It comes to an end at Bangalore

I was the 5th (yeah, last again) to be interviewed. People who went ahead of me told us that the panel was stressing them out. All the 4 were asked the capital of Kazakisthan. If they answered, Uzbekistan. If hey answered Tajikistan. If they answered Next-istan. If they answered Next-to-Next-istan. Some were asked to name three western States of the United States, three countries which are lying on the northern tip of Africa and where Jog falls is. A girl who was working with a leading software MNC (she had a good amount of work experience) was asked to drop the idea of PGP and look to do PGSEM.In short, I knew what to expect when I go to beg my chance.

I was called in. I entered the room, shut the door after me, and heard P1 saying ‘please take a seat’. I walked towards the seat. Before I could express my gratitude for the seat or offer a Good Morning, even before I had reached the chair, I was asked by P1: “Why do you want to work for UNO”?

Incidentally, my SOP contained such a hint, which I included even though all my friends who knew the expansion of MBA advised me against it.Me: BlaaaaaahP1: Contrast it against your company.
Me: Blah Blaaaaaah
P1: You can’t do it n your organization?
Me: No sir. I do not think so.
P2: Where is the head-quarters of UNO
Me: (I tossed between Geneva and New York) I think it is in Geneva.
P2: No, it is not.
Me: Then I am not sure, sir.
P1: Who is the under secretary general of the UNO?
Me: Excuse me, sir?
P1: There is a post, named Under Secretary General, after the secretary General. Who is it?
Me: I don’t know, sir.
P1: You are from Kerala, right?
Me: Yes.
P1: Then you must know, I suppose.
Me: In that case it must be Shashi Tharoor. I knew he was associated with the UNO, but I didn’t know his designation.

Now the fun starts.

P2 suggests me that I am better fit for PGSEM. He listed down the advantages: I retain my job, I don’t lose out my salary and I get an MBA at the end of 2 and a half years which is again flexible up to 6 years. I say that I considered that option, but it is very much stressed and I would like to pursue PGP. He said PGSEM is a zero stress program. I said PGSEM, with its courses, credit requirements and faculty being exactly same would require as much work as I should do for a PGP, over and above 4 and a half days of work every week, which will make it very stressed. He said the credit requirements are not the same. I said that is not the information I have received from the PGSEM group anchored by Mr. Abhinav Agarwal. P2 said that stress is good. It is like the sword of Damocles that will compel you to perform well. He said there are to kinds of stress: Stress for creative urge that is good and a market induced stress that is bad. He asked me if I know this. I said no. A mini-lecture followed, at the end of which I said I understand.P1 chipped in and said that I am grossly misled. P2 explained that PGSEM requires 3 courses per term, thus a credit of 9, where as PGP has 6-8 courses and up to 24 credits. I asked what the minimum credit for PGP is. P2 said there is no minimum or maximum, it is fixed.

P2: You have got good grades in your school (and started searching all over my data form what my percentages were)
Me: (Decided to help him in his misery) I had 89.4 in 10th and 86 in 12th, sir.
P2: Yeah, 89 and 86, then you take a dip in your engineering.
Me: I don’t look it at as a dip, sir. If you…
P2: (interrupts me) I look at it as a dip
Me: If you look at my marks for the four years, you can see that it is almost consistent (the range is less than 1.5 percentage, you see?) and I think it shows only that it is difficult to score marks in engineering than in school.
P2: It shows that you consistently under performed.
Me: Smile.

All of a sudden,

P2 asks: Where is Jog falls?
Me: It is in Karnataka, sir.
P2: Aravalli range?
Me: It is in Rajastan.
P2; Name three countries on the northern boundary of Africa.
Me: Algeria, Libya, Egypt.
P2: Name three states on the west coast of the United States.
Me: California…umm..hmmm…Alaska ( I thought about telling Hawaii also then decided not to go that far ) I cannot recollect a third one sir (I didn’t remember Oregon. I didn’t know that Washington was on the west coast anyway).
P2: (With a mild laugh) Can Alaska be considered?
Me: It is on the western side, sir. So I think there is no problem including it also.
P1: Name three states on the East Cost?
Me: (Why I can give you 6) Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina.

Fun Restarts:

PGSEM, stress or no stress, personal choice. In between P1 asked me if I read business standard. I said no. He asked me I ought to, since I am eyeing a career in Management, I said my career is now in IT, when I switch to management, I will consider cultivating that habit. P1 said this is not like your twelfth standard where you toss a coin up and decide MBBS or B. Tech. I smiled.

On the earlier essay, P2 had mentioned that PGP is 8 o’clock to 10 o’clock in the class everyday, and 500 pages of reading every week whereas PGSEM is just a day and half of classes. I had said that reading of 500 pages is still required in PGSEM, and often the work schedule goes on like 9 o’clock to 11 o’clock. P1 took that piece up now and told me that it shows I am not managing my seniors and managers effectively and that I should tell them that I wanted a 9 to 7 job. I said 9 to 11 is not everyday affair. I often finish my job much earlier than that, but in some cases, late stay is unavoidable.

