My IIM-I GD&PI

     time:8.50…date feb 12th

rewind…I had not found sleep till morn 3 as I played tt till 2 and can`t avoid going out for a walk in the cool breeze..I wasn`t really sure whether I would wake up in time or not..finally woke up at 6.50…got ready by 8..was able to reach the venue in time..thanks to pramodh..There were 9 ppl in our panel, out of which 1 was absent.that makes it 7 guys n a gal..the ratio quite unsurprising for a IIITian of course…

There were 2 profs in the panel…1 of them a bit old and supposedly a telugite ( what I can gather from his questions and accent). the other relatively young..I wud put him at arnd 40-45( the techie prof which I found out later)…he must have been from central India. They called us in a order and made us to sit in a hemispherical position..unfortunately my name was the first and so my position in gd was a corner..In a sense, it was gud cos I realised that I m the person who spoke the least there..if any one who had contributed more was pushed to a corner, it would have been bad for him…

We have to read the topic for 5 mins, ponder over it and then discuss it for 16 min..shud write a gd summary for 5 min at the end…The gd topic was a case study.. X owns a general store in Indore and made good profits till a big departmental store came up..the store offered many varieties of items at cheaper rate which made the customers go there even though it was 10 km away from the colony..now waht should X do? How should he counter this position?….the gd was not exactly what I would call decent..but it was like so-so…There were many interruptions and everyone tried to hog the airtime..I spoke just twice (effect of lack of sleep)…The gal suggested that X should sell swadesi goods and instill the fire of nationalism in the customers, which promptly sent me into fits of silent laughter…by the end of 16 min, same points were repeated..the group ran out of ideas..I was lookin at the watch and the panel, waiting fr the signal to stop..finally it came…I wrote arnd 9 points in the gd summary and handed over the sheet to them.

I was first to be called in my panel may be cos I m the only fresher..I went in and greeted them with a half-smile..I will refer to the profs as old prof and young prof though I don`t think more than 10 yrs separate them…

OP: take ur seat manoj

I: (sat down, handed over my file)

OP: so u r from A.P.?

I: yes, sir (expecting some ques on the state)

OP: so u r in 4th yr now?

I:yes, sir ( thats what my certis say)

OP:so y dont u go further in technical field?

I: I m not that interested in technical aspects,sir.. I believe management is ideal for me.

OP: (looks at YP) would u like to ask something

YP: yes, manoj (his voice was so soft that I pushed myself a bit nearer to him) what are ur fav subjects (here I was able to reply “MAT..”…he struck the nail in me) in computer science?

I: (Oh nooo, i m going to be stressed on acads) data compression,sir (got an A here)

YP: still

I:(will take a risk here) Algorithms, sir

YP: STILL

I:(OOO..does he want me to list all the courses I have done) AI and crypto, sir.( thought I could blabber something on this)

YP:do u know wat is an algorithm, manoj?

I:(relieved) blah blah

YP: tell me about space and time complexities, manoj?

I: (this is not as bad as I expected it to be) blah blah

YP: which is better, nlogn or n^2?

I:blah blah

YP: why?

I: (told some thing with the help of a graph)

YP: give me an example of O(n^2) algo

I: Bubble sort

YP: can u explain me how it is n^2

I: blah blah

YP:what is ur btp

I:more blah on reversible programmin

YP: wat is reversible prog

I: some crap

YP: is it dynamic

I:no, dynamic is random programmin ( blunder 1) and it is used when there is recursion

YP:Wat r applications of reversible prog

I: some crap that it is used in ATMs ( donno that I can lie so convincingly…afterall flexibility is a key managerial quality rite?)

YP: How do ATMs work

I:( ayyo! I have never had an ATM card ) some technical jargon like server, node blah blah

YP: wat other courses have u done

I:(Forgot to project LP) Linear prog, sir

YP: tell me a method ?

I:(wow! I remember only one) simplex method, sir

YP: Have u heard anything about NP-completeness

I:(CAUGHT..) sorry, sir.. I have heard abt it but unable to recall

YP: turns to OP (indicates I m done)

OP: ok manoj, u said u were destined to be a manager..y so? y do u feel that u make a good manager?

I: sir, I was down with jaundice in intermediate..I could only work for limited time..there was so much pressure on me naturally..but I managed to get a good rank..this made me realise that “smart work” is more important than “hard work” and as a manager requires the former more, I believe I can make a good manager.

OP:But our students come back and say “sir, we are working for 14 hrs a day..it is so tiring and all these stuff..so smart work itself is not sufficient”

I:( Was prepared for this…) sir, I think “work” is what a body is obliged to do and “play” is what a body is not obliged to do( thanks to mark twain)..I like the work..so it shud not be a prob fr me

OP:What other qualities do u think are required fr a manager other than smart work

I:I think he should possess a calm, balanced mind in any situation, sir( could not think of anything better at the spot)

OP:So u are from a.p…do u know anything abt saakshi

I:(Was about to reply..it is an old movie…sanity prevailed) It is a newspaper owned by Y.S.Jagan , sir

OP: is it launched?

I:I m not exactly sure sir, but I think it has not been launched yet.(it has not been launched as I remembered just a moment later)

OP:so u read newspaper?

I:yes, sir

OP: which papers do u follow?

