Monday, May 19, 2008

The Coffee Machine

I seem to be obsessed with IPL so I need to get out of it. Besides there is this other thing that has been going through my mind for quite sometime so let me tell you about this.


Its this coffee vending machine placed in the pantry in my office lobby. Not something downright beautiful right ?


Anyways, there is this particularly ancient looking coffee vending machine. First impression it seems the machine was always there and has stood witness to many office gossip and a multitude of tea-time chit-chat. I have been in this office for the last two years and the coffee machine looks like its grown roots in its place and is immovable. Initially, I approached the machine with all the insensitivity I could have towards an inanimate object. No more than a occaisional thought about its pathetic state-of-affairs and the obvious criticism of being the most-replacable item in the office building.


Remember how people grow on you ? Strangely, the coffee machine has grew on me and I looked to it every morning and afternoon for support, succour and gentle mischief played out between friends. Now that suddenly things stand where they are, I not bemused but rather shocked and aggreived as if struck by the loss of one of my kin.


Let me start by describing my dear coffee vending machine. Big burly mass of steel, this gentleman must never have had a whiff of the word "elegance". Four nozzles entrusted with supplying hot milk, water and decoction for coffee this machine is the only option for the people who do not wish to settle for the ultimate torture of the insipid ready made tea. So workman-like and unsophisticated was my first impression of Mr. Coffee Machine.


As happens to most people in any office, I was entitled to my share of romantic attachments in office and in my case, I was lucky enough to find one in the wing right opposite mine. Hence, not only did we share the same lobby but we also shared the same pantry and guess what, the same coffee machine. As it so often happens, every love story has its share of villains, often so very powerful that the hero has to wait for divine intervention to make his presence felt in front of the girl.


One fine day, without any warning, she appeared, with this apparently close "guy" friend of hers, in the pantry, obviously looking for some refreshment. This guy was obviously the most important obstacle in my life for the moment and I was ( fruitlessly, I may add!!) plotting his downfall when the divine intervention happened. There came a spurt from the "Hot Milk" nozzle drenching him waist down in hot, steaming milk. I had to make a genuine effort not to laugh at the guy going "hot in his pants" in front of the girl, who was the bone of contention between us. He excused himself to the wash room and there was this golden chance. The dream girl all alone with me in the pantry. Something told me that this was time to go broke, before my tongue dried up as it had on a dozen previous occasions. Come on!!!


"Huh.. (clearing my throat!!!)Hmm.. Unfortunate that should happen to your friend", I started. Inside my heart, I was laughing at the guy's condition and hoped he was going to lose more than just his girl here. "Well, yeah!! Infact now I am afraid to use the machine",she said meekly. Thats my chance. Thank you, God. If this goes well I will start visiting the local Balaji temple every morning for the rest of my life. "Hey, that shouldn't be a problem, you just need to be careful with the nozzle. Be gentle while turning it and it'll behave fine." And I let out a big grin, all the while thinking if this was some devilish plot of destiny to make me look idiotic, with hot milk on my trousers and egg on my face after that sermon." Slowly, and the slowest slowly of my life, I turned the nozzle open and there it was, the smooth flowing hot, steaming milk that came out of the nozzle and filled the cup. God be praised. "You just want the milk or would like some coffee to go with it ?", I enquired. "Well... I dont know. Generally I stay away from coffee." was her reply. "Well, then you should get closer to it, believe me, its a good thing. Here let me make one for you", I was a gambler on the gambling highway placing bets at breakneck speed. She shrugged and agreed. Fortunately, making coffee four times a day helped me in this situation and I managed to dish out a decent cup of coffee. "Well... its nice and maybe you are right, I should start drinking coffee more often, now on", she said and smiled as she left the pantry.


If I was dumb enough to miss the point in her statement, her smile left me beyond no doubt that if I did not goof this up extraordinarily then this was going some where. Puffed with happiness, I grabbed my own cup of coffee and was preparing to leave the pantry, when I stopped instinctively, turned to the vending machine and blurted out a "Thanks" to my new found friend !!


