Stoned Racounteur

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Interview @ IIMA

Well I am back after the IIMA interview followed by two days of lazing around in the hostel. So let’s get to the ahd interview. Here is the whole story from the time I woke up at 6 in the morn….

Woke up, shivered in the damned Delhi cold, was amused at the fact that I could wake up at 6, never thought I could do that. Took bath and groomed myself likei was going for a marriage proposal. Read the newspaper and tried to cram up as much of it as I could.

Got to IIFT some 1 hour before the interview….first interview you see, dun think me a geek :P. Talked to some people who had reached before me even, damned geeks :P! Chatted a lil bit with the junta and found out that EVERYONE was an engineer, five from my college itself. The process started exactly at 9 Am sharp and we were taken upstairs to be butchered by hungry IIMA profs.

Names were called out and I was in a batch wid 3 other peeps from my college.So we went in for the case study and were introduce to IIMA by a prof and the case study started.It was absolute globe all the way with people bullshitting excessively.Overall me thinks I did not create any mess at all, tried to keep the group under control a couple of times and tried to earn brownie points by creating a chance to speak for a guy who had a good point but coudnt get a chance.

Out of the room, everyone seemed to agree that case was average at best and group was the same.

Now the all important PI,

I- me , A- acads heavy guy, M- Middle guy, O- Old dood

I enter the room and put my file a lil close to the panel.

M- do u want us to see your file?

I- yes sir

M- why, nething special in it?

I- Sir, since his is a short span of time you may not be able to see all facets of me , this is a glimpse of it.

A- gimme the file.

M- so what were the people outside talking about?

I- arbit chit chat, asking the ppl who’ve alredy had the interview about wats goin on.

M- so what did they say?

I- sirrrr the interview are acads heavy(me smiles and interviewer smiles too, seems he knows that I am one of those engineers who have no idea what they did in the last 4 years.)

M- so what do you expect?

I- Stress interview…

M- what is a stress interview?

I- tells

M- is it a good way?

I- one way of testing pros and cons.

M- ok so how did you prepare for the CAT

I- test series..

M- how did it help

I- helped me in knowing where I stand with respect to others and also got an idea about the paper…

M- what practice for GD ?

I- none sir, we used o do a lot of GDs in the hostel so did not feel any need to do more.

M- but this is the real thing..

I –yes sirrrrr

M- what about interview how did u prepare for that?

I- brushed up acads, reread some of fav books..

M- what kinda books?

I- sir Toffler, biraphies by studs in business

M- Toffler doesn’t write about business…

I- but about society sir and that includes economy

M- what business books?

I – fav is liar’s poker

M- tell me abt it..

I – Sit its about and art history major who goes on to work at salomon brothers, book is on I-banking in the 80s and why salomon brothers fell.

M- which other books?

I- Sculley, Iacocca..

M- who is Iacocca?

I- tell him

M- whats he doin now?

I- dunno bout hium, tho know bout sculley, jobs etc

M- tell me abt sculley

I- talked about the book “From Pepsi to apple”, and about Apple’s culture and quotes the line when steve jobs asked sculley “Do you want to keep selling sugared water or change the world?”

A(Finally waking up)- whoa!dude! dun u think thats arrogant?

I- Sir I think it simply shows his belief in what he is doing and sums up what was going on at apple at that point of time…

A- look at what is happening to apple now!

I- sir apple has now started doing very well after the introduction and massive success of the i-pod and earlier the I-mac

A- what was so special that was happening at Apple at that point of time?

I- sir in the 40 pages or so that have described the environ ment at apple, it is amazing to see the kind of enthusiasm that people like wozniack, Hertzberg had shown.Sometimes we don’t realize what a big part apple has played and how it has touched us.the mouse was designed by wozniack, the drag bar by Hertzberg, its not hard to see how important these thinga re today.Another thing about the apple office then was that it was much like a hostel than a corporate office. No restrictions and total focus on innovation.

A- how do u measure innovation?

M- originality of the idea and its practicality in real life.

A- who judges these parameters?

M- sir since u have asked me about my opinion so I would be the judge.

(somehow the conversation came back to apple and I mentioned how apple had been the first company to be in constant touch with the developer community)

A- so what if tomorrow a company is in contact with the janitors, would that become significant?

