that roams around in our street. That’s when I realized that no one’s going to buy this holy ‘whispering crap’, I wonder why it’s still on TV..! Anyways, facebook was an obvious choice.
1. It was under the sun
2. It had a bottom line and a top line
3. I was addicted to it. (‘was’-------- for 2 days now)
4. I needed a reason to be online on facebook and not feel guilty about it.
My mum’s astrologer told her that her only son will get results if he works hard, he’s not very lucky with lotteries and won’t receive much favour’s, but he will get results if he works hard.
Well I say, “He can touch my balls”, because I worked the whole day yesterday on the PPT and guess what we don’t get to present it. As always, we were the last group to present and the faculty had no time left for our presentation. What they actually meant was that they were going to puke out their brains if they saw any more crap PPT’s on Corporate Governance or Rural Marketing or Micro Finance or whatever the fuck you get off on.
So, my analysis of facebook as a major catalyst of Online Social Activism and Philanthropy didn’t receive any eye balls, apart from two of mine...eye ‘ball’s’ I mean, Friken Perverts..!!
And, as to why I’m feeling calm, I thought I could figure it out by the time I finished with this write up but your guess is as good as mine. I just don’t have a Friken Clue, but I certainly don’t feel calm anymore.
Proof Q.E.D.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Excerpts from my journal - 1
7th January 2009 (10:30-11:30 P.M.) (My room)
I woke up to a disturbing feeling, a realization of sorts, about the utter disregard I've meted out to my academics these past couple of months. I'm playing out the worst case scenarios' on my mind so that I may be freaked out into settling down with my books at long last. Apart from that, one thing I have been waking up to constantly for the past 3 days is a sore throat and a running nose. I skipped classes today, I intend to study. We had Accounts in the morning, but since I'm already taking extra help for Accounts I decided on skipping it. I didn't have to convince myself much about missing the second class - Management Skills and Ethos, not because of the subject but rather due to the lecturer. A person with no knowledge of what the lec. was teaching would be forgiven to think that we were having a class on 'Prof. P.K.Ghosh's' (name changed for obvious reasons) friken Biography'.
I treated myself to 'New year Presents' the other day. Apart from the thing I'm writing on, I bought a book/novel by DBC Pierre. It's his second novel after 'Vernon God Little', which was one of my favorite reads - and maybe it won the 'The Man - Booker Prize'. I haven't finished the book, per se, but it's not half as good as the previous one. I guess its because of the British humor and slang its based on, I'm just getting exposed to it. Anyways, I hope it gets better because I shelled out quite a bit for it.
I have a mind to finish at least one lousy topic in Economics today, 'Demand Theory'. I packed up my lap top today, I've been glued to it like a friken maggot to a corpse. I barely get time to do anything, staring at the screen for hours like a douche bag. I've really become one these days. My growth is heavily biased towards horizontal growth and that too comprised of fat and bile and God knows what - owing to the amount of junk food I consume. Add to that my utter lack of physical toil, all perfectly topped up by my alarmingly low motivation to change things. Presently I can feel a part of that bile on the very edges of my lower cheeks conjunction point. So I'm going to have to call it a page (day). Nature calls…You just don't have a choice do you.
Great Expectations
Normally, What I do when I write stuff is to provide a brief recap, should I say, of what's been going on and then carry it on from there. But I'm going to skip it this time, firstly because this is a new year and plus I really don’t want to dwell on the past anymore. What's done is done…as they say.
The thing about life, forgive me if I sound rhetorical, is it's always moving, I mean like it never stops. Unlike people, especially me, who stop all the time. I'm like always running after life, there's always things to do, deadlines to meet, improvements to be done. Sometimes I feel my life is becoming like the pursuit of this ever moving bright light, and moreover my speed of pursuit is just enough to keep me within sights but never really 'there'. And this past year I feel myself slowing down to a point that the light is but a faint memory of illumination on my mind. I'm losing sight, I'm losing focus and in short I'm losing the reins to my life.
Maybe it’s the theory of causation, that states that every thing around us has to have a cause or a reason for its existence, or maybe just like that; but people (I'm being general here, so all you extraordinary special cases can go screw yourself, quite literally if that’s flexibly possible) 'generally' look for reasons to do things, the reasons could be anything , from money to little money to more money, a lot of times (esp. for guys)to get a good fuck, occasionally for self improvement, to more frequently than you would like to admit 'revenge', often to get a high, or uncontrollably to gastronomical or urological pressures, I think you get the point now. And every once in a year (at the beginning of it to be more precise), laymen like us find a reason to begin afresh, start off on a new slate with an armory of resolutions (one never tends to keep). It could be one of the reasons why we have surprisingly less no. of murders and rapes and other heinous crimes (like farting in public) in the first 3 months of a year compared to the other 9. Statistics show that even though most of us break every single resolution we make on that night of drunken madness, almost all of us try to make an effort to hang on to it for a certain period of time before spring comes up and people start shooting each other again. P.S. The above quoted statistics are entirely fictional and "bear no resemblance to any reality whatsoever"…any coincidence is entirely due to my "Intelligence" ;).
