Baar Baar Dekho

Location: IIM Trichy

Time: 5:30 am

Like a big mountain, lay a big creature deep in slumber, at times tossing and turning uneasily. The silence of the night was broken in between by sounds which resembled those coming from a 15 HP water pump, which were actually small intervals of rhythmic snores emanating from the creature. Then suddenly like a beast possessed, Dekho half woke up on his bed, still in his sleepy stupor. Without a moment's pause, he investigated his bed and looked to be searching for something very frantically on his bed. After a few minutes of excavating through heaps of bed sheets, covers and pillows that had covered him till then, Dekho finally found what he wanted.

His lungi!

It was a dark blue chequered lungi that had 'slipped away' just like every night, for Dekho was still a novice in draping it. Dekho looked pissed as he gathered the garment. It had become a real nuisance. Poor classes, utterly give-up students, bad syllabus - He had appropriately equipped himself to deal with all of that and better than most other professors. But, betrayal by the lungi - No! It was one issue which he helplessly grappled with despite spending more than a year in the vast IIM Trichy campus.

Dekho got up from his bed, wrapped the lungi around, folding it Tam-style and proceeded to his table. He then played his latest favourite on youtube as his mind flashed back to where it all had begun - His last days on the WIMWI campus in the dorm, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Dekho's last week at WIMWI - Dorm 7th heaven

The fachchas (juniors) and tuchchas (seniors) had taken to Dekho like new-born infants to their caring mother. And true to the title of "Dorm Maa" given to him, he had looked after one and all without bias and discrimination. Being the sole one from the Harrappan times , he would talk to fahcchas about the days that came and went, legends that rose & fell. Very alluring to the fachchas were his impressive story-telling skills that kept them hooked for hours together.

" Wow, today he told us the dorm names of all the seniors who lived in Dorm 7 in the past 10 years. That too with complete CCCF ( Conceptual Clarity and Contextual Familiarity)." beamed a fachcha on the last day. He wanted himself to be named but had a disgusting enough dorm name not to be mentioned.

True that. From the days of yore, Dekho was a man apart. A sense of which you got when you entered the Room 704. A room which seemed more of a cacophony of the following:

- Management books coated with a film of 2 mm of dust,

- A table burdened with xerox copies of finance equations featuring the choicest Greek symbols + gadgets like the Kindle serving the purpose of paper-support.

- Ready to make food.

Talking of food, Dekho's love for food was unparalleled. Be it an unlimited thaali or the midnight buffet at the Marriott, Dekho had beaten zomato at its game. He has moved quite swiftly, sampling (devouring) food at every eatery in Ahmedabad.

" Today Dekho taught us how to extort a treat out of an old tuchcha " screamed a visibly excited fachcha delightfully high on VAT 69, as he held the bottle in a hand and a pizza piece in another.

But today, on the last day of Dekho on campus, the fachchas & tuchchas of Dorm 7 were a sad & forlorn lot. Their despondent and fallen faces said a thousand words. With heavy hearts, they knocked on the closed door of Room 704. After about 11 minutes came a now familiar yawn and then a reply.

" Kya Chahiye tum logon ko ( What the hell do you want?)?"   

" Dekho, we want toothpaste." said one of the fahcchas.

"Nahi hain, Baaju ke dorm se lo (I don't have it, Take it from the  next dorm)" said Dekho

"Dekho, mazak kar rahe the (Just kidding Dekho). Infact we are sad that you will be leaving us."

"Thats ok. Kaam ki baat karo. Where are you guys giving me a treat? Pride or Marriott? said Dekho.

"Treat-veat baad ki baat Dekho. Today's day will be celebrated as Dekho Divas or DD. And DD will be celebrated for years to come in the dorm.

 "Achcha? What are you gonna do in that?" asked a surprised Dekho

"We'll play the latest hit song on loop at least 30 times and lie on the bed doing nothing or gossip about a tuchchi/fachchi."

"Oh, I am impressed! My fachchas I place Dorm 7 and its customs in your able and secure hands before I take leave. Please ensure that they cross all threshholds of give-upness."

Just as Dekho prepared to leave, a visibly emotional fahccha came running to him and asked him with a heavy heart.

"Dekho, you have given us so much. 

Can you please give me back my maggi which I kept in the dorm microwave"

Getting 'Trip'py - The Goa Trip

Our exams finally ended in the 1st week of March signalling the end of the academic schedule of the PGP programme. A series of 'lasts' filled up the FB space - people ranting about their last exam, the last presentation, the last assignment etc. as they heaved a sigh of relief at having completed the course in one piece. 

Travel plans were on in full spree and herds of WIMWIians were disappearing in different directions. Some of the most preferred destinations being the northern part, the North-east and Goa.

It was Goa for the 5 of us - Menon, Tappu, Natty Boy, Veera and me, as we headed for the sun, sands and water.Although we had our doubts about making it to the station in time for the 9 am train (obviously having Natty in our ranks was not going to help), we did reach in time.

Poker time

The long arduous journey started as we got accustomed to the cool environs of the 3 AC. Very soon the Poker set was out and what followed was numerous hands, countless buy-ins as fortunes fluctuated. The co-passengers looked on with interest as if Vegas had descended on to Indian Railways.

We reached Margao station early morning the next day. 

The fast and the furious - Natty Boy:

One among the numerous hilarious ones of Natty

If ever there was an award for the fastest decision-making club co-ord of a IIM-A student club, Natty boy would surely not make the cut even if he were the only one in the race. One whom even a tortoise could give a run for his money, as most of us had exited the train at Margao with our belongings, we realized that something was amiss. Natty hadnt exited the train and it had started to move towards the shed. Later we realized that Natty was apparently attempting a clean-up job of ensuring that none of our poker chips and cards were left behind in the train. This was to mark the series of many an amusing incident in Goa and subsequently down south in the western ghats. Also, the cap of his was a trusted companion, on occasions the only piece of garment on his body, a sight which left Tappu praying that he rather had been blind.
(Infact, Natty was refused entry by one of the beach shack owners because she thought he was not adequately dressed and that had led to a few foreigners fleeing the shack)

Prime among Natty Boy's early morning actvities was to check his IIM-A mail account, quite studiously, for any mail with the subject "Sangharsh reimbursement ". Umpteen internet hours spread over 4 days, countless phone calls (to Akash Shroff which had made him a popular household name) and many messages later, Natty was still left in the lurch.

If it was not Akash Shroff or Sangharsh, it was Ashwin - the new Niche co-ord, who grabbed Natty's mindshare, since he had been entrusted with the task of managing sponsorship funds (minus the spoils shared by Natty & Tappu).
And if it wasnt either of the above, it was good ol' wikipedia. For, Natty boy's German visa interview was a week away and Natty's romance for German cities, German football clubs and coaches, German beer and cuisine and the Nazis was bordering on fanaticism. We even had mock-visa interviews to simulate the atmosphere at the German Consulate, an attempt in which Natty failed miserably.

Colva - Vellankanni Hotels

So started our hunt for anything and everything cheap and wallet-friendly - the cheapest hotel, the cheapest and value-for-money eateries, the cheapest rentals for car and bike. Being off-season, our negotiation skills were not tested much as the the 2 hotels we stayed in  - First near Colva Beach and subsequently near Anjuna Beach, did not exceed a measly Rs 300 per person.

Anjuna - Poonam resort

The wounded tiger - Gokari

Unfortunately the 'wound' aint visible here

Each day started at 10 am for us except for Gokari (Our companion in the Goa trip who joined us late) who would wake up an hour early to follow a regular wound-dressing ritual like a wounded soldier. Technically it was not a wound, but a minor scratch sustained whle playing in the waters at Varca White-sand Beach. The sight of blood from it freaked him out enough for him to jump out of the water and ask the lifeguard for some first-aid. The lifeguard looked at Gokari as if he has just asked him the history of Goa. We deduced that perhaps this was the first inury in his life thus far. Below is the daily wound-tending sequence followed by Gokari with religious frequency:

Washing with water (10 min) ------  Scrub with Dettol (15 min) -----  Apply Soframycin (5 min) 

---------- Check if quantity is enough by running fingers on wound ----- Not be satisfied with it 

and re-apply more Sofra (5 min) ----- Stick a Band-aid on it and cover it with another band-aid 

to seal it and make it compleetly air-tight

This exercise was repeated a mnimum of 2 times a day. On occasions during the travel, the water was substituted by mineral water much to the agony of onlookers like us.

