Friday, March 27, 2009
Officially a student again
Yes. Finally. After nearly 2 years of working, I'm back to savour the fruits of being a student again. Yesterday I went to NMIMS and paid the 1st year fees. It is an amazing feeling now. A sense of freedom. Along with this amazing feeling, I have a sense of fear, fear of the unknown. I know I'll be leaving great things behind. My parents, my friends, my job among many other things. I have always been a slow starter in regards to making friends. My current set of friends can definitely vouch for that. It takes me long time to get close with anyone, but once I cross that barrier, there is no stopping me. I still stay in touch with my earliest friends, way back from my primary school. Making new friends will be a challenge, but a tougher proposition will be to leave behind all the great friends I have here, albeit for a short duration. All said, I have nice vibes about my next two years in NM. So fingers crossed for now :-)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Decision made. Mumbai, Here I Come!
Yipeeee... I don't know which makes me more happy. The fact that I'm going to spend a good chunk of next 2 years in Mumbai at NMIMS or the fact that I have made a decision (finally) to go there. What ever be the reason, I'm really happy. I know I'll be pursuing my dreams for the next 2 years. There are lots of challenges that lie ahead, lots of uncertainities which I'll have to face. But just knowing the fact that I'll be doing something I really like is enough assurance for me.
This is probably the biggest decision that I have had to make in my life so far. Whether I have made the right decision? Only time will tell. But I am excited at the prospect for becoming a student again! The college starts on June 22nd. So I have 3 more months of tech work.
This is probably the biggest decision that I have had to make in my life so far. Whether I have made the right decision? Only time will tell. But I am excited at the prospect for becoming a student again! The college starts on June 22nd. So I have 3 more months of tech work.
Monday, March 16, 2009
My First Final Call - Lots of Dilemma
I got my first admission call from NMIMS on 14th. Considering the fact that I am not listed in the Merit list of SCMHRD, I guess this is my only call for the season. I have been thinking a lot for the past 3 days on whether to join NM or not. Sadly I am in a big dilemma. It has been 50-50 all the way. The pros and cons are equally matched. Every time I come up with a thought , supporting me joining NM, there will be an immediate thought giving me reason not to join NM.
As of now there are only 2 options in front of me. Either join NM and be content with it, or take another shot at CAT next year and attempt for a better college. Both have considerable amounts of risk attached with it.
If I choose the former, I'll be putting on line 2 years of my life (for the better or worse) on the line. Also at stake is my Final degree. So further on, everyone will recognize me as a Alumni of NM (not that it is a bad proposition, but for some unfortunate reason, the college reputation might go down, and with it prospective placements). Although NM has its share of drawbacks, it is also one of the most popular colleges in the country, with amazing faculty and industry interactions.
If I choose the latter, I'll be facing the toughest exam in my life AGAIN. I'll have to go through the same hell for 6 months, where my personal life will be practically absent. All this won't ensure my success in CAT. But I'll have another chance at studying in the top colleges in the country aka IIM's. But is it worth it waiting 1 more year, risking not cracking the CAT again? Questions for which I'll have to find answers sooner or later.
But what ever my decision is, I'm pretty confident that once I make the decision, I'll go all out, forget all the negatives, and give my best shot.
As of now there are only 2 options in front of me. Either join NM and be content with it, or take another shot at CAT next year and attempt for a better college. Both have considerable amounts of risk attached with it.
If I choose the former, I'll be putting on line 2 years of my life (for the better or worse) on the line. Also at stake is my Final degree. So further on, everyone will recognize me as a Alumni of NM (not that it is a bad proposition, but for some unfortunate reason, the college reputation might go down, and with it prospective placements). Although NM has its share of drawbacks, it is also one of the most popular colleges in the country, with amazing faculty and industry interactions.
If I choose the latter, I'll be facing the toughest exam in my life AGAIN. I'll have to go through the same hell for 6 months, where my personal life will be practically absent. All this won't ensure my success in CAT. But I'll have another chance at studying in the top colleges in the country aka IIM's. But is it worth it waiting 1 more year, risking not cracking the CAT again? Questions for which I'll have to find answers sooner or later.
