And then came IIT Madras..

It was a very hot saturday afternoon.. And near DOMS, IIT Madras, I could see many people with tie and blazers waiting for the interview.. I couldn’t help to suppress a smile.. why to aggravate the humidity by wearing blazers in Chennai heat!!! If the interviewers ask why no tie/blazer, you can always say that the humidity was high and that you wanted to feel comfortable.. There I was wearing my favorite full-hand shirt with no tie..

IIT Madras may not be the best place to study MBA.. But I had done my research on the college and all I got was positive reviews.. They don’t cook up numbers to show their average, they don’t advertise themselves, they got excellent faculty n placements etc.. Overall I was very convinced..

As I made my way into the department, I was a little tensed.. I was just hoping they don’t ask me anything technical.. Thanks to IIT Kharagpur, which was a full technical interview..

Imagine me sitting in the room and the interviewers ask me ‘Sada, can you tell me the lifecycle of a technology?’

I was wondering ‘I don’t know my life cycle itself.. in this how do I no that of a technology’

If that was not enough, they asked me ‘Do you no Eric Fischer’??

‘Sorry sir. No idea. Well who is that?’

'He is the world’s most famous statistician.'

Good.

I was just hoping they don’t ask anything like that and botch my interview..

Madras now.. Was totally surprised by the ambience there.. In a giant screen, the World cup match between Aus and Pak was going on.. That really helped to cool the nerves..

Then followed a video about IIT Madras.. a few profs came n spoke.. I was particularly interested in one.. he was operations professor and he said ‘If u want to be a ruthless manager, don’t come here. But if you want to be a manager with a heart, then this is the place to be’.. well, that was a wowie..

I was taken straight to the interview before the GD..

Asked a few people how it turned out?

All said in unison ‘the interviews don’t last more than 10 minutes.. no technical questions.. just general ones’

I was the next in.. And I was surprised to see the same Operations(O) prof inside along with another Finance(F) lady prof.

The pleasantries were exchanged.

O : So you are Sadasivam Ramasamy. Well what is your name then? Is it Sadasivam or Ramasamy?

Me: Sir, my name is Sadasivam. I m a chettiar and in my caste, we are named after our grandfather.

O : Oh chettiars.. I had been to pudhupatti, valayappatti etc.

Me: (cautious now. Have to be shallow. If he asks anything deep I dunno abt my place) Sir that is my birthplace!!

O : Oh ok.. Good. I was there long back. In the 70s.. Ok lets come to the interview. So you are from TCS. Oh come on.. we are totally bored interviewing people from IT back ground

F : Yes!! Infy, TCS, Wipro, HCL.. they keep coming and we are running out of questions!! We dunno wat to ask you guys.

(Oh man.. have to differentiate from the crowd.. )

Me: (Smiles) Sir that is because IT recruits many people and since they are the majority crowd, here too it’s the same.

O : Ok Sada. Tell me 3 chemical companies.

(What?? Chemical!! IITs and studies!!)

Me: (thinks) Sir Balmer Laurie, Bayer..

O: what only 2? You are from chemical engg and you cant say 3 companies?

Me: Sir I m from biotech.

O: Oh sorry biotech.. Ok tell me 3 biotech companies.

Me: Biocon, Nicholas Piramal, Spinco biotech.

O: Ok what type of job will u get there., I don’t want research.

Me: (blinks) Sir I don’t have a personal idea about it. But many of my friends are abroad and they are part of research team. Only thro them I know about it..

(from here on all blabbering starts.. I was cursing my luck.. Well 7 minutes was over long back and I was looking for a gap to put my ideas.. And then it came atlast)

Some laughs came in.. I asked the lady prof - ‘Mam.. You have been silent for a long time.. Why dint u ask any questions yet.. Please ask..’

Again laughs..

F : Ok Sada.. Where can I see you in 10 yrs down the lane after you finish your MBA?

Me: ( Wow!! The red carpet has been drawn.. Let’s start the interview now) Well mam, you can see me as the founder of Beeline.

O & F – What Beeline?? What's that??

From then on it was my game. I told what all ideas I had in mind, what I am doing right now, how it will help me and others.. Everything possible was detailed.

F : That is good. So how would MBA would help me in that.?

Me: Mam.. When a company comes to recruit a CEO, they don’t look for a person who is good at only finance or only marketing. They want a person who has a holistic view of everything. If you change one parameter another will also change.. Like this the whole system.. I want to study that.. an experienced technical person can miss that.. But not a manager.. I want to be one like that..

O : That’s good.

F: So you want to be an entrepreneur and not manager?

Me: (knew this would come) Mam.. An entrepreneur runs a business while a manager manages a business.. I want to manage the business..

F : Good.. So you will join here mainly because someone will finance your ideas??

All laughs

Me: Ha ha.. that is one part too.. I don’t say no to that.. There are venture capitalists for that.. They want people with ideas.. I can be one.. (some more gyaan here)

All laughs too..They looked convinced..

O: Ok Sada.. that was nice meeting you.. what other calls do you have?

Me: IIT KGP and Madras.

O: Ok what will u join if you get both?? Don’t say Madras.. I can assure you that your candidacy will not be affected by your response. I just want to know your decision making skills.

Me: Sir for me both are same.. I don’t see any differences.

O: No. You gotta pick one

Me: Sir for me both are same. I will ask my parents.. If they are willing to send me to Kharagpur, I will go.. else no problem.. I will take Madras.

O: What!! You won’t take decision but let your parents take??

(Oh gosh.. I m losing it.. Time to tighten screws..)

Me: Sir.. Both colleges have the audit courses and I don’t see any difference here.. But I can tell you what tilts the balance in favor of Madras.. Some more gyaan (I told what all I researched about them. ) And also on the lighter side, my sister’s marriage is there too.. So it would be helpful to stay here.

They were fully convinced.

O: It was great meeting you Sada. Tell your parents not to send you to Kharagpur.

Me: (Wondering about his last statement) Thank you sir.

The GD went like a breeze.. I was very happy with the hospitality. Ambience. Faculty. Everything.

Still I could not decipher ‘Did they say that I converted.’

Came out of the room and a student who had accompanied me to the room asked me 'What took you so long?? You have been in there for 20 min now..'

Me: Well it was not an interview.. We were happily interacting!!

And now the results are out.. I m in..

Looks like I converted the call on 19th march itself.. Relieved!!!

Comments

a cool post... even after hearing to this story a hundred times it was a good read.... well u don't miss out on a good start and the post goes from blazers to breaking open the IIT gates....

well written da... well this post was not botched...

Popular Posts