Khatron ka Khiladi- Tappu

In course of our 4-day Goa tourney, Tappu doubled up as car-driver. An epitome of dare-devilry and adventurism normally associated with Bollywood stuntmen, he would always take the toughest, the least-travelled and the most dangerous route as if it were a mundane experiment for him. A perfect example of this was our trek downward from the top of Vagator fort. Conventional wisdom and straght thinking would have told us to go the same safe way we had come from. But Tappu wasn't going to have any of that. He was hell-bent on taking us along with him on the steep descent downward (which was leading to nowhere), a plan which made Gokari flee for cover citing his still fresh wound. Although we finally made it to the beach in one piece, it was just a sign of what was to come in the later part of our tourney. As evident from the pic above, he is quite adept at striking visionary poses. His valiant attempt to retrieve the bat from the speeding train (completely ignoring Natty boy sitting inside) will be remembered.

The leader - Menon

Danger: Consultant at work

If ever there was any doubt regarding his consultant skills, Menon dispelled those with steadfastness. Armed with a laptop, at the end of each day, he would play with spreadsheets to ensure no one went scot-free in terms of the moolah to be paid. He protected and cradled the love of his life - "His Fast-track Shades", wherever we went. A stickler for good sea-food, he would touch upon each fish-item which existed on the restaurant's menu card while ordering, only to settle for a non-veg thali in the end.

Charlie

Charlie - Veera
Veera played an important role in the group, as the the official butt (along wth Gokari) of most jokes.
He would himself at the receiving end of the obvious "Charlie" remarks. Most of these would be met by him with a timid 'LOL', a sign that he was more internet/chat savy than us. We instantly adopted the chat lingo like lmao, roflmao etc for ease of communicaton with Veera. We would constantly fnd him busy wth his cell phone, occasionally smiling away. At frst we had discounted it as his regular interactions with one/all of the angels. But later did we realize that he was sending promiscuous messages to a guy on campus and that sparks were flying thick and fast.
Veera's alleged hydrophobia ensured that he kept watch on our belongings on the beaches while we were inside the water. Infact one one such occasion on Varca beach, he made himself at home in the lone shack on a bottle-emptying spree to run a huge bill.



Our 4-day intinerary in Goa was as follows:

South Goa:   \

Varca "White Sand" Beach

Day 1: Velankanni resort + A rented car and bikColva
Varca Beach - was a delight to the eyes since it appeared a virgin white sand beach completely uninhabitated by Indians (except for the owners of the lone shack). Firangs where having a ball here and it just did not seem like India.
Palolem Beach - The kayaking in the middle of the sea was a mind-blowing experience, not to mention our numerous failed attempts with the kayal falling over us and we consuming gallons of water in the process.

Enroute to Palolem

Day 2: Same resort and same rented vehicles

     Dudhsagar waterfalls (which included a completely misguided de-tour for me and Menon wherein we came across "Welcome to Karnataka" boards)

Dudhsagar

North Goa:

Day 3: The morning when we checked out and changed 2 buses and a cab to reach the Anjuna Beach road to find a lovely resort-type hotel in the most unlikeliest of places, ust a minute away from the beach. The spic-n-span hotel called Poonam resort with a lovely swimming pool and a restaurant by the poolside and a big spacous room for all of us. Needless to say it was heaven !

We had covered Anjuna , Vagator fort (Where we had a mini-trek to the top of the forts to the much-vaunted Dil Chahtha Hain point. The crazy vagabonds that we were, we choose a much steeper descent which led us down to a shack on the beach directly.)

Day 4: We packed from the hotel and reached Calangute and had our share of water-sport fun.

By late-night we experienced the inevitable - bumped into 2 groups from IIM-A, one on the Calangute beach and the other on the Margao station. No damage was done.

And that night off we were on our way to Mangalore, in Sleeper Class I must add. So began the 2nd part of our exiting journey, down south as we treked in the western Ghats.

Its that time of the year

Hi,

Yet another article of mine, a funny take on the 'prep months' after the CAT/XAT results are out and the B-schools come up with the GD-PI shortlists

A few things you could relate to 

 http://insideiim.com/its-that-time-of-the-season/

Read on

Regards

Vish

Maru'vellous' - Part6

After about an hour and a half of intense grilling, Mohta and his hordes gave Changu the leave. The interiewers dusted their hands gleefully as if they had invented something new while Changu wiped the beads off his forhead and loosened his tie in disgust  . It was that sort of an interview. Mohta  Co. had taken him to the cleaners and had given him probably the most torrid 90 minutes of his life. Mohta had played the cunning quizmaster while Tandon played the part of the nitpicker to perfection, latching on to every opportunity to counter and corner Changu. Yakku delivered the final knock-out punches by throwing random demoralising quotes in between and pummelling Changu's confidence to pulp.

To add to his woes, Changu had specified "Tea accounts" when asked about his 'long-term' goals. He had also said that his admiration for Maru T extended beyond that for all the girls in class to whom he had written 'juices' in class. The final nail in his coffin was when he had said that he preferred healthy ginger tea to junk like toffees and candies. This had enraged the wily Mohta and the rest was for all to see.

As the battered and bruised Changu walked out, Maru instantly recognized him as the same enthusiastic kid whom he had interviewed earlier tin the day. He had been waiting patiently for Changu and had just stepped out of his room after screwing a few Day-1'ers. He realized that it was the handiwork of his sworn competitor and vowed to get back at him using this god-sent opportunity.

Suddenely the same " Maru T , r u with me?" tone rang, echoing in the corridors, turning all heads towards him. In recen times, it had blasted its way up the popularity charts even surpassing the once famous 'Kolaveri' song.

Without looking at the phone screen, he killed the call with a click. Starbucks had been after him for their India strategy. They had wanted to merge with wtih big McD to form Mac'Bhook'. He was constantly ignoring them for they were one of the reasons he had earned a 'C-' in the SM course a good 2 decades ago at this very same place. And most importantly, the bright future of the company was before his eyes now. He smiled.

'You look tired, paa' said Maru, re-adjusting his lungi and doing the cigarette-flipping act all at once.

' Yes Sir, er...i thought it was an interview for Maru T Stall..wtf?" a visibly irritated Changu retorted.

' Ok kid, keep your abuses to yourself. I know its extremely pissing off considering what you have been through. It happens.' (Flashback time: Maru remembered the day when he had gleefully promoted Surf in a P & G interview" and escaped getting thrashed by the interviewers. " Small Mistakes like these are common" he reminded himself with a chuckle.)

" I like you. Considering your passion, commitment and the fact that you have worked really hard, I would like to offer you a internship at the Maru T Stall group. If you accept it, then drink this (He poured tea from the kettle into a plastic cup with the Maru T logo).."

Changu took a sip and almost spat into it. But he made an attempt to finish it off.

Maru: (Seeing Changu's reaction) " I know it takes some time to get used to premium quality. But dont wory you will develop a taste for it, slowly but steadily. Now that you have drank my tea, it shows your allegiance to me. The days of allegiance over salt are over. Now its Maru-time! (He then gave a hi-five to Changu who still could believe his luck.)

Changu's penance had finally ended in success

Maruvellous - Part5

Changu's series of flashbacks was broken by a call from a member of the scheduling team. " Please follow me" she said as she escorted him to room 906. Changu knocked on the door, hoping to see Maru again. But as the door opened, it was the sly Mohta who was waiting for him instead of Maru. The venue for his interview was supposed to be Room 609 and this small moment of error was going to be very eventful for Changu.

"Hello champ" said Mohta waving his hands like a confused traffic policeman " Come have a seat."

Changu was surprised to see that Mohta was not alone. He had his 2 loyal side-kicks with him, Yakku and 'Tandon.  Both were in their favourite attire, their cargos and pull-overs. Both of then looked grossly overdressed in comparison to Mohta. But they did not mind it. They had got used to each other's ways.

Changu exchanged pleasantries with all of them and shook hands with Tandon and Mohta. Yakku gave him a his trademark 'Yo'( his middle and ring fingers folded and the rest protruding out).

Just as Changu bent down to pick up his fallen pen. Something pricked him hard on the hand and he started bleeding profusely.
"I am really sorry, boy" apologized Yakku. One of his overgrown spikes had touched Changu and had caused injury.