I know that a simple "I'm trying to make a new beginning in my life this year" would have sufficed for all the horse shit I poured above, but I guess writing is like playing cards - you tend to get more confident and secure once you have a certain amount of cash in your kitty or for that matter you feel good after you've already written a few hundred words. One of the main reasons I want a new beginning is because I can no longer see that bright light I mentioned about at the beginning, and "I'm losing control of my life". And as much as I hate to admit it, the main reason I'm going to end this thing here is that I'm running out of things to write. So I'll get myself armed with a few resolutions (which I know I'm going to break…after spring comes up) and pop up some other time.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Of Grasses and Dreams...
25th March
The Grass is always greener on the other side, well it sure couldn’t have been more worse than the one I was dwelling on. It was brown. It wasn’t always that way though. When I started out, it was as green as a person with envy. But post 7-8 months and a severe battering of aspirations meted out through consistent rejections, the sheen of my green side seems to have worn off. Now I’m turning a new leaf – the leaf of Work Experience. The one step in my ladder I skipped while I was dwelling with my previous leaf i.e., an MBA degree.
It’s always been exciting, you know, turning a new leaf. It gives you this sense of unexpectedness, anticipation and something that is most typical of me – pipe dreams of reaching the highest echelons of what the new venture has to possibly offer. I feel like a traveller at the start of his journey dreaming and visualising the different lands he’s going to visit, contemplating on the various challenges he’s going to face and feeling an uneasy restlessness to start out right away. I’ve never worked in my life, never felt the joy of the first self earned rupee (well I have won bets and have been particularly lucky at gambling but this is something different). And to think that my first job would be doing something I’ve been doing since primary school makes this leaf I’ve turned to even greener. Writing, it’s something I’ve done all my life. When I’ve felt alone (I was the only child of my parents), when I’ve fallen for a girl, when I’ve been dejected, nostalgic, or plain lazy. It’s always been my ticket away from the big bad world, a place where I contemplate and rejuvenate myself. It’s my dope alright.
I’m celebrating today. A quiet recognition to a new phase in my life. A celebration for lost causes and new horizons, the beginning of a new chapter. I’ve gotten over the disappointment of not getting a Management seat in any of the prestigious B-Schools of India. Gotten over the disappointment but not the dream. I’m going back much wiser and stronger than I was. Seeing success from such close quarters I now know even more about what is required to get to that next level. My dreams are the same, but it just seems like I need to make a few important pit stops before I get to where I’m headed. And work experience is definitely one of them. And what better way to start from, than writing – creative writing.
Aki…
Species: Homo sapiens
Class: Copius Writerous
The Grass is always greener on the other side, well it sure couldn’t have been more worse than the one I was dwelling on. It was brown. It wasn’t always that way though. When I started out, it was as green as a person with envy. But post 7-8 months and a severe battering of aspirations meted out through consistent rejections, the sheen of my green side seems to have worn off. Now I’m turning a new leaf – the leaf of Work Experience. The one step in my ladder I skipped while I was dwelling with my previous leaf i.e., an MBA degree.
It’s always been exciting, you know, turning a new leaf. It gives you this sense of unexpectedness, anticipation and something that is most typical of me – pipe dreams of reaching the highest echelons of what the new venture has to possibly offer. I feel like a traveller at the start of his journey dreaming and visualising the different lands he’s going to visit, contemplating on the various challenges he’s going to face and feeling an uneasy restlessness to start out right away. I’ve never worked in my life, never felt the joy of the first self earned rupee (well I have won bets and have been particularly lucky at gambling but this is something different). And to think that my first job would be doing something I’ve been doing since primary school makes this leaf I’ve turned to even greener. Writing, it’s something I’ve done all my life. When I’ve felt alone (I was the only child of my parents), when I’ve fallen for a girl, when I’ve been dejected, nostalgic, or plain lazy. It’s always been my ticket away from the big bad world, a place where I contemplate and rejuvenate myself. It’s my dope alright.
I’m celebrating today. A quiet recognition to a new phase in my life. A celebration for lost causes and new horizons, the beginning of a new chapter. I’ve gotten over the disappointment of not getting a Management seat in any of the prestigious B-Schools of India. Gotten over the disappointment but not the dream. I’m going back much wiser and stronger than I was. Seeing success from such close quarters I now know even more about what is required to get to that next level. My dreams are the same, but it just seems like I need to make a few important pit stops before I get to where I’m headed. And work experience is definitely one of them. And what better way to start from, than writing – creative writing.
Aki…
Species: Homo sapiens
Class: Copius Writerous
Thursday, March 20, 2008
GOA (GIM), THE NEXT BEST THING…
Venue: St.Xavier’s College, Kolkata
Date: 5th March ‘08
Time: 8:45 A.M.
