Day 1
Its that period of the year in India when most MBA colleges in India would produce the calls for the 2nd round of selection process, the GD-PI round to be specific after a breakneck written round.
I also managed a call (though the call came a bit late for me and I was almost sure of having not made the cut this year too) from one of the premier institutes of the country.
The institute more famously known as XLRI.
My interview was slated for the 19th of April, 2007. The insti not only offered me a stay in the campus but also agreed to pay for my conveyance costs. None the less, I was more than excited to having got an interview call at least.
I left for the insti on the 17th of April from my place of stay and reached the insti on the 18th morning at 6:30a.m. From the station I took an auto rickshaw to the insti. I tried to keep my poise and not look like a pauper who had won a billion $ in lottery. As had been mentioned in the call letter, I got in touch with the security at the main gate of the insti,after I had reached there, to know where exactly I was supposed to stay put. However, since it was so early in the morning the person in charge hadn’t really taken charge for the day I was left in lurch, waiting in the campus lawns for the next 45 min till someone more responsible would turn up and get in touch with the authorities to let me into a room (actually they hadn’t expected someone to reach the campus so early in the day and hence didn’t get the rooms ready for occupation. It was only after I had reached they readied the room).
Already I was damn tired b’coz of the overnight journey and waiting for another 45 min in the lawns meant I was left with no energy whatsoever to even talk to anyone. Sometime later I got my room. I immediately had a quick bath and then proceeded to take my breakfast( The breakfast I found to be damn cheap considering the fact that I end up spending almost 20bucks daily without even properly refilling the empty stomach) which I must admit was superb. By the time I had finished all this it was almost 8:45a.m and I didn’t have much time left to cool my heels before meeting one Mr.Jagan Rao( This was the same man who has sent me the call for the interview and about whom I discovered, later on during my stay, would be the most bankable man in the campus). I rested for around 30min (having not been able to satisfy my sleeping needs properly) and then went ahead to meet Mr. Jagan.
I was kind of escorted to the library premises, thanks to another helpful soul – the man in-charge of my lodging, where Mr.Jagan’s office was there. I entered the room, occupied a chair and got into some informal discussions with him, helping him at the same time to send calls to many other participants like me. Within sometime itself we both got fairly friendly and he accompanied me (to my surprise) to a lounge, in the main admin block, where we had some coffee. By this time whatever energy was left in my body had got exhausted and I really needed to rejig it. The coffee proved to be the perfect antidote. We then moved once again to the library block where he helped me identify the place where the interviews would be held the next day. On our way back from the Admin block to the Library block, we found a senior who was pursuing the same course as the one I was supposed to pursue and Mr. Jagan did the needful by introducing me to him– Mr Kamal Mukherjee..
After Mr Jagan had helped me identify the interview block, we parted our ways, Mr.jagan to his office and myself back to the hostel enclosure, where I would meet up with Mr Kamal and discuss few fine points about the course. After some basic level of discussions I moved to my room, both having decided to meet up at the lunch time. I went to my room and thought of a nap before the lunch time, so that I would be able to study during the post lunch session. However that was not to be as I found the room to be a simulated furnace. I tried a lot to manage some sleep but couldn’t and by the time I was even close to sleeping it was lunch time and as planned was expected to be in the canteen.
In the canteen I met Mr.Kamal(He was right on time). During the course of the lunch we had another student of the same course join us, Manavi. We all discussed the pros and cons of the course and what else would be a better option for my profile. Both of these students went out of their way to help me out in a lot of ways.
The lunch session turned out to be a rather long one. By the time I had finished my lunch it was 2’o clock in the after noon and I hadn’t managed a single minute’s sleep and I was definitely trying hard to stay awake anymore. So I thought a good lunch would do the needful to help me sleep. But again I couldn’t sleep for the next 1 hr and by the time my eyes closed the phone rang up. It was my friend, Santanu, who was a student in the insti and had gone for a project work in a local company. He turned up early from his work since I was there. We both met in his hostel, had some nimbu pani and went to his room. We chatted for sometime in his room, bringing back old memories (the last time we had met was I year back). It was by now 4:30p.m and I dearly needed to sleep to be at least able to go through some basics before I could go for the interview the next day. So I came back from his room and this time managed a sound sleep.
I was woken up by some loud music in the campus. I quickly had a look in my watch and realized I had slept for 3 long hours. It was 7:30p.m and I hadn’t read a single word. I got into a tizzy, wondering what would happen tomorrow. I quickly refreshed myself and read whatever little I could before the dinner.
It was 9:15p.m sharp when I got a call once again from Santanu asking me to come down for a dinner together. We met in his hostel, where he introduced me to a couple more people. We finished our dinner and went for a stroll around the campus, coming across fellow students. Incidentally I had already got introduced to most of them earlier in the day itself. After a little walk around the campus I decided to get back to my room, realizing that not much time was left for the day now and that it was probably a little too late. I decided to recline on my bed and read whatever little I could before falling asleep.
