As mentioned by me in my previous post, God planned to test my decision to attend my Convocation by scheduling my IIM-Kolkata interview on the afternoon of 13th March when my Convocation was scheduled on 14th morning.
As soon as I had this information, I decided to find ways to get to Banaras in time as there was no direct flight to Varanasi from Bangalore. So, after a lot of research , I concluded that there were just a couple of ways to reach for the convocation in time. I had to catch a flight to Kolkata (one was at 5.45 and another at 7.15) but that would have depended on whether i would be free by that time or not. Then, from Kolkata, there were 2 trains to Mughal Sarai (30kms from Banaras), one at 10pm and another at 11.30. So, I booked tickets for both the trains and didn't book my flight tickets taking a huge risk with the fares. I thought that I would catch the earliest available flight according to the time I get free.
So, on the D-Day, I arrived at the spot for the interview an hour early. And contrary to other IIMs, IIM-Kolkata had put up the list of the candidates and the panels they would be in. As luck would have it, my name was 7th out of 9 people on that panel. I hoped that they would call the candidates in random order as was done in IIM-Indore. I thought that after the Case Study got over, I would stay back and request the panel to take my interview early.
So, the time arrived and all the members in my panel went in for the Case Study. There were four people present, two Professors of IIMC and 2 alumni. It was something about an employee who was working for a company, left it , joined a rival company where he worked for 4 years. He came back to his original company and was offered a higher post than his former peers which lead to a discord. It was a nice discussion where everyone made some valid points and everyone was given a minute to summarize at the end.
After the Case study, the panel asked us to come in the order mentioned on the list (i thought that was it). Then they asked us if we had any queries. I thought this is my chance. I told them that I had my convocation the next day and that I would be very grateful if my interview was conducted earlier than scheduled. The panelist told me,"We don't have any problems. If you can convince the other members to swap places with you, then well and good. That would also show your persuasive skills and if you are able to come in for the interview by the second slot, I'll not take your interview and will directly select you."
I had to get my form attested, so I couldn't go in at the first place. All the other panel members understood my problem, so ultimately everyone was nice enough to allow me to go in before them. I went into the room at the second slot.
As soon as I went in, the professor was shocked or at least acting shocked. Here's how our initial conversation went about:
P1(Prof 1): So, You've come. According to what I said, I should not take your interview and select you directly.
(i gave a smile)
P1: What do you think I should do?
Me: Sir, its all up to you.
P1: Do you think its fair?
Me: Sir, if that statement was made seriously, then I think its totally fair.
P1: Do you think its fair to the other candidates?
Me: No, not at all.
P1: So, if you were in my position, what would you have done?
Me: Sir, I would prefer if you take my interview.
(I knew at that point that this was the thing that would have made or ruined my interview)
Now the interview started (mostly only the alumni and P1 asked the questions ,the second professor was observing rather than asking the questions.
A(I don't remember who asked what so, A means one of the alumni): So, attending your convocation is more important than your interview here
Me: No Sir, it was a request from my side because I would have preferred to attend the convocation. If you would not have agreed , then I would definitely have stayed back for the interview and missed the convocation.
P1: So, tell me what have you contributed to the society?
Me: Nothing till now.
P1: Do you plan to do anything in the future?
Me: Sir, my family contributes for our village in Tamil Nadu, so will I may help them in that in the future.
P1: (here comes the Raj Thackeray issue) So, you live here and work in Bangalore and will contribute to your native place. I think that is what Raj Thackeray was talking about.
Me: Sir, I would help my family in that because, I would have guidance from them. In the future, I may also support local charities but that would be thinking too far ahead.
(there was some discussion on this issue in which I also mentioned that I am a Tamilian, born and brought up in Delhi, studied in Varanasi and working in Bangalore just to show my diverse background)
Some discussion on my work - About Credit Bureaus, Credit Scoring and what all should be done to improve the situation in India. (did well in those parts)
It was more of a discussion than an interview. I came out very happy.