Somewhere in between, P1 asks me what I am working in. I said I work in the retail domain, for a prominent retail chain in the North Eastern United States. He asked me what New England was. I said that it is a name for the North Eastern United States. He asked me the states. I said Maine and Massachusetts and that there is one more, which I don’t remember. He asked me if there is only one more. I said I think so. (I checked it later; there are full half-dozen of them - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont).

P1 said I had no motivation for management. I listed my reasons for my considering doing a post-graduation in Management. One of them is that my work becomes more and more ‘managerial’ anyway, so it is logical that I wish to receive proper expertise in management. P1 started talking about companies having a technical ladder. I said even my company had a technical and a managerial ladder, but I am not to go up the technical ladder. So Blah-Blahs on why followed. P2 who had gone out for a smoke came in hearing this, and told me that that is precisely why I shouldn’t quit my job. I put the stress factor in again.

I was adamant that I will not list placement, prestige or career growth as a reason for my choosing PGP ahead of PGSEM. I knew I would invite trouble. So ‘stress’ was all I was left with. This went on for quite some time. The persuasion to join PGSEM and dropping PGP went on for may be 25 minutes out of a total 35 minutes I was in there.

Finally I said it is personal choice to evaluate the two courses on their merits and de-merits and chose whichever appropriate to one I said I have done this, and I have chosen PGP. P1 abruptly asked P2 if he had any other question. P2 said no, and I was told ‘Thank you’.I said – “Thank you very much sir(s).”I came out holding my head high with the expressions of a gallant soldier just back from the warfront. Two guys to be interviewed by M13 panel were waiting outside. They asked me how it was. I fell down to a chair and said – “Stress, man! Stress at its best.”

Cheers,
APT

Note: The actual PGP Vs PGSEM went on for much longer than what I have listed down. I concentrated around the stress part, P2 said he teaches students of PGP, PGSEM and PGPPM and that there is no stress for PGSEM students. This was the essence. I was not ready to give up and say that PGSEM do not have stress, P2 was not ready to give in and say PGP is less stressful than PGSEM. At one point, I told him I consider not just the course, also the things I will have to do during the entire week; not just one and a half days. P2 said managing the 4 and half days at work while doing PGSEM is my headache. I, almost in an angry tone, told him that that is why I do not want to do it. Things like this went on for quite a long.

Note 2: I went over the website of IIMB to see who the panelists were. P1 turns out to be Dr. Shankar Venkatagiri and P2 happens to be Dr. Ramnath Narayanswamy.

Lead Kindly Light -- Cardinal Newman

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, no pray'd that Thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path, but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long Thy pwer hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

God's Own Interview

I was 9th in a group of 9 for the IIMK interview, held in the afternoon of 20th March 2006 , which meant that I had an awfully long wait ahead of me. Candidates went in and came out one after the other; all informing us that they were concentrating on academics (by the way, 5 of them in the group were kids with less than one year or no work experience) and some complained that the panel were trying to stress them out. Finally, after almost two hours of wait, my turn came at around 4.30 pm. Hungry and tired, and a bit apprehensive of acad questions that might be posed to me, I went in. P1 and P2 were sitting across a table and I (Me) greeted them with a warm Good Afternoon. I was offered a seat, and I thanked them.

P2: Anu, when I saw your name first, I thought it was a girl.
Me: Sir, my name gets often confused for a girl’s.
P2: So, I am not the first person?
Me: Not at all. In fact (I almost started narrating a very funny incident, then I thought better not go there. So stopped at the ‘in fact’).

P1: So you were waiting there till all the other 8 candidates had their interview. Plus you would have talked to people in the other panel. Why don’t you give us some feedback?
Me: Sir, as far as I could gather, interview was revolving much around academics. But then, since most of them did not have any significant work experience, that is what one could expect. So, I would say that the interviews are going along expected lines.
P1: So you don’t have any complaints?
Me: None whatsoever, sir.
P1: Are you prepared?
I couldn’t understand in what context he was asking this.
Me: Excuse me, Sir?
P1: Are you prepared for whatever we all are here for?
Me: Yes, sir.
P2: What do you expect for your interview?
Oh…here is a golden chance; now or never!Me: Sir, since I have some experience to back myself up with, I don’t expect much acad related questions.
P1: See, you are here for admission to post graduation, and the qualification required for the same is graduation. Work experience is just an added flavor.
Me: Sir, I am not ruling out the possibility of Acad questions. But I think the emphasis will be lesser on acads.

P2: OK, so you ase working in xxx. Where are you posted?
Me: Mangalore.
P2: Mangalore?
Me: Yes sir.
P2: Does xxx have an office at Mangalore?
Me: (It transpires so, doesn’t it?) Yes sir. In fact Mangalore is xxx’s first office outside Bangalore.
P1: So tell us about what is happening to the IT Industry? Talk about KPOs.I begin the usual knowledge session on moving up the value chain.
P1: Asks me to explain the value chain.I take anticipatory bail saying I will explain within the confines of my knowledge and start right from the voice based services and goes up till consulting. When I reached application development, P1 interrupted and asked me what it was. I explained it and went further.
P1: So how is KPO different?I talked about knowledge being the key aspect here, outsourcing companies having experts who could analyze data and things like that.

