The Quintessential Outsider

As promised, I am back with my next interview experience, IIM Indore, which happened yesterday morning. I reached the venue by 8:30 am, and when the groups were announced, I was relieved to know that I was the first candidate in my group, so unlike the previous interviews, I wouldn’t have to wait too long for my turn.

We went in for the GD, and were handed a one-page case to read for 5 minutes. It was about a successful businesswoman who heads a large BPO firm (I am not sure what they meant by large, because later in the case, it was mentioned that the firm has about 50 employees). The employees in her firm, and in the sector as a whole, are facing problems because of harassing calls made by US or UK citizens who resent the outsourcing of jobs to India. Also, the safety of employees, especially women, has come under media attention recently. So she has to take some measures to tackle these issues, and she goes to discuss it with her business partner, who manages the financial and administrative part (while she is the ‘face of the company’). He says she can take measures, but without any financial burden, as the company is planning an upgradation, etc. All this comes as a surprise to her and she feels left out of these decisions made by her partner. What should she do?

The discussion was strictly OK. We were given 12 minutes, and with only 6 people in the group, I thought everyone would have enough time to speak. But a couple of guys seemed too enthusiastic (or actually, nervous.. or maybe they just loved to hear their own voice, even if they didn’t have any points), and hogged most of the time. I made a couple of forays, saying that all that is being discussed is fine, but the critical thing is for her to communicate all this tactfully to her partner. Of course, there are many solutions if one goes to look for them, but proper communication between the partners is essential for those solutions to work. I know that I generally talk lesser than I should in GDs, but sometimes, that’s because I don’t see the point in arguing with someone whose only concern is to hog the time, and I feel that there is always the interview to show what I really am. Plus, today I felt, it’s only IIM Indore, after all.

Anyway, the GD got over, and we were all asked to write a summary of the discussion. After that, one of the professors said that they would call us in random order, and I thought to myself, ‘what the hell, even today I’ll have to wait for my interview’. One of the candidates said then that he hadn’t brought his CAT admit card, which slightly incensed the professor, but he finally told him to get a photocopy of some identification along with the original one. We went outside to wait, and the second guy in the group was the first to be called in. I chatted with the others in the meantime.

After about 20 minutes, that guy came out with a very serious and tense look on his face. We asked him about the interview, and he said it was OK, and ‘thoda stress tha’, and that I was next, and I should go in after 3 minutes. I got up and went to the door of the interview room. After some time, I knocked the door, I heard ‘come in’, I tried opening the door, I heard ‘come in’ again and louder this time, and finally, one of the professors came up and opened the door, and asked me, ‘couldn’t you hear us’. I said, ‘yes sir, I could, but I couldn’t open the door’. It was then that he realised that that door could be opened only from inside, or by inserting a card key from outside. There were 2 professors in the panel, say L (to my left) and R (to my right). Here’s what happened after that:

