The experience with God's own IIM

Date : 17th Feb 2007

The date for my IIM Kozhikode interview. I was pretty much tensed the previous day as i knew these ppl are asking questions on 2nd and 3rd Sem maths like Laplace Transform, Fourier Series, Probability Distributions et al. One of my friend in US helped me out with basic statistics stuffs like Mean mode and variance. Thank U friend.

As my interview was at 9 AM and was in Brigades, i left home at around 8:15-8:20, reached there at around 8:35 AM. The waiting hall for this was a small dingy room, with a sloping stairs outside, which had its protrusion inside too. We were 30 ppl crammed in that tiny room. A hotel guy came into the room at around 9 AM and read out the names and divided us into different panels, collected our applications and left. (Yes profs from Gods own Campus doesn't give Dharshan till the time for ur GD has arrived). Finally at 9:10 AM, we were led into the room where our GD was to be held. There were 2 profs, P1 and P2. We were 9 ppl in the group as one guy had given this a miss.

They started the process. They gave all of us a piece of paper, on which a paragraph was written and this was supposed to be the topic on which we were supposed to discuss. We were given 2 mins to think and 10 mins to discuss. The article was something abt Govt shud not run business and leave the infrastructure development to Private players. This was the worst GD i had till now. The moment the GD started 3 ppl started talking and it was usually 3-4 ppl talking at the same time. I couldn't get in a single point till 7 minutes, then got in one point which was accepted by the group and then, i couldn't get in again till the end of GD.

We were again led into the same cramped up room and were asked to wait. I was a bit sad as my GD was horrible, but spent some quality time with the ppl there. Half the ppl there were from Hyderabad and most of them had Non- Comp Sc profile. Me and one more girl who works for Infy Hyderabad were the only ppl with CS background. We all spent some time discussing current affairs and GK. Then it was tech stuffs, with that girl asking me questions and trying to refresh my memory. I was the 9th person to be called for the interview and by the time they called me it was 1:15 PM again.

I went in and i heard the 2 profs discussing softly, "Yes we'll ask him about it" . I knew it was about my GD and i was actually prepared to give a 2 min talk on the topic if they ask for it.

P1 left me into the room and went out for a break. P2 was sitting and was looking at my application form. I went in and wished them. P2 asked me to take the seat and stared at me. Man, that look. It was really scary. It was almost as if it was going right into ur brain and reading ur mind.