My time was 8:45 A.M. so I left around 7:50 because the venue was St.Xaviers College which doesn’t take very long to reach. Although, I just about got there in time. There were 16 people in our batch and all of us were taken to a classroom (which was to be our makeshift GT, Group Task, room and also Interview room). Things got rolling with the attendance and I don’t know if its with everyone or not but I always have this strange feeling of ‘what if my name doesn’t get called’ or ‘I’m not on the list’ in these situations. My name was called out on the 12th call. A quick guess/calculation meant that I’d be on the second group. There were two persons conducting the whole process and due to shortage of time and personnel, they weren’t checking our certificates which was absolutely fine with me (the Amrita experience still fresh on my mind). Attendance was followed by a short interactive session about GIM and we were allowed to pose questions. I really don’t know if this is a universal rule or not but, there’s always a really smart prick in my groups. Well this genius was asking about the placement companies and consultant offers and also what kind of a job profile they’d be offering. I’m sure the faculty, at the process, wanted to tell him that he should be worried about more imminent things at the moment, such as converting his call before he thinks of judging the positions offered (at least that was what I thought). And yeah, he was in my group.
The Group Task consisted of a case study where we were supposed to discuss the case and at the end of the discussion, each one of us would have to give a concluding statement. Then we were to jot down a few lines on the Group Task itself. Personally I had quite a good experience, I credit myself of giving the group a direction initially and then added some innovative points to the discussion. The concluding statement too went by satisfactorily (contrary to my apprehensions). The case was about one Meera’s MNC firm having to choose from two suppliers for high-end hardware products. The choice was basically between a local efficient firm and a well established hot-shot. After the Group Task’s, we were called in one by one for the interview. My no. was 12 and considering that on an average an interview lasted for 12-15 minutes, I waited nervously for near about 3 hrs (not very enjoyable).
THE INTERVIEW…
Panel 1: An HR lady, 40 something, very smart.(P1)
Panel 2: A finance professor, 30 something, male.(P2)
Me: Scapegoat (M)
P2: (Ushers me to come in through the door glass)
M: (Enter in and greet both of them.)
P2: Take a seat and introduce yourself to us.
M: (Caught a bit unawares by the immediate question) Told my name, about my place back home, my parents and my graduation in Kolkata.
P1: Where have you graduated from?
M: (Proudly) Jadavpur University.
P1: What is special about Jadavpur University?
M: Treats us like adults, everyone is different and has a distinct character- a vibrant environment. (something along those lines)
P1: Oh, you graduated in Philosophy? (Smelling Blood)
M: (There we go again) Yes Ma’am.
P2: (Pouncing on me like a Bengal tiger, sir was a bengali) What is sattva Philosophy or Existentialism?
M: (Oh Sweet Mary Jesus…!) …………Umm……Sir, I can’t seem to remember it that well sir.
P2: Haven’t you done it?
M: I do remember coming across it but, I’m sorry I seem to have forgotten it.
P1: What exactly did you learn in Philosophy?
M: Indian and Western Philosophy, Logic, Psychology…
P2: What all from Indian Philosophy?
M: Carvaka, Nyaya, Jaina, Nyaya, Baudha…
P2: Tell me about Carvaka Philosophy?
M: (Grinning) Told them how it was a materialist Philosophy and taught about experiencing maximum pleasure in this life as it was not certain whether we’d have another life. Told that they didn’t believe in gaining valid knowledge from Inference. (Here I asked them whether they’d like me to elaborate more on what inference was).
P1: Yes, go ahead.
M: (They took the bait)…I elaborated on what was my favourite topic and they were visibly amused at the smoke on the hill theory.
P1: So what do the Carvaka’s think of when they see smoke on the Hill?
M: (What kind of a question is that…) Umm… they don’t believe in what they don’t see so as long as they don’t see the fire they wont believe it fully.
P1: Tell me about some other Philosopher.
M: (Seizing the opportunity)…Full Gyan on Descartes and his ‘I Think Therefore I Exist’ concept.
P1 & P2 (Even more amused)
M: (Feeling Good)
P1: Ok so how would Descartes react to the ‘smoke on the hill’?
M: (Now I was regretting bringing in Smoke and Fire concept…she’s really got a thing for it)…Umm Descartes being a rationalist, I think he would reason out that there was a relation between smoke and fire and apply it here.
P1 (Appears to be satisfied)
P1: So Philosophy and MBA are two different things. Can you explain that to me?
M: (For a moment I was beginning to think they weren’t gonna ask me that question…that obvious question) Some more talk on how Philosophy changed my perspective in life and I came to know more about myself etc.
P1: What did you know about yourself?
M: That I always wanted to be in control of things and was always looking to manage things. (Which was the truth…in a way at least.)
P1: Give us an example?
M: Ma’am I don’t know how much it applies here but in my flat I was always trying to manage things be it dealing with the land lord, broker, grocery store or even allocating chores (which can be a cause of altercation). More example’s of how I was the cricket captain and was always working out strategies and batting orders based on the different skills.
P2: So why do you need a management degree?
M: To learn more and have more knowledge (something like that…I realized later that I could have answered this much better)
P2: How can Philosophy be applied to Management?
M: Say that it can be applied to anything in life. Give examples of cause and effect and link it with a business scenario.
P1: Give me all the causes that resulted in your poor Graduation scores?
M: (Feeling like a fool, like someone shot me in the head with my own bullet) Gave lame excuses and showed them my improvement in the last year.
P1: Ok, would you like to ask us anything?
M: I’d like to know about a normal day in GIM for a student.