Thereafter, the coffee machine became a constant companion in my early days of courtship, as it was the starting point of many a meetings and dates. My girl never understood why I got grumpy when someone complained about the coffee machine but then brushed it off as one of my idiosyncrasies related to coffee. Our coffee never took less than half an hour to make and surprisingly, her "friend" always had to bear some misfortune with the coffee machine. One particular instance was when he literally challenged her that he can make better coffee than me ( you know how we guys are rite!!!!) and magically from the milk vent, instead came out hot water ,thus, completing ruining my rival's challenge. I later saw him arguing with the housekeeping staff and threatening him with escalation, all the while glancing at me and the menacing coffee machine, as if looking at some rampant elephant being harnessed back into control by his mahout, while I made a fresh cup of coffee.


It all must seem extremely coincidental to you. It should. And yet, surprisingly, to me it all seemed natural. Maybe the fact that the resultant circumstances were favorable to me caused it but then did I really care. My morning started in the pantry, with a gentle good morning tap to the machine, before Sanjana arrived expecting me to be there. If she thought that I was always there before her so that she wouldn't have to wait for me then she was mistaken. I didn't want my daily ritual to be seen by anyone and that was the actual reason. That she thought otherwise didn't hurt matters.


Apart from my blossoming romance, the machine was also witness to my first tiff with the boss, and also the second one on the same day, my first effort at two-timing, which the machined ended effortlessly, my first appraisal rating and its consequent discussion. It approved of my decision to quit the company and my decision to propose to Sanjana.


This eternal bliss continued till I stayed in the company, and on the last day, with my very last cup of coffee, i paid silent homage to our friendship and may be a loud "Thank you!!!" actually escaped my lips. But as is the wont of Mankind, out of sight is out of mind and this applies to even inanimate friendships... so soon was forgotten Mr Coffee Machine and the interesting friendship i shared with it.
Then it was suddenly that one day Sanjana text messaged me... "Hey new vending machines in pantry, spunky and kewl. that old thing is gone. U wd hv loved the new ones."
Well would I hv loved any other "vending machine" I doubt and thus, I pay homage to "that old thing" and our unique relationship. Rest in Peace, Mr. Coffee Machine.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Climbing the mount...

There I lie battered and bruised
Not to die, But just to rest….
I climb the mount, in front of me
Its height lends flight to my conquest.

That is made of ice, mine of steel
It sneers at me, loathes my will.
Worried, it charges at me…
Can’t break me though, try it will

To die now, nay be a martyr
It’s no use, because victory is mine.
I am bloody and aching no doubt!
All I want is to bide for my time.

The day of my conquest will not bring it down
The mount, so proud of being strong and high,
It will rest silent beneath my feet,
An animal tamed, when I take off for the sky!

Friday, May 16, 2008

IPL ---- the mid season review

Hi

After my first post on IPL , even before it started, I think its time for a mid-season review. However, the flurry of matches and the rate of six-hitting doesnt permit me the liberty of an exhaustive review. Rather lets hold an awards function a.k.a the Oscars (or the Raspberry awards in some cases... ). We'll discuss the nominees on the way and eventually decide who is the winner under each category.

16. Best Venue : Well, this will always be a tough one to judge in India. Because the crowds throng the stadiums most places and they support their home team almost with fanaticism ( ya, even in Bangalore). But my top 2 candidates will be the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The latter has been well entrenched in Indian cricket folklore with some memorable moments but the DY Patil facility at Mumbai came as a real good surprise, with people not only thronging the stadium even though it is far from the city centre but the even the authorities (read Lalit Modi ) placing faith in the wonderful facility by asking them to host the IPL final. The Eden, on the other hand, can boast of the most partisan crowd in the league and the frenzy of a 60,000 strong crowd can not be imagined let alone matched by some of those purists watching the New Zealand-England test match at Lord's. However the pitch at Eden for their first match against Deccan Chargers was a howler and hence a major drawback for the ground... Hence the Best Venue Award goes to the DY Patil Sports Stadium, Mumbai.


