Day Zero

Ya, its about placements!

But this was an event organised by MDI, Gurgaon in their annual fest 'Imperium'. It was an operations game and this is how it went.

There was an online elimination round like any other B School event. We were given a set of 10 puzzles to be solved in an excel sheet and a time window of 2 hours. The game started at 12 midnight and submission deadline was 2 am. We were a team of 2 and did 8 questions in 90 minutes and submitted it. Rest 2 questions were not really worth trying, so we gave up.

Next day, a notice was put up (they had created a blog) that two of the questions have been canclled as there were some mistakes in them. We had not attempted one of them but the other one's mistake was minor and most of the participants had apparetly rectified on their own. There were lots of comments on this and I am still not sure what final decision was taken. They were quite firm in taking only 8 questions into consideration.

The results were finally out and we had made it! Next round was to be played in MDI campus, which meant a Delhi trip for me :) :) Going back to Delhi after almost 6 months was something I was really looking forward to.

Well, well...we reached Delhi after a delayed 4 hour train journey :D The on-campus round also had 3 rounds, so to say. The objective of the game was to "place" maximum number of students in a simulation game of 2 hours but before that lots of gorund work had to be done, which were the submissions in the previous rounds.

Firstly, we were given a profile of 50 students and details of 20 companies. We had 1000 points and had to bid as well as rank a company. There were 6 teams in the finals and all had to do the same. The restriction was that a company will visit maximum 3 campuses (i.e. teams) based on points bid by the team. If the bid clashed, then the team which has given a higher rank to that company will get it. We were given 2 hours to go through profiles of all the students, write-up of all the companies et al. Finally, we had to come up with the bid points for all the companies and their rankings too. Also, each team will get 10 companies in their kitty.

After doing this, the next round began in which we were told which 10 companies we have got. We got 9 out of our top 10 choices :) Well begun, we thought! Next task was to "slot" the companies. There were 5 slots and each slot could have just 2 companies. This is where we made 2 blunders. We gave wrong slots to 2 companies (which we obviosuly realised very late :D) and hence it hit us hard, really hard, in the end.

After the slotting business was over, the simulation game started. At the outset, I must say, the MDI guys had done an excellent job in making that simulation game. The programming, interface, logic, ease of use and just everything was too good about it. Here, they had introduced some uncertainty too. For example, if I slotted a company at 8 am, it could come earlier or later also (it was quite close to real placement process). Moroever, they gave us details of 5 rooms where interviews could take place. The condition of all rooms were different and there was a waiting room too. There were two more concepts - motivation level of companies and motivation level of students. Both were at a level of 100 to start with and varied according to many parameters. For the comapny it was dependent on room given, quality of candidate sent, waiting time between 2 candidates, number of candidates they selected, if rooms were full then the time spent in the waiting room (there no interviews could take place) etc. For the student, it decreased according to waiting time, interviews attended in terms of time and numbers and number of rejects. It was clear that once a person got selected in one company, he/she is out.

The simulation game was for 2 hours and the time frame in the game was from 7 am to 11 pm. Those 2 hours were intense as companies kept coming, space had to be allocated, students who had applied only to be sent, keep a track of students being selected and kind of students which need to be sent for a company etc. Finally, we were able to place only 26 students and we lost. But, in the end it was enjoyable experience :)

An excellent effort from MDI.

The MBA effect

When one has completed 1/3 of MBA, some of the concepts learned are bound to have an effect in decision-making and analysis.

My term 2 ended on 12th Dec and term 3 was scheduled to begin on the 15th itself. I was supposed to go to Delhi for 13-14th weekend for a competition in MDI, Gurgaon and next weekend (19-21) again in FMS, Delhi, again for a competition. I planned to leave on the 12th evening, come back on the 15th morning and then leave again on the 18th evening; thus minimising my number of classes being missed.

When I told this to one of my classmates, he advised me to stay in Delhi for a week, which was not such a bad idea given 4 days in Delhi would be a fun-filled stay. Well, I told him that I would miss one-week classes and its a matter of 5,000 bucks for a trip. Now, this is where cost management concept creep in :D

I told him that our term fees is 60k for a 10 week course and hence 1 week classes cost me approx 6k, so missing them does not really make sense. But he said, our fees is a sunk cost, so it should not really be considered for decision making. Then we discussed at length about how can we find if spending extra 5k is worth or not. We concluded that if somehow are able to 'quantify' the value added and it turns out be more than 5k, then missing classes wont matter!

We laughed in the end that this is what MBA does - complexifying (if that word exists) such a simple thing :) Well, in the end I did went to Delhi twice in a gap of 5 days and not because of 'value added' but because of attendance issues!

My Delhi trip, experiences in competitions in MDI and FMS will be posted soon.

Summered

Summer placements – they seem to be a national talk whenever IIMs are going for them. Yes, they are an important part of our curriculum but somehow media is more interested in it than we guys are!

It all starts with CV making which I never thought will be such a long drawn and time consuming process. Writing each line very meticulously, in the most precise manner, adjusting margins and fonts and layout, hoping to getting the right message conveyed, showing to seniors and batch mates, getting feedback and making changes – it is really an exercise. One thing is for sure, one will not take too much time from now on to make a CV once he/she has gone through this process here.
The time crunch is felt when we have companies making their presentations on campus, and regular classes being held with quizzes, assignments and pre-readings. Once the CV is done, we go into the prep mode and this is where our seniors are again at rescue. And I think this is the best part of IIM C culture, seniors helping out a lot. This was what they got from their seniors and now we will pass it on to our incoming batch.

Next in line is the application process to companies one wants to apply. Some are relatively easy and on the other end, there are quite a few which consume a lot of time in filling up. The questions asked are quite comprehensive and require much iteration to come up with the final version of the answers.

Prep has no meaning if there is no one to test you on it and yet again we turned to the senior batch to do the needful. Mock interviews are conducted by them and the best part is that they never refuse any junior. They are also doing all this when they are bound by their classes and other academic requirements.

Amongst all this madness and rush, we had our mid term exams and diwali celebrations too :) And I believe this is what really “management” is all about!

Well, moving forward, we had company interactions lined up and as the D-Day approached, the campus was gearing up for the upcoming placement season.
Finally, the day dawned and everyone dressed in their tuxedos was all charged up for the upcoming interviews. For me, the day started at around 9 in the morning and was done by 2 in the afternoon. Taking back to back interviews is not an easy task but I think it is test of knowledge combined with resilience, pressure handling and keeping a high energy level during the day! Some of my closest got offers in their dream companies and it were great to be a part of their joy and happiness. But the day was not that lucky for me but I knew that next day will be my day and it turned out to be that only!

For the record, I will be joining the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) for summers starting in April 2009.

Mandi 2008@ IIM Calcutta

Have you ever jumped into a pool without asking about the depth? Have you ever driven a car without knowing the complete controls? Have you ever taken part in a competition without knowing all the rules? If the answer is no, then read on. If yes, you would empathise with me and still read on!!!

Here, in IIM Calcutta, we have a club called “Census” which organised an event called Mandi (Marketplace). Herein, the only instruction we imbibed was that we may to sell something in a team of 4. So, we just a made of team (which was dramatic too) and registered for the event.