But what ever my decision is, I'm pretty confident that once I make the decision, I'll go all out, forget all the negatives, and give my best shot.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Absurd Bureaucracy at every step!
That is a mild term to use considering my experience in the past 2 days. I have been battling bureaucracy all along. First it was the police, then came the RTO and finally the Insurance people. They made me feel so miserable that I actually started to think 'Why the hell did I come to the police?'
After my yesterday's post, I was again called to the police station. Just because the 'Inspector' had come. That SOB had no clue of what had happened. He started giving us nonsense gyan. I already had a headache. Then FINALLY he decided to file the FIR. Since the break inspection was yet to be done, I was to go there today at 9 AM and get it done. Well I was in for a ride through hell!
I went to the police station at 9:30 AM (thinking of IST ;-)) Not a soul to be found. After 15 mins of inquiring bystanders, we finally managed to get hold of a Constable. That fellow told us to go to the RTO for a signature from ARTO, and that we weren't supposed to touch our vehicle. So we walked to the RTO. There that bloody ARTO who was supposed to come in at 9AM shows up at 10:30 AM. After all this he acts like a dictator of his own country (read RTO) and throws back our sheet after singing it. I felt like giving him a tight slap after that. Next we were told to go to another floor (7th) to meet the brake inspector. No surprise, there were no inspectors to be found anywhere! After coming back, and inquiring a bit more, we managed to get hold of a Inspectors number. That fucking asshole was doing pooja at 11 AM. He told that he would come to office from Uttarahalli after pooja and breakfast and slammed his phone. So we waited for that SOB. He does not even turn up at 12 Noon. So we inquire more about his whereabouts. This stupid person, has forgotten us totally and is doing 'paisa vasool' with people who were getting their DL. We walked about a 1 KM to meet this guy. He has no regret, and asks us to wait in the police station! He royally comes there 15mins later and writes a couple of sentences and leaves. So for fucking 2 lines, we waited for 3 hours in that shit hole.
After getting the FIR, we went to Maruti Service station. I was fed up by this time, and thought it was the end of bureaucracy for the day. Boy, was I wrong. These insurance people act like leeches when it comes for making policies. But when it actually comes for claiming them, they are worse than the government people. This person almost wanted me to recreate the scenario, so that he can 'release' the money. The estimate had come up to 18K and I was in for another surprise. These people had lots of *Conditions Apply which no one bothers to read.
1. For every claim big or small, we had to compulsorily pay 1000/-
2. There would be a 20% depreciation in terms of my No-Claim bonus. So I would be losing 5000/-
3. The body parts like plastic and glass are only covered for 50%. So the rest 50% should be paid by us!
Taking this into account, I would be shelling out 9K from my pocket even after getting the Insurance amount. I mean, this is ridiculous. I pay 25K every year to end up paying more to get 18K. This does not make any fucking sense to me! After fighting with that insurance person for almost an hour, I am still not sure whether I'll get my insurance for this. So for no fault of my own, I have to spend approx 10K and have already wasted 2 days.
Life is cruel!
PS : please pardon my abusive language. this just reflects my state of mind.
After my yesterday's post, I was again called to the police station. Just because the 'Inspector' had come. That SOB had no clue of what had happened. He started giving us nonsense gyan. I already had a headache. Then FINALLY he decided to file the FIR. Since the break inspection was yet to be done, I was to go there today at 9 AM and get it done. Well I was in for a ride through hell!
I went to the police station at 9:30 AM (thinking of IST ;-)) Not a soul to be found. After 15 mins of inquiring bystanders, we finally managed to get hold of a Constable. That fellow told us to go to the RTO for a signature from ARTO, and that we weren't supposed to touch our vehicle. So we walked to the RTO. There that bloody ARTO who was supposed to come in at 9AM shows up at 10:30 AM. After all this he acts like a dictator of his own country (read RTO) and throws back our sheet after singing it. I felt like giving him a tight slap after that. Next we were told to go to another floor (7th) to meet the brake inspector. No surprise, there were no inspectors to be found anywhere! After coming back, and inquiring a bit more, we managed to get hold of a Inspectors number. That fucking asshole was doing pooja at 11 AM. He told that he would come to office from Uttarahalli after pooja and breakfast and slammed his phone. So we waited for that SOB. He does not even turn up at 12 Noon. So we inquire more about his whereabouts. This stupid person, has forgotten us totally and is doing 'paisa vasool' with people who were getting their DL. We walked about a 1 KM to meet this guy. He has no regret, and asks us to wait in the police station! He royally comes there 15mins later and writes a couple of sentences and leaves. So for fucking 2 lines, we waited for 3 hours in that shit hole.