Tandon: (Matter of factly): " Dont worry, it will heal fast. This is nothing. Yesterday he killed a poor cat by mistake."

Mohta: (In no mood for casual talk): " Ok guys, enough of faaat. Lets get down to business. Here, take this kid's CV ( He gave both of them a copy each and proceeded to examine a copy himself).

Yakku: (Almost jumping out of his chair) " Only 9.7 in your undergrad??? You must be joking. This is abysmal. Sounds like a Maru T CV."

Tandon: " No extra-curriculars. And all hobbies/interests are standard. Beta, have you done anything in your life or not.? What a Maru-like CV"  (He read out all hobbies that Changu had mentioned as Changu wore an embarassing look on his face.)

Mohta: (Not liking the mention of Maru T's name)  " Guys, you are in an MCC interview now, ok. Tandon, those were the days. Kids these days. (Shake of the head. Pointing towards Tandon) You know what, Changu? You should be like this guy sitting near me.

Tandon's chest brimmed with pride as Mohta gave him a ego massage.
True, during his days, he was a master at attending PPTs and most of all at devouring pizzas at will, however cold they would be. People mocked at him , but a small thought grew into a bigger plan. He loved food. He had a started off by starting a 'petha' store in Agra with help from MCC.  But he was not satisfied and wanted to diversify and had started his pizza outlets which catered to the PPT requirements of the college. This humble business grew manifold into multiple outlets all over the country. All this because of true passion. He was indebted to this college for providing him with this idea..

In recent times, he and Mohta were the biggest sponsorers for all food stalls in the festivals in the college.

Yakku on the other hand, had a slew of hair saloons offering many unconventional and patented hairdos'. The store was named "Yakku"cellent and commanded a major market. His spikes were the talk of the town.

A gruelling interview session was in the offing and Changu already had beads of sweat on his foreheadie despite the AC being on full blast.

...

'Maru'vellous' - Part 4

Changu pranced too and fro in the corridor, waiting for his turn. It had been almost an hour and he had not been called for the next round of interviews. He feared that Maru would have forgotten about him, decided the final shortlists and packed off leaving him in the lurch. But Changu waited on, unmindful of the fact that there was a royal showdown going on between the 2 heavyweights, Maru & Mohta.

The optimist inside Changu cheered him up. A slight smile came up on his face as he remembered the sequence of events leading up to the CAT, the results, the shortlists, his selection and how his life had come one whole circle.

Yet another flashback , rather a series of flashbacks followed in the same ordered structure as his just-concluded 'case-analysis'.

http://my-newsense1.blogspot.com/2011/01/catastrophy.html

http://my-newsense1.blogspot.com/2011/02/catastrophy-2.html

http://my-newsense1.blogspot.com/2011/03/catastrophy-3.html

'Maru'vellous - Part3

Changu readied himself for the next round of interviews for the Maru T stall group. He went through the usual check-up measures once again - adjusting his tie, checking his pant zip, scrutinizing the contents (CVs) of his folder. This was truly judgement day for him.

 " This a test of my character." He reminded himself. "Either I do well or I screw up badly. If I do well, no big deal. I was destined for such big stuff. But if I dont, I wont be able to forgive myself or show my face to my section or dorm mates."

 The words " Kya Aap C hain?" rang in his head like the temple bell. He instantly reprimanded himself for thinking about T-nite temps-shouts at such an opportune moment as he waited outside near the tracker.

 Maru, meanwhile, had instructed the placement member not to schedule any interviews for the next few minutes. He had been at the interviews for 2 gruelling hours on a trot wherein he had ripped apart 12 Day-1ers. He felt good after his interaction with Changu. He walked out off the stuffed AC-filled room to take in some oxygen. He saw the same flurry of activity before his eyes which he had been a part of 2 decades ago. Anxious students running around or waiting for their turn and more anxious placement members working hard to schedule their interviews.

 Maru adjusted the drapes of his sky-blue lungi which was ideal attire for the unusually hot November heat. He walked up to the tea-coffee vending machine, poured in some tea and took a sip from the cup. He gave it a scornful look as if he could burn it off with his eyes.
"What Yaaa, Nowhere near our standards" he said to himself with a sly smile. He then proceeded to wash his hands with the tea to validate the fact that it was nothing more than hot water.

 Just as he was about to turn and leave, a very familiar face caught his eye. A short man, be-spectacled, side-parted hair and a swagger to go with it. He was shouting orders on his BB. The man then pulled out a box of lollipops and then took out a piece for himself. He then struggled to pull out the wrapper for the next 5 minutes and then emphatically stuffed it into his mouth.

Maru smiled to himself saying " So, Mohta is also here." as he crushed the tea-cup in his hand as a sign of the quintessential war-bugle.
 Like Maru, Mohta too had come to recruit able people for his company, Mohta Candy Consulting.

 Maru T & Co. and MCC were rivals in the consulting domain, although they had carved out a niche in their respective domains. Both were diametrically opposite in terms of their approach. Mohta was the one driven by analytical and logical thinking whereas Maru believed in hands-on, was spontaneous and took decisions on impulse. Nevertheless both had built successful, billion dollar companies which struck dollar signs in the eyes of the young graduates.
 What's more, as an icing on the cake, they were from the same graduating batch of the college and sat in the same row.
 They had a competitive streak about them and had a really unconventional approach which was reflected in their dress sense. Maru had worn a red shirt and majstic sky-blue lungi to ensure that his combo never matched. Mohta had come in striped shorts and the 50th variant of the 'Saarang' t-shirt which was the prescribed dress code at MCC. Sources said that instead of picking a pristine black trouser, he had adorned his wardrobe with 60 different shorts purchased at the prime Kota market for the same price as the trouser.

 Mohta had seen Maru. He walked up to him and gave a smile wider than the model in the Close-up ad.
  " Never a better time to run into old foes." Said Maru with a wink.

  " You said, it" agreed Mohta as he sucked his lollipop and tried tugging at Maru's lungi.
 Maru was up for the challenge. He swiftly moved aside saying "Nice try" and pulled the naadaa which protruded out from Mohta's shorts.

 5 of the awe-struck students moved Maru T & Co. to number 1 and pushed MCC to 2nd place in their preference list.

  "Yuck..what happened to your tongue." noted Maru.

  " Nah..thats nothing. Raspberry-flavoured lollipops na" said Motha as he brandished his lollipop before Maru like a sword.

 " So, hows it going for you?" enquired Maru " You have no idea." Mohta's face brimmed with attitude.

'Maru'vellous - Part2

Maru look quite stunned with Changu's prompt reply. Never had anyone spelled out such an outrageous boutique of hobbies/interests.

Changu couldn't believe what he had just said. This was way off the rehearsed answer in the 7 previous mock HR interviews he had given to his seniors back in the dorm as part of the interview preparation. The 'skill and knowledge development', ' learning', 'exposure to different sectors' answers were far from what he had just blabbered.
For a moment Changu felt like evaporating from the interview room to escape Maru T's wrath. Maru T still wore the same look on his face - he was expressionless.

Then came his thunderous response
" My boy, I am proud of you!! You have, by far, been the most honest of all the numerous candidates I have interacted with so far."

Changu: ???

Maru T: Yes (Wipes of a tear). You in many ways, remind me of my days here, when I would get a through battering in the interviews. When I saw and heard you, I felt I was seeing a reflection of myself in the past.

Maru T: " I am having a troublesome stomach. What could be the problem?"
Changu: (With the excitement of a school-going kid wanting to be the first to answer)
Sir, give me a minute to think..
(Makes a few tree structures and arrows in a piece of paper.)

After a minute.

Changu: Sir, we first break down the problem into different smaller issues by employing the 2-G (Gayaa Guzraa) framework. In this case, the problem could be because of the food, your own body processes or some drug reaction.

(referring to his 'trees') Food can be classified as home-made, outside, food cooked by you (stifles a laughter)

Body processes can be internal or external
We concentrate on external which can be exercises, work, personal stress.

I safely assume that you have not taken any drug so there can be no drug reaction.

Let us concentrate on work and personal issues:
Since u r the boss of your company, there can be no work issues I assume.

In Personal issues, I think the first and foremost problem would be the fact that you are worried about the guys who would be hitting on your daughter.