The prelim was an online quiz of 45 minutes in which “Googling” was allowed. One team member was not there to help us and no Wi-Fi was effectively just 2 laptops in use. Yeah, I told my wingies to help me for the quiz which they did. After the stipulated time and sending the entries, we realised that we had missed a sitter and forgot to answer one question, which was also not that tough. Cursing our luck, we forgot about it.

The prelim result came out and we were pleasantly surprised to see our team making it to next round. Around 60 teams had participated and being one of the 8 teams to qualify, really felt good! Then there was a meeting called for all the finalists to explain about the next round and this is where we got the biggest shock of our lives.

It was an elaborate process which all the marketing concepts and game theory and business ‘strategy’ had to be used. We had to sell a product, price it appropriately and promote it like anything inside the campus. For everything, we had a capital of Rs. 2,000 only. The final evaluation was on basis on promotion, feedback of students, and our product as such and finally the profits of course.

The first task at hand was to select the product we wanted to sell. We had a brainstorming session and finally came up with the idea of keeping card games, luck 7 of dice and the most popular breaking the glass pyramid with the tennis ball. To incentivise, we offered double money if the person was successful in any of the events.

Second task was to bid for the promotion place. For this, every team had 1000 points to bid for all the spots. Some bids were secret, some were open and some were online. Net net, we got a decent deal as we got the best place for our banner, a decent place for a poster and fundoo place where our stall was to be put up. Designing poster and banner was the next task at hand and we worked for like 12 hours non stop to achieve the same. Forgot to mention, the bidding process and previous brainstorming sessions had already made up sleep-deprived. On top of that, classes and assignments and submissions and pre-class readings were already in place. To make matters worse, we had our CV submission deadline for the upcoming summer placement. But all of us were just so geared up that everything was happening with just 1-2 hours of sleep.

We also had option of getting 3 pamphlets printed and had to submit at least one promotion video for the same. All this also had deadlines too. We thought about insane ideas for the pamphlets and made 3 videos. Also, the institute has a IP messenger in which one of our team member was really active, which helped us a lot. He created a rage by promoting day in and day out.

After promoting to the best possible according to our capabilities, we prepared ourselves for the big day – the Mandi day where people will actually come and play in our stalls and see the “competition” too. The event was to last 3 hours only and this was the time to rake in profits.

We started a little slow as it people went to eating stalls but there is a limit to which one can eat! Some people start coming in and started winning too ;) Cash excites everyone – this word of mouth started spreading like fire in the forest and people just rushed in to our stall. The crowd was beginning to get unmanageable and people were ready to wait even 15-20 minutes to try their luck. Since, we had a cap of Rs. 2,000, that was the maximum we could give out as prize money. People continuously thronged our stall and since some were winning too, we ran out of cash to give prize money at around 11 pm, still one hour to go for the event to close. We were in profit without an iota of doubt but had a liquidity crunch. But, we had to earn more profit as it was an important criterion for the final standing.

Then, we invited people just to people the game of breaking the pyramid and we were surprised to see that people were playing it without getting anything in return.

In the end, it was an effort which ended on a good note. We were really happy after this event and gave a sense of achievement.

Result for us – could not finish in top 3 but got to pocket Rs. 800 which were our profit and Rs. 1,000 were given to our team as a 'special appreciation for the incredible spirit we showed.' This was due to the fact that we were the only team which met ALL the deadlines for the event.

Life on ultra fast track

Well, well….never thought I will be so occupied in life! I thought that end of term I would bring some relief, maybe just for 24 hours, but now I am sure that thinking of getting a break is like “hoping against hope”.

With so many things to talk about, it is little difficult to figure out from where to start. Let me start from my exams. There are some things which are just too good here. Firstly, every exam has a random seating arrangement in a new room for everyone. This virtually eliminates the possibility of forming a cartel to one’s advantage. Even if one tries to use unfair means in an exam (even for a quiz for that matter), an expulsion from the institute is a possibility. Secondly, the papers are so meticulously prepared and conceptual, that without sound basic concepts in place, one just cannot perform here. Be it any subject – economics, accounts, stats or behavioural science (organisational behaviour). One lesson which I learnt, and the hard way, that last minute preparation is not gonna work here. It is hoped that I will put in little more extra in the next term.

Something which has never happened to me, ever, happened here in the accounts exam. The paper was expected to be tough. Knowing this, I had put in effort before the examination week. Even on the last day, I burnt the midnight lamp to see it through. I am sure I had not put in more effort in anything else in my 25 years, than what I had put in for this exam. But when I got the question paper in my hand, I was just shocked. I kept turning pages to figure out from where to start!!! I did not know a single question and yes, I had NOT prepared the wrong syllabus. First 15 minutes were lost to evaluate how and where to start from. 15 minutes count a lot for a 90 minute paper. Somehow, someway, I did whatever I could and left the examination hall 10 minutes before the scheduled time. My mind had stopped working and given all hopes to clear this paper. But soon I realised that everyone (ya..apart from select few ;) ) was screwed left, right and centre. Waiting to see at least some grade in front of my name in this paper. GOD, save me, please!!!

After our end-terms we had some literary events on campus organised by one of our clubs. Wanted to take part in Hindi debate but paucity of time (lame excuse, I know) was a bottleneck. But there were some on the spot events like Hindi and English JAM. It was fun to take part in them after so many years but sadly lost in the prelims. Last event of the day was antakshri, organised as a part of Hindi Diwas on the campus. The day ended on a high with our team finishing 2nd :P :P

Term 2 began and with a bang. Some of the faculty is really strict and we had a surprise quiz in the second class itself!!! According to me, my performance was pretty decent but nothing be said for sure. The number of assignments has increased exponentially and while I am writing this, I have like 2 more group presentations to work on apart from class readings and case analysis submissions and what not! Although I have just 15 hours of classroom teaching in a week term , but the subjects are intense and faculty is pretty demanding.

I have joined a new club on campus called “Sunrisers”. Herein, we are a group of people who believe in early rising but somehow are not able to do it. This is how it works. A leader wakes up 3 people. In turn, those 3 wake up 3 more and the chain continues. So, I have slept at like 4 in the morning but still woken up at 6. Getting up early again gives me an opportunity to play badminton, take a long walk of the campus and enjoy the scenic view amidst pure air :) Rest of the sleep is compensated in the evening. But my average sleep has come down to 5 hours.

Buying a bicycle has been one of the better decisions. It allows me to save a lot of travelling time and results in bit of exercising too ;) ;)

Amidst this life-going-on-a-rocket-like-speed, I am still able to watch Prison Break season 4 episodes on Tuesdays itself, without fail. With more TV series scheduled to start pretty soon and my schedule expected to get more hectic, it will be difficult if not impossible, to watch the episodes so regularly.

Sports are also underway big time now. I gave my name for TT and badminton, but could not make it on time for badminton match due to other commitments and hence, my opponent got a bye. My TT match was pretty interesting. I lost the first set 21-19, won the second set on deuce. Third set started badly for me. I started with my serve and score line read 1-4. My opponent extended the lead to 8-2 with his serve. I worsened the situation by making it 4-11. But it was over yet. I broke this serve and made it 11-9 :) :) Here the battle got really fierce and getting one point was contested hard. I finally lost the set 21-16 and, of course, the match too. Maybe, lack of practice before the match did me in.