After getting the FIR, we went to Maruti Service station. I was fed up by this time, and thought it was the end of bureaucracy for the day. Boy, was I wrong. These insurance people act like leeches when it comes for making policies. But when it actually comes for claiming them, they are worse than the government people. This person almost wanted me to recreate the scenario, so that he can 'release' the money. The estimate had come up to 18K and I was in for another surprise. These people had lots of *Conditions Apply which no one bothers to read.
1. For every claim big or small, we had to compulsorily pay 1000/-
2. There would be a 20% depreciation in terms of my No-Claim bonus. So I would be losing 5000/-
3. The body parts like plastic and glass are only covered for 50%. So the rest 50% should be paid by us!
Taking this into account, I would be shelling out 9K from my pocket even after getting the Insurance amount. I mean, this is ridiculous. I pay 25K every year to end up paying more to get 18K. This does not make any fucking sense to me! After fighting with that insurance person for almost an hour, I am still not sure whether I'll get my insurance for this. So for no fault of my own, I have to spend approx 10K and have already wasted 2 days.
Life is cruel!
PS : please pardon my abusive language. this just reflects my state of mind.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Damn! Another Accident!
Which side of the bed did I wake up on today? What is wrong with this world? Why does bad things happen to good people like me? Depressing to read these questions right? Well that reflects my mood for the day!
Morning was as usual pretty boring. I was constantly thinking of a problem which has been bugging me for sometime now at work. I left my house at 10:30. I slowly backed out my SX4 out of the garage. The road was clear and the weather was pleasant. The sun was barely visible and all the light filtered out of the thick clouds. There was a cool breeze blowing, making me forget all about summer and my problems, but just for a moment. With some soulful music added, this looked like the perfect day. But everything perfect about it ended right about there.
As soon as I backed out, I saw a white Tata Sumo cab approaching me from behind. He seemed to be in bit of a hurry, and that dint seem odd to me. All cab drivers seem to be in a hurry, as though the world hangs on them being on time. I had to take a right turn immediately after my house. Not even 20 meters from my house. Knowing this cab driver's urgency I had put my signal well before hand, and true to his colors he was trying to overtake me, but seeing my signal to the right he swerved suddenly to the left. It was a rash and a negligent shifting of lanes from him. I was a spectator to all this and my rear view mirror acted as a show screen. The moment I started to turn right, this person wanted to pass me on my left. Well he could have done so, had he been slower and maintained a little more distance to maneuver. But the impatient bastard was unfortunately not in that position. End result was a completely disfigured rear end of my SX4.
I immediately got down my vehicle to inspect the damage. And seeing my new car in that condition, my rage shot up. It was like a vent for all my frustrations. I was so angry with him, if not for a public place, that driver would have got it from me today. Well I fought with him 'verbally'. At first he was unapologetic. He started blaming me. As it had happened virtually in front of my house, my dad and brother came out for my support. By this time he realized it would be foolish to fight and acceded his fault. That cooled me down considerably.