I personally feel this is the root of the problem and it should be addressed to elimiate your health problem (Changu took the paper he had scribbled in and signed off with an air of non-chalance to indicate that he had cracked a puzzle. He looked for a word of encouragement from Maru T after the 10 minute ordeal.)

Maru T: " You moron..to hell with your frameworks..I haven't even given you the the case to work on.
(Clutching his overgrown tummy).. I was talking about my heath issues in general. Anyways, you have already wasted 10 minutes of mine. But on the positive side, I like your thought process. It is structured to say the least.

Changu: (Be-mused) Oh..thank you Sir.

Maru T: Ok..Changu we will schedule you next round in a few minutes from now.

Changu looked both apprehensive yet confident.

'Maru'vellous

Page 220 of Changu's 300 page biography, A Best seller (to the chaat-waalahs in mumbai)

Nov-mid:(Somewhere, in some part of the country, in some B-school campus. which is not necessarily your's - Disclaimer )

Changu waited outside with bated breath and sweaty palms, awaiting his turn for the next interview. The Cluster-1 tension and nervous energy was palpable and beginning to show on the faces of all 10 people sitting beside him, competing with him for the same company. Nothing from the dress-rehearsal interviews would have matched up to this pressure of expectations today. The firm was the most preferred recruiter on campus. Their India operation was based out of Chennai and they were into the niche area of Tea technology and consulting. They had dethroned Big "Mc". No marks for guessing who they were. They were none other than "Maru T Stall group" or Big Maru as was referred in the college lingo over the years.

"Mr. Changu, Please come in " called out a man politely, sticking his head outside the room. As Changu entered the room, the fresh aroma of Tea gripped and flirted with his nose. There were 2 persons inside. Both of whom had come down to the campus 3 weeks ago to give their pre-placement talk. Changu recognized one of the founders as Maru T. His's mind took the quick kitkat break and soon a flash-back followed.

4 weeks back:

Notice on the placement site:

Big Maru ,the very popular group is here for major roles. Please feel free to ask questions since this would be instrumental in getting strategic roles for us in tea-making.
Time: 4:00-6:00 pm
Dress Code: Lungi

The co-ordinator at the PPT opened the PPT (for the 52nd time) with: "Hi, today we have with us our most preferred recruiter, Maru T group on campus. Hope you will know a thing or 2 from him about tea stalls. Without further ado, I hand over charge to Maru.

Maru T,then, had stepped in to give probably the most 'senti' and inspiring speech ever heard in the history of the college placements.
He had been advised that all Classrooms were no-smoking zones, which robbed the audience off the heroic cigarette-flicking act of Maru. Nevertheless, they witnessed his goggle-wearing act which drew huge cheers and whistles from the audience. Then followed the speech which has every soul in tears. (even the placement committee member had thrown away his 'absent & penalty' register and started to sob).

Maru: "Friends, I had a very humble beginning like most of you, no IIT tag, no CFA level achievements, no high-flying GPAs etc. I was here 22 years back, at the very same place as you, attending some god-forsaken PPT like all of you are doing right now and completing my Marketing Assignment sheet. Alas, I was caught and fined a princely sum of Rs 500. I did not have the money then to pay the fine but that did not deter me from gaining expertise in my 'cogg'nitive skills.
I could not open simple T-accounts in Financial accounting for DEBIT and CREDIT. But 22 years hence, I advise people on opening million-dollar Tea accounts.
I did not study marketing but I can position well.
I was always the subject of cold-calling in all Probability & Statistics classes. Today I decide probabilities and nullify hypothesis.
I decided one fine day, to start a company whose valuations would equal all the fine penalties I have paid so far.

I know each of you is aspiring to be a Maru T. We ourselves need young and fresh minds (and hands) in tea making. So if u have it in you, our doors and stalls are open. Any questions?

(His talk was interrupted by his mobile which rang twice. His ringtone was the remixed version of the retro-hit " Maru T, r u with me?".


A hand went up. It was a chick.
"Sir, what makes you come to work daily?"

Maru: WTF... What randomness and globe is this?? This is not an 'organizational dynamics' class. (Signalling to his side-kick) Please don't shortlist her.

Tsunami Jr. was itching to ask a question. "Sir, what is the selection procedure like?"
Maru: Good question. Our criterion is passion and excitement of wanting to become a Maru T. If you don’t exhibit it, I am sorry this is not the place for you.
Our choice is simple – The candidate should not exhibit characteristics of a Day-1’er.

A week later, after the ppt, the shortlists were out. Around 20 of them had got through. There was disappointment galore among many others at not being able to make it. Changu was beaming with joy. He was one among the 20 and was overjoyed!

At the interview:
Maru: "Sit down" he said. Unlke most interviewers whose standard favourite was "Tell me about urself" he asked " So what are your hobbies/interests?"

Changu: "Err… Sir. Giving CAT, filling up multiple CVs, uploading them, sending them to companies, filling up company forms and awaiting shortlists.

Maru looked stunned.


To be continued...

'SLOT'tered

" Yaar, 6 ghante lagaataar soya hoon. Fir bhi neend aa rahi hain. ( I have slept for 6 hours but I stil feel like sleepy)" said 'ChoMu', my dorm-mate as he rubbed his blood-red eyes.

He had not got more than a few hrs of sleep in the past 4 days.
There was an element of guilt in his tone, for even a minute lapsed beyond the 'prescribed' sleeping time in WIMWI was akin to a sin committed.


"Abey Koi nahi! Peace Maar. Slot-2 khatam ho gaya ab.!!" I patted him and assured him that an extra hour of sleep would do no harm to his grades.

ChoMu's red eyes were a reflection of the pain all of us had been through in slot-1 and slot-2.

If ever there was a menu-card for Slot-1 and Slot-2, this is how it would have read:

8 surprise quizzes (slot 1)
8 more quizzes (slot-2, which ironically wasnt a surprise for us by then)
5 mid-term exam
8 end-term exams
9 marketing presentatons,
2 marketing projects
2 PS projects
5 WAC submissions
10 MC assignments
2 MC submissions
4 PLPs
1 GLP
....and countless cases from 13 casemats and an equivalent number of books which looked like "Yellow Pages" clones.
All this within 3 months.


" Main toh B******d 2 din tak subah hi nahi dekhoonga. Slot-3 se baad mein nipat lenge (I wont wake up in the near future. Slot-3 can wait)" quipped ChoMu with an air of nonchalance.
Quite understandably, my reassuring words had ensured he would not wake up till 11 pm that night.

Of the 29 dorms in WIMWI, Our Dorm, Dorm-7 (7th heaven) has the least number of Fachchas (juniors). There are 6 of us and 13 tuchchas (seniors). The 20th person in the dorm is a nerdy Mexican by the name of Jaymie (pronounced 'Hymie') who has just come on a 3-month long exchange programme along with 60-odd other people from different nationalities. The guy who stayed in the rooom before the Mexican arrived was Louie from France who it seems came here with the sole idea of touring india and seldom stayed in his room.
Of the 6 fahcchas, 4 of us-Bingo, Dhanno, Champ and me reside on the 1st floor while ChoMu and Gyaan are on the 2nd. The fact that we are just the 6 facchas in our dorm worked in our favour. It meant that we gelled up faster and better, (especially the 4 of us - ChoMu,Gyaan, Bingo and me, when we took refuge in our books in the cold confines of the library).

ChoMu is the quintessential aggressive and 'in-your-face' Haryanvi who would run rough-shod given a chance. He is from the dairy industry. He has a never-say-die attitude which makes him ideal WIMWI material. Slot-2 served as the ideal wake-up call for the normally relaxed and enthu-filled ChoMu.
He summed up his life here quite aptly in his sentences (of which a major proportion are unmentionables, censored in public interest)" @$%%%&& Aaj tak maine zindagi mein itni fight nahi maari,#$%### jitna har din yahaan maar rahaa hoon. Kuch samaj nahi aa raha, kya %@#$@@ ho raha hain" %##%##, #$#@@$, %#$%## .....