Oh yeah! Forgot to mention. A marketing game has been organised by a club inside the campus. Prelims was an online quiz and our team has made it to the finals, even after missing 2 sitters in the quiz :D :D The finals will start sometime soon and hope to crack that too! After all, some good moolah awaits us ;) ;)

Durga Puja break is coming in like 2 weeks and can't wait to go home...

Amidst all this – I just wonder one thing. Why are there only 24 hours in a day!!!!

Electronic Mail

This is really strange, what happenned with me lately!

I had to get my friend e-mail some stuff really urgently. This was on Tuesday, September 2, 2008. I told him around 12 pm to do so and he did the needful instantly. But suprise suprise...I am not receiving that mail for some unexplained reason. Or maybe Murphy's Law was operating at that time. I waited for like an hour and got really impatient.

My friend was in the US and hence it was sleeping time for him. So, I did not want to disturb him. Ignoring this delay, I went for my class and checked it back at 4 pm and still no trace of that e-mail. I pinged him on gtalk but apparently it was still not a great time to be up in US (my bad luck !!!).

Somehow my prayers got answered and he responded around 4:45 pm on gtalk. I told him about this and he instantly sent me an another e-mail. Oh, forgot to mention that I needed that mail by 6 pm; come what may.

But somewhere someone was against me. I am not receiving the second mail too. GMail is delivering all spam, my other mails and but not this one! Well, I calmed my nerves and waited more. But at 5:15 pm, I requested him to send me another one but this time gave my yahoo, rediff, hotmail and all other ids which I have :P

As he was in the process of doing this, a small notification popped up in gtalk; informing me about a new mail and I was delighted to see that I have received his mail...finally :) :) This was the first one which he sent out.

I informed him about receiving the same and abandon the third e-mail sending operation. I received the e-mail at around 5:30 pm, after around 5 hours of it being sent and just 30 minutes before I needed it!

Now, comes the best part. He had sent me 2 mails and I had received only one. Right. Little did I care about it. But, when I checked my mail some time back today, Voila - there it was...mail no. 2 :) :) This means an electronic mail took approximately 67 hours to be delievered.

Cant get slower than that :D :D

Something worse possible is not receiving an e-mail at all which was sent out.

September is here :)

Come September and we have all the TV series back!

Strating with Prison Break Season 4; the first episode is already available here. I am waiting for How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) Season 4 and The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) Season 2 to start from the 22nd.

Given the relatively less number of classes in my term 2, I am pretty hopeful of watching the episodes on a regular basis.

Also, it is the month of birthdays in family and lotsa people on campus; so can expect a few parties too ;)

Well, I have been writing for the Business Standard newspaper regularly, and they found my response to be good enough; for the second time today. They did the first time here. Hope to continue the good run.

Things coming up - End Term Exams, selections for Badminton (less hopeful) and Table Tennis
(more hopeful here) Teams for the institute, lotsa Business Competitions of other B-Schools and some being floated by the companies.

Wish me luck!

Class statements

As Term I is almost ending here for me in IIM Calcutta, I just looked back and thought about the learnings and experiences I had in the past 8-10 weeks. But I concluded that such a post demands a lot of time and energy and effort, so I postponed it for mid-September after my exams.

Well, there were really some funny incidents in the class and some classic statements made by students and Professors. Below listed are my personal top 3 favourite statements given out in the class.

3. Our Statistics Professor - "I agree that statisticians are crazy people, but there are exceptions, and one of them is standing in front of you."

2. Accounts Professor - "Its better to be roughly corect than to be precisely wrong."

1. Let me give a little background for this. We have a non-credit course on Managerial Communication and we were discussing how to respond in a particular situation to a person. The class started discussing with eveyone pitching in their view points, but some of us (me included) were pressing on the point that the response depends on the interaction with that person, time spent with him/her and many other variables. Now this is the way one guy had put it - "Since the space-time continuum is elastic, my response to someone depends on which part of the elasticity curve I am operating on at that time."

Should CAT go online?

The recent spurt in the number of CAT applicants had led to a situation where a paper-pencil CAT exam has become unmanageable. This has led to the thought that CAT should be made online. Though a good thought, it has its own set of problems.

Firstly, making comparisons with GMAT is little misplaced as GMAT is a qualifying exam and CAT being an elimination exam, have different goals. Since CAT is an elimination exam, then it makes more sense have it at the same time throughout the country.

Secondly, If IIMs plan to have it on different days, then it needs to take care that difficulty level is maintained across and percentiles received are uniform.

Thirdly, the obvious concern would be of security and high setup costs, but one time investment is really needed for future test takers.

Moreover, this might facilitate CAT being held outside India as sometimes applicants have to come down to India to take the exam.

It is agreed that online CAT will be definitely a better idea but implementing with fool-proof ways will be the challenge. The best part would be that score would be applicable for more than one year, which will reduce hassles to a great extent, of taking the exam in that very year only.

Strange is the human mind!

There is this game which brings about the best and the worst in people. It seems to be a simple game of group decision making. A group of people is divided into 4 groups. These 4 groups are to seen as four different department of the same organisation.

Moving on, as a group, people have to decision. Here lies the interesting part. The group has to decide choose between an “X” and “Y” and needs to tell its decision secretly to the moderated. If all four groups choose “X”, each of them receives 1 Bn $ from the organisation; if 3 groups choose “X” and one chooses “Y”, then groups who have chosen “X” lose out 1 Bn $ each and “Y” group gets 3 Bn $; if 2 groups choose “X” and two groups choose “Y”, then groups who have chosen “X” lose out 2 Bn $ each and “Y” groups gets 2 Bn $ each; if a group chooses “X” and three groups choose “Y”, then group who has chosen “X” loses out 3 Bn $ and “Y” groups gets 1 Bn $ each; if all four groups choose “Y”, each of them gives 1 Bn $ from the organisation.

On the face of it, the first instinct is to choose a “Y”.

But here lies the difference between cooperation and competition. Everyone thinks to take a “Y” and end up losing but the best strategy is when all take “X”.

When I played this game for the first time, we were a group of 8 people and somehow instantly 3 of us realised that “X needs to be taken; though we also went through the choosing “Y” instantly syndrome. Nevertheless, the group saw the logic and we went ahead to put an “X”. As expected, we were the only one to put it and rest of the groups put a “Y”.

This game is played in several rounds and same was the scenario in the second and the third rounds too. At this time, each person from a group was given an option to negotiate with other group representatives. When all of us met outside, it was decided that everyone will put a “X” as this was the win-win situation. But alas, world is not utopian; some one team betrays. In the next round, another team breaks the promise and next 2 rounds see all 3 teams putting “Y”. We were consistently putting a “X”.

Here, the second chance to negotiate was given and now no one was willing to tell who put the first “Y”. Well, it was again decided that “X” will be put by all but its’ easy to break a promise and we went into the same loop :)

This was the first time I played this game when I was going through my induction in HCL Technologies way back in 2004.

Second time I got a chance to witness this game in FMS in our Organisational Behaviour class (I opted of the game as we were asked that people who have played can work as moderators). Here also, everyone knew that putting “X” is the best strategy but no one did it!

The third chance came my way 2 days back here in IIM Calcutta, again in the OB class; difference we just started the game and option to opt out was not given. Same story was repeated.

It just amazes me that how come a set of rational human beings knows what is best thing to do but still acts selfishly :D How come no one is able to see the larger interest and if is able to see, then why is not able to decision to take the same!

Some things are best left....unanswered !!!