I:eenaadu and hindu, sir (now I realise that I shud not have mentioned eenadu..as jagan and ramojirao are bitter rivals..the prof mite have been pro-jagan as he asked me abt saakshi)

OP:which section do u follow keenly

I:sports, sir

OP: what was the recent controversy regardin sania

I: Told

OP: in which state cpm is in power

I:w.bengal

OP:are they in power at the centre

I:no, sir..they are providin support externally

OP:what is their stand on indo-us nuclear deal

I:blah blah

(ALL this cos I have mentioned political science as my alternate career option)

OP:what is the recent happening in mumbai that affects all of us?

I: (put a blank face, then gave it a try) instable stock market, sir

OP: havent u heard anything abt amitabh bacchan over last few days

I:(bad one) no, sir

OP:comin to the stock market, what happened

I:Reliance power share value falls by 25%, sir

OP:Have u heard anything abt tht TATAs recently

I:no, sir

OP:nano?

I:I heard that sir, but it was not that recent..i gave some figs abt nano and a south korean company coming up with a similar-cost car of Rs 130,000

OP: ok..how did ur felicity go?

I:(Wow..IIIT is quite popular) It went fine , sir

OP: what did u do?

I:(ABBAA)I haven`t done anything this year, sir..last yr I organised an event( how long can I speak only truth?)

OP:ok, so u r interested in management..u must have done some thing at coll related to management?

I:  listed a couple of courses

OP:tell me something practical which u have done

I: Sir, I was a college mag team member..as a member, I had to manage the magazine and blah blah..(this is true indeed)…added some more that I have done managerial wrk for last yr felicity( haha! The manager in me is coming out)..actually sir, we dont get many chances to exhibit our managerial talent in our coll

OP:ok…we are done with u..

I:thank u, sir

I:lookin at my admit card on the table

OP: yes, u can take it.

I:( took it and stepped out)

comments are most welcome…

P.S.1.I was not really sure till the last moment whether I would be going or not.

P.S.2.I had to give a courage booster to all those waiting outside that everything was fine.

P.S.3.This Valentines day will be unforgettable (not for the obvious reason though)

P.S.4.IIM-L post in the making..it was the interview I enjoyed a lot

P.S.5.got a break…have the B-ig one after a month

P.S.6.I think this supposedly is my longest post till date.

CAT `07

      I think I have been qualified to write a post on CAT officially in this month. Though a percentile of 99.79 is not exactly satisfying, I would still be happy with getting a B call. Let me begin with my preparation. It can be the best summed up as solving 10 model papers. I was never really that intent to clear CAT. I wanted a job badly and become a “purse”ram ( cannot resist myself). I always felt that quant was my strong point and tried to pick up on my verbal ability.

Coming to purchasing the application, I was one of the last to get it in our coll. Donno why I am so casual. Just a fortnight before the D-day, I have started my streak of nite-outs, watching movies. And on the exam day, I started off just in time, travelling on the foot-board in an empty bus ( such a fun). I got down at the wrong stop, had some walking to do and finally reached the center 15 min before the exam. I was looking at everyone, observing how tense they were and how their parents contributed to that. (Thank GOD! I have no one to accompany me)..

Then we went into the allotted class rooms and at 10 we were given the omr sheets. An announcement regarding the following procedure was made and the guy had such a funny yacshent.. (alas! most of the ppl did not notice it I guess owing to the pressure they are in). After a looooong wait, we got the question paper. I started off with  quant and was trying to solve every problem. The questions needed a different approach and I am lucky there, I guess. I was done with quant in 75 min and moved on to verbal. missed out on a couple of sitters..took 45 min fr verbal..then finally to DI. selected 2 easy sets and answered 8 ques (later, I found out 1 was wrong). spent some time in deciding to go for which set.. made my decision a bit late I guess..5 min were remaining..started feeling a bit tense.

solved 2 ques in 3 min.. then wasted remaining 2 min on the question in which there was a printing mistake..came out with a mixed feeling..that I have done quant well..english reasonable and DI hmm not enough time to work upon. That day, it was all pagalguyying like a pagalguy..then I forgot about it..On the day of results, I was sitting (perhaps I shud say dozing)  in PECN class..I was not really eager to check out my result.. I know I would be getting atleast 2 out of 3 frm L,I,K and may be one from the big three with a bit of good fortune. By night, the frequency of calls increased and I had to check. I was a bit disappointed that I am not a 100% iler in quant..my result : quant 99.99, di ( the culprit) 86.12, verbal 94.7 and overall 99.79. calls from BIL.

Many of my classmates and frens were of the opinion that I should have spent more time on DI. But, I wanted a B call more than A or C ( sounds odd rite). So I have to try to be among top 10 in quant as my gpa aint too gud.. And even if I scored well in DI, I would have still missed out on A and C cos of my verbal. Had my L interview recently. It was absolute fun. A post on it is in the making.

P.S 1.The first month in this year has seen some radical changes in me.

P.S.2.Need 3 recos for IIM-B ( On the hunt)

P.S.3.My last felicity is coming up!

P.S.4.HCU canteen rocks! If I had known of it earlier, would have saved 5000 bucks

P.S.5. As this is 5th, I will say this. I have seen 5 movs last month  (om,krishna,vaana, pourudu, mr.medhaavi) I would rate them in the reverse order though. This month starts with krishnarjuna ( I liked most parts of it)

P.S.6.All are getting a job..mera number kabhi aayegaa