Dhanno is an epitome of studious-ness, hard-work and work-a-holism ,ready to latch on to any tit-bit of info which he thinks will equip him with the 'X' factor to propel himself ahead of others. A network engineer from CISCO, he is, by any stretch of imagination, the 'muggu' of the highest order (Pronounced as "Maggu", someone who Mugs and studies a lot more than the others do, WIMWI lingo) in our dorm. Has all the makings of a potential 'I-Schol'

Bingo,from the energy sector, is the eternally confused fachcha from IIT-M who has mastered the fine art of giving submissions at 5:59. well before the 6 pm deadline (Of course, not without losing enough sleep on it). He is credited with adulterating the WIMWI lingo with the IIT-M lingo (which actually sounds very user-friendly!). He has had his share of moments and 'claims-to-fame' in life.

Gyaan,from Renault with an aerospace degree from IIT-K to boast of, has probably earned a reputation of understating himself much too often. Given a chance between a drop-dead gorgeous woman and a bike, he would safely turn a blind eye to the lady and choose the machine. His craze for these mean machines almost made him weep on the day of the PS exam when the new R15 was being launched when he was in the examination hall.
Any negative talk/criticism about Delhi would be met with a very stiff and patriotic response from the man.

Champ,from Yahoo, makes it to the caricature of the software techie you would associate most Banglorean professionals with. A NIT-Suratkal product, he is well-versed with the knowledge of bits and bytes till the last molecule. His room also houses our 'pseudo' dorm-mate 'Suppandi' (Dorm 8 "Deity").

As I write this blog, people have just loosened up and put their feet up, albeit for the next 24 hrs till the registration for the next slot begins. There is also a mail from the TA (Teaching Associate) which tells us to prepare the marketing case for the next slot.

The next entry may take some while as this one did.

Over to Slot-3.


Regards

Vish

Words of Wisdom from WIMWI

Amidst all the gloom created by the uninvited quizzes ( 8 of them within a month), assignments and submissions (lost count), there is still a silver lining in the form of our ever enthusiastic & motivating Probability & Stats prof TM.

Here are some of TM's pearls of wisom which I have religiously noted down, besides his assignments, although it is not an exhaustive list:

(Disclaimer: Absolutely no offence meant to anyone. :P)


( Looks at a half-asleep Abhishek on the 1st bench (wat guts!), who has failed to produce his average of 3 CPs (class participations) in one class)
" "Abhishek, hope i m not disturbing you."



(Noticing the eternally confused look on Sumit Somani's face)
" Sumit, is there anything wrong with me." ( thrice today)



(An equally clueless Monalisa)
" Monalisa, Hope you are not getting lost in these symbols. My job is to make your life simpler and not confuse you.


(Catches a girl unawares, almost at her journey to doze off to glory) " Harjyot, are you following me."


( Points to the Excel 2007 sheet on he projector)
" You should thank your stars that you are students of WIMWI, and you are aided by such technology."


" Even intuition needs a lot of intuition." (??)


And The best of the lot so far.......

" Statisticians are hated by a lot of people because they go in deep, stay longer and come out dry."
( A big wave of laughter.. WIMWI students arent discounted from thinking wild)

Regards

Vish

Mathosaurus

There are occasions when a potentially harmless subject like math is transformed into a monster of Jurassic proportions thanks to a deadly concotion of greek symbols.

Hardcore math lovers would gulp this down with the same ease as a can of coke.

Take a look

And you thought math was just about your mother telling you to keep "3 in the mind" and "4 in the hand" and do the counting.

(I know you are still wondering what the above equation was all about. Brutality)

Life!

Regards
Vish

The final converts

Hi,

Its been a happy season so far (touchwood!).

11 B-school calls and all converted !

Converts: IIM A, IIM C, IIM L, IIM I, IIM Ranchi, IIM Rohtak, IIM Raipur, IIM Trichy, XLRI, SP Jain, SIBM-Pune

Rejects: None

IIM-A ..aah.. Sone pe suhaagaa !

With a heavy heart, I reject all the others.

Regards

Vish

Final Goodbyes!

I woke up today, like most days at 7:00 am. Nothing unusual about it . The sun still rose from the east. I hurriedly took a shave & bath and fished for my I-card in the populated drawer. And then it struck me

"What am I searching for. Its all over !
Its official now ! I am finally jobless all over again."

It was a truly emotional farewell at M&M on the penultimate as well as the final day yesterday (besides the sad part of not being on the payroll of M&M anymore).

The exit-HR interview & final clearances involving signatures at 20 places were done with (It really tells you how big an organization like M&M is).

I had my last snack at the 4*4 cafe, with the last swipe of my I-card.
I surrendered my card to the P&IR personnel, quite reluctantly. Not that I wanted to have a bite at another Dahi-puri, but it was a part n parcel of my pocket and my identity for the past 4 yrs.

Wherever I went, the card had the power to evoke awe among the general junta. Such was its power!


I sent my farewell mails to the entire fraternity of CDMM, sourcing, designers, quality, production I was involved with within M&M and my suppliers too.
People were glad that that the farewell mail was something they could relate too even though it was a tad too long.(Some even confessed to have slept while reading half-way.)

Lots of phone-calls, tons of handshakes, hugs, goodbye messages, loads of advice from the seniors, promises to keep in touch till the last - marked the day.


Giving the farewell speech on both days was tough. There was so much to talk yet so little came out.
We relieved the fine moments, the leg-pulling, the regrets, the fun @ work part, the getaways, the treks, etc.

I was overwhelmed by the occasion..the big lump in the throat had grown football size (No, not thyroid deficiency! An intense surge of moments & memories of the past 4 year made it so.)

M&M, being my first employer, the M&M hangover will take some time to fade away.

Till then I will have to get accustomed to the fact that I am no longer on any company's payroll. So no easy cash.

So I guess, its no longer the "Mahi"-way anymore.

My best wishes to all who helped me in this journey. You have been wonderful.

All the very best.

More from IIM-A

Regards

Vish

Converted !!

More often than not, the lull before the storm causes the real flutter.So was the case with me,given the 2 month hiatus between the IIM group discussion-interviews and the final shortlists. To be fair, most of my interviews were akin to "first day-first shows" which meant that the process would be spread over a period of nearly a month to accomodate the large sea of shortlisted candidates.
Even as the final interviews were still on, speculations on the possible date of the release of the final results took root and spread like wildfire. The mere mention of the "probable dates" had the aspiring students as much rivetted to the Pagalguy (PG) site as the spectacular India-SL world cup final.
Although the logical self in me restrained me from checking the PG site to avoid the unnecessary hype & hoopla; the whole buzz surrounding the aftermath of the GD-PIs was too tempting to reist, especially for my mother. Each day would start with the same-old,dreaded question from her.
" Any news?". She would ask
The question to which I would give a shrug and a nod in the negative. The frequent "NOs" somehow made me feel awkward and guilty given the fact that she was dead sure I would convert all my IIM calls and that it was just a matter of time. I wasn't half as sure as her. The fact that I had got IIM calls had only just begun to sunk in now.

IIM A was a 50-50 chance. Not that I had screwed it up. But no one seemed to have performed badly.
IIM C had generated a feel-good feeling in me. Nothwithstanding any twists & turns in the final shortlists; deep inside, I knew I had aced "C" like no one before. Just the official confirmation was needed.

IIM L, I and the 4 news IIMs were a breeze.
I went about my work as usual just to ensure I was engaged & busy and had no time to sit & worry like many on the PG site.

A close look at the PG site would be enough to tell you that a major proportion of posts on the CAT forums are those of desperate people who whine about just about anything from their poor past grades to their bad CAT scores to the look of the interview panel they faced.
They speculate about their chances based on some really trivial observations thus making a mountain of a mole-hill.
( " He dint offer me a toffee while I was leaving. Everyone else got 1 at least. I am screwed. I am screwed",
" They never checked my files", they dint fine me interesting".
" He cleaned his ears while I was answering his questions".
" He scratched his @&*. I am a failure. Boo hooo !!"

Somehow, all at once, everyone seem to have messed up his/her chances of converting a IIM call! There are ,however, a few exceptions in this gloom of pessimism. And from a few such composed voices emanating from the forums it was known that 18th April would be D-day!

April 17th,the night: A casual log onto the PG site (Curiosity always kills the cat)at around 12. Disappointly, none of the IIMs had come out with their shortlists (IIMs and their surprise element!).

XLRI had!
I followed the link provided in their site, keyed-in my details and waited in anticipation. The page refreshed itself, so did my brain. The merciless XAT paper, 99 percantile, the interview, the old man on the panel etc appeared & vanished within 2 sec. Finally the page that mattered the most appeared. It furnished all details including the most important one - " Was I in or out?" And the decision read as under:



!! CONGRATULATIONS !!