P2: So you are a Mechanical Engineer?
Me: Yes sir.
P2: How comfortable are you in taking questions from Mechanical?
Me: Not very much comfortable, sir. I passed out in 2002, and it has been almost 4 years now, and I am very much out of touch.
P2: But you can’t escape it.
Me: I am not expecting to escape it sir. I know I might have to take up questions from there also. But I just wanted to tell you upfront that I might not be able to answer questions really well.
P2: OK. What is Carnot’s law?
Me: Carnot’s law?
P2: Yes, thermodynamics.
Me: I don’t remember such a law, sir.
P2: OK, OK, OK. Tell me zeroth law of thermodynamics.
Me: Sir, zeroth law states that if a body A is in thermal equilibrium with a body B, which is in turn, in thermal equilibrium with a body C, then A is in thermal equilibrium with C.
P2: OK, what are its applications?
Me (thought for a while): Sir, they are applied in thermometers. Explained how.
P2: You said you don’t remember anything.
Me: I didn’t mean so sir. I meant I don’t remember advanced mechanical stuff. I do remember the basics.
P2: OK any other applications?Me (thinking)…Luckily, P1 interrupts.

P1: How comfortable are you with mathematics?
Me: Just like Mechanical Engineering sir; I am comfortable with basics.
P1: How about differentiation and integration?
Me: I am pretty much confident of basic differentiation and integration sir ( I just wanted this to go very well into their heads)
P1: Is there any differentiation other than basic differentiation?
Me: There are advanced things like partial differentiation, sir.
P1: What is a partial differentiation?
Me: Differentiating an equation in multiple variables treating all except one variable as a constant.

P1: Write down an equation in multiple variables.
I start to write ‘f(x,y) =’ P1 says: Not the general equation. Write an equation which is usually used.I think for a second and thought equation of circle is a good choice. I write down x^2 + y^2 = a^2 and rewrite it as y = sqrt (a^2 – x^2). Write down dow Y / dow X = Alas! I can’t differentiate sqrt (a^2 – x^2). I forgot how to... I admit I can’t proceed, hearing which P1 says, why don’t you write a simple equation and proceed?I wrote down z = x + y and did the partial differentiation with respect to x

P1 turns to P2 and asks, do you have any more questions?
P2: You have been working for almost the past 4 years.I corrected him that it is almost three years now.
P2: What do you know about the market?
Me: Do you mean the economy?
P2: Yes.
Me: Nothing much sir.
P2: Why is that so? You have been working for so long.
Me: Well, sir. My work doesn’t involve anything that requires the analysis of economy. It revolves around everyday…
P2: (Interrupts me). It is not about analysis; it is about awareness.
Me: As for awareness, I have a good deal of awareness, I believe, sir.

P2: What is the size of IT Industry in India?Me: Around 75000 crore rupees, sir.
P2: What is that? Revenues?
Me: Yes, sir. The revenues.
P2: How many people are working in it?
Me: Around a million sir?

P2 (exclaims): A million?????P1 and P2 starts laughing
Me: Yes sir (I start smiling)
P2: How much is that?
Me: Ten lakhs.P
2 (Still with a hint of a laugh) : Ten lakh people in IT Industry?
Me: Sir, IT and IT Enabled services put together.
P2: It comes to a million, eh?
Me: I am not exactly sure sir. But I think it comes to around a million.
P2 (to P1) : Do you have anything else?
P1: No…Thank you Anu.
Me: Thank you very much sirs.
P1: And all the best.
Me: Thank you very much sir.

I get up and leave the room and seeing an empty corridor at the CPP block, I run out of IIMB.

Proe that you are you, mister

One of the weirdest Pi I have had. I thought C was unfair on me. I had a bad GD and I have a low CAT score, but am I not eligible for a fightback in PI? I guess C decided that I am not. I lost the battle before it actually began.OK, I should give you some background information. I was filling up the CAT application form, and I found that I had this photograph with me, all two copies of it. I pasted one on the form and sent it across to IIMK, and peacefully forgot about the other copy. A roommate of mine picked it up and placed it alongside the photographs of gods that we had at our home and said that he was placing me along with the gods. Needless to say, I got the same treatment as the gods did. When I took out my application form for IIMC, I found out that they have specifically asked for the same copy of the photograph as I had pasted on the CAT application form, and this was repeated at 2-3 places, which made me believe that C is very particular of this thing. I went to the Gods and saw my photo lying there, all in dust and dirt. A good friend of mine took pains to clean it up as nicely as he could and gave it to me in some presentable form. I thought, OK...let me go ahead and paste this one. But the problem was that it was taken an year ago and I was sporting a nice trim moustache on it. Now I have a clean-shaven appearance. Also, during this period, I gained around 5 kilograms of weight and lost another 10 later on. In totum, I looked a bit different on the photograph.Now to the Interview Hall (M23 at IIMB again, for the fourth time in my life).I (Me in the transcript below) went in and saw 4 panelists sitting there, one towards the extreme left (P1) had asked me to come in. The other three (P2, P3 and P4) were engaged in some serious discussions as to what the problems in Indian IT industry were.P1 offered me a seat and I thanked him and wished him a good afternoon. The other three now stopped discussion, and I promptly wished them too.

