IIM Results vs. Fate

Luck, fate, destiny, God: All these words come into your mind if something bad happens and you are highly optimistic, which you should be, since if you are not, you stand to get depressed. They say, “Only God knows what is in future?” But do they know that God knows this or not? May be God knows or may be God doesn’t know? Even if he’s somewhere there, who knows about his future? IIM results are out after a lot of tussle between HRD ministry and Supreme Court of India, Congress and UPA coalition parties, me and my fate.

I have been following every news on the internet related to the quota and IIM issue since past 15 days refreshing the google search engine every 5 minutes (whenever I am awake, I mean). I got two calls from B (Bangalore) and L (Lucknow). Anyone who’s read my last blogs must be knowing that I was expecting a positive response from B and not from L in which I am not interested, but all crashed today at 6:33 pm (I don’t exactly remember, no one knows the time of death.) I got final admission offer from Lucknow, but rejection from Bangalore. I entered my roll number and just after entering, a screen popped up saying, “Sorry, you haven’t been selected.” Lemme tell you this sorry word is the most diplomatic word in English language. I was almost sure of getting through and then results made me recall Gita saying “Don’t expect anything from future because it’s not in your hands.” (This is SriMadBhagwatGita, not the young lady from my old colony)

Many of my relatives, friends have earlier enquired about the results and I was supposed to call them today and give the news. But what should I have said now? I didn’t have courage to call. I couldn’t break their expectations. Finally, I called my family and told them the thing. Though they were saying it’s ok, but the feelings behind those words! Alas! I should have been so dumb not to understand them. This was the first time (which I can recall) where I called my father and told that “Papa, I failed.”

Now, friends come and ask result and after knowing, I always see the same expressions of they having pity on me, “Hard Luck, dude”, “Better Luck next time”, “Don’t worry, you have another options” are some of the expressions which are supposed to boost your moral but today they all had lost their essence. They bore imprints of my failure and haunted me everytime someone repeated them.

Till some hours of results, I was answering friends’ queries about results having a fake little smile on face. Smile was only to save myself from the feeling of pity, any face develops after listening. Then, a new friend sent me a message which energized me, “heyyyyy...i do feel sad for u but luk at the better side, at least u r sumwhere, people don't land up easily where u r..i knw u must have tried really hard....but be optimistic cummon...now give us a smile :) a real one!” Ya, that’s true! I haven’t looked at the brighter side. I have got through IIM Lucknow, which also not many can dream of in India. That’s a different story that I am not going to join it. Now I am trying to smile and look forward, God bless my friend.

I know I have some other very good options. I know I can do well in life and this is the confidence that’s pushing me ahead. Also, at this time, I recall my age-old friend Udham Singh saying, “Come’on dude! This is life. Not everything comes your way. And you know! A person overcoming lot of hardships makes a real gem.”

IIM Lucknow GD/PI

GD topic:
"Politicians are wonderful people, if they stay away from the things they don’t understand, such as, working for a living."

Initial 10 minutes were given for writing a 150 words write-up on the topic. Then, with a pause of 15 seconds, we are asked to start. No one was willing to start on the topic. I had already decided not to go to IIM Lucknow, even if they offered me a seat right away. Both panelists were male. One was from South India, second was from north. Second one seemed to belong to either Haryana or Punjab. Chairs were arranged in a semi-circular fashion. Discussion was given 15 minutes but what do you think can be discussed here for 15 minutes? I divided the topic in 3 parts. Politicians are also people, and can’t be expected to do super-natural things. Every person is inherently wonderful. And lastly, policy-makers must be able to understand the issues pertaining to common man, or the stakeholders. I wrote a summary wrapping these 3 points in around 50 words each.

The discussion was not good. People were speaking irrelevant things, not listening to anyone else. Many were talking in groups of two without caring for the other groups of two-two each, while one person in a very loud voice was speaking for his own sake. After this thing continued for starting 3-4 minutes, I thought I should have say there and I started saying, “Please, let him complete and then you can say whatever you want.” These things were appreciated sometimes but not by everyone. Some were just not able to listen this or rather were only interested in speaking their crap. One person shouted, “Don’t act like a traffic policeman.” (I think I should have said, “Traffic Policemen are also needed to control the traffic.” But I didn’t assuming safely that it was his loss for sure. I wasn’t losing anything since I wasn’t interested in Lucknow anyways.) Discussion went on till its completion without any smoothness with people talking about SEZ’s, Maharashtra power being used in Northern states and all non-sense which they related to this topic and made sense only to themselves. I asked one person when he completed, “What has this to do with the topic?” Few agreed but the person kept on murmuring his thoughts like a crow on your house in the morning 4 am. In all cases, it has disturbed your sleep. Finally, it was over to the relief of everybody.

