THE IIM-A interview

And here comes the third installment of the IIM interview series - my IIM-Ahmedabad interview. This was on March 7th. Nice sunny day it was. Anyways coming to the GD, it was very ordinary. The topic given was a case-study and we all had to write a summary at the end of it. I couldn't finish writing the summary in the allotted time. Then moving on to the personal interview, this time around we had a panel of 3. If I'm not wrong, one of them is from the industry or an alumnus and the other two faculty from IIM-A.

P1: A formal and sophisticated looking guy.
P2: Somewhat sporting and cool. Dressed in casuals.
P3: Dark guy with a French beard.

As I entered, one of the hotel staff was bringing in lemonades.
Before I completely drift from the topic, they asked me take my seat and as usual I wished them with my loud, somewhat cheerful customary "Good afternoon sir". They seemed to be in good spirits.
P1: Srinivasan. Srinivasan.S. huh?
Me: Yes, sir.
P2: Ohh Srinivasan. How tall are you?
Me: I am 6 feet tall, Sir.
P2: Just 6 feet?
Me: Yes sir.
P2: Exact? Because you seem taller.
Me: Thank you sir. (Didn't know what to tell.. :-??)
P2: Are you still growing Srinivasan?
(Now everyone starts laughing as if it is some inside joke.. I was slightly irritated but then was quick to retaliate once the laughter died down)
Me: Sir, I took a conscious decision to stop growing a couple of years ago.
(Now they were laughing louder and I also joined in.. :D)
P1: Ok, Srinivasan. So you must be doing your final year project. Can you explain it to us now?
Me: Sure, sir. Our final year project was based on he principle of..
P2: *interrupts* Dont mind if I interrupt but what do you mean by "was based on". You've stopped doing your final year project? *chuckles*
Me: No sir. Our director was of the opinion that students tend to slack off on the FYP front once they get placed. So he got it advanced by one semester so that people end up finishing their final year project.
P2: aahh.. nice! Please carry on.
[Explained the project. They asked me a few doubts and I answered them satisfactorily. Then they asked me to encrypt a C-program into another C program. And then some technical stuff followed which ended up with me confessing that I could not recollect the algorithm. They were fine with it.]
P1: Ok. fine. Can you tell us about your areas of interest?
Me: Sir, I am particularly interested in Cognitive Science. *explained what it was*
P1: *Not very impressed* So what other subjects interest you?
P2: You've done Linear Programming! Do you mind me asking you questions in it? *He was looking at my 7th semester projects*
Me: err.. I am not very comfortable with Linear Programming as a subject but I dont mind you asking me questions in it.
P2: Ok fine.. if you're not comfortable with it, then I wont ask you. Tell me any subject which you're comfortable with so that I can ask you questions on it. Maths - I?
Me: *NO WAY* hmm.. well..
P1: You must have some core computer science subject in which you're interested. Right?
Me: *yeah right!* hmm.. Can I take some time to think? *still twiddling my thumbs*
P1: Sure..
Me: *immediately* Sir, I am interested in Multi-robotics course. I did it in my 6th semester. *Explained the projects which I did. They grilled me. Understandably. And I answered pretty well, to the best of my knowledge. After explaining the constraint space coverage projects, they decided to stop and let the French beard guy take over*
P3: Srinivasan, huh?
Me: Yes, sir.
P3: You dont seem to have too many extra-curricular activities.
Me: *Are you kidding? I have ONLY extra-curricular activities!* Sir, I beg to differ. In fact I think I've mentioned that I am even part of our college theater group.
P3: Oohh.. so what do you do?
Me: Being the college theater group, we enact plays sir.
P3: No no.. I meant what do YOU do?
Me: *still confused* I act in the plays, Sir.
P3: No no.. apart from acting.
Me: *Now I am puzzled. I just cant say I do nothing. At the same time I can neither say that I direct plays. It would seem way too far-fetched* Sir, I helped my director choose costumes for all characters. *And then I felt like the most stupid soul on earth!*
P3: *chuckles* Ok. So are you going to write a paper on your final year project?
Me: Sir, my project partners.. 2 of them.. are right now working on it. And I also hope to work on it once I am done with all my IIM interviews.
P3: Ohh.. ok. So you are from Hyderabad?
Me: Sir, I was born in Coimbatore. Since my father works in a bank, I've travelled quite a lot. But right now we're settled in Hyderabad.
P3: Coimbatore. Ok.. So Srinivasan tell me.. what is the other name for Coimbatore.
Me: *I should have said Kovai.. but instead* Sir, err.. if I am not wrong, it is also known as Manchester of the South.
[Again everyone had a hearty laugh! Is there any catch here? :-??]
P3: So do you think we can still call it by the same name.
Me: *I tried explaining but then I realised that they were just fooling around and stopped before completing the answer*
P1: Thank you, Srinivasan. Take one chocolate from the tray. *It was a melody chocolate*
Me: *He was practically ordering me* Thank you Sir. Can I take two?
P1: Yeah sure.
Me: *Then I realised that if I take two, there wont be enough left for others.* Sir, if I take one more, there wont be enough left for others.
P1: What? Then you can't take two. *turns to P3* Ohh.. someone has already taken two. Now we're one short!
Me: Thank you sir. *leaves*

The interview revolved around my final year project. And a couple of topics I took in engineering. The panel was pretty cool with us not answering all questions. It was not a stress interview. They wanted us to relax completely which was quite unlike the L and C interview. Now, if I do get selected, I wonder on what basis they'd select me.. :D So overall a very ordinary GD and a somewhat-ok types interview. All I can do now is wait for the results to be out.. :-ss

PS1: India lost to Bangladesh! WHAT CRAP! And I actually saw the whole match.. not that I believe in miracles or something.
PS2: I am on the verge of breaking the testimonials record.. :D Have written quite a few but dont want to break it.. dont feel like writing any more.
PS3: Awesome day, today has been. So far.
PS4: Moving out of wordpress.. mostly to blogger again.
PS5: Woolmer passed away.. sad :( India better whip Bermuda's ass. Else Chappel would follow suit.
PS6: Cal GD was very bad. Interview was also somewhat ordinary. Dont know what to make out of such interviews.. :-??
PS7: Watched 5 minutes of Nishabd yesterday. Decided that I'd rather sit at room and whine than sit through the movie! That movie's only meant for senior citizens!! :P
PS8: The labels thing in blogger is cool! :D
PS9: People want me to go for the clean-shaven haircut a la Michael Scoffield! They've gone to the extent of bribing me! What do I do? What do I doo?? :-ss
PS10: BTW I made it to IIFT Kolkata.. So I have my backup secure! Of course I wont be joining IIFT. Only IIMs for me.. :D