15. Best Cheerleaders : This is a potentially inflammable one.... and controversial too. Firstly, does Shahrukh Khan also count as Knight Riders' cheerleader (because then there's no competition then..) and not to forget the cultural police, with their raised brows, who have potentially stifled the competition with calls for bhangra and bharatnatyam in place of cheer girls. However, once you remove all these superficial contenders (including the proposed bar dancers for mumbai cheering squad..thanks but no thanks) the winner is the Royal Challengers Bangalore with the Washington Redskins being flown in for them. Mr. Mallya is surely the king of Good Times and he knows how to spread the joy. Infact the only high (pun intended!!) point of the RCB campaign has been the cheerleaders. More on that later.

14. Best Team Owner : Well Shahrukh Khan can legally participate in this one. Infact he would be a front runner, with all his energy oozing into the Eden garden crowd and his over the top celebration at Eden, after their victory over Delhi, lulling most into the belief that his team just won the league. Unfortunately, most other owners haven't had the panache neither the intent to match up to him (can they, even if they want ?). Preity's comment that her involvement is restricted to appearing at the stadium for every match doesn't earn her any brownie points with the awards and other corporate buyers have displayed no special flair at it. Infact, Mr. Mallya's chances slipped dramatically after the foot-in-mouth syndrome hit him and he started washing all that dirty linen in public. However, my pick for the Best Owner will be Mr. Mukesh Ambani of the Mumbai Indians. He hasn't been shy of spending the money, has kept his mouth shut very wisely while his team lost, patiently waited for his captain to come back and has been there most often to support his team on weekends or has been represented by his family. So the Best Owner for me is certainly Mr. Ambani.

13. Best Presenter: No this is not for the good ones, which means Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri are automatically excluded. However without these two and their wonderful skills at presentation the award has no takers unless you are looking for a one-eyed jack in a pack of blind people. Throw in a television channel which is more bothered about airing commercials than letting us know what is the decision of the third umpire and we have a complete package of incompetent people stepping up to microphone. The regularly references of unearthing young talent at IPL ( even for Rajat Bhatia who is 28 and has played 8 first class seasons), the irritating mentions of those obnoxious moments-of-success and ya, not to forget the cheer leader act the presenters get started with. Sometimes you wish that we could just put the TV on mute and watch the game alone. And to see Harsha Bhogle sit in one of the dugouts, I really feel he could have made himself more useful. I reserve my judgement on this.

12. Best Controversy: I would be doubting your IQ if asked you for nominees on this. Even though Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly tried their bit at getting in reckoning, the original spoilt brats showed them their right place. And hence, this award goes to Bhajji and Sreesanth for the Slapgate. Just to vindicate my choice, I can say that Bhajji has put Sreesanth on the right track with his mouth sealed shut (ok..compared to his past) and mind on the game, while Sreesanth's little schoolboy-robbed-of-his-comics trick has finally made BCCI see Bhajji for what he is and the threat of a life-ban should really make the gentleman think twice before even opening his mouth.

11. The Critics Award for Best Bestman: This award basically means you are good enough for Test Cricket and just that. You are not fit for T20 and stay away from it if you don't want your ego bruised. And yet inspite of what you think, the award doesn't go to Rahul Dravid. That goes to VVS Laxman. Not so much for a chink in his Very Very Special armory of shots but because we are pained to see him labor for runs in a fashion as alien to him as a pasta is to my grandmother. Go on VVS, we'll still love you for what you have done to the Aussies. This is just not worth it. As for Rahul Dravid, that's a different story altogether and I think that has got nothing to with his batting.

10. Best Youngster/Young Talent (Indians alone!!! ): If I hadn't declared this category, I would be crucified for not having appreciated the main aim of IPL , to develop the young cricketing talent in India. This category has many nominees too because in India it takes only one good performance to be hailed as the next-big-thing. Also, Piyush Chawla can not be considered for this, can he ? Manpreet Gony would have done his chances well had he not fed Jayasurya those sumptuous balls outside off the other day and Amit Mishra despite his 5-for is a one-match wonder (and his 31 against Kolkata came when they were really not in the game). My pick will be Dhaval Kulkarni, who has bowled wonderfully in a team with Pollock and Dwayne Bravo. Pity that the team is doing not so well at this time but then they certainly have the talent to do much better.

