The SIBM Pune experience

Well, that's one GD/PI done and dusted. Things went along pretty much as I had expected them to, having read numerous posts and experiences on PG. All in the hands of the good Lord above now.....

Waking up to a chilly morning in Pune, I reached the old SIBM campus on SB marg at 7.30. Buses were arranged to take us to the Lavale campus, and we arrived there by 8.15. The campus is simply stunning, nested in the middle of a bunch of hills with spectacular views, amazing weather and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Guided ably by members of the Aspirant Relations team (who did a splendid job of organizing and co-ordinating the whole process!!), we were asked to go to one room where we first arranged all required docs (call letter, SNAP scorecard, original SNAP admit card, work-ex letter if applicable, degree certi/latest sem marksheet, 10th n 12th marksheets). We then proceeded for registration and taken to another room where we met our group co-ordinator Reuben (great guy, really helpful). The session started at 9.20 with a bunch of general instructions and a presentation. Each group was then asked to proceed for whatever they had first (GD/GT/PI). After some snacks, our group had GD first.

The GD panel consisted of two people, one of whom was Col. Brijkrishnan (sorry if I got his name wrong!), apparently one of the most popular and witty profs in the institute......and we could clearly see why. A really jolly and cheerful guy, he made us feel at ease straight away....although he did put Neha (the only girl in our group...in fact very few girls seemed to have been called...wassup wid that?!) on the spot, asking her if she had to choose between SIBM and SCMHRD, which would she choose (a tough ques to answer given that he was a part of faculty in both institutes!!). Our GD topic was a really good one: "Should military training be made compulsory for India's youth?" Lots of points to put forward....I was all ready to set the GD in motion and just started opening my mouth to speak, and Abhinav beat me to it by a fraction of a second!! From there on it was a mad race where each was trying to take the lead and put their point across, and I struggled in the beginning to get an opening to speak. I finally got some points across though. At the end, after about 12-15 min, we were each asked to answer a common question by the panel. Overall, it was a healthy discussion....was veering towards a fish market in between (why do they call it a fish market....aren't vegetable markets equally noisy?? :P) but we kept it in control....we concentrated on the aspect of instilling discipline, all our points were valid and we didn't digress to much from the topic (although someone brought up obesity in our country....what??) . The panel seemed to be satisfied as well.

Next up were the interviews.....and damn, I was last in line in my group! After an agonizing wait, I headed to the interview room, where I was pleasantly surprised to see Akshay, a senior of mine from college, as the student co-ordinator for the interviews! Chatted a bit about college while waiting for the previous candidate to finish his interview......really helped calm me down (thanks, buddy!). I was then called in for my turn. Panel consisted of one lady (L) and two men (M1 and M2), forgot to find out who they were......anyways, here's how it went:

M1: So Arvind, you're from Navi Mumbai?

Me: Yes, Sir (wide smile on my face)....born and brought up there....have seen it grow and develop from virtually nothing!

M1: Wonderful.....and u're working in Wipro?

Me: Yes, sir......told him about how it was first Citi Technology Services, then Wipro took over..etc..

M1: asked about job profile

Me: explained....tried to keep it simple..

M1: So why do you want to leave your job for this?

Me: talked about how my long-term goals were different....and while i'm currently doing well in my job, the direction it was taking me wasnt aligned with my goals..

L: So Arvind, tell me your views about positive energy.

Me: (?? probably got it from my annexure somewhere) talked in general about positive vibes, optimism...its influence on people around us.....blabbered in general....mentioned Obama in between...

M2: Do you think the entire Obama election was overhyped and a political gimmick?

Me: (Yes! They took the Obama cue....exactly what I needed...politics...right down my alley!!) explained my views on Obama....how him being African-American isn't as important as his dynamism and his qualities.....how he's just the kind of leader the US needs in these times...blah blah...

M1: Do you feel India has a leader like Obama?

Me: talked about Rahul Gandhi..

M1: But Rahul Gandhi seems to be just moving along with the Gandhi name, doesnt he?

Me: No, sir...i really believe he has the potential and qualities needed to be an inspirational leader....blah blah...

M2: Have you voted in elections previously?

Me: Yes, sir....voted in both the recent national and state elections..

M2: What do you think about the right to vote? Should it be made compulsory?

Me: Definitely sir....justified myself..

Panel tried to sway me, talked about unscrupulous elements in society, people who dont pay taxes...why should they vote.....but I held firm and talked with conviction......they seemed pleased and satisfied. That was about it. Went on for around 10 min I think. Nothing about MBA, SIBM etc.....was a very general and interesting interview....and politics is something I can keep talking about.....so I'd like to think it went off well...