Now, after waiting for some time, cracking few jokes with friends from IIT Bombay who were also present for their GD/PI, my turn for PI came (again fourth), and I moved in. Let’s call interviewer M1 and M2 and candidate C. Time was around 3:40 pm.

C: Good Afternoon, Sir.
M1: Hmm.. Give me the certificates….
M2: Relax… Why are you shivering? Come’on, You are from IIT Bombay.
(Now, What should I have told them? This is a problem with me that whenever I am a bit nervous, or not exactly nervous but something important is there, hands start shivering and controlling them takes time. Anyways, a long breath helped me.)
C: Yes, Sir.
(I gave them certificates after removing resumes from the top of my file. M1 was almost about to cry.)
M1: Why didn’t you put all of them at the top?
C: Sir, They are already on the top. I was just removing resumes.
M1: Give me the whole file.
C: Sir, there are other certificates also in the file of extra-curricular activities.
M1: Why didn’t you take them out earlier, when I said so? (I wonder when did he say so?) I know you wanted us to see only those things which you wanted to show us.
C: (a small smile.. ) No Sir, they are on the top only. I thought I’ll have to give resumes also.
M1: I am seeing you have taken philosophy courses in the last semester. These are filler courses you have taken to increase your CPI.
(If this person was not an interviewer, I would have given him a long lecture on philosophy. I got irritated with the person’s behavior. One, he assumed that philosophy is easy and getting good marks there is easy. Second, I am not interested in Philosophy. Third, even after telling him that I am auditing two courses of Philosophy this time which don’t have any credits for me, he didn’t seem to agree. I told him that I have taken 5 philosophy courses, out of which 2 are PhD courses. Only 3 person are doing the course of Buddhist Mahayana Philosophy. But M1 wouldn’t agree. I thought in my mind, “Go to Hell. Why should I convince you for my interest in Philosophy? Anyways, I am not going to come to your college.” I was there just for fun :D.)
M2: Have you read modern philosophy also?
C:Yes sir, but not in as much details as Indian philosophy.
M2: What courses have you done and what do you know about Indian Philosophy?
C(I told him all the courses): Introduction to Philosophy, Indian Philosophy, Vedanta Philosophy, Buddhist Mahayana Philosophy and Professional Ethics
M1: What’s the difference between Indian philosophy and Vedanta philosophy?
C: Vedanta school of thought is the gist of Vedas. There are other school of thoughts also in Indian philosophy like Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika. (I talked about Vedanta a bit then, and it’s six parts.)
M1: Tell us in brief about Vedanta, which your professor gave you as an overview of the course.
C(I told him about Shankaracharya’s Advaita Vedanta and Ramanujam’s vishishadvaita Vedanta in some detail. M1 seemed jealous while M2 seemed content from my answer.)
M2: What did you prepare for the interview?
C: Not much can be prepared for the interview because I am here to present myself. I read newspapers daily to know what’s happening in the world. Revised some technical concepts and that’s all.
M2: You are in electrical engineering.. What do you know about power sector of India?
C: Power Sector… hmm.. Sir, there is 12.5% shortage in power supply than demand. Last year it was 12%.
M2: no no.. not this.. ok.. What do you mean by unbundling of power sector?
C: I don’t know the term but it may mean giving license to private players to enter in power sector, which was not allowed earlier.
M1: Have you had any management course?
C: No, sir.
M1: Any economics course?
C: Yes, I had one in my first semester.
M2: What was the name of the course?
C: I don’t exactly remember. It was something like “Economics and something..”
M1: Economics is the basic thing for Management and you don’t know the name of single course you did in economics. Some more statements like this.
M2: What did you study in the course?
C (though it was tough to recall, but I could recall a few concepts): Marginal utility, Law of diminishing returns (explained to them what does that mean?)
M2: Apply these concepts to power bills?
(I explained to them how first some electricity units are charged at around Rs. 3/unit and later on, charges start increasing. Because marginal utility of that extra unit is less for a person who’s consuming more and since it was more useful for some other person, higher usage should attract higher charges.)
M1: What are other options for you?
C: I have got job offers from Capital One and Inductis.
M1: What are they paying you?
(I told them both the packages.)
M1: Oh, this is an international package.
C:Yes sir.
(M1 looks towards M2): Ok, Thank you.
C: Thank You, Sir.

Overall, quality of professors, GD, PI and students appearing for Lucknow was exponentially down than IIM B.
Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions and no one should feel offended.