Unusual

Something unusual is happening this year for me.

Its August time and I am not doing something which I have done for past so many years. Its giving me a feeling of being incomplete :D The difference is not filling the CAT form this year ;) ;)

After doing it so many times, it became a part of my life. It was like an annual ritual like let's say Diwali or Holi! But this year :) :)

Well, November would still keep me busy, not because of CAT though! Keep watching this space to know what's in store.

Management Game

IIM Calcutta has done a lot of changes in its curriculum this year. A number of new courses have been added; some courses have been done away with; some courses have a new syllabus and one of the major changes is in the introduction of Management Game in the first year.

The concept – Management game involves running a company by a group of individuals in changing scenarios and conditions. This game was always played in the 6th term till now but with the new curriculum in place, it will be played in both 1st and the 6th term. The underlying logic being to check if 2 years of MBA has added value :D

The Game – We 300 of us were divided into 5 sections of 60 students each. Each section had to compete within them. Now these 60 students were divided into 8 teams of 7-8 people. Every section had 4 regions and in each region only 2 firms operated initially.

Every team had to appoint a CEO first. In my team, owing to my age ;) ;) I was offered this position but I quietly declined the same and took up the COO role instead. Other posts were CTO, CFO et al.

Initially, the game rules were simple. We were operating in one region and it was a controlled regime, i.e., a lot of Government control existed. We were given the balance sheet of the company and all the relevant details. Oh, forgot to mention, it was an oil firm which everyone was working on.

We were operating in quarter 1 and had to strategise to increase bottom line, market share, build capacity for future use, control inventory etc. Since all of us were quite raw, we applied very basic instincts and worked on a very limited knowledge.

Moving ahead in every quarter, the ground rules kept changing. The control regime was removed, we could enter other regions, other firms could enter our region, we could raise equity, build new plants or warehouses etc etc.

We were supposed to strategise for every quarter and rules kept changing in the next quarter. So, basically we had to plan knowing the known and anticipating the unknown.

In the end, we finished third in our section of eight. Pretty decent performance, we thought :)

It was really good to work with people whom I had not got a chance to interact as we were put in a group by the college and was not a self selected group. Putting in opinions, defending them, changing strategies mid-way, arguing out one’s thought really gave a feel of the management working!

Really looking forward to play a similar game after like one-and-a-half-years when everyone will have the concepts in the place; it will be a war to watch out for :)

Silence Communicates

Silence also communicates. Sounds little oxymoronic but holds true.

It communicates acceptance when someone is being accused of something. Another instance where silence really works is showing your anger. Nothing is more killing for a person when someone close is angry and displays it by complete silence. Moreover, when someone is in a state of shock; one really loses the power to communicate verbally.

I thought these were the only ways in which it was possible to communicate through silence. But when I came across this example, I could not stop appreciating the power of slience.

“Sherlock Holmes once solved a murder mystery based not on what happened but on what didn’t happen. Holmes remarked to his assistant, Dr. Watson, about “the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime.” Watson, surprised responds, “But the dog did nothing in the nighttime.” To which Holmes replied, “That was the curious incident.” Holmes concluded that the crime had to be committed by someone with whom the dog was familiar because the watchdog didn’t bark.”

1/12 MBA

Time just flies by! 6 weeks have just gone by and I am already 1/12 MBA. These have been fun-filled and just terrific days for me. Here are the things I really want to talk about.

1. Exams – Just had my mid-sems. The quality of paper being set is just too good. Basic, very basic concepts are tested and no amount of mugging can help. One needs to remember all the basics at the same time. And preparing at the last time is a sure-shot suicide. Some faculty is way too fast in giving out result. The exam held on Monday had its result finalised by Tuesday, which is less than 24 hours. But they were put up after our last exam today!!!

P.S. – No query about my performance will be entertained ;)

2. Food – Everyone seems to ask this question :D So, here’s the answer. It’s pretty good in my hostel which is known as New Hostel (actually was built in 1993), popularly known as NH in IIM-C.

3. Tests/quizzes/assignments – Surprise and announced quizzes are the in-things in IIM-C. This is just to have continuous evaluation and to ensure that not too much weightage gets on to one particular exam. One thing I would like to mention here is that IIM-C has ZERO TOLERANCE policy regarding plagiarism. If one is caught, it is very very very severly dealt with.

4. Time Management – Something which comes automatically to an individual in a B-School. With so many things to do together – classes, quiz, exams, assignments, group assignments, sport, gym, swimming, clubs...one can’t help but prioritize and reprioritize the events in life. So much so, that my walking time from hostel to the classroom has reached 7 minutes from initial 10 minutes. I am sure, it will touch 4 minutes by the time I leave the campus.

5. Flash Gordon – This is a tournament which is held in NH. It is the footer-volley championship held between the different wings of this hostel. Just to add, our wing won it this time :) :)

Well, this is enough for now. Many things are in store for the coming weeks – management game, a trekking trip which I might go to, World War and many more.

Keep watching this space!

New Lappie!!!

Buying anything new always brings joy to oneself, especially if it’s a laptop! I got my new ThinkPad R 61 with 3 GB RAM - a GAMING machine.

This is the first time I am using Vista and I must say that it’s a beauty. People have been complaining about it being slow and hanging a lot. Thankfully, I have not till now encountered such issues. The graphics are really superb. I thought XP was beautiful, till i used Vista. Driven by Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz processor and NVIDIA enhanced graphics card makes it work like rocket. One can feel the difference while playing games ;) ;)

But, as always, a ThinkPad loses out on the looks but I think what could have been better for Rs. 47,000 – Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz, Enhanced Graphics Card, 160 GB HDD 7200 rpm, Vista Business Edition, 3 GB RAM, DVD Writer and a back pack!

It’s a steal!

Settled

Right, I know a post was long overdue from my side. Today is THE first free evening wherein nothing is lined up for tonight or tomorrow and I have a net connection and lotsa time at my disposal
Hey, this in no way means that IIMC is chill or something! It’s all relative ;) When one has no deadline to meet in the next 12 hours, then it is considered to be a gala time.
Umm…from where to start!!! Fine, I reached the hallowed portals of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
1. Campus - Its just breathtaking. And scenic too. The moment one enters, one cannot stop admiring the scene in front of the eyes. The very famous lakes, the jetti, the Howrah Bridge and many more things make the campus so special.
2. Faculty – A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Not even a single class has happened where I thought of looking at watch and wonder, when is this gonna get over??!! The faculty is so gripping, involved, knowledgeable, approachable and yeah strict too ;) The focus on quant is seen from the first class. What more proof one needs if I tell that stats used in HR
3. Peer group – This is one thing which is an integral part of any B-School. You think you have achieved enough; there are 100s to prove you wrong. I have met JEE double digit rank holders (yet very humble), people having their patents, interned in NASA, National level players in chess, hockey, volleyball, cricket…think of any sport people. Quizzing level is at another level all together; amount of reading some folks have done just amazes me!
4. Weather – Upon reaching here, it was very humid and discomforting. But some heavy rains in the past few days have brought down the humidity levels but apparently a lot of rain is still need to be seen.
5. Hostels – 3 hostels are just enough to accommodate all of us but though construction is on big time for the future expansion plans. Lotsa inter-hostel activities are there and then one can the unity a hostel as a unit displays
6. Seniors – The PGP2s. They are just WOW. The amount of help they offer is just….dont know what to say. Any, I repeat any senior is approachable any time of the day. And yes, they will NEVER refuse.
7. Extra-currics – There are more than 20 clubs on campus and ALL are really active. With so many activities, going on at the same time; it becomes difficult to prioritize. I think this is one thing that really sets IIMC apart from other institutes. One can do so much when on campus that 24 hours seem to be less
8. Academics – This is what is MOST IMPORTANT. One just cannot afford to lose focus on acads. 2Fs and you are standing outside the institute gate. But it is not that hard also to manage so much going around, faculty ensures that one studies a bit too – by giving assignments and quizzes and surprise quizzes. Every 5 weeks, we have exams, so one has to be regular.
Well, I think that’s enough for first 3 weeks on campus; a lots in store for everyone here in the coming weeks/months/2 years and will try to keep giving an update of the same!