9. Best Turnaround : We all talk about the vagaries of the shortest form of the game and hence, here is one dedicated to that. Nominees in this category include the Royal Challengers Bangalore for snatching defeat from jaws of victory against Chennai, Shane Warne for his 17 run burst in the final over of Symonds and the Nayar-Harbhajan assault which nearly brought Chennai down to their knees. However, the winner according to me is the Shoaib Akhtar show not only for its sensational display for pacy bowling but also for showing the strength of the human resolve. To be destined to the gallows only to rise up and deliver a Man-of-the-Match performance, revives the era of Botham, who came back from ban to capture the Ashes in the 80s. There is only one thing I need to ask Shoaib here. "Dude, who writes your script ?"

8. Best "Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag" : This is an award for the most evident disaster of the IPL. One which was foreseen yet acted out and has been cried foul over for quite some time now. No prizes for guessing this one. The Royal Challengers Bangalore take this one hands down. And I have no other competitor for them. Pity, a team with Kallis, Dravid, Misbah and Boucher had to land up with this but then a team with Jaffer, Sunil Joshi, Kumble and club-level local talent can't ask for anything more.

7. Best Surprise Package: I so very nearly gave this one away to the Deccan Chargers. Given their team and the nature of the game, one would have thought that they sat with the powers-that-be to frame the T20 rules. And they really have surprised us by managing to not qualify for the semis and going out of the race so early. Again highlights the view that cricket is a team game and can not be sustained by individual brilliance all the time. A point which does eventually bring us to the winner of this award, the Rajasthan Royals. A team with few big names and "Pathan's brother" (as if he aint a Pathan himself!!), it was destined for the last spot even before the IPL started and if it hasn't proved everyone wrong then it hasn't done anything in the tournament.

6. Best Individual Innings: Now that the trivial is out of the way, lets get on with the biggies (as if the players give 2 cents about winning or losing!!!). This one has to be one of the centuries but which one. Gilly's special effort was welcomed but not unexpected while Jayasurya just had to set the law of averages in order. Hussey had a tailormade pitch in Mohali for himself and Symonds had no one else to blame for letting his century go away in vain. So that gives us our winner. Brendon McCullum played a innings which put the pyrotechnic show to shame. Cometh the hour and cometh the innings at a place that has been attributed with the worst pitch apart from the worst team itself. We all knew he could play but just how well was in question. Did he answer that or what!!

5. Best All-rounder : What exactly classifies as an allrounder will always be shrouded under clouds but according to my whole judgement I am going give this award to MS Dhoni. Gone are the days when a keeper was a keeper today he has to be a batsman too. So unlike the batsman-who-can-bowl and bowler-who-can-bat concept, here is the player who bats and keeps well. Keeping to the guile of Murali has been accomplished wonderfully, an achievement surpassed by his batting, which inspite of glaring technical glitches as one Mr. Warne will tell you, has taken him to the top 5 batsmen list. Add to that the captaincy hat and then you understand why he is the costliest player to be bought in the auction. Captains are made but leaders are born and when Matthew Hayden calls him a great captain you just shut up and listen. And ya, sorry Shane Watson I really wanted to give you this one but then this was one of those photo finish races, if that is of any consolation.

4. Best Bowler: This award's winner can really walk with his head held high because T20 expects bowlers to be nothing more than the passing references, while we harp about the batsmen's heroics. However, when Irfan Pathan bowls you know who is the protagonist in the act. The talent was never in question but what was probably missing was the heart, a lion's at that, to survive in this heavily unbalanced game. Now with his mind and run-up in the right place he has shot right up to the top of the wicket takers list with an economy which is under 7. First up, he has swung it to scare batsmen mortally and in the slog overs, he has mixed it well enough to escape the fate of other bowlers. We can safely say that he is the best bowler in business when it comes to taking telling wickets and keeping their cost down. How this contest would have ended had Brett Lee stayed back is for us to ponder over. Did anyone whisper IPL window ?

3. Best Batsman: This is the toughest. No answer will make all happy and I agree everyone has already made up their mind on this but then these are my awards and I'll go ahead and give to Shaun Marsh. I don't care if he is a long way behind Gauti but then he has also played only half the number of matches as Gauti and his team's fortune has closely followed his own batting career in IPL. Admittedly, I dont know much about the guy's Aussie exploits but looking at him bat I can imagine he would be a force to reckon with wherever he goes. His handling of Murali was good and if it is any indication of the guy being Mohali's Atlas, then it was his dismissal that triggered their defeat against Chennai. Oh ya !! who would have won if Hayden, Hussey and Symonds had stayed back? An Aussie certainly but why is this IPL window chorus echoing around me !!!