P1: Blah…Blah…Blah…for a long time.
M: (Regretting having asked that question)
P1: Anything else.
M: The Project that you said we could do during the 2nd year. Is it something different from the summer intern-ship.
P1: Yes it is. Blah…Blah.
P1 & P2: Thank you.
M: Thank you Sir, Ma’am.
So there it was. I have mixed feelings about his one. Group Task went by fine. The interview was, well there was nothing that should dishearten me. In fact I gave full knowledge on Philosophy apart from the first question, and no question on my Mathematical void. Optimistic on this one…it’s my last hope now. It well and truly is.
Date: 5th March ‘08
Time: 8:45 A.M.
My time was 8:45 A.M. so I left around 7:50 because the venue was St.Xaviers College which doesn’t take very long to reach. Although, I just about got there in time. There were 16 people in our batch and all of us were taken to a classroom (which was to be our makeshift GT, Group Task, room and also Interview room). Things got rolling with the attendance and I don’t know if its with everyone or not but I always have this strange feeling of ‘what if my name doesn’t get called’ or ‘I’m not on the list’ in these situations. My name was called out on the 12th call. A quick guess/calculation meant that I’d be on the second group. There were two persons conducting the whole process and due to shortage of time and personnel, they weren’t checking our certificates which was absolutely fine with me (the Amrita experience still fresh on my mind). Attendance was followed by a short interactive session about GIM and we were allowed to pose questions. I really don’t know if this is a universal rule or not but, there’s always a really smart prick in my groups. Well this genius was asking about the placement companies and consultant offers and also what kind of a job profile they’d be offering. I’m sure the faculty, at the process, wanted to tell him that he should be worried about more imminent things at the moment, such as converting his call before he thinks of judging the positions offered (at least that was what I thought). And yeah, he was in my group.
The Group Task consisted of a case study where we were supposed to discuss the case and at the end of the discussion, each one of us would have to give a concluding statement. Then we were to jot down a few lines on the Group Task itself. Personally I had quite a good experience, I credit myself of giving the group a direction initially and then added some innovative points to the discussion. The concluding statement too went by satisfactorily (contrary to my apprehensions). The case was about one Meera’s MNC firm having to choose from two suppliers for high-end hardware products. The choice was basically between a local efficient firm and a well established hot-shot. After the Group Task’s, we were called in one by one for the interview. My no. was 12 and considering that on an average an interview lasted for 12-15 minutes, I waited nervously for near about 3 hrs (not very enjoyable).
THE INTERVIEW…
Panel 1: An HR lady, 40 something, very smart.(P1)
Panel 2: A finance professor, 30 something, male.(P2)
Me: Scapegoat (M)
P2: (Ushers me to come in through the door glass)
M: (Enter in and greet both of them.)
P2: Take a seat and introduce yourself to us.
M: (Caught a bit unawares by the immediate question) Told my name, about my place back home, my parents and my graduation in Kolkata.
P1: Where have you graduated from?
M: (Proudly) Jadavpur University.
P1: What is special about Jadavpur University?
M: Treats us like adults, everyone is different and has a distinct character- a vibrant environment. (something along those lines)
P1: Oh, you graduated in Philosophy? (Smelling Blood)
M: (There we go again) Yes Ma’am.
P2: (Pouncing on me like a Bengal tiger, sir was a bengali) What is sattva Philosophy or Existentialism?
M: (Oh Sweet Mary Jesus…!) …………Umm……Sir, I can’t seem to remember it that well sir.
P2: Haven’t you done it?
M: I do remember coming across it but, I’m sorry I seem to have forgotten it.
P1: What exactly did you learn in Philosophy?
M: Indian and Western Philosophy, Logic, Psychology…
P2: What all from Indian Philosophy?
M: Carvaka, Nyaya, Jaina, Nyaya, Baudha…
P2: Tell me about Carvaka Philosophy?
M: (Grinning) Told them how it was a materialist Philosophy and taught about experiencing maximum pleasure in this life as it was not certain whether we’d have another life. Told that they didn’t believe in gaining valid knowledge from Inference. (Here I asked them whether they’d like me to elaborate more on what inference was).
P1: Yes, go ahead.
M: (They took the bait)…I elaborated on what was my favourite topic and they were visibly amused at the smoke on the hill theory.
P1: So what do the Carvaka’s think of when they see smoke on the Hill?
M: (What kind of a question is that…) Umm… they don’t believe in what they don’t see so as long as they don’t see the fire they wont believe it fully.
P1: Tell me about some other Philosopher.
M: (Seizing the opportunity)…Full Gyan on Descartes and his ‘I Think Therefore I Exist’ concept.
P1 & P2 (Even more amused)
M: (Feeling Good)
P1: Ok so how would Descartes react to the ‘smoke on the hill’?
M: (Now I was regretting bringing in Smoke and Fire concept…she’s really got a thing for it)…Umm Descartes being a rationalist, I think he would reason out that there was a relation between smoke and fire and apply it here.
P1 (Appears to be satisfied)
P1: So Philosophy and MBA are two different things. Can you explain that to me?
M: (For a moment I was beginning to think they weren’t gonna ask me that question…that obvious question) Some more talk on how Philosophy changed my perspective in life and I came to know more about myself etc.
