IIM Indore Interview experience

Life doesnt often offer you a second chance.And for the unfortunate lot,sometimes not even one.
I realised the latter when during my IIM Indore interview, I was torn apart,mutilated and made to curse the fact that I had
so much fun in college. Could have done with a little bit of studies or common sense as the panel often preferred to quote.

To start with I had a decent case study.The case was about 1 page on an A4 size paper.It was a long and boring story
about a village dude who started a business without any work experience and then got screwed due to various factors.
His family was a peculiar one with most of the names having a prefix Ram (with due respect). They epitomised collective
failure.I started the discussion and put in a few points here and there. For a change,this one was the most decent
of GDs I have ever attended(and I have attended a decent number;ppl wud knw :):)) in the sense that everyone got a
chance to speak.Nobody was ridiculed or cut short. Not even the guy who suggested that one of the long term solutions
for the farmer dude would be to produce hydroelectricity in the village using the nearby river water.I mean come on...give
the guy a break...he is already down with debts.We shouldnt be making fun of him.Anyway the GD was for about an hour
including the writing part.

I was called 4th by the interview panel.The 3 people before me were not asked a single academic question(remember the
stuff about the unfortunate lot).

I knocked and entered.Here is how it went.

Me: Sir,May I come in ?
Panel: Come in Apurva.Please close the door behind you.
Me:Yes Sir (closed the door very softly and entered.There were 2 people.One bald,tall and athletic.The second one
was more of the prof types).Goodmorning Sir(to each).
Panel:Goodmorning Apurva.Have a seat.
Me:Thankyou Sir.
Panel:So whats been happening?
Me:[Thoughts:What about the normal:Temme sthng abt urself stuff].Sir,we all have been actually waiting outside eagerly for our interviews.
Panel:(smiles):Oh yeah,so how is it outside?
Me:[Thoughts:So u really think we have been waiting!!!].Sir,as soon as somebody comes out of the interview,we ask him about his experience and the
questions that he was asked.
Panel:[laughs]:So what was the feedback till now?
Me:[smile]:Sir everyone feels that the panel is cool and they had a good time[as if!!!]
Panel:[laughs again]: So you want us to be hot now??
Me:[join the humour.Give a sheepish laugh]:Sir I would prefer you to be cool[all smiles]
Panel:So you are from NIT Jamshedpur.
Me:Yes Sir.
Panel:Was it an NIT when you entered or REC?
Me:told him about the funda of RIT,REC and NIT...the older prof didnt get the concept.I explained properly.Infact the bald guy had to help out to
explain the older guy[plz note my bias against the old guy.It is justified as you wud come to knw towards the end of the experience].
Panel:Apurva you have used some business jargon in your form.Do you have some business connection?
Me:[I swear to God I dont know even an iota of business.And I had used none in the form which I had filled only on the night before.Maybe some jargon
in the case study].No Sir.
Panel:Business connection doesnt mean that you own a business.
Me:Yes Sir i understand.I have been with TCS for the last 2 and a half years and I have written a few documents like SRS[one thing that my college taught
me-hawa].I might have picked up the language from there.
Panel:So Apurva you have mentioned in the form that you would like to take up writing sports articles as an alternative career.
Me:Yes Sir.
Panel:Can you name the sports magazine by Hindu publishers.
Me:[after some thought]:I dont know Sir.
Panel:Can you name a few sports magazines?
Me: named atleast 6...they had to stop me.
Panel:Can you name the Sports journalist from IIM A?
Me:Yes Sir.Its Harsha Bhogle.
Panel:Can you name a few others?
Me:Yes Sir.Andrew Leci,John Dykes,Paul Masefield(named the entire Football focus panel).
Panel:[from their blank expression,came to realize that they hadnt heard even one]:So who is your favourite and why?
Me:Sir Paul Masefield because he is objective in his match analysis.
Panel:So you mean to say that a sports journalist should not be biased.
Me:Sir he can have his favourites like Liverpool in the case of Paul Masefield[hawa].But when he does an analysis and presents it to the people
watching the show or reading the article,he should be objective.
Panel:Who is the vice president of India?
Me:[that is like continuing a conversation in good flow]:Hamid Ansari(within a quarter of a sec.Reason being I had rattofied this in the morning)
Panel:Who is the President?
Me:[There are moments in ur life wen u are flabbergasted by simplicity.This was one of those...10 secs gone ...God please save me]
Panel:[in an uncontrollable fit of laughter]:This is fantastic.We had ased 3 ppl earlier the name of the vice president.Believe me nobody got it right.
But cmon.
Me:[Assholes wait]:Sir I now its a lady whose name starts with P[everybody including me is laughing by now]
after about 15 secs...Sir its Pratibha Patil.
Panel:[after controlling their fit]:Well we understand.It happens in the heat of the interview.
So you have been born and brought up in Nagpur.
Me:No Sir i have been born and brought up in Dhanbad.I did my 11th and 12th from Nagpur.
Panel:What is special about Dhanbad?
Me:told them about coal and my father being in Coal India Ltd
Panel:And what about Nagpur?
Me:[Here I would like to specially thank people like Kapil,Kartik,Madhur,Debu,Jagan,Ani...Nagpur was a unanimous favourite tourist destination amongst us]:
talked about oranges,Zero mile-center point of India etc etc
Panel:[interrupting]:So Nagpur is the apital of Maharashtra?
Me:[No you dumbass!! I just didnt knw the President answer]:No Sir.The capital is Mumbai.But Nagpur is also called the Winter Capital of Maharashtra because
the winter sessions of the parliament take place in Nagpur.
Panel:Parliament?
Me:Sorry Sir,Vidhan Sabha.