2. Best Captain: Shane Warne hands down. I wont even pretend I had any other nominee even though MSD was awesome, Pollock inspiring and Sehwag tactful. That is because Shane was all these three and more, rolled into one. The surprise element, the clever change of bowlers and sudden shifts of the batting order have all paid off for the gambler. The junior members in his squad have almost taken to idol worship, not speak of the profuse words of praise from foe-turned-friend Graeme Smith. If the selection of Asnodkar was a brilliant then promoting Yusuf Pathan as opener against Deccan was a master piece. He has handled the fragile Shane Watson brilliantly and when the time for finishing off things came he put his hand up and snatched 17 runs from a Symonds over to get an unlikely victory. As has already been debated, maybe he is the greatest captain Australia, nay, world cricket never had a chance to watch in action. And ya, if I had missed out on this, he has bowling well too.... as one Vijay Takawale and he'll tell you all about it.

1. Best Team: The daddy of all awards. Should it blindly belong to the table topper. Maybe not. But certainly among one the top 4 deserves it. Chennai have started deceiving after flattering earlier and the fourth position is too unclear to get a single nomination. So Mohali and Rajasthan are at logger heads for this. Mohali have ridden on their big performers. The best bowler is from Mohali and so is the best batsmen, add to that Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Yuvraj, Sreesanth and you ought to have the best team in the tourney, which not only has the weight in the resumes but also performances on field to prove. But then look at the Royals, poor souls, being the cheapest franchise, Warne doubling up as their coach and a motley crew of local talent resembling almost a Lagaan-like story. It is to this Cinderella story of the victorious underdog that I give my best team award. Its a romantic story to say the least that has created heroes out of mortals and made huge marks on the psyche of the Indian cricket fan. That in the presence of all the bigwigs, the well equipped, the well cash-stacked franchises, this team has managed to get to the top of the tables with proper application of cricketing knowledge, shrewd captaincy and urge to succeed. I dont care who goes on to win the IPL from here on but even at the end of the IPL it will take some serious brain storming to unseat Royals from the Best Team position.

And hence ends the list of my mid-season IPL awards. Surprisingly, no Tendulkar, no Ganguly and no Ricky Ponting make to any of the lists but then we still have significant contributions from McGrath, Jayasurya, Pollock reminding us of the old adage "Class is permanent and Form temporary". Hopefully by the time the season ends we'll have many new contenders for the good ones and the ugly ones will be happily discontinued due to lack of nominations...
Till then I deliver my verdict in favour of IPL, which with all its brazen marketing and branding has indeed come up trumps this time!!!!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