Just before the interview, I had called up my friend in office asking her to book the flight tickets for the flight at 5.45. After the interview, I rushed to the office to get the tickets. As, I was collecting the tickets from her, surprisingly one of my college friends Vaibhav Jain aka Jaini came along smiling as if I was dating her on the streets. Luckily, he had a vehicle with him and dropped me to the airport.
My other friends(Puneet,Moti,Faisal,Baba and Tyson) were to catch a flight to Kolkata at 3.30 which was via Chennai. So, they were schedules to reach Kolkata about 75 minutes before me. Their flight was delayed by an hour. I caught the flight and when I reached Kolkata, I found out that their flight had not arrived yet. One of my friends working in Kolkata, Kapil had come to receive me. We caught a taxi to Howrah Railway station. He got down near his home and i continued to the station. We crossed the famous Howrah bridge which is located just outside the station and it does look AWESOME. I managed to catch the train with my friends. We had a blast during the entire journey rekindling old memories.
When we reached Mughal Sarai, Faisal's Local Guardian had come to pick us up with 2 vehicles for transportation to the college. As we were just about to enter the highway, a truck hit our vehicle and ripped the rear-left part. There wasn't much harm done as both the vehicles were at a very slow speed.
We waited there for some minutes to make the traffic police understand the situation and left for the heaven on earth - IT,BHU.
In this entire day, I realized that, I had taken the help of many of my friends and I take credit for making such friendships. I would like to thank all my friends who helped me that day and all the other friends who were with me on the journey that day. It is because of all of them that the day was so memorable for me.
P.S. - I also cracked the interview and got a final admission offer from IIM-Kolkata. So, for me the day was just perfect.
10 comments:
That day may be u will remember life time... and may be will tell ur grand children abt it.....
but one thing... keep up the momentum even if life is not exciting....
congratulation and all the best....
May all your days are like the one u described (dont dare to think im not joking :) )
Congrats buddy........
They say if at the end of a piece you can make the reader sit up in astonishment and awe, then you have done a good job. And after reading the p.s of this blog I was like "abey teri m** ka". Iss kahani mein sab kuch hai. There's big names(IIM Kol)powerful dialogues ("Sir, I would prefer if you take my interview"), mystery woman(although not for me), controversy(Raj Thackeray issue), misunderstanding(Vaibhav Jain smiling..), chase(for the flight), reunion(at kol airport), action(the accident) and finally the happy ending. Wow it was a gud piece. Abey Abhijit ab isse jyada tareef karne ke paise lagenge. Finally congrats dude for IIM call. Chalo ab mera future bhi sawar jayega.
chalo aacha hai AMul ..paras ka jawab to de diya but mere saawal ka
,....yaha blog me moti ka sirf ek hi jagah carcha...abe size ka to reference rakhte..aur pure trip me jo maze usne dilay..uska kya???
its nice of amul to write things of past which have left a deep imprint in our lives and touched us deep inside!!especially the convo part!!
IIM intrvw was like hindi movie, ek novel likh le' a day for IIM's'
anyways congrats due, humare grp min ek tuhi kaam ka nikla aur kuch kar deekhaya!!
Hey...living a quite "Accidental" life in 2008....starting right from January.
Hope that ends with the one in Mughalsarai!
Congrats for your success in such an accidental year. :)
Let the years to come have more of this (success) in store.
"When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true."
these lines from the alchemist do sound cliche but thats exactly what has happened here...nicely written, made me feel bad about how i couldnt make it to the convo and how much i have missed out...chalo ab badiya si party de do :) bhooke logon ko khilane se unki dua milegi :P
"Kitni shiddat se tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai.. Ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai..
Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko agar dil se chaho to saari kayanath tumhe usse milane ki koshish me lag jaati ha", sab inspirational quotes likh rahe the ab maine to itni kitabein padhi nahi to socha movie ka dialog hi maar doon.
Abhijit bhai bahut khushi hui sun ke ki tune IIM crack kiya. ab meri khushi yun hi bani rahi iske liye ek badi si party bhi de do.
nice..keep writing boss..we will be exposed to more interview questions :P
That was definitely an interesting day. Such a dramatic sequence with a good ending rarely happens to people. Good you have written it down.. you will enjoy reading your own narration few years from now.
Congrats once again!!
Post a Comment