P1: What did you know about yourself?
M: That I always wanted to be in control of things and was always looking to manage things. (Which was the truth…in a way at least.)
P1: Give us an example?
M: Ma’am I don’t know how much it applies here but in my flat I was always trying to manage things be it dealing with the land lord, broker, grocery store or even allocating chores (which can be a cause of altercation). More example’s of how I was the cricket captain and was always working out strategies and batting orders based on the different skills.
P2: So why do you need a management degree?
M: To learn more and have more knowledge (something like that…I realized later that I could have answered this much better)
P2: How can Philosophy be applied to Management?
M: Say that it can be applied to anything in life. Give examples of cause and effect and link it with a business scenario.
P1: Give me all the causes that resulted in your poor Graduation scores?
M: (Feeling like a fool, like someone shot me in the head with my own bullet) Gave lame excuses and showed them my improvement in the last year.
P1: Ok, would you like to ask us anything?
M: I’d like to know about a normal day in GIM for a student.
P1: Blah…Blah…Blah…for a long time.
M: (Regretting having asked that question)
P1: Anything else.
M: The Project that you said we could do during the 2nd year. Is it something different from the summer intern-ship.
P1: Yes it is. Blah…Blah.
P1 & P2: Thank you.
M: Thank you Sir, Ma’am.
So there it was. I have mixed feelings about his one. Group Task went by fine. The interview was, well there was nothing that should dishearten me. In fact I gave full knowledge on Philosophy apart from the first question, and no question on my Mathematical void. Optimistic on this one…it’s my last hope now. It well and truly is.
SDM-IMD, THE DESPERATE TIMES
Venue: South India Club, Hindustan Park
Kolkata.
Date: 27th February ‘08
Time: 9:00 A.M.
Things change, a month ago I was comfortably placed with around 9-10 confirmed ‘GD/PI’ calls and a complacent hope that I’d convert at least one of the calls. I was quite confident too when I started out, in myself and my chances. Things were looking good.
Post 3 interviews, 2 back to back rejects, add to that a disastrous third interview and a battering of my confidence – I was understandably feeling, quite small. Back then SDM-IMD had been a purely back up college, well not anymore. I’d suffered a rude wake up call and I was feeling the heat. I was desperate for at least one convert.
The venue was close to the place from where I stay in Kolkata. It was slightly better than the one where Amrita GD/PI was held, but still not even close to SCMHRD’s venue. The process here comprised of a GD, apart from the customary Interview. We were divided into two groups of at least 12 people each, I was in the second group. Before the actual process, the Admission Co-ordinator of SDM-IMD spoke a little bit about the college, its placements, etc. The average package for the last batch they said was 6-7 lakh’s which I felt was highly exaggerated. The topic for our discussion was "Should Income Tax be exempted." The Group Discussion was slightly on the louder side but not exactly a fish market too. My performance was Average or slightly above average but definitely not poor. I put in some decent points and entered the GD 3-4 times. After the GD we were made to wait for our turn with the Interviews. The process was refreshingly efficient and my turn came up rather quickly.
THE INTERVIEW…
As I went inside (the same room where I’d had my GD) I was asked to take a seat and hand over my papers. There were two people in the panel and one of started scanning my papers.
P1: A Finance Professor.
P2: The Admission Co-ordinator.
M: Me (on the chopping board…again)
P1: What actually did you take in your graduation?
M: (Not there Please…) Arts Sir…Philosophy.
P2: What is your CAT percentile?
M: (#$%ck) 80.54 %ile.
P2: So, an 80 percentiler.
P1: Why do want to study Management Education?
M: Blah ! Blah ! (was quite well prepared).
P2: What were the other subjects you studied during your Graduation?
M: Sir, European History, Social Work, Environmental History…(Damn)…hmm…Tribes of India, Physical Education.
P1: So, you haven’t done any Math related courses.
M: (There goes another College). No.
P1: Can you cope up with a Management Curriculum which deal’s with a lot of Mathematical concepts.
M: Yes. (Desperate Yes).
P1: But you haven’t got much exposure to Maths?
M: Actually I did a lot of brushing up while preparing for the CAT.
P1: Ok. Tell me a Mathematical theory that’s applied practically?
M: (Wishing the ground below would swallow me) Err… Percentages, Statistics (regretted the moment I told it).
P1: (With a devious smirk on his face) What is Median and Mode?
M: (Seeing some ray of light at the far end of the tunnel) Answered the Median one correctly but I’m not very sure about the mode.
P2: Why would you think a company should hire someone like you?
M: (Gave a desperate attempt to sell myself…whatever that means.)
P2: How would you address the attrition rate of a company?
M: (The light at the end of the tunnel just about became a beam) I scored a six in this question…thanks to Economic Times and Avinash Da who had enlightened me about attrition rates (God bless him).
P2: Give us one reason why we should take you and two reasons why we should not take you?
M: A whole lot of boasting of my qualities for the first part of the question. For the second part "Sir, if there are others who are better than me and I do not make the merit list. And secondly if you feel that I’m not competent enough to complete the course. (I felt something as soon as I said that…and it was not a good feeling.)