You have been selected for BM Programme for which you have applied to XLRI Jamshedpur.
Please wait for the official letter from the Chairperson, Admissions, XLRI Jamshedpur.

I confirmed it a couple more times just to be sure before telling the others about it. It was a mini-victory and given the unpredictability and weirdness associated with XLRI final calls, this was no mean achievement. I gave myself a small pat on the back, mentally. This would be a insurance, good enough to offset any depression if I dint convert any of the IIM calls.
Most people on the PG forum had promised themselves they wudnt sleep until they had seen the A,B & C final shortlists. Maybe it was too ridiculous a thought or I was too sleepy ;I dint bother checking any further and had a good night's sleep.

April 18th, 9:30 am: On my dek, sipping on some elaichi-tea, I brushed aside my work-dairy and opened the IIM A webpage (Our company's server-filters arent too fond of PG forums).
Today there was a new link under the PGP admissions heading. I clicked on it and fed in my details. No expectations, no fear of failure, no heart-breaks. And IIM C was always there to bank on ( I had made up my mind rather covertly that C was my ultimate source of refuge.) The page took not less than a few seconds to flash the following details:



Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
Admission Status : Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP 2011-2013 batch), IIMA

Name VISHWANATH

Congratulations! You have been selected for admission to PGP (2011-2013 batch), IIMA. Please indicate your decision by e-mail.


The casualness of the moment melted away in thin air. The elaichi-chai was still swirling inside threatened to fall out of my open mouth. I sat staring at the PC in disbelief as if it were news of Katrina proposing to me. Shell-shocked, I scanned every word of the last 2 sentences esnuring it wasnt a typing error on part of IIM A.
For a moment, everything else around me seemed to come to a grinding halt.

Thinking it was the old GDPI-shortlisting link (such errors are common place), I entered my details again. The msg was the same. Out of disbelief I repeated the exercise a few more times. No change, same verdict!

How could it change??
Realization dawned.
India's premier B-school had finally decided that from among the 2-lakh odd candidates who had competed in the CAT, I was worthy enough to make it through to its hallowed portals.
" A ratio of 766 students per seat." my mind computed instantly. The mathematician inside me refused to die down even though CAT was over ages ago.
It was indeed a big deal after all. Beating 765 others for a seat in IIM-A is no joke. I had come up with something really special!

I was still in a stupor of utter disbelief, completely oblivious to the hectic daily activity around me.
Tears started to brim in my eyes and tried hard to sneak out. It wasnt wise to burst out in full public cognizance. Not that boys cant cry (Although women like to belive its their monopoly of sorts. They forget, we do hav feelings too.)
Give vent to my feelings, I certainly did. I dashed off to the nearest washroom,locked myself in and poured it all out.
A million thoughts engulfed me then - buying the CAT admission form at Rajkot during one of the longer supplier visits, test preps,mocks,CAT,my percantile,the shortlist to the interview stages, the interview,the cut-throat competition, the sacrifices that went into all these etc.
After composing myelf, I called up my mother in Banglore. She answered my 2nd call. Her reaction was palpable excitement and it was something she couldnt hav expressed in words.
I turned and walked to "Saab" who was working away furiously on his lappie. He was overjoyed to say the least; so was "chits", "yogi","amma","shaktiman","tame tiger","guru","alok" and many others. Slowly but surely, the news made its way through the whole dept in Kandivli. It was indeed wonderful that everyone else was enjoying and revelling in my success and it made the occasion all the more special.

By late afternoon, IIM C had declared their shortlists and I had made it there too! To be honest, thats wasnt a surprise.

Things were happening so fast,so soon. It was going to be really tough digesting the whole run of events right from last night.

The resignation letter had already been typed in my head

The feeling had just started to sink in now...

Regards

Vish

The IIM I interview experience

Its always good if your IIM calls are closely spaced, preferably back-to-back interviews (although this isn't under our control). The intensity levels remain the same, you are charged up and you can say the same things over & over again without getting bored. My prolonged wait for the 'I' interview continued for 20 days after having finished XL, A,C,& L within 5 days. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally picked myself up for the big day.
The venue was the same as that of A & C (seriously, some age-old tie-up??). I reached there half an hr before the scheduled time of 1:30 pm and followed the directions to the I-waiting room on the 4th floor. There were 20-odd people already sitting there.
The usual scenes. Half of the crowd were shuffling & re-shuffling the contents of their folder, just to be sure. Some were deeply engrossed in their copies of the "Times", devouring every piece of information on tsunami-ravaged,N-crisis hit Japan. Some, like me, calmly studied the floor to avoid the nervous faces before us.

We were divided into 3 panels, each having 9 of us. We were provided with our sheets of paper for the Written ability test (WAT). The WAT was divided into 2 sections.
The 1st section was a large essay which had to be summarized in approx. 130 words. It was on the extinction of certain species of wild animals and factors affecting it.

The 2nd section had something which suggested " Ban on smoking in public places is necessary for public health." We had to present an argument for/against it in approx. 200 words and support it, preferably with suitable examples. I couldn't fathom whether I was fast or the others slow because I was giving finishing touches to my 2nd section when some of the others where in the middle of their 1st.

We were stipulated a time of 50 min. But the entire group was done with the WAT in only 40 min. I wrote on how ban on smoking is futile, issues in monitoring it, measures to discourage the habit, promoting public health at large, more spending for healthcare etc.

Our sheets taken, we were told to sit in the waiting room for our turns.
Yet another 2-hr long wait (I was used to it by now, a veteran of sorts in giving interviews.).

The girl before me came out of the interview room. She had almost the same expressions on her face as she had 15 min back when she had gone in. While she was inside, I could only hear laughter half of the time. No, not from her, from the panelists! After a 2-min hiatus, I was called in.

Panel:
P1: A man in his late 40s (Appeared the quite chilled,logical type interested in having a civilized & casual discussion.)

P2: A guy in his late 30s (Reminded you of your cruel young uncle with the god-given right to impose himself on you, monitored my words closely, looked for mistakes and chances to corner me.)

P3: An old man in his 60s who displayed the trademark features of all oldies who had interviewed me so far. The prime motive for his presence on the panel was to make me look as dumb as possible, throw random finance & eco terms at me and pummel my confidence to pulp.
He spoke less, was more intent in arranging the interview paper than gauging my intellect. He chipped in with questions on subjects which I had no idea about. He was ably supported by nitpicker P2.

P2 summons me inside.

P1: So..er..Vishwanath?
Me: (Still standing)..Yes sir, vishwanath

P1: Right vishwanath, pls sit.

P1: (Still looking at my interview form)..I was looking at your form and couldnt help wondering how photogenic ur face is. You are handsome with a smiling face. (???)
Me: Thank you Sir.

P1: You should be in modelling, man. Why Indore? It isnt the place.
Me: (Still smiling)
P2 sees it as an opportunity to sneak in and eyes my form.

P2: So, what is it..ok..metallurgy & materials engg. So wat is carbon-dating?
Me: Told him about it as a technique to measure the age of age-old items etc.

P2: How are the ages of fosils of plants & animals measured?
Me: Explained to him the theory of carbon-dating and usage. (fumbled in between)

P2: What is half life? (Cracked a cheap joke on it, saying his half-life is 18 years and he would love to tell women about it. The other laughed.)
Me: Explained to him about half life, decaying of carbon, etc. Somehow made sense.

P2: (cutting me ..)But why only carbon is used for it? why not any other element?
Me: 'Coz it is an element which has an affinity & combines well with different metals & non-metals to form different compounds abundantly available on earth.

P2: (Again cut me..) So,u mean carbon is most abundantly available on earth. Really?
Me: No.

P2: Then?
Me: Silicon, Oxygen & Iron are the most abundant on earth.

P2: (Again..) But you haven't told me. why the reason for carbon-dating for detecting the age? Its not just its affinity.(Gave some example of him having an affinity for different people but that doesnt mean he is good enough. He had a laugh about it.)
Me: I dont know.

P1: What is Bessemerization?
Me: (Thought for some time). Spoke about its importance & significance in steel-making process improvement.

P1: What is the current method?
Me: electric Arc furnace.. Elaborated on it.