Irony!!!

Most of the B-School aspirants want to make it to a consulting firm or investment banking. Let's leave the consults outside this post as I will come back to them later.

Now, these days with salaries touching new peaks, thanks to I-Banks, people are big time interested in making it to an I-Bank. Now here's lie the catch. Most of these banks come for summers and GENERALLY give PPOs (Pre-Placement Offers) and hence the number of such firms coming for finals is really less.

As for the summers, one gets a shortlist on the basis on what (s)he has achieved/done/accomplished till now in life!!! Here's lies the irony....If I want to get into an I-Bank, then I should have been quite an achiever and then make it to a B-School and then hope to get a shortlist in Summers, convert it and fight to make it a PPO :) :)

So, basically my M.B.A. course per se is not helping me to make it to an I-Bank. Ya ya people can argue that one can move to an I-Bank once you are out in the market; but everyone also knows how easy/difficult it is to switch once you are out there ;) ;)

This is not so true for a consulting firm as most of them generally come for summers and for finals too, so an option still remains to crack them!!!

Some things in life are left better not explained ;) ;)

Auto Ride

This should have been posted long back but it’s never too late.
Around a month back, I had to go FMS to cancel my admission. I took an auto from Dhaula Kuan for the North Campus. The auto driver agreed to go by meter (a rarity in Delhi) and I set out for my journey.
All the conversation took place in Hindi though. A = Auto Driver, M = Me
A - You a student in DU?
M - Yes
A - Which course?
M - MBA
A - Ok, so you in FMS?
M – (Utterly surprised!!!!) Yes, I am
A – So, it is IIM A better than u?
M – (Completely zapped) Yes, it is!
A – So, where does FMS featue?
M – ‘Explained the rankings’ (Auto is being continuously driven) How do know about MBA and all?
A – I read the newspaper, these B-Schools are all over the place now. Placements, 1 crore salary etc.
M –‘Explained the “real” salary scene’
A – Tell me one thing, what does MBA teach coz according to me, its one capabilities which shapes a person. Like Ambani, Tatas and all are not MBAs but have such huge corporations
M – Yes, its about capabilities but MBA teaches about business as a whole etc etc.
Some more discussion followed and somehow topic shifted to cars. Meanwhile, I must say this guy was informed.
A – Do you know the origin of name Mercedes Benz logo?
M – I only know the reason of its name, it was name of its daughter.
A – Ya, that’s right! But the daughter had this design in her ear-rings and that’s how it became logo of this car company.
M – How do you know all this?
A – I watch Discovery channel.
M – What else you do?
A – I watch Nat Geo too and invest in stocks!
M – (Flabbergasted) Stocks? How?
A – Online accounts, 2 of them, 1 in ICICIDirect and another in HDFC. I have PAN, so not a problem. Also, I just play long term in the stck market as short term does not give good returns.
M – That’s really good. ‘Some more exchange of stock market talks’
A – I followed what once “Warren Buffett” said.
M – (Man, this guy is informed) What did he say?
A –Always buy stock of sick companies. I followed it once and made a killing. Took 15,000 shares for Rs.4 of a company, it reached Rs. 104 and I made cool Rs. 15 lakh. Bought a 10 lakh house and reinvested 5 lakh in stocks.
M – (Already floored)
A – Do you invest in stocks?
M – No
A – You should, you are MBA :D
M – Yes, will do in some time. By the way, stock markets are driven by MBAs only in the backend.
A – I know, its all the job of ‘analysts’.
M – (WOW!!!!, in complete awe of this guy)

There were other many discussions which I don’t remember now. How I wish I had a recorder at that time! It was really an awesome experience meeting that guy. It was hot June afternoon and the journey time was around 45 minutes but I was so engaged with him that it did not feel a bit. It was great meeting that person.

Wishing him all the best in life! I hope to meet him again when I go back in Delhi or maybe sometimes in future when he makes some headlines :) :) I am not joking people; he had the potential.

Reached..

“The train is running two-and-a-half-hours late.” This was the way I welcomed into the city of Calcutta, my home for the next two years (minimum :p) on the 17^th of June. Well, we (me and my parents) took a train journey from Mumbai to Howrah which was supposed to be 33 hours but in the end, it took us 36 hours to reach from commercial capital of India to the capital city of India till 1911. Why cant Railways introduce a faster train between these two stations…well that for later!

Anyways, rain God was too happy to receive me and gave us a wet welcome. Rain would have bothered me but 2 years of stay in Mumbai has made me tough and no rain is enough to make me nervous (especially when I had through Mumbai rains on the famous day of 26^th July, 2005). After getting for the day, we set out for the journey to report to the institute.

Oh yes, forgot to mention the amount of water-logging I saw in the city roads. It was supposed to be “pre-monsoon” shower and the water was knee deep already. Maybe, I am yet to see the worse. More updates on that whenever I witness it.

We hit upon Diamond Harbour Road, on which IIM is. The journey never seemed to end; and after like 40 minutes, I saw it – the board – INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, CALCUTTA. A chill ran down my spine. It was here…finally J J. Well, I went in, got the room, shifted in and etc etc.

Cut to Friday the 20^th of June. It was our orientation day where we were formally welcomed, introduced to the faculty and IIM C in general. The evening function saw the august presence of our Director and the CEO of P&G, India (alum of 1983). It was an honour to hear people with great academic qualifications under their belt and with varied experience.

This was the first night I was going to spend in my hostel room and for the rest of my days I was staying with my parents in the city. This was the first time I got a chance to interact with my neighours, people in my hostel and other batch mates and I must say some of them are just incredible. People in my batch are JEE rank 14 holders’, world’s 7^th best debater, rejecting an Kellogg admit, 100 percentiler in CAT English, National level Quizzers, Chess players and you think, a person will be present.

Saturday first half was fixed for the city tour organised by the institutes and executed by our seniors. It was really well organised and coordinated and I think no amounts of thanks are enough towards seniors for doing so for us.

Our classes were scheduled to start from Monday. In one week, I have had classes of all the subjects but since multiple faculties teach a particular course, so I am yet to interact with all the faculty members. The faculty is just...I don’t know what to say! Their qualifications, their way of teaching, the course content is all just A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

Also, since the faculty puts in so much effort for these classes, they expect us to be the same; i.e., reaching class dot on time, reading the prescribed of the class before hand, quality assignments, and on similar lines.

In the end, it has been a dream first week here in IIM Calcutta and I am really excited to explore the next 2 years now. Keep watching this space for more!