What followed was even more frustrating process of negotiation and some amount of dealing with the police. At first, I immediately called up the Maruti Mandovi workshop, and asked a known mechanic about the cost of the rear bumper. He plainly told it would cost us 20K. 20 fucking K for a mistake of a stupid, careless driver. He also explained to me about the insurance policies. He said that the insurance people would end up paying only 80% of the end bill and rest of it would have to be paid from my own pocket. Also there would a great deal of depreciation in my insurance claims. So the next time I had to get something done, instead of 80%, they would give me 50%. There is a very good chance that insurance people, in this market scenario, black mark vehicles that claim insurance for a big amount. I was pissed off to say the least. So it was natural that I wanted all the money from this person. By this time the owner of the vehicle had come. He was a rude, mannerless person, with no ethics and decency. His language was brash to say the least. He dint want to choke up the 20K we demanded of him. So the next option was Police. There is no other department that I despise so much as the Traffic Police. They are brute, and highly corrupt. Also today being a holiday on account of Eid, we had to go all the way to Jayanagar to lodge a complaint. After thinking a lot about taking off an acknowledgement for a insurance claim we wanted to teach a lesson to that owner. So we lodged a FIR. So this person had to keep his vehicle there in the police station. The drivers documents were seized. And a case was booked under IPC (forgot the section). I'll also have to take my vehicle there tomorrow for a inspection from the RTO Brake Inspector. So after 3 hours of constant complaint writing, getting documents in order and deliberating on a court case, we finally hope to get our justice.
After this, we have to fight in the court on getting the third party insurance. So our insurance wont be affected and every penny will be taken from that vehicle's insurance. Yipee! Also the driver will pay a heavier fine now. So for now I'm back to work thinking about the same thing as the day had started.
Morning was as usual pretty boring. I was constantly thinking of a problem which has been bugging me for sometime now at work. I left my house at 10:30. I slowly backed out my SX4 out of the garage. The road was clear and the weather was pleasant. The sun was barely visible and all the light filtered out of the thick clouds. There was a cool breeze blowing, making me forget all about summer and my problems, but just for a moment. With some soulful music added, this looked like the perfect day. But everything perfect about it ended right about there.
As soon as I backed out, I saw a white Tata Sumo cab approaching me from behind. He seemed to be in bit of a hurry, and that dint seem odd to me. All cab drivers seem to be in a hurry, as though the world hangs on them being on time. I had to take a right turn immediately after my house. Not even 20 meters from my house. Knowing this cab driver's urgency I had put my signal well before hand, and true to his colors he was trying to overtake me, but seeing my signal to the right he swerved suddenly to the left. It was a rash and a negligent shifting of lanes from him. I was a spectator to all this and my rear view mirror acted as a show screen. The moment I started to turn right, this person wanted to pass me on my left. Well he could have done so, had he been slower and maintained a little more distance to maneuver. But the impatient bastard was unfortunately not in that position. End result was a completely disfigured rear end of my SX4.
I immediately got down my vehicle to inspect the damage. And seeing my new car in that condition, my rage shot up. It was like a vent for all my frustrations. I was so angry with him, if not for a public place, that driver would have got it from me today. Well I fought with him 'verbally'. At first he was unapologetic. He started blaming me. As it had happened virtually in front of my house, my dad and brother came out for my support. By this time he realized it would be foolish to fight and acceded his fault. That cooled me down considerably.
What followed was even more frustrating process of negotiation and some amount of dealing with the police. At first, I immediately called up the Maruti Mandovi workshop, and asked a known mechanic about the cost of the rear bumper. He plainly told it would cost us 20K. 20 fucking K for a mistake of a stupid, careless driver. He also explained to me about the insurance policies. He said that the insurance people would end up paying only 80% of the end bill and rest of it would have to be paid from my own pocket. Also there would a great deal of depreciation in my insurance claims. So the next time I had to get something done, instead of 80%, they would give me 50%. There is a very good chance that insurance people, in this market scenario, black mark vehicles that claim insurance for a big amount. I was pissed off to say the least. So it was natural that I wanted all the money from this person. By this time the owner of the vehicle had come. He was a rude, mannerless person, with no ethics and decency. His language was brash to say the least. He dint want to choke up the 20K we demanded of him. So the next option was Police. There is no other department that I despise so much as the Traffic Police. They are brute, and highly corrupt. Also today being a holiday on account of Eid, we had to go all the way to Jayanagar to lodge a complaint. After thinking a lot about taking off an acknowledgement for a insurance claim we wanted to teach a lesson to that owner. So we lodged a FIR. So this person had to keep his vehicle there in the police station. The drivers documents were seized. And a case was booked under IPC (forgot the section). I'll also have to take my vehicle there tomorrow for a inspection from the RTO Brake Inspector. So after 3 hours of constant complaint writing, getting documents in order and deliberating on a court case, we finally hope to get our justice.