P1: So what is value-engineering?
Me: It is about adopting an alternate route/means to create benefit in terms of cost reduction,lead time reduction,productivity enhancement, quality enhacning, weight reduction etc (gave an auto example.)

P1 nodded in satisfaction .P2 dint want to. No sign of P3 yet.

P1: But in a particular case,ford did value engineering and tinkered with their vehicle safety systems in the process? What about it?
Me: Sir, it was a case where ford evaluated the damages they would have to pay for the accidents occuring due to the change and the savings they would get from the value engg change. The former turned out to be less. So they went with the proposal.

P1 smiled & nodded. He felt good that I was knowing some stuff.

P2: But whats wrong with it? (Gave a wicked, sly grin).
Me: It compromises on the passenger safety knowingly. It is unethical.

P2: So what? (I wished this guy was in one of those accident-prone Ford Cars)
Me: It would signal bad quality, send a bad message out to the customers and the image of the company would take a beating.

P2: So what is the job of materials management exactly?
Me: Materials,cost, quality, delivery, supplier parts development,process...

P2: What is your efficiency?
Me: In terms of?

P2: How would I know? You must be having some targets right?
Me: Yes we do. In terms of completing the development in time, cost targets..

P2: (Cuts again..) So what si the efficiency?
Me: 80%

P3: (Intro)..What is Break-even?
Me: It the point where you start earning profits.

P2: Are you sure? (doubting, suspicious look)
Me: yes

P3: What is gestation period?
Me: period in which you recover the investments we make etc.

P2: (cuts me yet again..he was doing it on purpose) what is the difference between cost & investment?
Me: spoke about money, human capital, time value etc etc.

P3: So can humans depreciate?
Me: No, in terms of knowledge.

P3: Can this building depreciate?
Me: Yes

P1: How do you go about value engineering? process followed for it?
Me: Explained about defining the objective in mind, forming a cross functional team, validating the process & the product, comparing the before/after effects and the nimplementing it.

P1: If we have very little/no time for all this?
Me: Then we can go for benchmarking with a imilar part for similar application used elsewhere and compare & verify data to conclude.

P2: If I want glass/glass-like appearance in my office tiles what type of material do i require?
Me: Materials which have the ame polished, surface finish like glas ...

P2: (cuts..shares a giggle with the other 2) No, but I want only glass. what should i take into account?
Me: A list of properties like compressive strength, load, machinability, surface finish, tempered glass etc.

P3: (obviously feeling left out)..What is cost?
Me: explained

P3: Do u know the 2 aspects of cost or not?
Me: fixed & variable cost

P3: What is fixed & variable cost?
Me: explained with examples like raw material & process. Variable would mean labour, inventory etc etc

P3: What labour? temporary or permanent?
Me: ?????

P2 (giggling all the time)

P3: Your salary has a variable cost right?
Me: Yes

P3: What is it? Esops?
Me: No, sir. It is sector performanc...

P2: (Cuts me off..) what are Esops?
Me: explained employee stock options

P3: How does Esops help you? (I have never taken Esops dude)
Me: Told that it is na option to take a stock of the company.

P2: What is a stock?
Me: A financial instrument by buying which you get a certain ownership of the company/firm. the price can appreciate or come down.

P2: So if u have a M&M Esops do you become equivalent to Mahindra himself? (Laughs out load. P1 & P3 join in.)

P3: So what r you. 0.000005% owner of M&M?
Me: (Damn you, did I ever say I took Esops any time.)

P3: So, what happens if you buy M&M company bonds?
Me: (Smile all the while) I dont know bonds sir.

P2 flashes a silent victory smile to himself.

P3: What is UPA-2?
Me: UPA in the 2nd term.

P3: (turns to other) OH..2nd term it seems.So, if u fail in your 1st term and give the same exam again, you have completed 2nd term?)

All3 of them have a good laugh and I give a big, bright smile.

P2: What is UPA?
ME: United Progressive Alliance.

P3: Who is the chaiperson of UPA-2?
Me: (thinking)

P3: C'mon, take a guess.
ME: (thought of Manmohan being remote-controlled by Sonia)..Sir, sonia Gandhi.

P2: What about Manmohan then?
Me: (??? Wat abt him?)


P1: There is a lot of talk about plastic & its connection to pollution. As a materials engineer waht will your opinion be?
Me: Spoke on identifying which plastics are degradable and which are not. Time taken to de-grade, educating the public on the classifications, making them aware of wat they use etc and use substitutes.

P1: What if it were one of your auto components?
Me: Talked about doing technical feasaiblity, application requirements, alternate materials, having a cross-functional team which includes a environmental engineer.

P2: (Not spoken for a while)..So, why was Keshub Mahindra in news lately?
Me: In connection with the Bhopal gas tragedy.

P2: What about it?
Me: He was implicated..

P2: sure?
Me: No, he was just arrested.

P2: What was the company?
Me: (Thought for a while) Dow Chemicals.. (AArgh.. it is Union carbide. How did i miss it??)

P2: But Dow says that it is not their company? (sly smile again)
Me: I know the company but cant recollect its name.

P2: Do you know the name of the chemical?
Me: Methyl iso-cyanate

P2: What was Keshub Mahindra's role in it?
Me: M not sure. But he was on the board of Directors.

P3: Actually much more than that. Chairman.
ME: ok

P2: (Showing off his GK)..Have you heard of chernobyl disaster?
Me: Yes

P2: What was it?
ME: explained nuclear reactor, radioactive explosion, etc etc

P2 (Cut me again..) what is the difference between Bhopal & Chernobyl?
Me: Chemicals were different, implications different..Chernobyl was...

P2: (Cuts.) When did chernobyl happen?
Me: Told

P2: Where did it happen?
ME: ukraine

P2: Where was it?
Me: USSR

P2 What is USSR?
Me: (Accidentally said "United Soviet Socialist Republics". But said it confidently enough)

P2: Where is USSR?
ME: Its no more there. It broke up into different countries.

P2: Broke up in 2 different countries?
ME: Not 2 different countries. Into (Spelled "I-N-T-O") many different countries including Russia.

P2: Ok. got it.

P1,P2, P3 look at each other and finally decide that they have had enough.

Me: (Smile) Thank you.


I dont really know how much the ordeal lasted. But it was good fun.


Final Verdict: " Converted "

Regards

Vish

The IIM L interview experience

Coming close on the heels of the 2 biggies 'A' & 'C', the 'L' interview was supposed to be the last of 'em all. It would end the series of 4 interviews on the trot (5 in 9 days) and i had to ensure that I ended the week on a high. 'L' wasnt going to be a cake-walk ,so i had heard and read at different forums. Even though I had become a veteran of sorts at facing GDs & PIs, I egged myself on to focus more. Complacency was the last thing on my mind; there was precious little gap between the interviews to get over-confident.

So, 26th of Feb it was. The venue this time was "Sea Princess Hotel" in the western suburb of Juhu. A plush, 4-star hotel in Juhu, its a stone's throw away from the Juhu beach. Many people, including me, dont know such a hotel exits due to the presence of other giants in the same region like the 'Marriot', the 'Ramada', the 'Centaur' etc etc just like IIM L is dwarfed by the presence of IIM A,B,C et al (Terrific analogy!!).
The security man at the entrance dint even take the trouble of 'X-ray'ing my bag after knowing that I was an "IIM interview-wala".

I sat with a few others in the beautiful banquet hall (Read: 'L' waiting room)as the crowd trickled in slowly but surely. The morning session had got over. No one was willing to comment on how they had performed, if not positively. I saw around and noted that 50% of them had already accompanied me to 'A' & 'C'. Quite a few of us had become good friends, some of them on back-slapping terms.

We were divided into 6 groups (panels) each consisting of 7-8 candidates for GDs/PIs. I was in panel 5 with 6 others (including a guy whom I had met at my coaching classes. A tough, talkative nut to crack watever be the GD topic.). We were led to one of the posh hotel rooms. 2 small tables joined together and 7 chairs fairly close to each other (and some light music would have made it perfect) was the GD site. But first the essay writing

We were alloted about 15 minutes for it (L showing that they were far more generous than the others.). The topic - " All Government instituitons should come in the purview of RTI."
A good topic and a far cry from the not-so-ideal GD of 'C'. There was lots to write on - the RTI, its uses so far, examples, recent facts & figures, good points, flipsides etc. The script was well-reasoned out, structured & concluded well.
A word of advice - please be aware of recent happenings and develop opinions on it.
Watch loads of talk shows,debates, discussions - it helps bigtime.

