Time we got on with the interviews..At this rate, I will never finish and my audience (such as it is) will be deprived of my pearls of wisdom ;)

Stop #3: Lucknow!

This was on the 11th of March..again at Dadar Catering College. I arrived there nice and early for the 2 o' clock thing..I met a girl I knew from IMS..it was her first interview, she was kinda nervous..I was as cool as ever..LOL!

There was this other dame from Tata Motors who upon learning that I was working in Infy, proclaimed that the reason so many Infy people get calls is because Infy dsnt give enuff work to us!:) I beg to differ..I think its simple mathematics..there are more of us of this age-group in Infy than other companies..so it stands to reason that more of us get calls..see, simple! :)

I was actually quite relaxed for this interview, it was the afternoon, I had woken up at a comfortable time and read all the newspapers possible and still had lots of time left to just chill..

So anyway, we were called in for the GD..we had some 8-9 people in our group..the panel consisted of one man and one stern-looking woman!

They asked us to first write an essay on the GD topic and then discuss it..sheets were given to us..the topic was 'Peace and Harmony cannot exist without the threat of violence'! Wow! Never really given that any thought!

It took me five seconds to decide which side of the arguement to be on..some stuff like 'No good without evil..they are two sides of the same coin..' etc floated into my head..I got down to write..

The discussion turned out to be great..so many points of view came up! Threat of violence in the context of national harmony, communal tensions, international relations..people brought up instances from history..the world wars, the subsequent cold war..most of us seemed to agree with the fact that 'Peace and harmony could not exist without the threat of non-violence'..there were a few who were trying to argue otherwise..the discussion did get a little loud at some points, but there was this guy who had this extremely pleasant and conciliatory attitude..he always somehow managed to soothen some of the tempers which got a bit ruffled with his sound points and friendly attitude..

My contribution to the GD was strictly ok..I delivered well, my tone was good, people were agreeing with me, I was listening and building up..but I felt that I sorely lacked content..I did not come up with too many innovative interesting points of view:) The 'body language and soft skills' part of it was bang-on..

Anyway..later outide we got talking..the girl from TM and the friendly guy..it turned out the FG had already had a year at Symbi and was looking for a change, we were discussing his answer to the inevitable question 'Why do u want to change'..and he said that aldo the placements at Symbi were excellent, the teaching was not upto the mark and he needed more..good fun, meeting such people..

I was called in for the interview - third methinks..the lady looked extremely strict! I sat down..the man asked me some stuff abt my work..the lady asked me something about the different delivery mechanisms of communication:) I was like on fire! I spoke at length about the different ways in which signals can be communicated and she then asked me about the advs/disadvs..Ha!! I bombarded her with information about signal strength and power and repeatability and bandwidth and what-not..it was pretty clear that she was not following all of it..but it seemd to have taken the wind outta her sails for some time:)

But she had an ace up her sleeve..she told me 'Yes, you know the technology, now tell us about a way in which you will use this technology to change the lives of people, say, the people in the villages of India'! I thought for a second, some recent article I had read swam into my mind..and I started talking about how broadband should be taken to the villages..how teachers should make use of the Internet, how the kids should be taught to use it and how it would also help the craftsmen, the farmers and the labourers, blah blah..she cut me short there with

She: 'Have you ever been to a village?'
Me: 'Not really, but I have been to places almost like..'
Cut short again..
She: 'Do you even know how they live? They do not have water, food, etc..and you say that setting up a computer in each village is going to solve all their problems?'
Me: 'Err..yeah, ur right..'
She: 'Come up with a plan, using your technology, how will you change the lives of these people?'
Me: 'Can I take some time to think?'
She: 'Sure, take as much time as you want.'

I thought very hard for some 10 seconds..then slowly an idea started to form itself..

I started to speak about setting up a system in which the villagers could take their grievances to a body of people who would be responsible for a group of villages, the villagers would contact them for whatever problems they might have, a road, a school, new teachers, more wells, or to provide feedback..basically, to get the whole country wired in this manner so that every village has some accountable body to go to..and their finances, the administration, the communication between them, could all be managed by technology..

Now when I think back, my answer was not extremely revolutionary or anything..but it seemed to go down well..the lady relaxed visibily..from a tigress all out to devour me, she became this cute kittenish thing ;) LOL!

The man, who looked extremely good-natured, told me that such a system had been tried out in Andhra P and had probably succeeded..they both seemed happy with me!! They asked me some other chindi questions which I answered to my satisfaction..

After that, the lady asked me to name the first Prez of India..methinks she didnt expect me to know..coz she looked like she was at a loss for words when I answered correctly!! Then she went on to ask me to name all the presidents of India in the correct order! I did not know..N frankly speaking, I had a feeling that I was already through and they were looking for some closure..

Aside: I strongly believe that an interview never gets over until and unless the interviewee says: 'I DO NOT KNOW'! LOL!!

Thus ended my third interview..I was very happy with this one..I knew somehow that I would get through and I did..

I have always been good at academics..have done moderately well at vivas..but all of that is no big deal..anybody who studies and is moderately intelligent can do it..but these interviews have taught me much more than that..the fact that I can handle questions - answers to which I have never thought of before..that I can keep a cool head and make some sense has instilled a lot of confidence..

I am sure there are many out there who have this kinda confidence already, they have it through their daily interactions with people and with superiors and stuff..not me, my learning curve has been vertical as far as these interviews are concerned :)