M- Sir here the developer community was an integral part of the computer industry and the knew what was going on. Even apart from that apple was the first company to tell the ordinary man that the computer was something that he could use be it for business or for enjoyment and all that at a reasonable price with models like lisa and macintosh.

A- ok, tell me about you final year project

M – sir it is on developing non gaming applications of gaming devices, lemme give u a background on this…..(I go on for some time and end at FFT, which is Fast fourier transform, for the unitiated)

A- wats FFT

M- told and led him to DFT

A- wats DFT

M – told and led to FT

A- wats FT

M- told

A- write the formula

M- writes and forgets the dt in the integral

A- corrects and asks me to draw FT of electricity supply

M- draws and convinces A

A- what are drichlets conditions

M- (happy that he knows the answer) goes on and tells him everything

(Now old guy wakes up)

O- so Rohit, what is this FMCG?

M- fast moving consumer goods

O- name a few companies

M- P&G, HLL, Dabur, Nestle

O- ok so can u tell me what are white goods?

M- sir I am not aware of that.

O- now Rohit something has been bothering me, I see that companies come out with offers such as buy 2 get one free, buy 3 get one free tell me why doesn’t something like this happen with people selling jewelry

M- can I get a second to think sir?

O- sure sure

M(thinks abt question, suddenly Carmen electra pops up in my head and I tellmy self to concentrate on the luxury goods industry)

M- Sir the luxury goods industry caters to a different market segment which is more quality conscious than price, secondly it may not be cost effective in such an industry and third the Indian society ha an affinity for the yellow metal and such giimicks aren’t really necessary

O- Anything else Rohit?

M- that’s all I can think of at the moment sir

The panel indicate that the interview is over and asks me to take a toffee, I take one and thank the panel and walk out of the door, not knowing what just happened.

My interview went on for about 30 minutes and the panel was very nice and put me at ease.I haven’t really been able to judge much of it till now. Do give me you feedback guyz.

Whos I am tired like hell, that’s probably the longest post I have ever written.

Now off to a sumptuous lunch and then prepping towards IIMK on 6th March.

*Yawns and stretches his body*

ciao

rohit

Friday, February 18, 2005

Bum hoon main !

While others work hard for their interviews, I have just come back home after spending two dayz of aish in the hostel. I had deluded myself by thinking that I would go and study there, that’s a laugh, anyway In the end I played flash aka I gambled for almost 12 outta the 48 hours, slept another 12, another 12 spent in bakchodi and add another 6 for food, that’s 42 outta 48 hours, and the rest I studied. I mean, how can one study when you have the most lazy bums in the world as your friends. In fact I would say that when we join the industry one day, people will be astonished at how little work we can do while sounding excessively exhausted.

Apart from the BS, read Liar’s poker, a book on investment banking by Philip Lewis. Its about the experiences of a guy working at Salomon brothers. Cool book. Me really want to work in an I-bank some day, max fun career, that one is.

Anyways, due to lack of time and a being a lazy bum, me will get back to reading a project that moi will claim as mine in the IIMA interview :D. My own project is on some speech recognition using neural networks which sounds like “abakukumelupoporakokuko” to me.


Wish me luck guys, I need it here. I will be back after my II….nono lemme write the whole thing, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad interview on the 22nd of February.


Damn those bastards, I am taking a gun wid me and I will not be shy of taking it out if they dare to ask me about analog electronics.


Dholakia Dood , Your days are numbered.

Adios

Rohit

Monday, February 14, 2005

Aaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhh!!!!!

Slept some 15 hours in the last 4 days, dammit!

Am back after a while...Cant believe that i am having to work my ass off....this is not what i am made for, lol.
Still neck deep in interview preparations.Just wrote my IIMB SOP...guys have a look and give me
some honest feedback...i need it ASAP...have to send it tomorrow.

Here goes,

“The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become” these words by Harold Taylor define my philosophy in life. I believe that for me to achieve my potential, I must pursue a field that excites me. My interactions with the field of management, in the form of case studies, business plan competitions and literature, have been thoroughly stimulating and have strengthened my conviction to pursue a career in the same.