Most of us finished within the stipulated time (for want of more space to write. The guy beside me had increased his font-size deliberately.). Our papers were then taken away. The panel of 2 men instructed us to start our discussion saying we had 10.5 minutes for the same (7*1.5 = 10.5 min. Got the logic?). They then pretended to read through our 'essays'.

The GD kicked off on a brisk note as the spectacled guy opposite me spoke without interruption for half a minute till we thought it was time to cut him off and I managed to enter it. I managed to enter 3 more times. Everyone got an oppotunity to talk & most importantly be heard.
The points were pretty much the same as the ones put on paper. I spoke on RTI activism, the real estate mafia, politician-bureaucrat-biz nexus, RTI in defence deals & mining etc, the flipsides, media attention etc. At the end of the 10.5 munutes, we exited the room, a satisfied lot.
We were called for our turns for our interviews and as expected I was the last one.
All 6 panels had their interviews simultaneously in addition to the IIM B interviews which were also held in the same floor in opposite rooms. When you have the top 100-200 brightest minds of the country together within a few square metres, it is hard to miss the competitive streak and an air of anxiety is always prevalent.

My turn finally did arrive after what seemed an eternity of wait outside the same room in which we had our GD session. (They deliberately did that i guess).

P1: (the khadoos guy), P2 : (relatively cool).I sensed a stress-session there in the offing and i guessed it right!!

P1: Come in, why are you waiting outside. We were wasting time inside
waiting for you.
Me: (Not my problem)Sir, I thought it appropriate to wait till u called me.

P1: Sit down, you dont expect us to ask you questions standing, do u?
Me: sat down

P1: (Not looking at me. He dint 70% of the time ,to unsettle me)Tell us about urself.
Me: (perfect poetry - blah blah1, blah2 etc)

I hand over the originals/certificates to P1. P1 & P2 divide it among themselves as if it were the 'prashad' offered in temple.

P1: (Pissed at not being able to find a fault in my 10th, 12th & grad marks started examining the quality of my trancript, quite deliberately) So where is the original for ur transcript?
Me: Sir , what u r holding is the original transcript of my marks.

P1: What??? (Stunned expression on his face, as if I had told him my favourite hobby was watcing porn) You call this a transcript and u call urself an engineer.
(Turns to P2) Looks at this piece of paper. They call it an original these days it seems. imagine how worse a photocopy wud be (Hearty laugh all around. Hearty laugh changes to a disgusted expression and shake of the head.)

P1: You have a lot of work to do. My advice to u is go and get this laminated properly and only then attend future interviews.understood?

(Ya right, it was just torn a bit at 1-2 places which had obviosuly not missed his eye. He was making a mountain of a mole-hill. I sat expressionless and nodded my head).

P2: You say u hav completed B.Tech. what is so great about B.E/B.Tech? what is the difference between degree & diploma?
Me: (Ragging chalu) ..Sir , B.tech is composed of balh, blah.. ( happily cut off by the ever-khadoos P1).


P1: You have done B.tech in NIT Trichy.
Me : yes sir.

P1: So u will go to IIM Trichy?
Me: Yes sir.

P1: and IIM A?
Me: Yes sir.

P1: Stop confusing us. Do u want IIM Trichy or A? Dont change ur answers at will.
Me: I would A over Trichy.

P1: So u have done B.tech in metallurgy...(cut off by P2)
Me: Yes sir

P2: What is the latest in metallurgy these days?
Me: Rattled off the names of a few processes & benefits in the industry.

P2: (Still obsessed with my marksheets)..See this marksheet specifies marks. You must have a certificate which specifies whether u have flunked or passed?
Me: (What the?) Sir, the marksheet satisfies both requirements. Pls have a closer look (He did and ruefully admitted he was wrong.)

P1: (Purposely singling out a subject in the 6th sem in which I got a D)What is High speed steel?
Me: Told what it is, its uses.

P1: What are its benefits?
Me: Clung on to my 6th sem basics and formed the answer well.

(P1 nodded in appreciation.)

P1: Do u know the inventor of this?
Me: No sir.

P1: Think. He is one connected with 'scientific management'.
Me: Cant recall the name, Sir.

P2: (Feeling left out)I see u have also studied Economics in ur graduation (As if I had a choice then).
Me: Yes sir, i did.

P2: What do u remember? Do u remember anything?
Me: Yes sir (rattled off names/terms/terminologies like 'bandwagon effect','demand-supply' curve,elasticity of demand, 4P's of marketing, Some smith etc.

P2: What is on X-axis of demand-supply curve?
Me: Dont remember ir.

P2: Y-axis?
Me: Dont know sir.

P1: You said adam smith. When did he live?
Me: Sir, 16th century.

P1: He wrote a book. what was it called? (argh..can v just move on)
Me: I remember he wrote book. Cant seem to recollect its name.

P2: At least he remembers Adam smith ( and both have a laugh. I join in)

P2: So wat is ur job about. explain it to us?
Me: Told about it for a few minutes.

P1: So,wat is standardisation?
Me: Explained it to them with the help of an example in automobile part. Told them the benefits of it.

P1: (nodding his head) good. So which is a most recent & visual exampls of standardisation in auto industry?
Me: (thought for while)..Sir, its K-series engines in Maruti (explained about maruti's platform and multiple launches in short ime).

P1: do u know wat is simplification?
Me: no sir. Not heard of it.

P1: do u have any hobbies/interests?
Me: Yes sir reading & blogging.

P1: So u write your own blogs and you are forced to read them urself only. ( Turns to P2. Roaring laughter all around.)
Me: (smiling) Sir, i have got enough readership base for my blogs.

P2: What do u read?
Me: Fiction. Political-fiction.

P2: Which language?
Me: English

P1: What about Tamil? you know to read it?
Me: Yes sir I can read & write

P2: So u read tamil novels also?
ME: No sir, not novels. But i read the smaller sections/captions/sign boards in tamil.

P1:(turning to P2) Most of them dont even know to read their mother-tongue well. Its a pity. (yeah..say that while staying in Mumbai)

P1: Do u read Jeffrey Archer?
Me: No i dont.

P1: Why?
Me: Coz, I find it boring.

P1: (turns to P2 who by now seems to be having a ball of a time)These guys specify reading but say they dont like Archer. What a shame, these people.
Me: (Nothing but a stifled smile)

P2: what books & author?
Me: Named a few

P1: Is the protagonist same or different for all Dan Brown novels?
Me: Sir, for "Da Vinci code" and "Angels & Demons" it is the same.

P1: What is his name?
Me: Robert Langdon.

P2: (cuts off P1 and his questioning spree)..Did u watch the movie or u stick only to books and more books?
Me: Sir i did watch the movie.

P1: What did u like? book or movie and why?
Me: Sir , the book. Becoz while watching the movie you only have to watch what is shown or pojected to u. In a book, u can analyze and make mental pictures of characters as per ypur convenienc and thought.

Both seemed satisfied with the answer. A few more questions followed on it which I reasoned out well. Some more banter and laughter.

P2: You have fileld up PGP-abm profile also.
Me: Yes sir. But its a 2nd choice

P1: Whatever it is. At the end of it, its a choice and u filled it. There is no escape.
Me: Yes sir.

P2: So tell me..why do u want to do abm?
Me: (fumbled at the start but then picked up after a few seconds of thought. Talked abt M&m, farm equipment, initiatives for productivity,mechanization, farm advicing etc and so my interest.)

P2: what is the initiatives taken by m&m called?
Me: Shubhlabh. (Explained what they do like seed distribution, supporting irrigation, soil testing etc.)

P1: Have u been to a village?
ME: Not exactly village. but my engg college was in the country-side far frm city.
(Both giggle over my answer.)

P1: have u been to a village farm?
Me: Yes Sir.

P2: Have u seen people farming?
Me: Yes sir. But not from very close quarters.

P2: So from where do u see farming? Using binocolurs?? (Both have a laugh and i join in with a smile)

P1 & P@ look at each done with a " I am done" expression.
"Thank you" They said in a chorus, I reciprocated and walked out of yet another gruelling session.


Final Verdict: " Converted after a prolonged wait-list. (Not that it mattered finally)"


Regards

Vish