Though many of you would beg to differ,this was the good part of my interview.From here the old guy took over from the bald guy.
I somehow get the feeling that he had a predetermined opinion and bias against me.From here on,panel refers to him.

Panel:[taking a look at my mark sheets]:How does a refrigerator work?
Me:[took atleast 10 seconds to summon the courage]:Sir a refrigerator has a refrigerant which circulates and absorbs heat to produce the cooling effect.
Panel:[looked at me for some time...as if some bolt hit him.One of my friends says that probably that was too technical for him]:Can you name a few
refrigerants?
Me:[after pretending a lot to think]:Sir I cannot think of one at the moment.
Panel:[in shock]:OK..Can you tell us about a few properties a refrigerant should have?
Me:[Can I?Ofcourse I can.took abt 7-8 secs]Sir it should have a high latent heat of fusion because it has to absorb heat.
Panel:Which state is a refrigerant in?
Me:Sir in fluid state?
Panel:Why ...cant it be in gaseous state?
Me:[See you are as dumb as Iam]:Sir gas is also a fluid.
Panel:Are you sure?
Me:Yes Sir.
Panel:[frustrated]...So what kind of materials a refrigerant can be...LPG?
Me:[Dont you understand I dont knw a thing abt this]:Yes Sir.
Panel:Ok.Do you own a bike?
Me:[Ppl who knw me wud tell u tat I have had a history with bikes and interviews.My knowledge in Automobiles is slightly less than my knowledge about
the fridge]:No Sir.
Panel:What?You have been woring for the last 28 months .How do you commute then?
Me:Sir shared auto.
Panel:[smiles]:Thats good.So you have ever SEEN a 2 wheeler?
Me:[resisted the temptation to say No Sir]:Yes Sir.
Panel:Have you heard of EMD or EFD or sthng...I dont remember wht he said...
Me:No Sir.
Panel:Ok.In a 2 wheeler what do u mix with petrol?
Me:[after a lot of thinking]:Sir,oil.
Panel:Why do we mix oil?
Me:[after further thought]:Sir for lubrication.
[I came to realize that it wasnt the smartest of answers]
Panel:Lubrication of what Apurva?
Me:Sir the piston and the cylinder.
Panel:[almost begging for mercy]:So you think that the entire petrol and the oil goes inside the cylinder.The cylinder would burst.
Me:[decided not to say anything else on the topic]
Panel:Apurva cmon you are a Mechanical Engineer from NIT Jamshedpur.
Me:[thoughts:That is the reason Sir]
Panel:Ok tell me which is your favourite subject.
Me:Sir Thermodynamics.
Panel:How many laws are there?
Me:Sir 4
Panel:Which are they?
Me:Sir 0th,1st,2nd and 3rd.
Panel:[Expeting a better answer]:Can you name them
Me:Started with 0th law.Thankfully knew it.
Panel:Can you give a practical example of it?
Me:Sorry Sir.Cant think of any at the moment.
Panel:Ok.First law.
Me:Told.
Panel:Application?
Me:Talked about turbines[God knows why].said Mechanical energy gets converted to kinetic energy.
Panel:Mechanical energy?
Me:Sir Potential energy to kinetic energy.Also talked about sthng like rotational energy somewhere.
Panel:What is rotational energy?
Me:Sir its a form of kinetic energy.
Panel:And Mechanical energy?
Me:Sir Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy are forms of Mechanical Energy.
Panel:Sure?
Me:Yes Sir.
Panel:What are the types of turbines?
Me:[I wudnt have been able to answer that even in college]:Sorry Sir.I dont remember.
Panel:Apurva...NIT Jamshedpur...[sarcastically]??
Me:Sir Iam sorry but I just need to brush up a few things.I have lost touch in the last 2 years.
Panel:We are asking you very basic things which any mechanial engineer would know.And you are from an NIT [NOT AGAIN!!!]...You must have had these
Refrigeration labs.
Me:Sorry sir we didnt[Fuck!!!]
Panel:[Smiles]But there must be other labs.
Me:Yes Sir.
Panel:Havent u heard of Kaplan Turbine,Francis Turbine...
Me:[as if I knew it all along]:Oh yes Sir.I just need to go through the concepts once.

Panel:Ok.What are you working on?
Me:Told them about Product Life Cycle management confidentally.
Panel:Can you show us the steps.
Me:Asked for a piece of paper and explained.Gave the example of an automobile industry.
Panel:Is it applicable only to an automobile industry?
Me:No Sir.It was just an example.
Panel:Can it be used in the software industry?
Me:Yes Sir.Explained the waterfall model.
Panel:Can you draw a graph about the Lifeycle of a product?
Me:[bewildered look]
Panel:Have you heard about the S curve?
Me:No Sir
Panel:You must have had a training before you started your project.And there must be documents.
Me:Yes Sir.But I didnt come across the S curve.
Panel:OK 1 last question.He had a mineral water bottle in front of him.He showed the recycling sign in it and asked me what it meant.
Me:[I didnt know the answer.I took a long time to think.Actually throughout the period I was thinking whether to curb my natural instinct or again say a
sorry sir.Ultimately I gave in]:Sir Iam not sure but I think it might be a symbol which shows the genuinity of the product.
Panel:After a long pause.Apurva you are good[really??] but you really need to work on your academics.If you were from some other college we wouldnt have
asked you all this.But you are from NIT Jamshedpur[ONE MORE TIME AND I WILL MAKE YOU ATTEND ONE OF THE LECTURES IN MY COLLEGE:A.K.JHA MAYBE].Thankyou.

Meanwhile I had been playing with a pencil and it had fallen right under the bald man's shoes.I took permission to take it.He asked how it reached there.
I felt like saying Destiny.I just said 'It fell down now sir'.I took it and left the room with the thought:if only he had been from my college.