P4: Tell us something about yourself.P1 handed over my application form to P3 and he looked at me, and he looked amazed.

P3: You look totally different!

Me: I had sported a moustache earlier on, sir. This photo was taken at that time.

P4: Is this the one you have pasted on your CAT admit card?

Me: Yes sir. And that is why I have pasted this photograph here. It is specifically mentioned that I should use the same copy.

P3: But how can we believe that it is you? There is no similarity at all.He placed his hand over his nose and looked at me from different angles.

P3: You look like xxxxx now (I did not hear the name he said, I would have loved to hear whom I look like, but thought it would be silly to ask him to repeat it. So I just smiled).

P4: Ok, you were about to tell us about yourself...go on.Me: Sir, my name is Anu P. Thomas. I belong..

P4 (interrupting me): You are from?

Me: Kerala.

P3: Which part of Kerala?

Me: I am from the south Kerala, sir. Not extreme south, but some where towards the South.

P2: Which is the place?

Me: Tiruvalla, sir.

P4 (pointing to P2 and P1): Tell your name to them, they might not have heard.

I mistook it for the place name and duly informed P1 and P2 that the name of the place is Tiruvalla.

P4: I meant your name.

Me: OK, sir my name is Anu P. Thomas.

P2: Where are you from?

Me: I am from Tiruvalla in Kerala, sir.

P2: Where is it?Me: Sir, Tiruvalla is in Pathanamthitta district, some thirty kilometers south of Kottayam and about a 110 kilometers south of Eranakulam.

P4: OK, continue with your description of yourself.

Me: Sir I am graduate in Mechanical Engineering, and I am now working as a...

P4: Where did you graduate from?

Me: Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam, sir.

P3 (Looking suspicious) Are you sure?I was taken aback. What is he talking about? Am I not sure where I graduated from?

Me: Yes sir.P3(handing over my application form to me): Then what have you written here?

Me: M. G. University.

P3: What have you told just now?

Me: Sir, what I have written here is the name of the University that grants the degree, but what I told is the name of the college I studied in. It is affiliated to M. G. University

P3 and P4 do not look convinced. They looked as if they have just spotted an imposter who neither looked like his photo nor knew where he studied.There was some silence looming around. I decided to continue with the description of myself. I said I am working for so and so.

P1: How long?

Me: I am with xxx for the past 34 months, sir.

P1 (Looking at all the salary slips I had put in): What are all these certificates? We have clearly mentioned what all we need.

Me: Sir, for the first 4 months, I was in training, and I was earning a stipend during that time. Once the training was over, I was inducted as an employee. My designation was so and so during the training period, then it changed to so and so. Also, I was in the US during January, so I got two salary slips for January, the Indian and US. I have put all of them in.

P2: So you were in US?

Me: I was in US during December and January, sir.

P2: Where in US?

Me: In the state of Maine. The place name was Portland.

Again a dull silence. I decided not to go back to the 'describe yourself' thing.

P1: So, tell us about the politics in Kerala and the role Mr. Karunakaran is playing.

I talked about the seesaw politics in Kerala and the way the two major alliances almost alternately come to power and how LDF is almost all set to return to the power. I also talked about Mr. Karunakaran and his son Mr. Muralidharan and their efforts to gain control over the state unit of congress not being fruitful and they forming a new party.P1 now asked me what the role of Karunakaran's daughter is to which I replied that there was a time when Muralidharan, despite being an MP since 1989 had a period of low popularity and Karunakaran tried to address the situation by bringing in his daughter.

P1: What is her name?

Me: Miss Padmaja. Rather Mrs. Padmaja Venugopal.

P4 now asks me how many siblings I have. I said I have two elder sisters and a younger brother. P4 asked me what they were doing and P3 asked me if they are married. I replied that both my sisters are married. Now P3 asked me then how come my family size is 6. I said I had thought about it for a while, and I couldn't consider my sisters out of my family. Then he said if my family income is to go up by 85%, what could that mean to these numbers. Some discussion about it followed.

P1: What is the problem with Kasargod?

Me: (Problem?? It is such a nice calm place) Sir, there is no problems with Kasargod. Sometime back, there were some talks about Kasargod wanting to merge with Karnataka, but I don't think it is much of an agitation now.

P3: So, what is the biggest agitation in Kerala now?

I gave him the smart city deal having caused the most widespread agitation in recent times.

P1: Tell me what is Kerala famous for? Any special sweets from Kerala?

Me: Kozhikkode's Halwa is very famous sir.

P3: What is it made of?Me: I am not sure sir.

P3: Is it sweet?

Me: It is very sweet.

P3: so sugar must be there. Hahahaha.

Me: Of course, sir. Sugar is an ingredient and also oil. But they do not form the major ingredient.