P2: What other calls have you got?
M: Sir, GIM, IISWBM, SCMHRD, Amrita.
P2: Which one of these is your first priority?
M: Sir, at this moment, definitely GIM but apart from that SDM-IMD without a doubt because it’s got a great faculty, campus and placements too. (That was my disgusting attempt at being DIPLOMATIC, I know I totally blew it…)
P2: Ok Akhilesh, You seem to be pretty intelligent, can you explain the low marks in your Graduation?
M: (There we go again) Lame duck excuses, but added that it was quite tough to score in Philosophy and also showed them my improvement in my final year.
P2: Would you like to ask us something?
M: (Will I get a seat…Had to be obvious). Sir can you describe what a normal day would be like in your campus?
P2: Blah.Blah. Anything else. Thank You.
The Interview was pretty intense, I thought it could have gone awry but I think I proved my mettle today. I was really challenged and I felt I did well.
Just as I was about to leave the venue, P2 was coming after me calling my name. Before he told me I realized that I’d left my original papers out there in the room. "You’ll be miserable without them" he told me which just about summed up how I felt at that moment. What an anti-climax?
Kolkata.
Date: 27th February ‘08
Time: 9:00 A.M.
Things change, a month ago I was comfortably placed with around 9-10 confirmed ‘GD/PI’ calls and a complacent hope that I’d convert at least one of the calls. I was quite confident too when I started out, in myself and my chances. Things were looking good.
Post 3 interviews, 2 back to back rejects, add to that a disastrous third interview and a battering of my confidence – I was understandably feeling, quite small. Back then SDM-IMD had been a purely back up college, well not anymore. I’d suffered a rude wake up call and I was feeling the heat. I was desperate for at least one convert.
The venue was close to the place from where I stay in Kolkata. It was slightly better than the one where Amrita GD/PI was held, but still not even close to SCMHRD’s venue. The process here comprised of a GD, apart from the customary Interview. We were divided into two groups of at least 12 people each, I was in the second group. Before the actual process, the Admission Co-ordinator of SDM-IMD spoke a little bit about the college, its placements, etc. The average package for the last batch they said was 6-7 lakh’s which I felt was highly exaggerated. The topic for our discussion was "Should Income Tax be exempted." The Group Discussion was slightly on the louder side but not exactly a fish market too. My performance was Average or slightly above average but definitely not poor. I put in some decent points and entered the GD 3-4 times. After the GD we were made to wait for our turn with the Interviews. The process was refreshingly efficient and my turn came up rather quickly.
THE INTERVIEW…
As I went inside (the same room where I’d had my GD) I was asked to take a seat and hand over my papers. There were two people in the panel and one of started scanning my papers.
P1: A Finance Professor.
P2: The Admission Co-ordinator.
M: Me (on the chopping board…again)
P1: What actually did you take in your graduation?
M: (Not there Please…) Arts Sir…Philosophy.
P2: What is your CAT percentile?
M: (#$%ck) 80.54 %ile.
P2: So, an 80 percentiler.
P1: Why do want to study Management Education?
M: Blah ! Blah ! (was quite well prepared).
P2: What were the other subjects you studied during your Graduation?
M: Sir, European History, Social Work, Environmental History…(Damn)…hmm…Tribes of India, Physical Education.
P1: So, you haven’t done any Math related courses.
M: (There goes another College). No.
P1: Can you cope up with a Management Curriculum which deal’s with a lot of Mathematical concepts.
M: Yes. (Desperate Yes).
P1: But you haven’t got much exposure to Maths?
M: Actually I did a lot of brushing up while preparing for the CAT.
P1: Ok. Tell me a Mathematical theory that’s applied practically?
M: (Wishing the ground below would swallow me) Err… Percentages, Statistics (regretted the moment I told it).
P1: (With a devious smirk on his face) What is Median and Mode?
M: (Seeing some ray of light at the far end of the tunnel) Answered the Median one correctly but I’m not very sure about the mode.
P2: Why would you think a company should hire someone like you?
M: (Gave a desperate attempt to sell myself…whatever that means.)
P2: How would you address the attrition rate of a company?
M: (The light at the end of the tunnel just about became a beam) I scored a six in this question…thanks to Economic Times and Avinash Da who had enlightened me about attrition rates (God bless him).
P2: Give us one reason why we should take you and two reasons why we should not take you?
M: A whole lot of boasting of my qualities for the first part of the question. For the second part "Sir, if there are others who are better than me and I do not make the merit list. And secondly if you feel that I’m not competent enough to complete the course. (I felt something as soon as I said that…and it was not a good feeling.)
P2: What other calls have you got?
M: Sir, GIM, IISWBM, SCMHRD, Amrita.
P2: Which one of these is your first priority?
M: Sir, at this moment, definitely GIM but apart from that SDM-IMD without a doubt because it’s got a great faculty, campus and placements too. (That was my disgusting attempt at being DIPLOMATIC, I know I totally blew it…)
P2: Ok Akhilesh, You seem to be pretty intelligent, can you explain the low marks in your Graduation?