Day 2
I had set the alarm for 6:45a.m but the interview anxiety made sure that I woke up earlier. I quickly washed my face without wasting much of a time and thought of a having cursory glance of whatever I had studied till then. I managed to gobble up whatever I could in the next 1hr 15 min odd and proceeded for the morning chores. By 7:30a.m I was all ready and raring to go (Well if I can say that J ). I quickly went ahead for my breakfast, only to realize that the breakfast wasn’t ready by then and that meant I needed to wait, which again lent its hand to my anxiety. I spotted a few familiar faces in the canteen, which like me were waiting for the breakfast. After sometime the breakfast did arrive and I sat with one of the persons with whom I had got acquainted to the previous day, Anirban. Over the breakfast table we got into some random conversation when again I spotted another familiar face. Well, this was not someone from the people who I came to know in the campus. Then who was this, whom I thought I knew??
A little nudge to my brain and I could recall him to be a fellow team mate from my project in my office. He however failed to recognize me.
Never the less, after finishing my breakfast I moved for my room, this time to finally gear up for the interview slated to take place in the next 1hr.
After the final touches to my preparation, I moved for the MDP Residence(This was the building where the interview was going to take place). En route I met a fellow aspirant who unlike me was in the final year of his bachelors degree. On reaching the MDP residence I realized that there were some other interviews too that were taking place. However, since I had already been introduced to the place by Mr.Jagan the previous day itself, it hardly took me anytime to locate the place. Some more wait, and I found that there were many anxious souls like mine eager to take off.
Mr Jagan meanwhile tried his best to keep the anxieties at bay. He gladly snapped all anxious faces by his cell phone camera, in a way doing his bit in helping us relax. It was around 9:00 a.m now and we all wondered who the first person would be to go to the interview room. Just then some one called out the name Gati. But there was no sign of Gati anywhere and the next name that was called out was mine, Indranil. I was then asked to go to the next room and get the documents that I had brought with me verified. I obliged gleefully. After the verification I came back to the room where we all had been waiting. The process followed for others too. It was then that Gati turned up. He was then asked to follow the process. But it seemed as if it was taking a wee bit longer for his documents to get verified. After around 20min, my name was once again called out and that’s when I realized that Gati had proceeded for his interview straight after the verification process.
Anyways, it was my turn now and I went into the interview room. What followed next was a volley of questions for the next 35 min from the panel of 5 members. I came out in a pretty stable state although, I would say. After that I straight away went to Mr. Kamal’s room where in I told him about how the interview went and asked for his suggestions on the same. I must say he presented before me so many views, which till then I had not even thought of. After some time I went back to my room to relax for some time before the lunch. Like the day before, I met Mr.Kamal on the lunch table while Manavi joined us later. And once again Mr. Kamal and Manavi lent me a helping hand by letting me know of the many facets of the subject I was to take up in the insti and the suggestions acted as an eye opener for me.
I felt I was so very ignorant of the facts.
I went back to my room after some best wishes from Mr.Kamal and Manavi post lunch, taking with me a bagful of gladness and a cheerful feeling. A feeling that made me only wonder as to how these people, whom I didn’t even know till 2 days ago, went out of their way to help me.
Today it was much cooler than yesterday, with big dark clouds hovering around. I managed an afternoon siesta, but not for long though. I thought of catching up with another chap Lalit, with whom I had come in contact through the web and was supposed to participate in the selection process. I checked out the list of candidates and the rooms allotted to them.
I knocked the door of a room wondering if Lait had checked in. The door opened and on my introduction the chap too got excited. He This was indeed Lalit in person. And after all he was meeting someone with whom he had only had telephonic conversations. We whiled our time in some general conversations, when I remembered that I needed to get my return tickets from a nearby travel agent. So I left for the time being only to find Anirban midway. Anirban had managed some huge offers from some big corporates and he even showed me one of those offers that he incidentally was carrying with himself. We struck a great discussion amongst ourselves, which ended by him adding my name in his friends list on Orkut. By the time our conversation got over I realized that some 1.5hrs had passed by and that I got a bit late to collect the tickets. Anirban offered tojoin me to the travel agent’s office.
After that Anirban left for his room(he had some important assignment to finish) and I left to meet Mr. Jagan once again. I met him in his office and he suggested going to the tea shop in the hostel enclosure. On way to this shop he explained me how he had arranged some of the other programs that were currently going on and how he had avoided a big chaos. Once again I felt as if Mr.Jagan knew me for a long time from the way he comforted me all along. It was by then 5:30p.m and I had to leave for my aunt’s place lest it would get dark as also I had to meet Santanu before leaving. So I bid adieu to Mr.Jagan, while he wished be good luck. Truly the association with him had been awesome.
Sometime later I checked out if my friend had come back from his office. Luckily I got hold of him in his room and I thought of treating him. We both left for Chappan Bhog, to spice up our taste buds. Some real good spicy food there and we were back in no time. Santanu and myself went to my room where we found Lalit loitering in the aisle in front of my room. I introduced Lalit to Santanu. Some more gibbering and I decided it was the right time to bid the campus adieu for the time being at least.
Santanu escorted me to the auto stand to see me off.
And there I went saying good bye XLRI carrying loads of good memories not only of the campus but also some great people I came across.