P1: OK, what else is there?

Me: (Thinking)

P1: Banana?

Me: Oh, yes sir, banana chips are very famous.

P1: So, what is that special type of banana?

Me: Sir, we call it Ethappazham, but I don’t know the English term.

P1: Nentra?

Me: Yes, sir. We also call it Nentra, but I am not sure what the English term is.

P1: There is no English term. It is called Nentra only. We get it even in Calcutta.

Me: (Smiles) Oh...Okaye...

P4: OK, Mr. Thomas. That is it. But we warn you that there is a problem with your identity. Also the problem he (pointing to P3) pointed out. We don't think it is good to penalize you now, but you will have to prove your identity if you are given a call.

P1: Do you have your xxx identity card?

Me: I have it at my room at BTM, sir. I also have my passport there. But I haven't brought them along.

P1: You should have brought it. That would have solved the problem straight away.

Me: A proof of identity wasn't mentioned as one of the documents that I should bring sir. So, I thought no need to bring it.

P4: OK...there is a 95% chance that you are the right person. But should we give you a final call, you should prove your identity. I mean you should be prepared for that.

Me: (Come on, you still think there is only 95% chance of my not being an imposter?) I will be able to do that, sir.

P4: OK, we will keep a note of it here.

Me: All right sir.

P4: OK, thank you.I stood up, and collected my files, and P1 informed me that he had kept back my salary slips. I asked him if he didn't need the academic certificates. He said no.

P4: OK, Mr. Thomas, now don't ask the next candidate to come in. I will ask her to come in.

Me: OK, sir.

I thanked them all, and walked out wondering how on earth I could prove I am myself. It might not be required anyway, I guess.

Fun Indoors

The Biggest of 'em all!

Had my GD and interview for IIM Ahmedabad at Bangalore on 2nd March. There were 8 pople in our group, all except me were kids studying in their final year of B Tech (one each from NITC, NITK, BITS, CET, GEC Trichur, Model Engg College...there was one more guy, I can't recollect where he was from...all except one were malayalis)

Case Study for GD : For a change, this was not a piece of fiction. This was about increasing the height of Tehri dam and its impact on the people of Tehri town. A very nice discussion followed where all of us were passionate, at the same time compassionate towards each other...quite a few points came up and were discussed in detail...I didn't bring up any new point but actively participated in the discussion. The summary sheet was snatched away from me before I could complete it.

I would give a 4/10 for my performance overall.I was the second one in the line for PI. The first one told us that he was grilled on mathematics (Hahaha....I didn't know if I should cry or laugh, anyway, I knew mine is a gone case) and Civil Engineering. No budget, no extra currics and no personal details...Some 5 minutes passed by, and a face appeared through a half open door, and called my name out. I said a typical "Yeah" and moved towards the door.

I went swiftly in, closed the door after me, and walked towards the panel. I was offered a (hot)seat by the professor who would be P3 in the transcript below. I thanked him, and offered a sweet smile and Good Morning to all the Ps (P1, P2 and P3)P1 asked me my certificates and I gave it to him. The professors went through my data form (which I thought, in total would contain the biggest description about me until I got to see the data form for IIMI).

P1: So you are a module leader?
Me: I have played that role, sir. But currently I am not.
P1: Were you one when you wrote this?Me: No sir.
P1: How big is your team now?
Me: We are a four member team now, sir. It doesn't have any modules as such.
P1: Then why have you written...err...hmm...achcha you have written you was assigned...
Me: Yes sir.
P1: So tell us about the work that you are doing.
Me: Explains that it is an average cost inventory maintenance application running at XXXX.
P1: Are you able to use anything you learned in Mechanical Engineering in this?
Me: Some concepts from Industrial Engineering are found helpful in, may be not for actual use, but in relating some of the things being done (I was as unclear as this sentence is )
P1: Who decides the methods? Is it you who suggests the way things are to be done, or does th client gives you the solution and you just code it?
Me: It is the latter way. It is the client who decides what is best for them. We just implement the solution.
P1: How well do you think they are doing this?
Me: Some unclear answers...
P1: Some grilling on inventory valuation methods
Me: Answers...
P1: How is the economic order quantity decided in cases of seasonal price variations...
Me: Fumbles...Tell them that it might be using the historical data and current market trends

P1: Rules out the current market trend, I hang on to the history, P1 asks if the enterprise is new, are they at a loss, I fumble again...blurts out something...

P2 takes over
P2: You were talking about inventory. Is there anything in the software industry which can be compared to inventory in a manufacturing set-up?
Me: Thinks a bit and tells him that we need storage space to keep our softwares. Therefore it carries a cost and may be treated as inventory.
P2 rejects this and tells me that it is very negligible, and I asserts that it is still a cost. P2 decides to give me a clue and asks me what about the skill levels. I decide to go further on this and tells them that people is the main asset of software companies and they can be regarded as inventory. But P2 was adamant that it is skills, I tried to reason my stand saying that ultimately it comes to people, but P2 didn't agree. Finllay I gave in saying "You are right sir, it is the skillsets".

