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.

SCMHRD - My first Interview

This was my first call for the 'Season - 08'. So it always carried that extra emotional value. I had absolutely no preparation for this interview. But I guess it went pretty well. So let me rewind to yesterday morning 02:45 AM.

My alarm rings. The snooze does not work, and I'm already behind schedule by 15 mins. Yet I take my own time to get ready. I have a bus to catch at 04:00 AM. I finish my bath at 03:45 AM. I finish polishing my shoes at 03:55 AM. I reach the bus stop a 04:00 AM dot. The bus ride to airport is uneventful and I drift off intermittently. We arrive at the bus stop at 05:10 AM. I'm behind schedule by 10 mins, but feel confident of making the 06:00 AM flight. Damn sad, the airport staff has introduced User Tax for even domestic fliers. End up paying Rs 260/- with grudge. I take my boarding pass and since I dint have any check-in luggage, I proceed to the security check. Shock of my life awaits me there. The queue is bigger than "Hanumantana baala". 05:55 AM. Still 3 people in front of me and the 'Final Call' for boarding has been on since past 5 mins. 3 minutes later, I pass the security check, but sadly my bag is withheld. Apparently my 3/4ths empty deodorant was more than 100ml to them. I give up fighting with them and run to Gate 1. I am the last passenger getting into the plane. The doors are immediately closed behind me. The time is 06:03 AM. The flight was awesome. Kingfisher lived up to its name. Better than most of the international flight's service. The food was 'acceptable' in normal standards and 'luxury' in flight standards. The flight attendants were hotter than I had imagined. They were uber hot in their red coats. Looked as though they had walked straight off the ramp.

Flight is on schedule and I reach Pune at 07:20 AM. I take a prepaid auto to International Convention Center (end up paying Rs 180/- to the auto. Ridiculously costly they are). I call back home reporting my safe journey. I call Bala and ask him to check my train reservation status (I was on Waiting List and was really concerned). Unfortunately the W/L has not moved :-(. I proceed to the Symbiosis Auditorium (it is actually TATA auditorium). I loaf around a bit. Have to kill time till 3 PM. I find the CCD sofa's comfortable. I settle down there and order stuff to eat. I take a leisurely 3 hours to finish a cake and a cold coffee. Mean time I prepare for the typical interview questions. I make points for questions like: 'Why MBA?', 'Which specialization?' etc.. I yawned a lot during this time :-O Still half asleep I went to another Coffee bar on the 9th floor. Ordered more coffee, and read a novel (more on that later). Some how I manage to kill time till 2 PM. I enter the auditorium for GD/PI registration. My first encounter with the "possible" seniors. They immediately appear friendly, ready to help. I also get the feeling that everything has been organized really well. There is no commotion and the entire process is smooth. 3 PM sharp they call my name. I finish the registration process, and the first year students are questioned by us. I in particular questioned them a lot, as I had heard conflicting views on the college. They manage to give convincing and honest answers to almost all the questions. I am taken to the 5th floor, where my GD and PI would take place.

The place looked posh. There were 4 others in my group for GD. We make small talk, and I learn that everyone has experience for at least 1.5 years. 5 mins later, we are led into the GD room. We are greeted by 2 people whom I'll refer to as P1 and P2.

P1 - is pretty old, may be in his 60's. He has a half sleeve shirt. He was wearing slippers. He looked very informal and definitely a professor of SCMHRD.
P2 - is very formal. He was wearing a suit and looked like someone from the industry.
P1 - gives us the rules for the GD. It would be a case study. 5 mins to read the case study. 20 mins to discuss it and the last 5 mins to arrive at a consensus. 20 mins with 5 people in the GD - I was sure this would never end up as a fish market. And I knew all of them could air their views. So I thought there would be no brownie points for starting the GD.