Teething problems

I went to Bangalore recently and was little thrilled to know that we would be landing at the new airport. I took a Spice Jet from Delhi on 24th morning. Our flight reached B’lore at 0800 hours and was one of the first few flights to use the new airport. But this is where the honeymoon ended (our scheduled arrival was 0815 hours).

Our aircraft cleared the runway within a moment but was stranded for a long time. After like 5 minutes, the pilot announced that the allotted parking bay was already occupied and new instructions are still not received. After a wait of 15 minutes, finally the aircraft was parked.

Then, the doors were opened and everyone stood up with bag and baggage ready to get off the plane. But one needs stairs to get off; which were not in place. After 15 minutes of waiting, pilot announced that the passengers should be seated as the ladder is on its way. Well, the ladder did arrive after 15 more minutes.

Then, we entered the airport. Man, it was huge and swanky. It did give an International Airport look. Next we moved to the baggage collection and we were not surprised when we did not see our baggage. There was no intimation when will our baggage arrive and more importantly on which belt!!! Well, that information did come up but not more 20 odd minutes.

Next, the belt refused to move. The luggage did start coming in but somehow only one or two pieces were coming at a time. After an agonizing wait of 40 minutes, we got our bag and were on our way out.

Something funny which we saw on our way out was that there was lotsa luggage on a particular belt but no passenger to receive it :P :P Watch the video here

Well, the flight which landed at 0800 hrs had its passengers coming out of the airport terminal at around 1030 hours.

This is criminal wastage of time.

Now for the return journey. I used the Volvo shuttle service for the airport. I took the bus from Kormangla and the journey costs Rs. 150/- But the given the distance, Volvo bus’ comfort and AC, it’s a fair charge. I later came to know that cabs are asking for 700 one way @*&$(@

Anyhow, the departure area is huge with over 60 check-in counters. The check in was smooth and so was the security check. But the waiting lounge was cramped and small and was just not enough to accommodate the expected number of passengers. Luckily, we got seats and were comfortable.

The announcement system is BAD as there is too much echo inside the waiting terminal.

The flights were getting delayed for no good reason and this was all attributed to chaos and confusion at the new airport ATC.

Our 2130 flight finally took off at 2310 and all the delay was too much confusion at the new Bangalore Airport. The journey was also not very pleasant due to bad weather in B’lore and never in my life I experienced so many jerks inside the aircraft. The plane dipped twice, lost height, titled sharply and what not. In short, I was badly scared :D :D

The authorities were still stupid to shift ALL the operations from the old airport to the new one. Had it been done in phases, it would have led to less confusion and frustration. I hope the same mistakes are not repeated for the Delhi and Mumbai upcoming International Airports.

Traveling by Bus in Delhi

Mumbai: Local Train :: Delhi: DTC Bus. DTC stands for Delhi Transport Corporation, the bus service which is operated by the Government of Delhi. It claims to be the world’s largest bus service which is operated on clean fuel.

Anyhow, that’s not the point I want to make. I regularly used DTC in my 11^th and 12^th standard to commute to and from my school. Even in my first semester of college, I had to rely on DTC. It was then a long break when I started using the bus service regularly again. This is when I noticed the difference.

The initial regular traveling years were from 1998 to 2000-2001. And it is now 2008. When one travels the same route every day at the same time, one sees the same set of people, the same conductor and driver and the same amount of traffic etc. Initially, people who traveled together felt connected with one other. We use to smile at each other, although people might have never talked to each other. Even if someone had not made it, everyone ensured that the bus is held for few minutes to wait for the person who has not made it. Some people had made their groups and use to chat generally in life and even had their seats fixed. It was the same scene and I use to really like it.

But now, this is all gone now. No one just bothers for anyone else. Although, I meet the same people every morning, no one seems to recognize each other or feel connected. I was little taken aback by this attitude especially in Delhi, which is known to be generally an extrovert city.

I thought and finally came blamed to one thing which everyone uses these days (I am not sure if that is the real reason but could not think anything better also :D) – the cellphones/ mobile phones/ MP3 Players/ iPods of the world. Everyone is chatting over the phone, or busy listening to music on their MP3 player or iPod or radio in the phones. I also do the same and realized how cut off I am getting from the world around me.

As Nokia claims to be “Connecting People”, I am not very sure about it ;)

Call to the helpline

I recently called my credit card issuing bank with whom I am very happy regarding the service, customer care and anything and everything. I called up just to enquire something.

Now, when someone calls up the credit card helpline, it takes time to reach the phone banking officer. I reached there without much effort and told my card number. Here, it use to take some time to retrieve the details. Previously, I use to hear “Please be online sir, I am retrieving your details.” But this time, it was something else. She asked me, “Sir, are you watching the IPL match on TV?”. I was little surprised, I responded and we engaged in conversation for some 30 seconds.

In the meanwhile, details were retrieved and my query was solved with utmost satisfaction.

In the end, I realized that these companies know that customer is king and go any length to keep them happy. I was pleasantly surprised by the innovations that they come to keep the customer engaged and connected while on a call also :)

Good work HSBC !!! Keep it up :)

A Journey called CAT

IIM – The acronym every B-Schooler aspires for in India. I being not too different from others had similar aspirations, desires and dreams. Oh yes, forgot to mention the common full form of IIM is Indian Institute of Management; but I came to know of another full form during this journey, which will be eventually revealed to all

Umm…from where to start…let me go back to April of the year 2000. It was the time when my sister made it to the well…Joka land, i.e. IIM Calcutta. It was the time when I was preparing for my engineering and already made my mind to make it to an IIM.

First two and a half years of engineering went fine but it’s generally in the third year when one starts thinking about what next! Then I joined Career Launcher in Delhi in my fifth semester and little did I know that I was not the only one aspiring in my batch. I met junta of NSIT there. The classes started and very soon I realized the weakest link for me to the ultimate goal – the VERBAL part. Anyhow, my senior gave me this wonderful advice to taking CAT in the third year to get a “feel” of the exam. I liked the idea and finally took it. And yes, at that time, CAT had no rule which barred people taking the exam who are not in their final years. I think it is coz of people like me that they thought of this rule. It’s good to be a reason which made IIMs take a policy decision.

CAT No. 1: Year 2002 in November

It was a normal 3 section paper in which I had no pressure to perform. The paper went fine and it was the first time wherein the percentiles were to be revealed. Moving to the results, QA was 99.5 % with an 86 odd in DI and some 65 in verbal. This clearly told me where I had to work on – as if I didn’t know it before.

Jan 2003 – Oct 2003 – The time when all of my friends, classmates and everyone and anyone was a CAT aspirant. It was good to be in excellent company and I think that competition forced me to prepare for the exam which eventually I think I did.

CAT No. 2: Year 2003 in November

Was I nervous??!! I WAS. This was the day, the time, the 2 hours which are going to decide the future for me. I still remember how the exam went. The sound of opening the sheet, the answer sheet being filled, the sweat, the tension – everything is still like a movie in my mind. Anyhow, in the end I was quite happy with my performance in DI and QA Also, I knew that I had did well in Verbal because 2 RCs which I attempted in the exam were luckily from some of the test mock papers of the institutes.

But then disaster stuck as soon as I crossed the gates of the school of my center – my mother telling me, “Amit, CAT is cancelled. The paper got LEAKED last night.”