An avid blogger and a voracious reader, my belief in the power of ideas stems from my upbringing, particularly because of my brother, whom I see as my idol. Coming from a family having strong belief in the values of humility and altruism I have tried to contribute my bit to society as a teacher and mentor to homeless children.

My experiences in organizing various competitions in college and being part of the editorial team of the college magazine have given me useful insights into managing diverse teams and have hardened me as a manager.



With a stress on Global as well as Local, Current as well as emerging, conceptual as well as Analytical, IIMB will equip me with all the essential ingredients for effective management.

Monday, February 07, 2005

When cupid struck !

“Aag ka kya hai pal do pal mein lagti hai ,
Bujhte bujhte ek zamaana lagta hai”

No lines carry more truth than these.

1995

I was in 7th when I first saw her, my friend had forced me to come and see the “new” girl he had discovered. I didn’t think much of it and went back to class when the lunch break ended.

1996-2001

We had all the sections in our school reshuffled; she was a classmate of mine after that. We became friends. We used to sit together and she would shout at me endlessly for not sitting properly and what not.I can still remember those fights. I loved to talk to her, just look at her and used to get that tingling feeling you read about in books.

I was in love. Pure and simple. Never ever wanted to do anything but look at her. Didn’t even want to talk, just look. I would smile if I saw her smiling. I would feel sad if she was sad. I would dream about us being together. Innumerable times I thought that I should go upto her and tell her everything I felt about her.Finally gathered the strength to somehow tell her. I sent my friend with card that said I loved her. She threw it in the bin and told my friend that she would never talk to me again. I was devastated. But I knew I couldn’t stand the fact that I wouldn’t talk to her. I told my friend to go tell her that it was all a big joke. Ironic that it has become just that now, a joke.

After that things moved on, we remained friends on and off, sometimes not talking for months. She started acting aloof and I knew it would never happen.

2001- present

College came and went. Girlfriends came and went.
She’s been in a relationship for 6 years. She wants to get married to the guy.
I have had 7 girlfriends since then.
I still look at her pic.
I still dream about her.
I still feel my eyes getting moist when I read my diary from school.
I miss her voice.
I miss her eyes.
I still love her.
I met her when I was 11, I turned 21 two days ago.

I can’t imagine my life if I hadn’t met her. She doesn’t know what she meant to me or what changes she brought in me.I know it is stupid but I still want remain in love with her forever. I know now that it will never happen and I will never tell her because that would make things even worse. I just can’t help feeling like a kid when I think about her. I love the feeling of dreaming when the sun is out. I feel alive when I think about her smile, her voice, her.

Lemme just sign off now lest someone thinks that I’ve gone nuts.

Ciao

Rohit

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Slog Season Starts

Have been really busy for the last few days. Working hard for the Interviews, Finally! Enjoying it thoroughly, be it the incessant reading of new books, articles, keeping in touch with stock prices, thinking about answers to interview questions. All of it seems really interesting at the moment. Some 20 dayz left for the IIMA interview so working as hard as I can. Still worried about acads, have started in bits and pieces, hopefully it’ll all come together in another week.

Had an outstandingly good interview at CL, forgive the immodesty but really kicked some a$$ this time. Got great feedback and hope that all goes well from here. The panel didn’t give any negative feedback at all. I knew the interview went well but didn’t know it was this good. Sorry if I sound like I’m bragging, I’m just really happy, nothing else.

Well, apart from that, I had an interesting experience today. Went to Prayas (An NGO that works to help homeless children).It is quite an eye opener to go to such an institution, the reality hits hard when you see so many children, orphans who do not who their parents are, and you realize how lucky you’ve been to have been born and brought up in a family where some one or the other is looking after you at all times and making sure that you get everything that you want. Kind of made me feel guilty about all that I have and I was ashamed at the really trivial things we crib about. Be it that mobile that has a camera or that laptop with Bluetooth, all problems seem trivial when compared to what these little children have faced so early in life.

Anyways, I am trying to organize a medical camp soon with the help of my brother’s colleagues. To my pleasant surprise the first person I called up was more than happy to come and look at the children so we should have a camp within the next week or so. Hope it all works out so that these children have one thing less to worry about.

Will be blogging about my preparations as they go on.

Ciao for now

Rohit


 
Counter
Counter