P2: How much of mathematics do you remember?
Me: (Is your name Chacko Mash, by any chance?) Sir, I am out of touch for the past three-three and a half years and do not remember much now
P2: This is not the proper way to answer. You should tell me some topic from 10+2, rather post 10+2 from which I can ask you some questons.
Me: (Oh...now I am sure you are Chacko Mash (for the uninitiated, Chacko Mash is a character in a malayalam movie who believes that the ticking of earth is in mathematics and that without mathematics, world is a big zero) Sir, in that case, I would like to take some questions from Matrix (did I spell it right?) and determinants.
P2: OK....so, what is the rank of a matrix?
Me: (Nice sweet simle) I do not remeber that, sir.
P2: Looks a bit surprised, and jots down a 3X3 matrix on a paper, and asks me to find out its determinant value.
Me: Expands it into a big array of numbers (a11 (a22*a33-a23*a32)-a21*..... funda) and says this is it sir.
P2: So what will it be?
Me: Oh...you want me to do the complete calculation? (P2 looks at P3 and smiles...rather laughs soundlessly)
Me: I do the complete calculation and finds out the value to be zero :O

P3 chips in: How could you tell this without even doing the calculations?
Me: (Looks at the matrix once again...)
P3: What is special about those numbers?
I said that the matrix is equal to its transpose. Apparenly, it wasn't the answer they were looking for...
P3 excalimed "Transpose??" P2 started a mild laugh. P3 said it was something related to the rank of the matrix.
I said I can't see any speciality for those numbers except that Aij = Aji, and that I don't remember the concept of rank of a matrix very well.

P3: OK...imagine you are at Bombay airport, have boarded a flight to New York via London and a small kid stting at the windo next to you wants to name out all the water bodies as you pass above them. What will be your answer? The water bodies and the sequence.
Me (Hahaha..I could answer this while in 4th Standard) : Sir, water bodies will include rivers and seas, I can list down the seas, but not rivers (Not that I didn't know any, but didn't want to take any more chances)
P3: OK, all major water bodies.
Me: Arabian sea will come first. If the flight route is through the air space of Iran, you will fly over the Caspian sea, then the Meditarranean sea, English Channel will come when going to London, and after that, it will be Atlantic Ocean all the way till New York.
P3: If you are coming back flying westward?
Me: The great lake of Michigan, the Pacefic ocean, south Chinba sea, Bay of Bengal, and then you will reach back Bombay.
P3: Tell me some of the islands where you can see people of Indian origin.
Me: Fiji is one of them, where we have a lot of people of Indian origin. Then Mauritius, Madagaskar and Sri Lanka.
P3: OK...do you know how come they are there?
Me: They are mainly people whom the Britishers forcefully took there to work in plantations. Some people might be there who willfully went there in search of better opportunities.

P2 is back into the action: Where does V.S. Naipaul belong to?
Me: It is the Carribeans, sir. He is from the Carribeans.
P2: Which country?
Me: I do not know for sure, sir. It might be Cuba (All the three Profs started laughing), I smiled back and said I am not very sure.
P2: Who is the leader of Cuba?
Me: It is Fidel Castro.
P2: Do you know any other Latin American leaders ?
I started searching my database for a matching name when P2 expands the question..."Any other Latin American Leftist leaders"?
Me (Now I ratified the observation by the one who was interviewed before me that the Maths Professor was a Bengali) : I have heard of Cheguera, sir.
P2: Where is he from?
Me: I think he is from Bolivia (P2 starts laughing again)
Me: ...no sir, Bolivia is where he met his death.
P2: Name the Latin Amreican countries..
Me: Brazil is the biggest Latin American country, then we have Argentina, Urugway, Colombia, Paragway, Chile and Bolivia (Hehe...I haven't watched any other Latin American country in World Cup Football)
P2: OK, that is it...(turns to P1)..anythiung else?
P1: No, Nothing...(May be on an after thought) How many calls do you have?
Me: I have calls from all the six IIMs, sir.
P1: OK...you can take a toffee and leave...I thanked P1 for the toffee and then thanked all the professors, gave out one of the swetest smiles ever donned my face and walked out.

The First Blood: Tryst with IIML

I was interviewed by Panel VII on 22nd Feb. I reached IIMB at around 1.15 and found 3 guys sitting there, all from College of Engineering Trivandrum and obviously Malayalis. Just chitchatted with them for sometime, and 5 more people came along, all from Chennai (one was from Lucknow studying at IIT Chennai and another one was a malayali settled in Chennai). 7 out of the 9 people were studying in their final year, and one was working, and had 8 months experience till date (Nineth one is me!).

We were called in at around 2.05 pm and we were asked to write a paragraph of about 150 words on "The Secret of Being Happy is to make others believe that they are the cause of it". After we wrote down our thoughts, the sheets were taken away and we started discussion on the same topic. It went on nicely, without much of a chaos,, occassionally forming sub-groups or deviating from the topic. I chipped in 5-6 times, and contributed a point or two, but I felt I could have made it better (as usual).