My IIT Bombay Interview... SJMSOM , March2008

Here goes my GD/PI experience...
Slot : 2nd March, 7.30 AM( unearthly hours !!!)
Journey: From B'lore to Mumbai... reached on 1st afternoon..1 whole day ... bad experience by the time i reached IIT B .. interview was the last thing on my mind. just wanted a quite room to sleep after the noisy crowd i had to travel with The Nite before. Refreshed by evening and dinner done. Met some other guys who were in the same slot as me.. gt abt chit chatting. Then it was 10pm and seniors invited us for an informal discussion. there were abt 7-8 seniors and fielded questions patiently.. above all instead of painting a rosy picture they gave us all the info and told us to make the decision....this went on till midnite.. then realised that i gotta grab some sleep ( which eventually i didnt get.. was sittin in bed from 4am waitin for the alarm to ring @ 5.30 am..) and returned to my room.
The D-Day: Got ready...reached SOM building.. usual process of registration and presentation.. then my group was called for GD...
Panel: Admissions co-ordinator, he is also an IT entrepreneur, thn 2 other ppl.. one doing his phd and 3rd an alumnus..only panel with 3 ppl...
GD: It was a case study, HR kind in nature, abt a lady moved to a new division and nt given proper training..big sad story ( we nicknamed it Madhuri ki Kahani )... some questions at the end of it were to be discussed... In general, began well then we lost steam as the case didnt offer too many points ( we felt..).. enuff time to speak for all though few gentlemen took it upon themselves to speak for the grp always and then urge us nt to make a fish market ... me came in 2-3 times with decent points...tried to resolve a couple of conflicts.. thats all... cd have spoken more but then didnt want to really get into a acrimonious discussion as it was becoming... eventually things sorted out well...
General tip : dont attack the questions directly...look at the problem holistically... then set abt answering the ques... (yeh gyan mere kaam to nahi aaya...)
PI: was waiting for nearly an hour for it as some guy wanted a reschedule coz of his flight and all... seniors were very helpful... ( 1 bottle paani khatam kar diya wahan !!!)... went in and here's wat followed:P1-- iit prof P2 -- phd guy P3 -- alumnus M -- who else is left
P1 -- XXX company eh ??? wat kinda product development do u do ???
M -- tld him ( been doin this for 2 years !!!)
P1 -- hmmm.. so wat language do u use ?
M -- using C for final product..currently working prototype in Python..
P1 -- why ?
M -- tld him ..
P1 -- so confident in C ? I can ask u questions ?? ( he was from IT sector )
M -- sure sir ( wat else can i say )
P1 went on to ask abt string functions, arrays and their indexes, memory allocation and stuff.. basics ... M was confident...Finally he gt bored of Cing me ... looked over to P2.
P2 -- so tell me wat do all locos run on...???
M -- (clean bowled..) dc motors sir ( sheepish grin !!)
P2 -- (laughs... pakda gaya !!!) sure??
M -- nt very sure but i think so... ( tried to laugh off this pathetic reply ...)
P2 -- (laughs) ok wat is ur feeling abt the budget... ???
M -- started with a disclaimer that i was travellin so cdnt really keep a tab on the budget but still wd answer to best of my knowledge... then gyan for next 5 mins... tld abt cut in excise duties which has made industry happy
P3 -- ( gr8 entry) which industry...
M -- manufacturing..
P3 -- which section of manufacturing ??
M -- automobiles to be specific...
P2 -- asked abt the changed taxation and all...
M -- told ..
P1 -- u said u hv nt followed the budget properly still u are tellin us most of the things...
M -- tld him abt my habit of watchin budget speeches and all ... ( i think they gt my point..)
P2 -- Is the industry unhappy abt something ?
M -- loan waiver affecting banks, capital gains tax increase, no spl sops for IT services !!( all Ps smile.. )
P2 -- wat do u feel abt the Ram Sethu Proj ?
M -- ( abe ye kya tha..) sir it is a controversial issue... and i feel India can do with one less controversy...!!! P2 smiles even more...
P2 -- wat abt the alternate sources of energy...wats ur take...?
M -- talked abt nuclear... hydro ..
P2-- nt hydro and all...wat abt the future...
M -- fuel cells ka gyan.. stressed on scientific capability to develop such fuels
P3 -- (again interjecting!!) do u think these are viable solns ? electric cars and all..after all we are still polluting the environment to get that electricity...
M -- agreed with him ..said only finding the fuels is nt the soln but ppl shd be more active for eco friendly initiatives..talked abt car poolin and proper public transport... quoted swaminathan at a couple of places...
P1 -- u r electrical rite ? so i cant ask from satellite engg..
M -- No sir, i am nt very aware abt that subject (this was prob my most confident answer)
P1 -- (laughs... ) gud gud... u tld us before hand wat u dnt know !!!
M -- ( smiled..nt much else i cd do )
P3 -- wat specialisation will u take ?
M -- gyan... SOM gives flexibility to choose in 2nd year.. so will wait till then..
P3 -- wat abt ur coding job.. wd u completely leave it...
M -- well nt completely...still do it when job requires..teaching juniors and all... but may not be as involved as now...!!!
P1 -- do u want to ask us anything ?
M -- asked abt the staff ... and aviation mgmt programme they are gonna start..
All Ps smile back.. took that as an indication to leave ..gt up and came out .... big sigh of relief...
Cheers!!!!