I was like noooooooooooooo, it’s difficult to give your best again. Well, with no option left in life, I started preparing for my semester exams.

Forgot to mention this, 3 weeks before CAT, I had a disc collapse in my back which forced me to take bed rest for 2 weeks which meant no studies, nothing but I think that did not have any adverse effects on my CAT preparation.

Year 2004 has come I had already done the greatest mistake of my life by filling just 3 forms – CAT, XAT and MDI. The XAT exam was next and so much verbal focus, I knew it was difficult to clear it. But then trying was important, which I did and eventually failed also. But since CAT was still there, I thought to myself that I still have a chance to make it to my dream school.

CAT No. 3: Year 2004 in February

After been there already, I was not as nervous but yeah, pressure to perform kills you. The exam was little on the tougher side but it went fine. In this internet age, the solutions were out by the evening but I had decided not to check till the next day.

Next day, I started checking my paper. As always, I started here also with Quant. The performance was sufficient enough to clear the cut-off. I don’t know what prompted me to check verbal next. I did and was amazed to see my score and was already jumping in my room…but hang on…story is not over yet.

I checked DI then and my world came crashing down. I attempted 4 case lets and got 2 of them ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!! I scored a single digit in DI; it was something I was not prepared for...why why why!!! After not able to make it in IIT-JEE because of Maths then, again DI did me in.

Crying made me no better and I knew that it was bye bye IIMs and MDI.

The results came out as expected and I was prepared for it. Some of my close friends had all six calls or single calls or some calls at least. Most of them made it and then we parted on our different paths in life.

I joined HCL Technologies in Delhi in July and was sure of cracking it this time. Some intelligence which I did this time was widening my B-School list – IIMs, XLRI, NITIE, MDI, SPJain, IIFT and FMS. This meant I had to take 4 exams this time and that too with my job. Also, somehow I got a really good project in the company which required me put in a lot of effort there. I could have avoided work but somehow it’s in my nature not to give 100% which is entrusted on me. That year, I went to office for 29 days in October, 2 days off being 2^nd October (Thanks to Gandhiji) and Dusshera (Thanks to God Ramchandra); else I would have been in office then also. Adding to this was a family problem which required me to spend 3 months nights in hospital as my grandfather was ill. When I look back, I wonder how I managed all this. Oh one more thing, my sister wedding plans were also underway which required my inputs and participation too.

CAT No. 4: Year 2004 in November

The exam time came. CAT, XAT, IIFT and FMS. Results: calls from IIM-L, MDI, IIFT and NITIE. I was confident of converting one call at least this time. CAT percentile overall was 98.94%. Also, this was the time when PaGaLGuY shot to fame with that result link getting exposed and all ;) This was the first CAT in which differential marking was introduced.

Jan 2005 – MDI interview, my first B-School GD/PI experience. Somehow managed the GD and went in the interview. Interview was okie-dokie. With next 3 interviews in March, I had loads of time to prepare for them.

Feb 28, 2004 – MDI results are out. Not selected…not even in the waitlist..am I that bad. Maybe yes. With around 10 days to go, I left no stone unturned to prepare for the GD/PI. Next interview was NITIE in Mumbai on 8^th March, 2004 (which was my birthday too J).

March 7, 2004 – Disaster will be an understatement with what happened. I slept with a little back pain but just could not life myself up from the bed. The pain in my lower back was killing me and even lying straight was not helping me. We rushed to the hospital and I was diagnosed with slip disc. 3 weeks bed rest, no movement nothing. My NITIE was next day, IIFT in 3 days and IIML in 10 days. No way was I going to miss them.

I had to get admitted in the hospital and doctor did not allow me to move at all. This meant, all pleadings for attending interviews for NITIE were waste. IIFT also went by and I sat there who could not do anything about it – just cry a bit…ok..not a bit but a little more.

I had my mind, come what may – I will attend my IIM interview. When doctor heard the word “IIM”, he also became a little soft and said that try to get it postponed as much as possible. We tried our best but date was still within my bed rest period. With a little change in is heart, he allowed me to take the interview.

The GD was bad for me as the pain was still there and it was bad. I had to wait for nearly 3 hours for my interview and this aggravated the pain. Somehow, I braved it and faced the interview panel.

It was an above average PI but performance in GD was still enough to ensure that I don’t get in.

The results came and I was waitlisted at 107. This is when I joined PaGaLGuY and my first post was on the IIM L thread. After months of praying and tracking the WL day and night, it closed at 102!!!

I applied for a transfer to Mumbai to stay with my parents and take care of my back. Eventually the company did transfer me and here I landed in Mumbai. I joined the TIME test series and was doing pretty fine but the office culture here was really bad. For the first six months from July to December, there was not a single day when I did not contemplate resigning.

CAT No. 5: Year 2005 in November

I added one more exam in my list – JMET. Exams came and went and somehow I screwed ALL of them. CAT 97 %ile, XAT 99 %ile, JMET – 500+ Rank and similarly all. All but one – FMS. Had calls from both the courses and went to Delhi for the interview. MS GD was average, PI was also average. Then came the FT day. That time, people having both FMS calls did not have process the same day, unlike today. Since I had become quite visible on PG, I met many familiar people. GD was excellent and PI was also good but FMS thought otherwise. My name did not figure in both the list, not even the waitlist. This was the very famous 1:1 ratio batch of FMS, i.e. , the number of girls selected was exactly equal to the number of guys selected ;)

One interesting thing about XAT. Had a 99.9+ in both DI and QA but 86.80 or something in Verbal. Basically I missed the verbal cutoff by .01% L

With 2 years work experience already in my kitty and entering my third year, GMAT option was also available. (just hang on for a bit, the other IIM is coming now J ) In April, I registered for a June date for my GMAT and also joined TIME classes for CAT preparation. I knew it was NOW or NEVER. PaGaLGuY was a really big help for GMAT and after 3 months of study, I scored a 710. This is where I found the other IIM which stands for Indian IT Male. Most of the applicants from India fall in this category and no wonder it is really difficult to get in US B-Schools when being an IIM ;)

Had plans to apply to 3 schools only – ISB, CMU Tepper and Goizueta Emory. The application process in these is a pain but in the end, it is quite insightful. One comes to know so much about oneself. Coupled with this, I was attending classes in TIME and going to my job also. Somehow, I stuck the right chord in Mocks and was posting on PG big time. Also, I disclosed my MBA plans in my office as I needed the recos of my superiors. Surprisingly, they were really cooperative and appreciated my efforts and plans. Also, this was the time when I made two of my greatest friends in the office. I still owe my success to both of them (incidentally both are females :D ) as they listened to my agony, failures and were happy on my success. I really miss them as they are still in Mumbai with me roaming all around. But thanks to internet, its not that difficult to keep track and be in touch.

Oct, Nov 2005 – Had interview calls from all 3 schools – ISB, Tepper and Goizueta. CAT day was also coming. I was done with my ISB interview (which was very very arbit) and Tepper interview over the phone before CAT. The last interview was scheduled in Mumbai in December as a part of the World MBA Tour. Both the US B-School interviews were pretty straight-forward – Why MBA, strengths, weakness etcetera etc.

CAT No. 6: Year 2006 in November

The 5 options paper for CAT…man I had seen it all Started with Quant and killed it. Moved to the most arbit verbal paper ever and then did DI. When the solutions came in the evening, verbal had left me hanging…well almost. Btw, SP Jain was out of the hit list.

