The MBA Ride: How IIMA happened?

It was a sultry afternoon in Gurgaon and I was unknowingly immune to it. I was already ashamed of my IIMB interview and didn't want to repeat the performance in IIMA. All you can tell yourself before the interviewee gets revoked in the room with dim lights where life comes to stir, theory of relativity gets justified, small pauses seem like a lifetime and you are devoured by two or three witty pair of eyes.

Like almost everybody I was expecting almost anything and had tried to prepare for it. The location was relaxing and I had reached quite early. I tried to interact with a wonderful personality but my mind was still hovering around the process that started abruptly leading all of us to some big sighs and large gulps of water. The process was briefed by the admission committee and two professors led us to our respective panels. The old eyes again screened us and the professors delightfully explained the process.

The topic was like:  Loneliness is an epidemic. (Dont remember it exactly). I wrote three small paragraphs in 7 minutes and revised them and scrutinized it to the point of no grammatical error. Interviews started within no time and I was waiting out the room in almost no moments. The professor called my name that just brought me to my senses. The play:

Part I:

(greetngs exchanged)

P1: Paras, what do you do?

Me: Told. ( I am a civil engineer. Details will make some of you yawn.)

P1: What is a super thermal power plant?

Me: Told about super critical and large capacities and about the technology...

P1: OK..Tell me which is the largest power plant in India?

Me: Adani Mundra..4200MW (checked 4600 it was..oops)

P1: Are all its units working?

Me: As far as I have heard, yes sir.

P1: Hmm..(Taking long breaks in between)Where is the world power market going?

Me: If we talk about India..(interrupted...No no no...world)...Sir...large markets are going for solar and wind and developing ones are being pressurized to adopt renewable energy like wind..So trend is towards wind energy...

P1: Why wind energy now?

Me: Talked about Kyoto and environment...

Part II:

P1: Okay, so tell me three ways to tackle contractors better?

Me: Told (with stopping in between to think).

P1: Tell me

one more?

Me: Told.

Part III: (Non-Engineers may avoid)

P2: As an engineer, tell me what is common between this building and what you build? Tell me three things?

Me: I told only one. Then started thinking and he interrupted with the technical questions.

P2: How can you test whether the structure is sound after concreting?

Me: Ultrasound testing. Next two questions were revolving around this only and we had a small discussion that resulted in my answer.

P2: Asked a technical question about a cantilever beam with a hole in it and asked whether it will fail.

Me: I said it would. He disagreed and said it would not. I tried to justify by drawing BMD and he was not convinced. Our non-concurrence broke us into a laugh and he tricked me into committing a mistake that I realized after I got out.

P2: OK. Leave it. Optimized the beam for me.

Me: I did it and he said I am done.

Part IV:

P1: How do you see Modi as a prime-ministerial candidate?

Me: Sir, we have three probable candidates. Nitish Kumar. As we know, no candidate from the third front/left would say that he wants to become a PM. Rahul Gandhi has the promise of inclusiveness but has no delivery record as we saw in UP elections also and Modi who has excellent governance skills but has a cloud of communalism over his head. I see him as a bright candidate for the position sir.

P1: Hmm..OK..Tell me whether you will vote for Modi or not?

Me: Sir, I will.

P1: Why?

Me: Because I would like to see India grow like Gujarat.

P1: OK..What are India's 3 biggest post-independence achievements?

Me: (Thinking hard now)..Sir, green revolution..and white revolution if we can club them into one..The food revolution..Second would be the accidental reforms of 1991...accidental because it was forced upon us but that brought a continuous growth for next twenty years....And, third would be the space and science..India has been able to launch satellites that even developed countries have not been able to launch...eg PSLV 2...SO Space revolution would be the third...

P1: Who was the pioneer of Green Revolution?

Me: Dr. MS Swaminathan

P1: White Revolution?

Me: Dr. Verghese Kurien

P1: Space Revolution?

Me: Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

P1: OK...You may go...

Me: Thanks sir...

(No maths..I had prepared for that actually...technical was a bumpy ride..So was quite unsure about it..)

Verdict: Converted..OMG..couldnt believe it for two to three days...