P2: So How was ur GD??
Me: It was really bad Sir
P2: What happened??
Me: Sir i had points, but couldn't come in as it was usually noisy. I tried coming in but i couldn't. I didn't want to add to the chaos.
P2: So u have calls from Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Lucknow and Indore too??
Me: (Thinking... Isne toh ek ko chod diya. Koun sa??? Then suddenly gets that he left Kozhikode in which i am sitting) Yes Sir
P2: Have u finished any other interviews??
Me: Sir i have finished the interviews for Lucknow and Indore
P2: So how did it go??
Me: Sir it went pretty well sir. I could come in with points in the
P2: So can we say that u r a pretty decent person??
Me: Yes Sir, U can tell that ( Why not why not??? I am the most decent and eligible person on the face of this earth. I am world famous for decency in my room).
P1 had come in by this time
P1: So tell me something abt urself
Me: (Yes... I know this) Blah...Blah...Blah...
P1: (Cuts in) Tell me something abt ur work
Me: (If u wud have waited i cud have told it in my answer) ... Blah... Blah... Blah....
P1: So by HPUX u mean the Unix Servers??
Me: Yes Sir, HPUX == HP's flavour of UNIX
P1: Tell me some other flavours of UNIX?
Me: Sir IBM's AIX, Sun's Solaris 2
P1: Tell me the user's of ur servers in India?
Me: (Huh....God how come i didn't study this??? ) Sir .... Infosys uses our servers for its banking product.
P1: OK others???
Me: Sir, that is the only one i know in India (Woh bhi bahut mushkil se yaad aaya hain). I know Telecom Italia also uses our servers.
P1: So can we say that HP's servers are not doing well??
Me: (Abe... kya keh raha hain tu)..No Sir, we are competing with IBM for the first place.
P1: What abt Sun??
Me: Sir Sun is not competing for 1st place ( Major Globe).
P1: So who is first?? HP or IBM???
Me: Sir, it keeps varying. IBM puts in something and says HP doesn't have it and HP retaliates by putting in something which IBM doesn't have and say that IBM doesn't provide it. So it keeps varying (Din mein taare dikhane koshish kiya)
P2 comes in now
P2: So what are ur hobbies??
Me: Football, Computer games and listening to music
P2: What music do u listen to??
Me: Sir, Hindi film songs, old and new. English songs and sometimes classical too
P2: (Eyes Light up) Classical meaning Carnatic classical
Me: Yes Sir.
P2: What do u listen to??
Me: (Abe phas gaya) Sir mostly instrumental
P2: Who do u listen to?
Me: (Sinking in deeper). Sir Kannakudi Vaidyanathan
P2: Violinst??
Me: Yes Sir
P2: Why do u like him??
Me: Sir, I like the way he plays and also i love to see his facial expressions when he plays. He enjoys his music.
P2: Don't u think it is just showing off?? He just wants to show off since he doesn't know how to play
Me: (WHAT???? Pagal ho kya???) No Sir, I think he knows how to play and he doesn't show off. He just enjoys his music.
P2: Are u deep into music?? Are u trained??
Me: No Sir, I haven't learnt music
P2: So how can u tell that what he plays is correct when u haven't learnt music at all??
Me: Sir it was my opinion. I like his music and i think he plays good music.
P2: OK. So which other violinist have u heard??
Me: (Phas gaya)... Sir...
P2: Have u heard L. Jayaram???
ME: Yes Sir (Bach gaya)
P2: Have u heard L. Subramaniam???
Me: Yes SIr, i know abt him. But i haven't heard him play it
P2: So have u heard the title song of Malgudi Days??
Me: Yes Sir
P2: Who has directed the music for it?
Me: Sorry Sir, I dunno
P2: So what other instruments do u listen to??
Me: Sir U. Srinivas
P2: The Mandolin Player??
Me: Yes Sir
P2: Is it mandolin that he plays??
Me: Yes Sir
P2: 100%??
Me: Yes Sir, It is Mandolin
P2: How do u say it is mandolin?? Have u seen it??
Me: Yes Sir. I have seen him playing it and it is mandolin
P2: He says it is a mandolin, but that is actually a guitar
Me: No sir, it is not guitar, it is mandolin.
P2: No it is not mandolin. It is guitar
Me: No Sir. It is mandolin.
P2: Have u seen anyone else playing it??
Me: Yes Sir, I have seen one more person playing it.
P2: Was it the same??
Me: Yes Sir, it was similar instrument
P2: Even he may be playing guitar telling that it is a mandolin. He may be fooling every one.
Me: (Totally frustrated...Abe woh mandolin ho ya guitar...tere ko kya??? But with a huge smile on my face). No sir it is a Mandolin and i am sure of it.
P1: Have u seen a Mandolin in some museum??
Me: No sir i haven't seen it in a museum. But i have seen them playing it and it is Mandolin
P1 and P2 looks at each other and tells That's it Thank u
Me: Thank u sir. Me get up to go
P1: Be more active in GDs from now on
Me: Sure Sir.. Thank u sir

The long tiresome wait

After my Valentines date with Lucknow, i had to rush home. Coz i had another interview the next day and I still hadn't filled the 8 odd page form with 10 odd essay type questions in it. And by the time i had finished filling it, it was 1 in the night.

I had my GD/PI at 9 AM in the morning and the center was PESIT. So i had to leave home at 7 AM. In PESIT we were all bundled into a library on the ground floor and were asked to wait. We were around 32 ppl. At 9 AM we were divided into 4 panels of 8 each and were led to the 4th floor and were asked to wait in another library. At around 9:10 AM we were led into the room where our GD/PI will be held. We were made to sit on either side of a rectangular table.