Dec 2006 – Jan 2007 –> Worst time of my life. Rejects from ISB, Tepper and Goizueta. CAT result out. 100%ile in QA, 95 in DI and 82 in verbal. It was over for me. With just 5 days to go for XAT, I had no option but to give it my best. It was verbal and verbal and just more verbal.

7^th Jan, 2007 – In the XAT paper itself, I knew that finally verbal is cracked. Meanwhile, JMET had given me a rank of 39 and calls from IIT B, D and KGP were on. MDI also found me suitable for college, even NITIE thought the same

20^th Jan, 2007 – The evening before the FMS paper. Just went online for something and saw the XL result link. With all my confidence, I punched in my roll number and saw the line “Sorry….” WTF !!!! how how how….then clicked on the scorecard link. QA 99 something, Verbal 95.42..scorecard is not over yet..DI 77 %ile This is just not possible…gave up all hope of MBA.

Took the FMS exam and also prepared for the upcoming GDs and PIs. Then someone advised me about the MAT route to JBIMS and MHCET was also added on the exam taking list. MAT went awesome and 99.99%ile with a composite score of 800 ensured that JBIMS was there now. All the interviews came one by one and I attended all of the,. Some in Mumbai, some in Delhi…GOD it was maddening. Filling forms, carrying the requisite stuff etc was quite arduous.

Finally comes the news I was waiting to hear all my life. 13^th March, 2007 2230 hrs. A friend of mine called from FMS and here it was – WL 1 Yipeee!!!! FMS it was. MS was WL 7. Btw, I attended my MDI and IITB interviews after my FMS convert. Though, people advised me against it but they had taken a lot of my hard earned money ;) so I decided to take them.

Well, in the end, I had all converts – FMS (both), JBIMS, IITs (all 3), MDI and NITIE. It was Delhi again for me.

I resigned from my job and then decided to utilize my time by teaching in TIME. This is where ARKSS Sir (ARKS Srinivas, TIME Director, Mumbai) said to me, “Amit, CAT ek baar aur likh de.” I was like no, never sir. I was tired of writing it. We left it there.

July came and I was in here – FMS J Met some of the sharpest people in the country and some awesome faculty. After one month of grilling, I called up ARKSS and told him that FMS is not chill at all. And people, I am serious. During that phone call, again the CAT thing came up and he said “Mere liye likh de.” I told him I can’t do it now anymore, no time to study and all. He somehow convinced me to fill the form and I did it. I just filled the form and did no prep. No test series. There was no time in FMS. There was lotsa work there, then summers, then exams..everything was packed. And whatever time I had in life, I ensured that I sleep well.

CAT No. 7: Year 2007 in November

CAT was on the 18^th and our first semester exams got over on the 15^th evening. 15^th and 16^th were spent in chilling out in life and 17^th was taken away by room cleaning. The only sane thing I did on 17^th was sleeping at 2230 hrs ;) Next day, I went to the exam centre which was nearby to the hostel, thankfully. From there, I called ARKSS again and told him that I still don’t know why I am doing this. Finally, the paper started and it was exciting to do Maths after so many months. Did QA first followed by Verbal and finally DI. Came back to the room after the exam and slept. In the evening, got up and checked the score. QA and DI were fine but as always a 20 in verbal according to TIME keys. My score varied from 15 to 25 depending on institute keys. In either case, I was not clearing cut-off for verbal according to any of the institutes. So, it was over.

Life moved on, then came the day of the results. However bad one performs, there is always a desire to check the result (umm..fine...i have it ) The link given on the CATIIM site was not working from the hostel. Then I came to know about the result by SMS thing. I SMSed and received the following reply.

QA (%ile) 99.98 with a score of 70

DI (%ile) 99.97 with a score of 76

Verbal (%ile) 96.40 with a score of 30

Overall (%ile) 99.99 with a score of 176

YES YES YES I HAVE CRACKED IT !!! Calls started coming in and had all 6 calls. I was elated. But then, I had another problem. What will I say in the interview. FMS is awesome, why should one leave it. I had no clue what to do. The interview schedule came and the forms from the IIMs too. Took a lot of help from ARKSS sir for the same and prepared for the interview. I knew what to prepare – MBA acads and why chuck FMS for an IIM.

The first interview was IIML. A pretty decent GD and average PI. Next was IIMK. An average GD and bad PI. Indore was next but had a very important class to attend in FMS; so decided against it. Btw, both K and L asked about FMS.

The Big One was next – Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. And man, I was nervous. The essay was fine and PI was a dream one. They just could not believe that someone wants to leave FMS and come to IIMA. I think I did a pretty decent job there and rest of the questions varied from work experience to MBA Acads to general stuff in life. The in-depth knowledge of the profs is really mind-boggling. I don’t think there is anything which they don’t know about.

IIM Calcutta was next. A decent case study discussion followed by stress interview. Was asked Maths, Sub Prime, Telecom War, Quiz, FMS and everything.

Bangalore was the last one to be held. The date clashed with my second semester exams of FMS and it must have taken like 10,000 calls to them to get it shifted. Finally, it was shifted to the evening slot of the same day with my exam in the morning and another exam the next morning and interview sandwiched in between. The case study was the Scrablous one and the group was quite decent in discussing the stuff. I was last to be interviewed. It was HORRIBLE. It was so so so bad that they would have left a seat vacant in the college rather than taking me in.

With interviews over, summer internship was something which was coming up. But, Supreme court had other plans. I was also a part of the waiting pain but had no window to vent out the frustration coz it was a secret I wanted to keep. Btw, my FMS classmates came to know about my calls in January itself. I know who did it but have not done anything to that person J But I know what to do to him.

May 1 was about to dawn, I slept without much tension in life. Was woken at 7 a.m. by a friend’s call informing me about IIMB results being out last night only. I checked and as expected, did not get through. I had to go the office and was on my way. Meanwhile, another friend called me and told me to check the WL of IIMB. He checked for me and no; I was not there L as expected though.

I reached office and realized that Wi-Fi was not working on my laptop (Murphy’s Law at its best). I went to IT guys and they needed “some” time to fix it. Just then, another person called me to tell me about IIMC results being out. I sat on the IT guys head and wanted my laptop back up and running. After 20-25 minutes of patience, laptop was handed back to me.

First thing I did was, checking the IIMC result. Opened the link, entered my details and my heart was beating fast as never before. And there it was. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Just could not believe. Tears of joy tricked down my eyes :) :) I was IN...FINALLY IN!!!!

Got through L and K too but surprisingly A ditched me. But no issues…JOKA I AM COMING

I want to clarify 2 things here about which I was asked a lot once I made my result public. 1.Is FMS not good? - People, it is an awesome college; I just took CAT for the heck of it and my stay in FMS had nothing to do with it. So, please don’t get me wrong here. Go ahead and join FMS without battling an eyelid. 2. Justifying interview panel about leaving FMS and going to IIM – The answer was a very planned out one and was structured in a way so that no cross questioning was possible..thanks to ARKSS sir again.Some of the quotes which I had heard over so many years are really true 1.Patience pays 2. Efforts never go waste 3. Samay se pehle aur kismet se zyada kuch nahin milta.But my personal favourite is the one which my cousin said once she heard the result – “Finally, CAT ki aatma ko shanti mili”