After this, we have to fight in the court on getting the third party insurance. So our insurance wont be affected and every penny will be taken from that vehicle's insurance. Yipee! Also the driver will pay a heavier fine now. So for now I'm back to work thinking about the same thing as the day had started.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Mumbai - A magical place ; NMIMS - Not so much!
Another call, another out-of-station interview. But this time it was Mumbai - The city of dreams! And the college was Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.
So the day started at 2 AM. Well technically it continued, as I don't consider a 2 hour nap as sleep. My sad alarm goes off again. I had to get to the bus stand by 3 AM. Unlike last time, I am more prepared this time (experience matters ;-)) I comfortably reach the airport. And surprisingly there is no rush in the airport either. So I end up an hour early. To kill time, I went to the Crossword store. This has become an obsession to me now. Whenever I need to kill time, I go to one of the book stores, unashamedly open the books, cross my legs, and sit and read. This time it was Kautinya's Arthashastra (was highly recommended by Pande). After nearly 45 minutes of turning pages, I check in.
There is a huge difference between KingFisher and KingFisher Red Service planes. Even in the quality of the air hostess. I decide that from next time I must catch only a proper KF plane, not a relabeled Deccan plane. Very uneventful first hour. But as the plane was circling the Mumbai airport, the cabin pressure started to rise for some reason, and I had a huge head ache and my ear were about to explode. What I generally do in such situations is to close my eyes. I did the same thing. But an alert air hostess, noticed not only was i grimacing, but also bleeding from the nose. She was quick to alert me of my condition and get me cotton. But unfortunately she was not quick enough. I had a drop of blood on my trouser. Thankfully not on my sky blue shirt(I dint even carry a spare one). As soon as I arrived at the airport, I realized that the Mumbai airport was very similar to the Old Bangalore airport. I managed to ask directions to a bus stop. My destination was Ville Parle(W), Mithibai College. Caught a Best Bus to Ville Parle(E), and walked the rest of the distance. NMIMS building is a shocker. My primary school was bigger than that and definitely better maintained. It hasn't had a paint job in ages I guess. But the atmosphere around the college is electric to say the least. I was awestruck with the Mithibai college crowd in particular.
Since my GD slot was at 1 PM, they did not allow me inside the center. So I had to somehow pass 5 hours. So I walked. First I walked to Juhu beach. Around 1.5 kms from the college. Juhu beach is huge. Its wide and long. Standing in the middle of the beach, I could not see the ends. I sat under a coconut tree and started reading a book (The Afghan - Fedrik Forsyth). I got bored as the beach got crowded. Saturday joggers were flooding that place. The mercury was also on the rise. So I went into a Barista outlet and spent around 1 hour there. Then I walked to Iskon Temple which was around 2 kms from there. The temple is beautiful, but sadly there was no devotion. Somehow seeing foreigners inside temples is a turnoff for me.
I walked back to the GD center. Washed my face, tied my tie and went for the GD. We were led into a AC room, asked to finish our registration, given our group numbers. Later a senior Professor came and talked with us. He gave the rules and selection criteria. This year the weight-age was 120+10+10+10 for NMAT, GD, PI, and Work ex respectively. With a NMAT score of 111/150, I stood a good chance and I knew it. With a decent GD and interview I should be getting through.
The GD had 12 members of which 10 were present. Since we had been grouped alphabetically, all our names started with M. There were 9 boys and a single girl in our group. We were given 2 topics to choose from.
1. Watching TV affects self-learning
2. Marriage is a necessary building block of the society (i think)
We chose the first one with a majority of 6:4. I had no points initially, so I decided to sit back and see how people go about it for couple of mins. We had also agreed among ourselves that we would avoid a 'fish market' scenario and give chance to others. But the exact opposite happened. The girl (who was a fashion designer by profession) started to become aggressive and refuted every other point made by the group. Seeing her, others also became pretty aggressive and started to cut in others points. I managed to put in 5 -6 points and also concluded. The GD was not really great and the group as a whole will lose out on points because of one egoistic bitch.