One of the prof told us the procedure. As it was a case study, we would be given a case..5 mins to study the case, 16 minutes to discuss it and 5 mins to write the summary of the discussion. The discussion was pretty loud and had an inauspicious start when a lady started off by giving a solution. We got it back on track by asking her to stop and telling her, first we'll discuss what the problem is and then discuss the solution.

All in all a pretty good discussion, but as usual ran out of points and everyone started discussing the same thing again and again. Finally we were asked to stop and wait in the same library and were told that they can call in any order they want. So we went in and started waiting. It was a BHM library and there were so many books on Cooking like various cuisines....Vodka, Rum, etc etc

So at 9:45 AM we started what turned out to be an agonizingly long wait for me. They started calling ppl from 10 AM and each interview was about 20-30 mins. PPl coming out told, that interview was mostly based on acads and i was really scared out of my wits. But we had a pretty good entertainer in our group who kept on entertaining us. He used to ask the questions himself, give out the answer, put a follow up question and answer that too.... It was like he was playing both the roles of an interviewer and himself.

But pity his interview did not go well, coz the photo he had on his application form was not the same on as the one on his Admit card (Another stupid rule ). Finally he was asked to go home and get the same photo or his candidature would be annulled.

I was the last one to be called for interview and I had almost slept off by the time i was called in. I was called in at around 1:20 PM.

There were two profs, P1 and P2.
The interview went on somewhat like this . So after waiting for almost 3 hrs after the GD, the prof came to call me in.

P1: Arun, so finally ur turn has come. Come in
Me go in... Wishes. They ask me to take seat
P1: Can we see ur certificates
Me: Yes Sir
P1: So tell me something...
MeGetting ready with my tell me something abt urself answer)
P1: ...abt the work u r doing
ME : (Oh.... ) Blah... Blah...Blah...
P1: Picks up some algorithm design subject i studied and asks me how useful is it??
Me: Blah Blah...and more blah
P1: So what is algorithm
Me: Sir, a step-by-step method to do something/ solve a problem
P1: Me a lay-man. Explain what i s algorithm to me in lay man terms
Me: (Confused)... Sir i'll take an example..Cooking... Step-by-step. Take out vegetables, Wash it, Cut it, Cook it ...
P1: (Cuts me in) ... I want to eat it raw..not cook it. So won't the step-by-step method broken??
Me: (Still more confused).. Sir it is another algorithm.
P1: So how is the scheduling done in ur proj??
Me: Blah Blah Blah....
P1: Do u know Gantt chart?? Do u know who Gantt is??
Me: Sir i nkow how to draw a gantt chart
P1: Draw a gantt chart for ur project
Me : Draws it.
P1: Ok.. Now if i want to reduce the time by 10% what shud i do??
Me: Sir one more person has to be added ( i had drawn it for a single person), So that parallel processing can take place.

P1 looks to P2 who was busy looking at my file all these while
P2: So u work for HP.
Me: Yes sir
P2 : Do u know what u mean by Pretexting???
Me: (Now where have i heard this??? )
P2: So, who resigned from ur company recently??
Me : Sir, Around the time i joined Carly resigned and recently Patty.... Patricia resigned
P2: Why did Carly resign?
Me: Blah Blah Blah
P2: Why did Patricia resign??
Me: Told the whole story.... Was prepared for it.
P2: So now can u relate what u said to Pretexting???
Me: No Sir.

P2: Some questions abt work place
Me: Blah blah
P2: What was problem b/w microsoft and Google??
Me: .... (Damn...how did i forget this)
P2: Do u know anti-poaching agreement??
Me : Oh remembered what the problem was b/w Microsoft and Google
P2: So what does anti-poaching agreement tells??
Me:
P2: Do u know what is anti-trust law??
ME: Blah blah blah....
P2: Who was in trouble recently for this??
Me: Microsoft.
P2: Name one product in windows which breaks this law??
Me : Thinking....
P2: Tell me if u know....
Me: Sir... thnking
P2: Its ok. U may leave
ME: Thank u sir
P1: Finally u can leave for home now
ME: Confused...just throws a smile... thank u sir.