M: (There we go again) Lame duck excuses, but added that it was quite tough to score in Philosophy and also showed them my improvement in my final year.
P2: Would you like to ask us something?
M: (Will I get a seat…Had to be obvious). Sir can you describe what a normal day would be like in your campus?
P2: Blah.Blah. Anything else. Thank You.
The Interview was pretty intense, I thought it could have gone awry but I think I proved my mettle today. I was really challenged and I felt I did well.
Just as I was about to leave the venue, P2 was coming after me calling my name. Before he told me I realized that I’d left my original papers out there in the room. "You’ll be miserable without them" he told me which just about summed up how I felt at that moment. What an anti-climax?
THE AMRITA DEBACLE…
Date: 24th February ’08
Venue: Amrita Viswavidyalaya,
Taratala, Kolkata
Time: 9:00 A.M.
I reached the venue an hour before (as always). I met some guys there and they didn’t regard Amrita that highly. Anyways came to know that there was no Group Discussion, only an interview. I was relieved but a part of me (a very small part) was disappointed because a GD would’ve given me some more experience. The venue, which was a primary school, was still under construction with workers, piles of sand, bricks, etc lying here and there.
The process began with the verification of documents and they grilled me right there. The woman even calculated that 1/3rd of my course was passed through back papers, which was an understatement (to be frank), but anyways hardly the kind of impression I’d have wanted to get things started. The second part of the process consisted of a long speech by the same people who scrutinized our documents (I was beginning to fear whether they would be taking our interviews too…). The speech was more about the great achievements of ‘Amma’ and her ‘benevolence’ (something I wouldn’t mind receiving at that time), but barely things you’d be even distantly interested in before an interview with your nerves all messed up. After the painfully long ‘presentation’ made even longer by my smart ass competitors pretending to be genuinely interested and asking questions. The next part of the process consisted of a test of writing skills wherein we were asked to write on any one of the 3 topics (Budget 2008, Business and Ethics and something). I choose ‘Budget 2008’ and started quite enthusiastically but, if you ask me, I’d say it was a below par performance. The final part of my process was the Interview itself and it was almost 12:00 P.M. by then. As luck would have it, I was the third last person to be called. And, yes, the same two people were taking the interviews as well. They were running a two man show on an under-construction building with the sounds of hammering and cutting making up the ambience of the interview (in a classroom).
THE INTERVIEW…
P1: An HR professor.
P2: A Finance professor, the one who calculated my back paper percentage.
(Both Females)
M: Me
P1: Tell me something about yourself?
M: Blah! Blah! (Thinking this is so predictable)
P1: Why MBA after Philosophy?
M: Blah! Blah! (All prepared stuff, you know). P2, meanwhile, is looking at me with a bewildered look on her face, as if she’s shocked by whatever it is that I’m saying. She was freaking me out alright.
P2: I didn’t quite understand about the back paper stuff. Why did you have so many of them?
M: (Not that please…!!!) Gave a lame duck excuse like language problem (medium of lecture was Bengali) and stuff like sickness and showed them my improvement in the last year. Not very convincing overall.
P2: (The I’m not convinced look.)
P1: What is P***** ???? (Don’t even remember it)
M: (A bewildered look, much like the one P2 was sporting) "I don’t remember having come across that". (Which was really the truth.)
P1: What about Teleological and De-Ontological Theory?
M: (Ok, that I remember coming across, JUST COMING ACROSS…nothing else) I’m sorry, I seem to have forgotten.
P1: What do you think is more important for you, the end’s or the means?
M: Quote something from the Bhagavad Gita. Even say stuff like, "Krishna told Arjun that if the end was justified than there was no harm in even killing someone". Something like that. Basically spoke on Duty.
P2: Is that what Lord Krishna told Arjun?
M: Not in that way but something like that.
P2: That’s a very crude way of saying it. (The look on her face fast changing from bewildered to horrified.)
M: I’m sorry Madam’.
P1: Ok. We’ll give you a topic to speak on and you’ll have to speak on it for about a minute. Your topic is "Tourism is destroying our beaches".
M: (Nervous as hell because I felt I’d fucked up my interview) Talked about a middle path by spreading awareness in tourists and basically the same thing with a different set of words. And in the end concluded by saying something about how people should make a habit of leaving a place little better than it was before they came.
*P2 seemed quite happy with that last bit of info. But she was still holding that bewildered look on her face (maybe it was a permanent look).
P2: What are your hobbies?
M: Reading, Trekking, Football, Cricket, etc.
P2: Trekking?
M: Told about my treks to Sandakphu and Tinjurey.
P2: What was the altitude of the place you went to?
M: (%$#&^%!!!) I think it was 18000 ft. (I really wasn’t sure, although I think I had seen a signboard when I was there stating the height)
P2: "18000 ft"! ! ! …she said seemingly shocked (Ok now I could make out she was enjoying this).
M: (feeling really tense, I hope I hadn’t seen the 18000 ft in my Geography text book, beside the Mt.Everest.).
P1: Would you like to ask us something?
M: What are your HR and marketing placements?
P1: Said something…but I don’t remember because I asked so that I wouldn’t look like a fool.
P1: Anything else.
M: No. (Hell NO…!!)..