I was the sixth one to be interviewed. I think my interviewers were thew same as Thecky's. Let me put them as P1 and P2. Myself shall be M.P2 asks for my certificates and I cordially hand over the two folders that I was carrying along.
P1: Tell us about yourself quickly in some two minutes:
M: My name is so and so, and I work for so and so for the last 33 months. My responsiblities include this and that, my latest assignment was this.P1 interruptrs me and asks for a little clarification.
M: After clarification, I go on with my answer, tells what my interests are. Then goes on to my strengths and says I posses good analytical skills:
P1: Do you really have good analytical skills?
M: Esssaaaaaaaar
P1 hands over to me his pen and says: Then analyze this pen.
M: The physical or functional part, sir?
P1: Which ever way you would like to..
M: OK Sir. (I decide to go for the physical analysis). This pen can be divided into two major parts, the body and the Cap. The cap has a holder, a piece to fit in the holder and a body of its own. The body of the pen has a bottom part to facilitate the insertion and removal of the refill and a refill itself.
P1: That's all?M: Yes, sir.
P1: You haven't talked anything about the processes. How would you say your analysis is complete without it/
M: Sir, I just did an analysis of its parts.
P1: Still, you should analyze the processes too, right?
M: As for processes, Sir, the cap fits into the body through a subtle mechanical projection ( HUH??? What did I mean??? ). The refill has ink, which flows out through the nib, by virtue of gravity.

P1: Now, relate this to your organization
M: Sir, just like this pen, our organization too has two parts, the management and the labor..
P1: Does XXXXX has a labor force? Is there such a classification?
M: There is no classification as such, sir. But there is a set of people who performs the managerial tasks and who plan out things, and a set of people of do the actual programming part.

P1: Why are managers necessary?
M: They facilitate the work, sir. They plan the work and decide the number of people necessary to do the work, and..

P1: They plan the work or help you plan the work?
M: Managers are involved in getting the work and executing the project, sir. So they will have to plan as to how exactly the work will be done...
P1: How will you define a project?
M: A tasks taken up by a team of people which results in a desirable outcome (Oh My god! Why did I ever attempt to create a definition ex-tempore? )
P1: So you are saying that a project will necesserily result in a pre-determined outcome?
M: I believe so, sir. May not be a pre-determined outcome, but a project will have an outcome (F1 F1...can somebody tell me how far or how close I am to the truth?)

P2 now chips in and asks something about the salary slips I had produced, some numbers not matching. I try to explain and segregate the salary slips and tell him what exactly each one of them is...P1 says it is OK, go ahead)
P2: What do you think of the new budget?
M: Sir, the finance minister has told that he is comited to bring down the Fiscal deficit and also that the fringe benefit tax would stay. So I think the budget will retain the current tax structure, but would try to bring down the fiscal deficit.
P2: How can you bring down the fiscal deficit? There are only limited resources, and your taxes are not going to increase..
M: Disinvestment of shares in Non-Navaratna companies could be an option, also, a reduction in non-planned expenditure (Oh Holy Shit!) would be an option.
P2: What is non-planned expenditure?(at this point, P1 gets up and move across to a nearby table, where a computer was installed and starts brwosing through it..may be internet, may be not...he remained there till the end of my interview)
M: Sir, I have only a vague idea about these things. Planned expenditure would consists of..
P2: You only brought up the non-planned expenditure. You should tell us what it is..
M: Sir, planned expenditure consists of expenditures towards activities which are planned: like 5 year plan, annual plan etc. Non-planned expenditure would include expenditures other than this.

P2: What all will come under it?
M: Salaries, pensions, interest of public debts etc.
P2: How can you reduce them?
M: Better governance could be an option, reduced allowances etc.
P2: Is it feasible to reduce them?
M: If we impose on ourseleves a good discipline, it is feasible, sir.
P2: Ever heard of VRS?
M: Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Yes, sir, I have heard of it.
P2: Silence
M: But sir, I don't think VRS can help in reducing the non-planned exenditure, because when people retire , you have to pay them the retirement benefits, which would be more than the salaries. In the long run, it might help, but for the current year, it is not.
P2: So, how do you think we can reduce the non-planned expenditure
M: [How many times have you asked this question, sir? Don't you think it is time you give up? Well, certainly I do think so] I offer them a sweet smile and say...Sir, I do not have much ideas about these things.
P2: If you don't have much idea, you should tell us, so that we can move forward. OK..tell me about the future of IT industry.
M: Some things about moving up the value chain, new locations like Philippines and Bulgaria, the challenge they pose towards the Indian IT companies, how clients expect more value, how important it is for us to move up the value chain and such things...

P2: Habe you heard of drifts?
M: In what context sir?(I somehow tried to relate it with Drag, about which I had learnt in third semester in Engineering...1999 that is...)
P2: WTO
M: (Relieved a bit) I have no idea, sir.
P2: You know nothing about WTO?
M: I don't know much except its expansion, sir.P2 Looks at me inquisitively. I just smile.