Aaah..The Bliss of a Nawabi interview

So finally the D-Day had arrived. The day of my first IIM interview and not a better date to start it. Feb 14th, the Valentines day. My interview was at 2 in the afternoon and since i hadn't seen the venue i left home at 1 PM. But i think i had under estimated the traffic on a Valentines Day afternoon. By the time i reached Brigade road, where the venue was it was 1:30 PM. So i hurriedly parked my bike on Church street and went hunting for one Hotel Monarch. The ppl over there on Brigades were staring at me as if i am an ET from Mars who has landed there to take over the earth. I can't blame them. I think thats what i would have done if i was in their place and i see someone in the middle of the day in a Hep place like Brigades, attired in a formal Shirt and a Pant, with a tie to accompany it. Luckily I found the Hotel quickly enuf to escape from all the stares. To my amazement, i found that I had visited Hotel Monarch many times... it houses the Pizza Hut and Barista which i have frequented many times earlier too.

Went in to find a room of around 40 ppl, including me waiting for the interview. I also found a few ppl who i had met in my coaching center and a few Pagals from the online forum PagalGuys (Yeah... a wierd title for a forum... but that is what most of the CAT aspirants are ... including urs truly). I was busy talking to them for abt 10 mins and then was busy trying to make myself more presentable.

Exactly at 2 PM, a professor came down and started reading out the names and distributing us into the various panels (4 to be precise. 10 ppl in each). I was in Panel 4 and had 9 ppl in our panel. One had either rescheduled his interview or thought that it was not worth enuf to attend.

After separating us into different panels, we were escorted to the third floor of the Hotel for the Group Discussion. We were let into our respective rooms. The room was a proper hotel room, with the Beds missing. We were made to sit in a U-Shaped format in the seats alloted to us. Then one of the professors explained the procedure. We would be given a topic and 10 minutes to write a 150 word essay on it. Then it would be collected back and we would start the discussion which would be for 15 minutes. He collected our Application forms and then gave the GD Topic.

The professor who dictated the topic had a weird accent and at first i had written the topic wrong and it made no sense to me. Then i looked into the guy next to me and got the correct topic.
The topic of the GD was " To be a successful as a team each team member has to be accountable for his expertise"

A perfect Globe topic. Wrote a few globe statements about team work...blah blah.... and finished the essay. After 10 minutes they collected the essays and asked us to start the GD. It was a peaceful GD, with no one cutting in when someone else is speaking. After 5 minutes...we went out of points and everyone started giving examples and paraphrasing the same sentences. I came in some 5-6 times in the GD. 2 original points and an example and 3 Paraphrased sentences ( Had to show my presence and had no points.. So paraphrased my earlier points). They stopped the GD after around 12-13 minutes and asked us to wait downstairs and would be called for interview in the same order. So I would be 7th in for the interview.

We went down and started chatting with ppl again. I found out the one girl in another panel, whom i had met in TIME classes is actually 3 years my junior from College. Same branch as me too. We were all sitting there and chatting about how khadoos the topic was and how the panelists too were bored. Then the interviews started and the ppl who were coming down after the interview told that the interviews were pretty cool. A hotel guy was coming down every 15 minutes and was calling out the numbers of the next member in the panel and was escorting us up. So finally at 3:45 PM my number was called and i was led up. Funnily, when i was being led up i had the feeling of Bali ka Bakra being led to its gallows .

There were still two ppl from my panel up there, who were to be interviewed. So i had to wait till 4:15 PM to be called in for my interview. The interview went on a bit like this.

The two professors who were there for our GD was there to take my interview. One professor was pretty young and kept smiling all the time (S). The other professor looked pretty much like Arun Lal (AL) and he was the one with a weird accent.

I entered ... Good Evening and all...