GD Case Study :
It is about a Retail company which has entered the market recently. It had really high hopes given the success of the Retail industry in India. But it now sees that it has faced losses. And it goes about to find out the factors leading to the loss. There were around 9-10 factors listed with a small brief of its impact. We as a team had to discuss each point and finally we had to rank them according to their impact value and reach a consensus on the top three factors that affected the company. Some of the factors that were listed were :

• Lack of infrastructure like power, transport, communication
• Supply Chain is fragmented
• Grey market is blooming
• Lack of skilled manpower
• No Government incentive which results in tougher laws to survive
• Competition
• Transportation problems concerning storage and transportation of perishable goods etc..

The GD discussion went on smoothly. As I had thought there was no fish market situation. On the contrary there were certain silent moments where no one spoke. It was quite awkward. But the 20 mins was a breeze. P1 then reminded us that there was 5 mins left and we still had to rank and reach a consensus on the top 3 factors. Surprisingly we all agreed on the top 3. I felt that my top 3 was the groups top 3 as well. So was pretty happy with it. I also had put couple of good points in the GD and managed to bring the GD back to track once, when it had steered out of course. We picked Lack of Infrastructure, Government incentives and Supply chain being fragmented as the top 3 factors. We were asked to hand back the notepad page where we were scribbling some points and also the case study page.

Once we were out of the room, we were made to wait in the "PI waiting room". Here we were flocked by first year students who gave a lot of 'gyan' and also were sweet enough to share their experiences, the market scenario and placements, college and hostel life etc.. There was a board on which our ID's were projected. It basically showed which Panel we would be going to (there were 8 panels and each candidate was preassigned to a panel as per his/her qualification) and how many were ahead of us. It was a relaxing waiting time.

Then the moment came when my number started flashing. A senior (a hot one at that! --well most of them were hot ;-)) asked me to follow her into the room. Following is the transcript (which i remember) of the interview. There were again 2 panel member. Both of them in their early 30's. Lets call them P1 and P2 and myself as M. I'll be putting my inner thoughts in italics