IIM Bangalore GD/PI

GD: Case Study
Sh. Ramesh Kunango is the owner of a small but profitable departmental store at NIT, Bangalore (NITB). He has been running the store for more than 2 decades now, and has 3 employees. He has a good reputation with all faculty and students. He knows each student by name by the time they reach their second year. The store has been a centre for social networking for a long time. This store provides extra facility of room-service. He has requested authorities to provide a Wi-Fi connection to the store, in the recent past.
Recently, departmental sales are going down due to various reasons. A coffee parlor has come up just outside the campus and people have started going there, and it has taken a place for social networking. Another big departmental store has been opened few kilometers away from the campus. This offers major discounts and most residents have started going there.
Now, a big retail chain outside has offered him a good price for his shop, accepting which, he can retire comfortably, but he has to ask his employees to move out. He also feels that he can increase his sales.
Ramesh is in confusion. What should he do?


Group had 8 members. 2 were girls, one beautiful, one pseudo-beautiful (don’t ask me what’s that?)… And luck started favoring me right from the start. I was there on the HOT seat (girl on both sides).. It was a perfect circle. Everyone was present. There were 2 professors from IIM B, one male, one female (see, 50% reservation). We were given 10 minutes to read the topic and think, 15 minutes for the discussion and then, 10 minutes for writing the summary.

I loved the topic and as I was reading line by line, I could relate everything to Coffee Shack at IIT Bombay campus, which is exactly the same case. I thought on the lines: What if he accepts the offer and What if he doesn’t? What exactly should be there in his mind before making the final decision (objectives..) Then, if he accepts the offer, what are his post-retirement plans? He should invest this money somewhere… and things like that… Whether he should take care of his employees or not… There is nothing given about how long these 3 employees have been with Ramesh… It may be that these employees have just joined few days back… (This was a good observation from the case.) Also, one more idea struck my chords before the discussion started. I wrote the starting line on the rough page while most people write starting idea and then try to frame the sentence when moderator says, “Start”.
It happened with a soft voice coming from behind me, “Start”, and sentence on my page paid off. 3-4 persons started with broken sentences but I had everything ready-made.. naturally, fluency was a result, and I started then opening the case with all its branches. Objectives of the person, Problem identification, 2 cases, what should be done in both the cases? , Conclusion if any, and finally risk analysis. It took a whole around 1 and a half minutes which is more than enough for a person who’s starting the discussion. Anyways, the group was lovely; everyone was calm, giving chances to everyone. We came up with many ideas, discussed almost each part of the case… Like What if institute doesn’t give permission for expansion?, He can enter into other businesses like STD, Printing shops etc. using his good relations with residents, he can start giving extra services to residents (like paying their electricity, phone bills etc.) He can get into a joint venture with outside shops and exploit his spatial location, advertize his shop at different festivals of the campus and many more. Finally, in the last minute, I said, “The person has to weigh both the paths by doing a cost-benefit analysis and decide which path will give him more returns and since we don’t have exact data, we can’t come up with a direct conclusion. We can only chalk out a path for him and depending on actual data only, he’ll be able to select.” Last few seconds remaining and one girl asked, “What kind of data are you talking about?” I was more than happy to answer the question, since I was getting a chance to speak. I said, “We don’t know what his monthly profits are? What the retail chain is offering him? What are the alternate options? How many residents are there? And similar things..” Time’s up… Thank you..

Then, I wrote summary of around 150 words, explained what the group discussed finally with the conclusion. Then at around 11:40 am, I was called in for the interview. Let’s call the interviewers: lady (L) and Male (M) and myself the Candidate (C).