Time: 12 pm. Only group task left.....I thought "wow, this'll be over much earlier than expected!"....how wrong I was......we got our GT call after an hour!! As soon as we entered the room for the GT, we realized the intentions of the panel and the co-ordinators: to scare the crap outta us!! They spoke rudely and forcefully, leaving us all looking at each other incredulously! We were first each asked to choose a shape among a circle, a Z, a triangle n a square, and draw it on the sheet provided to us. That was followed by a psychometric test, which consisted on statements about ourselves which we had to agree or disagree with. We then had our actual group task. We were divided into two sub-groups and given cardboard, newspapers, 4 straws, cellotape, scissors n a ruler, and were asked to make a structure that would be 15 inches high and would support a football on top. The cardboard should not be tampered with or damaged in any way. Ah....a familiar task from PG posts....we were given 3 min.....started pitching in ideas.....time was zipping past....decided to connect two straws together as pillars and form a conical kind of structure on top to support the football using the cardboard as base.....wasn't quite working out....time running out....wtf.....do something....time up!! Screwed. We had hardly gotten started!!! Saw the other group's structure......what the f!! They had just folded the cardboard into a cylindrical form and put the football on top! I thought we weren't allowed to do that!! One guy from the panel grilled them....asked about whose decision it was to make something like that....one guy said collective decision....panel member furious.....he was like "you've been coached to say that, havnt u? which classes did u join? Don't give me that nonsense! etc etc"....complete firing....then he moved to our group.....asked about what happened...we told we had come up with the idea but couldnt quite implement....told us about sub-dividing tasks instead of everyone focusing on one thing.....gave a bit of a lecture....and that was that! It was a stress-test primarily....I'm sure we weren't expected to complete the task, only our effort was seen.....but still, I'm hoping that the fact that we couldn't even get a skeleton of our structure in place doesn't play on our marks too much!!

We were then asked to fill feedback forms.....and we were done for the day! The whole thing was over by 1.45. Got a bus back to Pune at 2. Everything went off quite smoothly, all the student co-ordinators were fantastic.....special thanks to Reuben...dude, u rock! Thanks to all my group members as well....u guys were wonderful, had a lovely time....

A New year....a new beginning...

It's taken me 6 long months to conjure up enough patience to sit and compose a new post on my blog. My brain seemed to be bereft of ideas, given that I had pretty much started to eat, sleep and drink either Log Review (thats my work) or Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability!! But all that's behind me now......for the moment at least......got GMAT next month, so have to get around to preparing for that as well. It's good to be back updating my blog though.....something I had promised myself I would do once the new year begins.

Most people I've met recently have always ended up asking me one question first up.....how were your exams? So let me put forth my standard, now memorized, response for everyone reading this: CAT was good, but then the problem is that it was good for everyone, so can't really say...gonna be really tough and competitive this time.......SNAP was very good, expecting GDPI calls from both SIBMs. I think I'll have to take a printout of this and stick it on my head the next time someone asks me how CAT n SNAP were!! Work's goin' along fine....same ol', nothing new. The fresh batch of campus recruits joined this past week.......watching them reminded me of when we joined in July 2k8 and the amount of fun we had......some really good times, especially those first 3-4 months.

Movies...hmm.....well I'm finally going to catch Avatar in IMAX 3D tomorrow....can't wait! 3 Idiots was the last one I saw......I'm not gonna review it 'cos by now I'm sure everyone knows how good it is. Although, I would like to comment on the whole Vidhu Vinod-Aamir-Chetan Bhagat controversy. Frankly, I side with the 3 Idiots team on this issue, 'cos I really think Chetan Bhagat is being an ass by saying that "70% of the movie is based on his book". What a load of hogwash; has he himself seen the movie, and read his own book??!! Let me list just what all has been taken from his book in the movie:

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1. The basic character sketch of the primary characters

2. The setting i.e an engineering college and its lifestyle, Sharman's poor family background, Kareena being the daughter of the Principal (in the book it was the HOD)

3. Three scenes: one where the three of them climb into Kareena's room at night, the one where they break into Boman's office to steal the question papers, and Sharman's attempted suicide.

Does that qualify anywhere close to 70%?? I don't think so. Also, none of the above aspects have been directly lifted from the book, only the ideas have been taken. Even the phrase "based on the book" is inaccurate; it is at best "inspired by the book". The storyline is completely different, and Chetan's claim that the story and it's twists and turns have been taken from his book is utter rubbish. Anyway, the producers had signed a contract with Chetan which entitled him to a certain amount of money and that a disclaimer mentioning his book be shown in the movie. Both aspects have been duly honoured by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, so what's your problem, Chetan? You want more credit? Hell, everyone has been talking about your book from the moment the movie was announced, how much more credit and publicity do you want?? None of the memorable moments from the movie, such as Chatur's speech and the twist just before the interval, were in the book. Chatur's character itself, which was probably the most entertaining of them all, was not in the book (ok yes that nerdy guy was there but there was just a fleeting mention of him, no real prominence given). I just feel that Chetan is trying to cash in on all the success that the movie is enjoying and generate some publicity for his most recent book. Consider the case of Slumdog Millionaire: did Vikas Swaroop cry foul when the makers of the movie didn't include him in the publicity even though the movie was based on his book "Q&A"?No! Again, the contract was honoured, the disclaimer was displayed mentioning his book, and everyone was happy. What makes Chetan Bhagat's case any different? Of course, Vidhu Vinod's outburst at the media was not justified, and he has since apologized for that, but they really could've done without all this crap.

Many of you who know me well must be wondering why I haven't mentioned Liverpool yet :) . Well, the rant will come soon, 'cos I sure have a lot to say about them and their sorry season so far. I'll need one whole post for that actually, so that's next! Until then, keep checking in guyz....