R: (who opened the door, and then came and sat and looked at my name) So, your name is Mathur?
Me: No sir, that’s my surname. My first name is Chitranshu.
R: Oh, so what does that mean?
Me: Sir, ‘chitr-’ means picture, and it is also derived from our family deity, who is Chitragupta. And ‘anshu’ is a suffix like in ‘Himanshu’ etc.
R: But does it have any meaning?
Me: Yes sir, ‘ansh’ means a part.
R: So, what does Chitragupta do?
Me: (smiling) Sir, as far as I know, he sits next to Yamaraj with an account of everyone’s lives.
R: (with a smile) OK, so when you meet Chitragupta, please put in a good word for us.
(On hearing this, I am like ‘WHAT???’, but in the meantime, L begins)
L: So, what do your friends call you, Chitranshu or Vijay or…?
Me: No sir, Vijay is my father’s name. On a professional or formal level, I am called Chitranshu.
L: OK, so Chitranshu, tell us about yourself. And hand over your certificates please.
Me: (after handing over the file) blah blah blah… end with the fact that I appeared for IAS exams after graduating from IIT.
L: Oh, so what happened to that IAS dream?
Me: Sir, I cleared the prelims, then appeared for the Mains in Oct-Nov 2007, and their results are due sometime in the second half of March.
L: So, what is your order of preference in those services?
Me: blah blah.
L: Oh, so it is either IFS/IAS or IIMs?
Me: Yes sir.
L: OK, so you must be very good at GK?
(I didn’t quite catch the word GK, so he repeated, calling it ‘general studies’ this time. I nodded and smiled, waiting for some questions on it)
L: OK, so can you tell us something about China? I mean, China is a communist country, but now, it has a capitalistic approach, especially if you see Shanghai etc. So how are these two opposites reconciled?
Me: Sir, when China originally turned communist about 60 years ago, it was under Mao Zedong until 1978, and he had this very strict regime, and things were tried like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. However, after 1978, they have adopted the current approach, what they call ‘market communism’. And now, it’s not a question of capitalism or communism, but what’s good for the country. So they are doing what they think is good for them, whether it is their own economy, or increasing their influence in the world, not just by interacting with the US and the EU, but also nations from Africa or Latin America.
L: But, do you foresee any problems with their current approach?
Me: Yes sir, it is still a one-party state, and you cannot criticize the government at all. Also, there are human rights issues, and for developing places like Shanghai, they have had to relocate millions of people.
L: What do you know about Cuba?
Me: (a bit surprised at this sudden change of track, but soon, I realised that this was a rapid-fire grilling) Sir, Cuba is, if I am not wrong, the first country to turn communist in the Western Hemisphere. And, just yesterday… (I was going to speak about Fidel Castro giving the reins to Raul, but L interrupted)
L: Have you heard of the Bay of Pigs?
Me: Yes sir, it is a region in Cuba, where, in Kennedy’s time, there was an invasion. I mean, not directly, but CIA sponsored some Cuban rebels…
(L again interrupted, and thus the grilling went on for about 10 minutes. I don’t remember ALL the questions, but some of them, and not necessarily in order, were as follows)
L: What do you know about the WTO?
L: Who is Hugo Chavez?
L: What do you think about India’s chances of becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council?
L: What is a mixed economy?
L: Do you think India’s leaders did the right thing in 1947 when they opted for a mixed economy?
L: What is ‘demographic dividend’?
L: What is the Narmada Bachao Andolan?
L: Do you read any books?
L: (after I mentioned Amartya Sen’s ‘Argumentative Indian’ and his take on the question of identity) Do you agree with what Raj Thackeray is doing now in Mumbai?
L: What can be done to tackle a situation like this?

(I answered all of these, and I did not stop with a brief answer and wait for the next question. Instead, I went on with more details, and my take on it, until he fired the next question. And then, he finally came up with one I didn’t know)
L: Who is R.K. Karanjia?
Me: Umm… I don’t know, sir.
L: (smiling and turning to R) OK, do you have any questions?
R asked me some questions about my present job, about what is Engineering Physics, what are the prospects if one wants to stay in that field, and then he moved on to the following:
R: So Chitranshu, you know that India and the US are very similar, in the sense that both are democracies, both have certain freedoms for their citizens, etc. And yet we see that the US often favours China, or even Pakistan, more than India. Why do you think that is so?
Me: Sir, in today’s world, diplomacy is not practised the way it was in Pandit Nehru’s time, when we would think that we would talk only to like-minded countries. This is the age of ‘realpolitik’, and every country does what is in its best interest. So, even the nuclear deal that President Bush helped push through, was for the US interest. It also helps India, but India has to take care of that part.
L: So what do you think about the nuclear deal?
Me: Sir, I think the CPM is being very dogmatic in its opposition to the deal. I mean, yes, there might be some genuine concerns expressed by scientists and others, but instead of an open discussion on those concerns, we just see a lot of rhetoric. And their stand that ‘just because it’s the US, we cannot have that deal’ is not right, as it will also help open doors for India with other countries. Now, of course, the US has passed it, so there are the IAEA talks and the NSG and so on…
R: But, don’t we have enough nuclear fuel reserves in our own country?
Me: Yes sir, we have reserves of thorium and uranium, but they must not be enough, because we have tried to be self-reliant for the last 30 years or so. And at this critical juncture, we need more fuel…
R: So can’t we get it from other countries?
Me: (reiterating my point) Yes, but for all of that, we have to go through with the IAEA talks and NSG approval. In today’s world, we cannot just trade with one country and ignore the others.

I don’t remember now if there were any other such questions, but after that, R moved on to the extra-curriculars page in my form, and asked me what those were. I explained all those things I had written, and then they said, ‘OK, that’s enough’.

I came out with a huge smile on my face, as I knew I had done really well. I think this was my best performance so far because they went on asking about the things I know, instead of picking on some things that I didn’t know and grilling me on them. But I have to be good with dealing with that situation also, especially with two big ones (C on 13th March and B on 27th March) coming up. I told the next guy in line to go after 5 minutes, and waited for some time, chatting with the others.

When I reached home, my dad called up, and while I was telling him about the interview, he told me that R.K. Karanjia was the former editor of Blitz who died last year.

Anyway, so I’ll be back with the next one after 13th March, or maybe something more interesting before that.