P1: Thank You.
M: (Glad its over…)
I didn’t expect much from this and frankly speaking I wasn’t really looking forward to study in Amrita looking at the unprofessional way they conducted their Interview Process. Think I sound like sore loser, couldn’t care less man.
By the way, the place I trekked was 16000 ft. which was not very far from 18000 ft.
Venue: Amrita Viswavidyalaya,
Taratala, Kolkata
Time: 9:00 A.M.
I reached the venue an hour before (as always). I met some guys there and they didn’t regard Amrita that highly. Anyways came to know that there was no Group Discussion, only an interview. I was relieved but a part of me (a very small part) was disappointed because a GD would’ve given me some more experience. The venue, which was a primary school, was still under construction with workers, piles of sand, bricks, etc lying here and there.
The process began with the verification of documents and they grilled me right there. The woman even calculated that 1/3rd of my course was passed through back papers, which was an understatement (to be frank), but anyways hardly the kind of impression I’d have wanted to get things started. The second part of the process consisted of a long speech by the same people who scrutinized our documents (I was beginning to fear whether they would be taking our interviews too…). The speech was more about the great achievements of ‘Amma’ and her ‘benevolence’ (something I wouldn’t mind receiving at that time), but barely things you’d be even distantly interested in before an interview with your nerves all messed up. After the painfully long ‘presentation’ made even longer by my smart ass competitors pretending to be genuinely interested and asking questions. The next part of the process consisted of a test of writing skills wherein we were asked to write on any one of the 3 topics (Budget 2008, Business and Ethics and something). I choose ‘Budget 2008’ and started quite enthusiastically but, if you ask me, I’d say it was a below par performance. The final part of my process was the Interview itself and it was almost 12:00 P.M. by then. As luck would have it, I was the third last person to be called. And, yes, the same two people were taking the interviews as well. They were running a two man show on an under-construction building with the sounds of hammering and cutting making up the ambience of the interview (in a classroom).
THE INTERVIEW…
P1: An HR professor.
P2: A Finance professor, the one who calculated my back paper percentage.
(Both Females)
M: Me
P1: Tell me something about yourself?
M: Blah! Blah! (Thinking this is so predictable)
P1: Why MBA after Philosophy?
M: Blah! Blah! (All prepared stuff, you know). P2, meanwhile, is looking at me with a bewildered look on her face, as if she’s shocked by whatever it is that I’m saying. She was freaking me out alright.
P2: I didn’t quite understand about the back paper stuff. Why did you have so many of them?
M: (Not that please…!!!) Gave a lame duck excuse like language problem (medium of lecture was Bengali) and stuff like sickness and showed them my improvement in the last year. Not very convincing overall.
P2: (The I’m not convinced look.)
P1: What is P***** ???? (Don’t even remember it)
M: (A bewildered look, much like the one P2 was sporting) "I don’t remember having come across that". (Which was really the truth.)
P1: What about Teleological and De-Ontological Theory?
M: (Ok, that I remember coming across, JUST COMING ACROSS…nothing else) I’m sorry, I seem to have forgotten.
P1: What do you think is more important for you, the end’s or the means?
M: Quote something from the Bhagavad Gita. Even say stuff like, "Krishna told Arjun that if the end was justified than there was no harm in even killing someone". Something like that. Basically spoke on Duty.
P2: Is that what Lord Krishna told Arjun?
M: Not in that way but something like that.
P2: That’s a very crude way of saying it. (The look on her face fast changing from bewildered to horrified.)
M: I’m sorry Madam’.
P1: Ok. We’ll give you a topic to speak on and you’ll have to speak on it for about a minute. Your topic is "Tourism is destroying our beaches".
M: (Nervous as hell because I felt I’d fucked up my interview) Talked about a middle path by spreading awareness in tourists and basically the same thing with a different set of words. And in the end concluded by saying something about how people should make a habit of leaving a place little better than it was before they came.
*P2 seemed quite happy with that last bit of info. But she was still holding that bewildered look on her face (maybe it was a permanent look).
P2: What are your hobbies?
M: Reading, Trekking, Football, Cricket, etc.
P2: Trekking?
M: Told about my treks to Sandakphu and Tinjurey.
P2: What was the altitude of the place you went to?
M: (%$#&^%!!!) I think it was 18000 ft. (I really wasn’t sure, although I think I had seen a signboard when I was there stating the height)
P2: "18000 ft"! ! ! …she said seemingly shocked (Ok now I could make out she was enjoying this).
M: (feeling really tense, I hope I hadn’t seen the 18000 ft in my Geography text book, beside the Mt.Everest.).
P1: Would you like to ask us something?
M: What are your HR and marketing placements?
P1: Said something…but I don’t remember because I asked so that I wouldn’t look like a fool.
P1: Anything else.
M: No. (Hell NO…!!)..
P1: Thank You.
M: (Glad its over…)
I didn’t expect much from this and frankly speaking I wasn’t really looking forward to study in Amrita looking at the unprofessional way they conducted their Interview Process. Think I sound like sore loser, couldn’t care less man.
By the way, the place I trekked was 16000 ft. which was not very far from 18000 ft.
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