AL : Arun, can we have ur record.
M : Sure Sir.
AL takes it and passes it on to S. AL is looking at my Data Form
AL: So Arun, tell us abt urself.
M : Blah..Blah.. Blah...Bl..
AL: (Cuts me in the middle) So are u happy with ur job??
M : (Ab yeh kahan se aagaya) Yes Sir. I am happy with my job
AL: Then why do u want to leave this job and come and do a MBA??
M : (Aahhh... To yeh baat hein) Gave in my mugged up answer to be an entrepreneur.
AL: If u r serious on entrpreneurnship, there are institutes Like Entrepreneurship Development Institute. Why don't u join there?? (AL was really struggling to pronounce the word entrepreneurship )
M : Blah..Blah..Blahh... abt learning all aspects of management...blah blah blah
AL: That they teach in EDI too.
M : (Arre is he taking a interview or advertising EDI???) More blah blah blah...long term ambition of entrepreneurship.. Short term want to work as a consultant.
AL: Once u start working as Consultant u won't go back to entrepreneurship.
M: No sir... i will. It is my dream. Also told him something abt me being from a middle calss family and me needing to work for sometime before starting an entrepreneurship to have a fall back option.
AL : You keep on mentioning middle-class...what do u mean by that???
Me: Sir, we are not so well off as the rich guys...So we are middle class
AL: U mean monetarily
Me: Yes Sir
AL: So tell me what have u done till now to show that u r interested in entrepreneurship.
M: Sir, Involved in organizing cultural festival in college....
AL: (Cuts me in)... That is not entrepreneurship. Show me one thing which u have started or initiated
M : Sorry Sir, till now i haven't had opportunities to do so.
AL: So what type of entrepreneurship are u planning on??
M : Me from software...so software based.
AL : Do u know what is the success rate of entrepreneurships... that too in software industry?? It is very small.
M: Yes Sir. I know it is very small.
AL: Then why do u want to do that??U have a good paying job. Why do u want to leave it and start entrepreneurship?? Isn't it a gamble??
M: Sir, it is a challenge and i love challenges.
AL: So have u read abt entrepreneurs lifestyle...their success stories, how they have come up to be successful. More than that have u read abt the lifestyles of entrepreneurs who have failed and why they failed?? PPl who are interested go up and read such stuffs
M : (Arre... why did i dig my own grave ). Sir i have read abt Narayan Murthy.
AL : So what is the principle of Narayan Murthy and Infosys.
M : Sir, Main principle is Hard work. More emphasis on that in infosys. Thats what was emphasised on me when i worked there.
AL: So what is the principle of HP (My current work place)
M : Blah BLah Blah.
AL : So no stress on Hardwork??
M : Not much sir. Main emphasis is on proper delivery on correct time
AL : Is that the reason u left Infosys?? Are u afraid of hardwork??
M : (With smile on my face. Inhe kaisa pata chala). No sir...
AL : (Cuts me in) Coz if u join IIMS u can hardly sleep for 3-4 hrs a day. It is mainly hardwork there.
M : I know sir. It was not because i hate hardwork that i left Infy. Better offer...blah blah blah

S was till now busy going thru my certificates. After that he had finished and sat there smiling at me when i was answering questions. He takes over now.

S: So have u read the book abt Google Way??
M : No sir.. I am searching for the book
S: So what are ur hobbies??
M : (Yes Yes....Finally) Blah Blah Blah... Tried luring them towards football. Also told Computer Games
S : Have u heard of PS3??
M : Yes Sir.
S : Name some games manufacturer.
M : (Yes ... My area) EA Sprorts...Blah blah blah
S: Lemme rephrase the question. Name 3 major games console manufacturer
M : Playstation....
S : Playstation is a console... who is the manufacturer???
M : Sony Sir, and Microsoft X-Box .... 3rd i forgot
S : Have u heard abt nintendo
M : Yes Sir
S : So do u read newspaper??
M : Yes Sir
S: Which news paper do u read??
M : TOI, Hindu
S: No ET??
M : Sir i go thru it. Don't read in detail
S: Last week some indian company took over some foreign company. Which is it??
M : Birla..took over Novelis
S: Another one
M : Tata
S : Which company?
M : Told

S and AL look at each other. Thank u.
M : Thank u sir.

I walked out. It was an almost typical Lucknawi interview, with trying to stress, less of acads and more of HR related stuffs. I had a nice feeling out there.