Next we went back to the same waiting room. By this time, I was damn tired. With very little sleep (almost nil for my standards) and all the walking I had done and the soothing AC made a extremely conducive environment for sleep. So I did! I asked the person sitting next to me to wake me up once my name was called and dozed off. I had an amazing 20 mins nap. Unfortunately my name was called and went into the interview room with a blood shot eye. It was a 2 member interview panel. P1 : was a pretty old professor (of finance i guess), P2 : was a middle aged lady professor (of marketing i guess) and of course Moi
M : May I come in Sir? (I managed to not commit the same mistake I had done in the SCMHRD interview)
P1 : (Was really happy for some reason) Please come in Madhu, we were really waiting to see you (An extremely hearty welcome. Best part is I felt that he really meant that)
P1 : You look really tired Madhu. Are you feeling OK?
M : Yes Sir, It has been a pretty long day and I'm a bit tired. But I have been really looking forward for this interview. (For which P1 offers some water and biscuits which I politely decline)
P2 : (Reading the SOP) So you have worked in IBM. Tell me how your experience there
M : I started off from the internship and ended and the current day. Full journey with lot of small stories
P1 : What do you mean by insatiable thirst for learning? Can you give us instances? (Again taken from my SOP. Had written "With an insatiable thirst for learning new things, doing an MBA is the logically right step for me")
M : Gave example of my flute, my home gym, and couple of others. They seemed satisfied with my answer.
P2 : Which specialization do you want to pursue?
M : (A typical MBA question). As of now it is Marketing Mam. But might change later with my experience.
P2 : Who are you role models?
M : My father, my brother, Mahatma Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar, Mother Teresa, Vijay Mallya.
P2 : Nice variety you have! (I grin)
P1 : What do you think is the USP of Indian youth?
M : Blabber about culture, adaptability, etc... and they seemed pretty impressed with my answer
P2 : Why do FMCG companies change their brand ambassadors so often?
M : blah blah
P1 : How do you market India
M : blah blah
That's it. The end. Barely 5 mins. P1 gets up, comes around the table and shakes my hand and tells 'All the best beta'. I really felt the warmth in his wishes and touched his feet to take his blessings. I did namaste to the mam and left the room. :-D The entire process was over by 3:30 PM
After the interview, I was feeling damn sleepy. I thought, which is the cheapest place to catch a nap in Mumbai. I realized that a cinema mall is the place for me. I caught an auto and went to PVR cinemas in Bandra. But unfortunately there were no shows for 4/5 PM. So decided to do my favorite pastime. Spend time in Crossword. Spent like 2 hours there. Read the book Its not about the bike by Lance Armstrong. He is one of my favorite sport personalities on par with Sachin and Fedrer. I have been follower of Tour de France since 2002 and know all his accomplishments in cycling. What I was more interested was in his life. His cancer. And his foundation. Got so addicted to the book that I eventually bought it. I also bought 'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish' (an impulsive buy). Later I ate awesome vada pav's, pav bhaji, pani puri and what not. Really great place to have chats. Similar to Bangalore ;-) And finally I caught a Local to Dadra. My first time in a Mumbai Local and the experience was fun. Very fast, cheap and comfortable way of travel.
Reached Dadar station well in time. Continued to read Lance's autobiography. It is really a very engrossing book. You don't even feel like looking up. You will be kind of fixated to the book(review on this later). The train was on time. Got into my compartment and surprise surprise. A cute chick in the seat next to me!! I still cant believe my luck. Not just because, she was cute, that is obvious. But because she was travelling alone!!! Ok. Before you start to judge me, let me clear the air. I'm telling all this because she was a big time FLIRT!!! So lets for know call her "Cute Train Stranger" (CTS)
People who know me well, know that it takes me time (not measured in hours or days but in months) for me to speak with a stranger (girl). Well I must have changed. I immediately started off a conversation with CTS. CTS was a talkitive girl, who blabbered anything and everything that passed her mind. We ate somethings together (read shared) like bhel puri, cucumber etc.. Sad part is CTS got off in Hubli (her hometown). So after that I was back reading the book. I loved this part equally well. After finishing Lance's autobiography, I continued with The Afghan. And finished that too. Listened to lot of music. The train journey was for a complete 24 hours. Really not that tiring. It must be because of CTS. Caught a bus from Yeshwanthpur to Majestic and then a bus to my home. Lots of memories from this trip.