P2: OK then, that is it...(turns to P1 who as I said, was sitting at the computer at a nearby table) Do you have anything else?
P1: No, nothing at all, all the best (for other interviews... may be )I thank the two gentlemen and walk out, and close the door after me.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/02/060502.asp
http://orca.phys.uvic.ca/~tatum/thermod.html

What is English about English?

I am not in the league of persons who speak only in English. Though I am not particularly uncomfortable with that language, I know I am no king of English. I am much more comfortable with my mother tongue. I know, this holds true with most of us (I am not denying the fact that there are people who would like to pretend otherwise).Without any further ado, let me get to what I am trying to say. I was transplanted to the United States a month back. When I boarded my flight, I thought I am going to be comfortable on the language front because I did not find many problems with the American accent of speech. I have watched enough Hollywood movies, you doubting Thomas! But lilied did I know what was in store for me! I knew what a faucet was, but I didn't imagine my friend in America couldn't figure out what a tap is. And back home, I have talked only about taps you know! Who will bother to say faucet when there is a much, much easier word? I had never heard about okra, though it happens to be one of my favorite dishes. And to top it all, I had a worse experience yesterday. I was to travel from Boston to Portland by bus and I reached the bus terminal some 10 minutes too early. I saw a random crowd, faintly resembling a Q (literally) in front of the gate at which my bus would arrive. I went and asked the gentle man standing at end which I thought is the fag end of the queue:"Excuse me, is this a queue"?"A what???” the man looked to have been offered a puzzle."I mean, is this a QUEUE to board the bus?” I think I became more polite.But it didn't seem that he noticed it. He started thinking. He might be looking for some ciphers to decode my cryptic clue.But luckily for me, the lady standing just in front of him intervened, and assured me that it is. Thank God, she saved me. I got enough time inside the bus travel to figure out the Americanese for Queue. Boy! I had to ask if it was a line!That threw me off balance. I was thrown into some deep thoughts. How many of us remember that there used to be a time when our teachers would tell us that 'colour' is the right way to spell that word and not 'color'? Who cares to specialise these days when he sees all others specializing? The world of English or the English language of the world is drastically changing. With the ever increasing influence of USA on the world, its politics, economy and socio-cultural behavior, I don't think there is a going back. With computers, internet and software playing more vital a role everyday to each of our lives, I don't think there is a going back. With ever increasing dominance of US companies, particularly Microsoft, in anything related to computers, I don't think there is a going back. With more and more eyes opened towards the US as the land of opportunities, I don't think there is a going back. No pal, it is not going to reverse. The world is going to be more and more Americanized.England is the place where this language was born. I am not sure how much English this language would remain, though! A 100 years from now, I think people of England would fail to align themselves to the language which we call by the name English. It would be an alien tongue to them, and they would feel that they are robbed of even the name of the language that rightfully belongs to them! What a pity, but how helplessly on cards? We have got nothing to do about it. The world is going to the exact direction where it should. And the English is at a loss! Hey, my dear Anglican, time you started calling your language British, too!

Christmas on a foreign Land

Christmas is not a celebration of laziness, if you happen to be away from your homeland. Especially so, if you are in a group of 30 of which 4 or 5 celebrate christmas.

When it is snowing, you wish there was rain

I was brought up amidst heavy rains, literally!
Hey I would rather not go into the details of that statement, but unlike most of the fellow Keralites, I never liked the rain as a kid. I looked at rain as a big nuiscence, causic menatl havocs. And slowly, very slowly, days passed by and years passed by and I became an adolescent.Adolescent may not be a proper term. I had a feeling those days, that I am already an adult. And I demanded, from everyone I interact with, a similar consideration. In retrospect, I feel this wasn't a good thing to have happened. However, I developed a liking for the monsoons during those days. And it still hovers around. I still love rains. But now, sitting 6000 miles away from equator, rain is a distant possibility. Or, at least, so it looks. It only snows here. It snows and covers your home with a while layer of beautiful insulator and you no longer gets sunlight on your roof. You are colder and you ask your room heater to give you more heat. You are locked inside your room and you are afraid to go out. It is snowing out there. Phew much of water, just wasted as plain snow...Couldn't it just pour down as a heavy rain? It would have been warmer and I wouldn't have missed my monsoon...But again, I get to see the snowing which I had hitherto seen only in stories and songs...In my mother tounge, there are lot of film songs picturizing snowing...Now I am seeing it in front of my eyes! These poets, they sure have some imagination.

Apt World

Blog is something new to me. Relatively very very new. Unless I had this Toshiba M100 machine on my lap(which of course, my company so dutifully gave to me, hoping I would be able to perform my everyday tasks better with this) I wouldn't have probably writing this at all. And I have way too many things to pen down..err...key down, that I end up writing nothing. But this is not going to be the case any more. I have decided that I am game. So be prepared for the risk of having to add one more url to your favorites' list. A statutory warning first: You might probably end up taking nothing back from this page. Not even your mind.
Hahaha...I know by now you would have aquired the wisdom and an understanding about me to know that I write way too bad for my warning to be ever true. Anyways, if you don't mind, scroll down and have some fun. even if it wasn't any fun, do provide me your feedbacks, please.