C: Good morning.
L and M: Good morning, please have a seat.
C: Thank you (seated down..) a bit nervous.. no, it was more than a bit.. a byte may be.
L (with a motherly smile): So, how was the GD?
C : GD was fine, ma’m.
L: Don’t you think it was a bit loud?
C (I knew I was loud because otherwise no-one listens to you especially in a GD.. plus my voice also sounds somewhat louder, can’t help it): I don’t think so, ma’m but if you say so, I’ll try to take care of it in future.
L (very smartly): But I never said that you were loud; I said the GD was loud.
C (more smartly): Ma’m, but if you are saying this to me, it means something.
L (Smiles like the one who has just been captured in a Hide and Seek game): Ohh.. Reading between the lines.. Hmm..
L: So, you are in Dual Degree Program?
(I talked about it… CPI came into picture… class position… specialization, then, internship which was about video decoders in a small company, JohoTech Pvt. Ltd.)
M: What was the company size?
C: 7-8 people, that’s all, it was a small company.
M: So, where is this decoder used?
(I told him, that anywhere a video is to be shown, a decoder is a must, so PC’s, mobiles, televisions etc.)
M: Can this be used in Set Top Boxes which are coming in the market recently?
C: I didn’t exactly understand your question. A video decoder is essential for showing a video from a bitstream. I don’t have much idea about Set Top Box.
M: let’s make it like this. Can you block a channel by the decoder, say Zee TV?
C: Sir, One channel is at a particular frequency. I can always block any channel by suitable designing a filter, but that has nothing to do with the decoding part. If you insist on getting it in decoder, I can incorporate the filter in the decoder itself.
M: Ok Ok…
(I think either he was asking wrong question or I wasn’t getting him. But if this was what he was asking, I gave a perfect reply.)
M: I want to ask you about this Chem-E-Car? (This was a technical event, where I stood first. We had to design a car that could run 10 feet in minimum time using chemical energy. Our model crossed the distance in 0.46 seconds. There were a few questions on the reaction involved.)
L: Why did you not look into business aspects of the car-model?
C: Sir, I designed the model just for the competition. It didn’t say anything about what should happen after 10 feet distance. Moreover, I am from an Elec. Engg. Background.
L: So, your car blasts or something after completion?
C: No, ma’m. It doesn’t blast but it can topple. Also, it releases water. This was designed only for the sake of that competition which it cleared successfully. This idea can’t be commercialized. Reaction is very vigorous, and is uncontrollable.
L: You have written something “ethical”. What does that mean?
(I explained to him that this was related to my behavior that if I see someone doing wrong like indulging in smoking, drugs, alcohol, I argue with him/her and this always happens with many of my friends. There was a big discussion on this issue. What are ethics? What are morals? How will you determine whether it is true or not? Aren’t you imposing your decisions on someone else? Shouldn’t you leave these kind of friends? Can you tell me any act which is unethical but not harmful? And similar questions..)
(I said everything in a very general sense and never diluted my stand on any of the issues. I said, once I have made someone friend or anyone else also, If I feel someone is doing wrong due to ignorance, It’s my duty to tell him/her. I also may be wrong in my judgement. I am not imposing any decisions on anybody. I always discuss with friends, If the thing is bad, they should also quit and if it is good, I should also start. And I can’t leave people at the time when they need me most. After thinking a lot what harmful means, I said, no unethical act can be harmless.. )
L: If I am having a second class rly. Compartment ticket and a seat is empty in first class and I enter in, this is unethical but not harmful to anyone?
C: This is harmful, ma’m. You are telling this story to me. If you tell this to anyone else, you are inspiring others to do wrong things. You can’t make sure that all others will do similar wrong things. They can cause bigger harms to the society.
L: Assume that I don’t tell it to anyone. Now?
C: Then also, this is harmful to your consciousness. There is a fixed barrier of consciousness against wrong things. Whenever one tries to do something wrong, one gets to know it but if he/she does it, this barrier lowers down. Next time, you can do any other wrong deed more comfortable. You have made yourself vulnerable to wrong thoughts.
L (with a parental smile): Oh k. you take it in a broad sense. Hmm.
M: Why MBA?
C: there are many parts of running an organization. Managing finance, managing advertizing, marketing, managing human resources etc. One can be an expert in one area but to successfully manage all, one has to interact with managers of other domains. For that, a basic formal education is necessary in all the domains which is embedded in curriculum of MBA. That’s why an MBA is a must for moving up the corporate ladder. I have got job offers in hand, Capital One and Inductis….. (They cut down before I completing the answer.)
(Asked about the companies, work profiles etc.. Then again I completed rest part… Sir, I learnt 2 things at IIT B, one how technology works, other How world/people work? Now I want to explore the second one. I feel myself comfortable in technology part. They seemed happy with my answer.)
L: You have written that you want to open a school and then a chain of schools across India. Why school?
C: My father had to move out of his college once due to inability to pay fees. This has motivated me to bring education at doorsteps of every person. (something like this.. )
L: How’ll you get the funds? Who’ll manage this all? Short term goals?
(I explained all of them.. )
L: when did this incident happen?
C(I hadn’t thought about it.. made a guess from father’s year of birth): 1977
L: which college?
C(a bit confused… although I knew it was Vaish college, Bhiwani but somehow I didn’t remember and I couldn’t take the risk of thinking more because I already had said that this was my motivation.): Govt. College, Bhiwani, Haryana
L (without a second delay): How much was the fees? Govt. college doesn’t charge much fees usually.
(I would have screwed everything if some invisible power was not acting from behind. Many reasons ran into my nerves very fast and I said that I don’t remember what was the exact amount of fees but my family was based only on agriculture and that year, there were some big problems. Grandfather said to my father that he can’t pay for his fees and father’s name was restricted. The incident was true, so some sentiments ran over my face justifying me. they seemed satisfied.)
Few more questions and it was over. Lasted around 35-40 minutes but it was worth talking to two nice people. A good experience.