PS : I know CTS would probably be reading this. I hope you don't mind. And knowing you as much as I do, I think you would'nt.
So the day started at 2 AM. Well technically it continued, as I don't consider a 2 hour nap as sleep. My sad alarm goes off again. I had to get to the bus stand by 3 AM. Unlike last time, I am more prepared this time (experience matters ;-)) I comfortably reach the airport. And surprisingly there is no rush in the airport either. So I end up an hour early. To kill time, I went to the Crossword store. This has become an obsession to me now. Whenever I need to kill time, I go to one of the book stores, unashamedly open the books, cross my legs, and sit and read. This time it was Kautinya's Arthashastra (was highly recommended by Pande). After nearly 45 minutes of turning pages, I check in.
There is a huge difference between KingFisher and KingFisher Red Service planes. Even in the quality of the air hostess. I decide that from next time I must catch only a proper KF plane, not a relabeled Deccan plane. Very uneventful first hour. But as the plane was circling the Mumbai airport, the cabin pressure started to rise for some reason, and I had a huge head ache and my ear were about to explode. What I generally do in such situations is to close my eyes. I did the same thing. But an alert air hostess, noticed not only was i grimacing, but also bleeding from the nose. She was quick to alert me of my condition and get me cotton. But unfortunately she was not quick enough. I had a drop of blood on my trouser. Thankfully not on my sky blue shirt(I dint even carry a spare one). As soon as I arrived at the airport, I realized that the Mumbai airport was very similar to the Old Bangalore airport. I managed to ask directions to a bus stop. My destination was Ville Parle(W), Mithibai College. Caught a Best Bus to Ville Parle(E), and walked the rest of the distance. NMIMS building is a shocker. My primary school was bigger than that and definitely better maintained. It hasn't had a paint job in ages I guess. But the atmosphere around the college is electric to say the least. I was awestruck with the Mithibai college crowd in particular.
Since my GD slot was at 1 PM, they did not allow me inside the center. So I had to somehow pass 5 hours. So I walked. First I walked to Juhu beach. Around 1.5 kms from the college. Juhu beach is huge. Its wide and long. Standing in the middle of the beach, I could not see the ends. I sat under a coconut tree and started reading a book (The Afghan - Fedrik Forsyth). I got bored as the beach got crowded. Saturday joggers were flooding that place. The mercury was also on the rise. So I went into a Barista outlet and spent around 1 hour there. Then I walked to Iskon Temple which was around 2 kms from there. The temple is beautiful, but sadly there was no devotion. Somehow seeing foreigners inside temples is a turnoff for me.
I walked back to the GD center. Washed my face, tied my tie and went for the GD. We were led into a AC room, asked to finish our registration, given our group numbers. Later a senior Professor came and talked with us. He gave the rules and selection criteria. This year the weight-age was 120+10+10+10 for NMAT, GD, PI, and Work ex respectively. With a NMAT score of 111/150, I stood a good chance and I knew it. With a decent GD and interview I should be getting through.
The GD had 12 members of which 10 were present. Since we had been grouped alphabetically, all our names started with M. There were 9 boys and a single girl in our group. We were given 2 topics to choose from.
1. Watching TV affects self-learning
2. Marriage is a necessary building block of the society (i think)
We chose the first one with a majority of 6:4. I had no points initially, so I decided to sit back and see how people go about it for couple of mins. We had also agreed among ourselves that we would avoid a 'fish market' scenario and give chance to others. But the exact opposite happened. The girl (who was a fashion designer by profession) started to become aggressive and refuted every other point made by the group. Seeing her, others also became pretty aggressive and started to cut in others points. I managed to put in 5 -6 points and also concluded. The GD was not really great and the group as a whole will lose out on points because of one egoistic bitch.