My interview Experience from VGSOM, IIT-Kgp 2008 March

Hi Folks,
My GD/PI experience follows:
Date/Place -- 15th March, 8.00am IISc B'lore

Prelude: Bad Friday and bad health... zilch preparation for the interview due to tuff week in office virtually scared abt the interview...Reached at 7.30 and damn !! not even the watchman had turned up to open the Choksi hall by 8. eventually things got underway by 8.30 am.. cool types presentation... by a prof (surprisingly!!) then we had 2 alumnus coming over to field few questions... overall the college gave a laid back approach ( may be a camouflage!!!)

GD: Case of Mrs Sethi, environmental compliance officer, typical case where u hv to enumerate various scenarios and come up with a mix and match kinda solution... thoda sa this and thoda sa that... Initially 5 mins to pen dwn thoughts and a minute for each speaker (randomly) then open for discussion ( if it becomes a fish market then the panel intervenes .. we hd it once !!) ... overall 15 mins for this i guess .. I got the chance to speak first , and in my one minute tried to smash thru as many pts as possible...
Overall self rating of GD -- Average...
PI : 2 ppl -- P1 -- same guy who gave ppt (senior prof @Kgp)P2 -- Maths prof M -- bakra
P1 -- hello
P2 -- Hello, Hwz life ??
M -- busy sir, been busy with office ( chalo kisi ne to dard samjha !!!)
P1 -- u gt a gud rank in JMET... we dnt see many 2 digit rankers...
P2 -- IIT B eh ? (smiled)
M -- smiled back ( wat can i reply )
P1 -- so why MBA ? just because everyone's doing it eh ?
M -- No sir, career growth... started gyan...
P1 -- (cut short ) so working ...hmm ..where ?
P2 -- (lookin @ profile sheet ) XYZ ... so hwz the job ?
M -- work-ex related gyan ....
P2 -- (pointing to profile sheet ..) watch cricket as hobby..?
M -- yes sir... i like to understand various technical aspects of cricket....
P2 -- only watch ..dont play ?
M -- nothing serious level...like harsha bhogle
P1 -- wat details in cricket ??
M -- like swing bowling and all ..wat happens ..and why ?
P1 -- so tell me hw it happens...
M -- told... ( i knew where this was going!!!)
P1 -- u know wat physical principle its based on..
M -- Bernoulli's theorem...
P1 -- tell me abt Bernoulli's theorem...
M -- gyan ...gt stuck somewhere ... P1 helped out... all ends amicably..
P1 -- U hv an unusual name .. U kno who the original Parasuram is ?
M -- Yes sir, started... mahabharat, ramayan and stuff...missed out some anecdote which P1 knew... he also joined in...
P1 -- So u r a mahabharat kind off guy...
M -- No sir, but if i carry such a name then its imperative that i do such research...
P1 -- so tell me abt family ???
M -- Blah blah...P1 -- so u from TN... can u speak Tamil ? (M nodded ) read ?? (nod) write ?? ( nod with grin!!)
P1 -- so u dnt know...
M -- I can write small words..hence i wont say i dnt know..
P1 -- write ur name .. no no ... write my name...
M -- i can write my name.. but wont write urs...in case i get it wrong u'll b offended ( kya soch kar bola pata nahi..)
P1 -- ok go on...
M -- wrote ... showed him the alphabets...
P1 to P2 -- this looks like the indian literacy campaign ad... painstakingly each letter...
M -- (sheepish grin...) Sir wat ever it is .. i kno lill bit. enuff for sustenance...
P1 and M discuss abt Tamil script ( most of my friends will kill me if they come to know)
P2 -- (was silent for a long time) so u hv any questions to ask us ??
M -- asked them abt their so-called locational disadvantage wrt SJMSOM and IIT D...P1 gave some cool answer...Smiles all round...Thanks a lot... shake of the hands...Came out with a gud feeling.. but still u are never sure if the panel is always smiling .. same with me in SJMSOM..self rating -- Gud
PiTips for junta --surprisingly the maths prof was silent in my interview... but he did drill some ppl... gauss integral, gauss elimination and Newton Raphsons method poocha...just in case .. brush up ur maths... Cheers !!!

PS : My adventure with Tamil went all wrong... on the way back home I realised I had written my name wrongly... Hail my Tamil knowledge!!!