CHRIST CALLING…

Date: 27th January ‘08
Time: 2:30 P.M.
Venue: Christ College, Bangalore
It was finally here, the season of Group Discussions, Interviews and a whole lot of nerves. This was my first call and also my first real Group Discussion (GD).
I had reached Bangalore the day before after a long and protracted journey. I was putting up at Arnav’s. Just a day before I was leaving for Bangalore I got the information that our Group Discussion would be preceded by an oral presentation of 90 seconds. They had given out a list of 90 topics to prepare…90 TOPICS out of which around 50 I had not even heard of!!! So the morning of 27th I spent around 2-3 hrs frantically searching through wikipedia pages for a little idea about the topics. I had given my formals for ironing and I went to collect them after I had finished with the internet, that was around 11:30. After collecting my formals I went to Arnavs place and it was locked, which was strange because he had left from the internet café before me. So I waited for quite some time calling him around a dozen times. He didn’t show up even around 12:30. I was already really nervous thinking about the GD and the situation was freaking me out. I knew that I could get into his veranda through a ledge and if the kitchen door was open I could get inside. So having no choice I climbed onto the ledge and got in courtesy of the open kitchen door. I went inside and found out that I couldn’t open the door from inside. Now I was inside and my formals were outside, because I had to leave them behind to climb on the ledge. I was getting scared that someone would take them away…quite a day I was having. So I went out again and brought the formals in with me (through the ledge). I was planning to change and go out through the ledge later if Arnav didn’t show up. Around 1 P.M. Arnav came and he was quite confused to see me inside. Apparently he was still there in the café and thought that I was there with him too!! Anyways, I had no time to explain stuff…I was getting late. It was really some prelude to the GD; however, I still wonder how I would’ve looked in full formals climbing on to the ledge.
Well that was that, I reached Christ College in time (which was the most important thing). There was a huge crowd in front of the Building, people all dressed up in formals and looking really executive like. I felt very small and nervous, and lonely especially after Arnav left me. The process was spanned out something like this; first we were shown a presentation about the College and a speech from the Director. The Auditorium looked really posh and the seats were comfortable but somehow these things make you more uncomfortable in such circumstances (at least to me they do). Then we were divided into groups and taken away to separate rooms for the GD. There were around 12 people in my group and the process was held in a classroom. Each one of us first had to give an extempore on a topic of their choice, I got ‘lean management’ and thanks to wiki I managed to get in a few lines and a whole lot of examples. I felt good after speaking something, calmed my nerves down. Then we were given the topic of our GD which was Income Tax should be scrapped for more Sales Tax. I thought we would be getting some time to collect our thoughts but Bang! , a guy started right away…was caught unawares which probably resulted in the first 5 mins of the GD being without any contribution from me. It was a Fish Market alright and I was feeling the heat as I was one of the few who hadn’t put in a single point. Luckily for me a girl stood up and told every body that we should give a chance to speak to every one, which was the opening I was looking for and I never looked back. I put in some great points which everyone agreed to. At the end of it all I was pretty much satisfied, but I’d had a close shave. As I was coming out a senior who was also there in our room during the GD came up to me and said that I had performed well and that I might get selected for the Interview process tomorrow. I felt elated and went home with a wide smile on my face. As expected I was called for the interview the next day. (So far So Good)
The Interview
28th January’08
Christ College
My slot was for 11:30 and was there by 11. Was a bit nervous, however, I was really high on confidence after what had transpired yesterday. We were made to sit on a long hallway full of aspirants like me and wait. I think the waiting thing is part of the process because the waiting really freaks you out, not to mention the sharing of rumours about the college among the aspirants which I’m sure made everyone feel uneasy. My turn finally came after what seemed like an eternity. The room was quite big and I immediately got the impression that three interviews were being held simultaneously on that very room. I got the one right in front of the room.
P1 (Panel 1); P2 (Panel 2) and M (Me).
P2: Please take a seat.
M: Good Afternoon Sir’s
P2: Tell us something about yourself?
M: Blah Blah …
P2: Oh Tashi Namgyal Academy!! (When I tell that I did my schooling from there)
M: (Feeling Good) J
P1: Do you know a famous football player from your School?
M: (Duh… Do I know my name) Yes … Baichung Bhutia.
P1: Do you play football too?
M: Not much. I used to play cricket.
P2: When did you come to Bangalore?
M: Two days ago.
P2: So, you graduated from Philosophy? (Something I would hear a lot of in all my successive interviews…but I didn’t know it back then.)
M: Yes.
P2: Tell us, we are really interested because I think this is the first time we’ve had a student from Philosophy background, (at this point P1 interrupts to say "Yes Yes") Why MBA after Philosophy?
M: (Cooked up answer. Was prepared. Although the ‘first time’ part made me feel a bit uneasy) I even remember putting in a phrase like ‘I believe that when I die I can look back at my life and realize that it was all worth it’. (Don’t ask me in which context man, I was going haywire)
P1: What were the subjects apart from Philosophy that you studied?
M: Umm…Western History, Environmental History, Social Work…Umm…P.Ed…Umm… (Had it been that long…?)
P2: (Putting me out of my misery) Nothing with Mathematics?
M: (I didn’t like where this was taking me)…No Sir.
P1: Till which standard did you study Math?
M: Till Std. 10. (Rather Apologetically) . L
P2: The thing is that the MBA course comprises of large parts where complex Mathematic concepts are applied, Do you think that you can cope with such things since you don’t have much exposure to Maths?
M: Defended myself by saying that I would work hard and after all it was there to understand and moreover I had a pretty good percentile in Maths in MAT.
P2: Ok. (But he didn’t look very convinced).
P2: Tell me something about the Indian Economy?
M: Told something about the steady growth of the economy and how infrastructure was necessary to sustain that growth. (Which I thought was a pretty appropriate answer)
P2: Tell me something about the infrastructure of Bangalore?
M: Spoke about how the roads in Bangalore were quite narrow compared to Kolkata and absence of hawkers, then flyovers and stuff like that.
P2: Tell me about a Philosopher you studied?
M: Descartes…I think therefore I exist.
P1: Oh yes. (To P2) Mr.X has named his office after this saying I.T.T.I.E.
P2: Ok. (To P2)
M: (Feeling Good all over again.) J
P1: So do you all own a farmland out there?
M: Yes, a little bit.
P1: What do you grow there?
M: Maize, Chillies…
P1: Have you worked in your farm?
M: Yes, I enjoy it very much (which was a complete lie). I’ve even grown chillies and sold them…(that’s the truth and my turn over that harvest season was 40 Rupees.) Didn’t tell them that though.
P1: I think I’m done.
P2: Me Too.
M: Thank you Sirs.
M: (Thinking that Christ is in the Bag) J J J
I come out feeling very satisfied with the interview and quite confident that I’ll make it. The awkward part of the interview (the Math inadequacy part) had been conveniently been wiped off my memory. I think that’s down to my optimistic lookout, where I look into only the positive things. I would repent it, later.