Next we went back to the same waiting room. By this time, I was damn tired. With very little sleep (almost nil for my standards) and all the walking I had done and the soothing AC made a extremely conducive environment for sleep. So I did! I asked the person sitting next to me to wake me up once my name was called and dozed off. I had an amazing 20 mins nap. Unfortunately my name was called and went into the interview room with a blood shot eye. It was a 2 member interview panel. P1 : was a pretty old professor (of finance i guess), P2 : was a middle aged lady professor (of marketing i guess) and of course Moi
M : May I come in Sir? (I managed to not commit the same mistake I had done in the SCMHRD interview)
P1 : (Was really happy for some reason) Please come in Madhu, we were really waiting to see you (An extremely hearty welcome. Best part is I felt that he really meant that)
P1 : You look really tired Madhu. Are you feeling OK?
M : Yes Sir, It has been a pretty long day and I'm a bit tired. But I have been really looking forward for this interview. (For which P1 offers some water and biscuits which I politely decline)
P2 : (Reading the SOP) So you have worked in IBM. Tell me how your experience there
M : I started off from the internship and ended and the current day. Full journey with lot of small stories
P1 : What do you mean by insatiable thirst for learning? Can you give us instances? (Again taken from my SOP. Had written "With an insatiable thirst for learning new things, doing an MBA is the logically right step for me")
M : Gave example of my flute, my home gym, and couple of others. They seemed satisfied with my answer.
P2 : Which specialization do you want to pursue?
M : (A typical MBA question). As of now it is Marketing Mam. But might change later with my experience.
P2 : Who are you role models?
M : My father, my brother, Mahatma Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar, Mother Teresa, Vijay Mallya.
P2 : Nice variety you have! (I grin)
P1 : What do you think is the USP of Indian youth?
M : Blabber about culture, adaptability, etc... and they seemed pretty impressed with my answer
P2 : Why do FMCG companies change their brand ambassadors so often?
M : blah blah
P1 : How do you market India
M : blah blah
That's it. The end. Barely 5 mins. P1 gets up, comes around the table and shakes my hand and tells 'All the best beta'. I really felt the warmth in his wishes and touched his feet to take his blessings. I did namaste to the mam and left the room. :-D The entire process was over by 3:30 PM
After the interview, I was feeling damn sleepy. I thought, which is the cheapest place to catch a nap in Mumbai. I realized that a cinema mall is the place for me. I caught an auto and went to PVR cinemas in Bandra. But unfortunately there were no shows for 4/5 PM. So decided to do my favorite pastime. Spend time in Crossword. Spent like 2 hours there. Read the book Its not about the bike by Lance Armstrong. He is one of my favorite sport personalities on par with Sachin and Fedrer. I have been follower of Tour de France since 2002 and know all his accomplishments in cycling. What I was more interested was in his life. His cancer. And his foundation. Got so addicted to the book that I eventually bought it. I also bought 'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish' (an impulsive buy). Later I ate awesome vada pav's, pav bhaji, pani puri and what not. Really great place to have chats. Similar to Bangalore ;-) And finally I caught a Local to Dadra. My first time in a Mumbai Local and the experience was fun. Very fast, cheap and comfortable way of travel.
Reached Dadar station well in time. Continued to read Lance's autobiography. It is really a very engrossing book. You don't even feel like looking up. You will be kind of fixated to the book(review on this later). The train was on time. Got into my compartment and surprise surprise. A cute chick in the seat next to me!! I still cant believe my luck. Not just because, she was cute, that is obvious. But because she was travelling alone!!! Ok. Before you start to judge me, let me clear the air. I'm telling all this because she was a big time FLIRT!!! So lets for know call her "Cute Train Stranger" (CTS)
People who know me well, know that it takes me time (not measured in hours or days but in months) for me to speak with a stranger (girl). Well I must have changed. I immediately started off a conversation with CTS. CTS was a talkitive girl, who blabbered anything and everything that passed her mind. We ate somethings together (read shared) like bhel puri, cucumber etc.. Sad part is CTS got off in Hubli (her hometown). So after that I was back reading the book. I loved this part equally well. After finishing Lance's autobiography, I continued with The Afghan. And finished that too. Listened to lot of music. The train journey was for a complete 24 hours. Really not that tiring. It must be because of CTS. Caught a bus from Yeshwanthpur to Majestic and then a bus to my home. Lots of memories from this trip.
PS : I know CTS would probably be reading this. I hope you don't mind. And knowing you as much as I do, I think you would'nt.
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