M : Good Morning!! (wtf! its 5 PM)
M : Good Afternoon Sir (Thankfully they dint notice my initial greetings. They were busy eating cookies and having tea)
P1 to the hot senior : How many more for the day? I am tired! (Not a good sign. An agitated interviewer)
Hot senior : Only couple of them after this Sir. Can I get you anything? (She gets no reply for this offer. I mentally pity her. She gives me a cute smile, indicating I'm in for some hammering today and leaves)
P2 : Please sit (Yes, I was still standing)
M : Thank you Sir (Now P1 and P2 are engrossed in my CV. They take around 20 secs to go through it. There is complete silence in the 6X6 room)
P1 : So you are from Visveswaraya Technological University? Where is it?
M : It is in Karnataka Sir. I studied in BMS College which is affiliated to it.
P1 : What was the selection criteria for this? What test did you take?
M : We had a Common Entrance Test. Based on the rank, we could pick the college and stream of our choice. (He does not seem impressed with my university for some reason. Neither would I have been impressed with it :-))
P1 : So what rank did you get in this test? And was your college the best college in the university?
M : I got a rank of 909 Sir. And of course my college and my department was the best. among the lot (I give him a big grin)
P1 : (Suddenly concerned) Why so less marks in SNAP? (He munches on another cookie. This makes me feel hungry. I almost missed this question, thinking how good the cookie must taste)
M : (I start to blabber) blah blah
P1 : What is your revised marks? (Yes, SNAP came with revised marks, after every person I knew of got at least 10-20 marks less than expected. In the revised marks I got 8.75 marks more)
M : I tell him
P1 : That is better. So you are working in IBM? Are you bored with your work already?
M : Definitely not Sir. I can't get more of my work. It is very interesting, as I work on technologies of tomorrow. Also I have an amazing team.
P1 : You are getting a very good package. Why do you want to leave it and come here.?Even I can't guarantee you to get this package after your MBA.
M : According to me Sir, anything in life is a risk. But I am willing to take this risk, after considering it deeply. I believe a MBA from SCMHRD is a safe bet.
P1 : 'Are common re'. Tell me properly. In this time of recession why are you leaving? Is your job safe? Or are you already laid-off?
M : No Sir. Our company is doing very well. And with my performance in the past 1.5 years, I consider my job to be safe and sound (I am actually laughing my ass off now... in my mind :-P)
P2 : (Speaks for the first time!!)So will you still do a MBA, if I assure you that the recession will stay for two more years?
M : (With all earnest) According to me Sir, If there is recession for 2 more years, then my job is definitely not safe. So is the jobs of thousands of others like me. So I feel during that time it is better to be applying for new jobs with a MBA from SCMHRD rather than just a BE. (voohoo... I am impressed the way I answered that impromptu. And seeing P2 with a raised eyebrow, I think he too was impressed with it)
P2 : So you are firm on doing a MBA? What if you don't get through this year?
M : I'll come back the next year, and the year after that too, if that is what it takes for me to study in SCMHRD (I am in full swing now)
P1 : Ok, so can you sing for us? (I am shocked!!??!!)
M : I am a very bad singer Sir. However I can play flute pretty well.
P1 : So can you show your flute skill now?
M : I haven't got my flute here Sir. But if you can provide me a flute, I am sure I can entertain you (I smirk at him and he smiles)
P2 : Tell me more about your work? What do you actually do?
M : (I talked about Web 2.0, my work as a developer and a L3 support resource)
P2 : (Looks into my CV again where I had written --"Working in IBM India Software Labs has given me invaluable exposure into the management skills required to run such a huge organization. This experience has also highlighted my naive understanding of the complex aspects of Business Administration") So what is such a invaluable experience in 1.5 years? How naive is your naive understanding?
M : (I am taken aback a bit, I talk about my work, how my manager has inspired me and stuff. And how they handle client calls and all. He seemed satisfied with my answer)
P2 : Which specialization do you want to pursue?
M : At the moment, I would go for Marketing Sir. But of course I am open to change. I will probably be well guided and informed by teachers and seniors about my strengths.
P1 : Which other calls have you got?
M : I have got a call from NMIMS
P2 : Which will you pick if you get calls from both?
M : Of course I will pick SCMHRD (At this point P2 notes down my points in his folder. I try to seek a peak into the folder, but he hides it pretty well)
P1: Why?
M : Apart from the obvious reason that SCMHRD is better than NMIMS, I like Pune city more than Mumbai city. Also I have come to understand that SCMHRD has a better campus life than NMIMS. And as far as I know, MBA is all about building contacts and for that to happen the campus plays a huge role.
P1 : Do you have any questions for us?
M : (I don't know why, I started laughing doh!) I can't think of anything at this moment Sir.
P1 : Common think, there is still time left in this interview!
M : (After trying to think for 20 secs I could only come up with) Sir, I can only talk more about myself. (Till now, I don't know why I said that!!)
P2 : (Looks suspiciously at me) Ok, tell more about yourself.
M : (I blurt out stuff) blah blah
P1 : Ok Madhu, Thanks for coming. We will get back to you.
M : Thank you! Have a nice day.

After that I met a super nice senior Roshan. He is also from Bangalore, and I think he was happy to speak in Kannada again. I get to know a lot from him. I call Bala again at 6:30 PM only to learn that my W/L has not cleared. I get a bit worried. But with Roshan's help, I manage to find a VRL dealer and book a sleeper coach bus. The bus is pretty much on time. I leave Pune at 9:15 PM. I watched a couple of FRIENDS episodes on Srinath's ipod. Had dinner and slept blissfully. I got up at 9:00AM the next day. Continued reading the novel "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed Got Wild and Got a Life"(will write a review on this book shortly:-)). I finished the novel by 1.30 PM. I was back home by 2:30 PM.

PS : If Roshan is reading this, I still can't believe that someone will go so much out of the way to help a stranger. All you guys in SCMHRD were super helpful. Thanks Guys. You rock. Hoping to see you again ;-)