Six days of madness - part 3

Day 3 : 27th March, 2010
Call: Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon

It was an early Saturday morning trip back to Dadar yet again for me, and all I could think of was, let's just finish this off asap and get home. With the IIM-A interview edging closer, it was beginning to occupy my mind more and more. Thankfully, this time, I was first in line for the interview! Some people would rather not have their interview first up, but in my case, it was exactly what I wanted. Of course, before the interview, there was the not-so-small matter of a GD to complete. The person who was supposed to be 2nd hadn't turned up, so the seat next to me was empty. I felt a bit isolated 'cos of that, and wanted to make sure I began the GD in order to blend in easily. The topic was a good one: " Our roads and cities are crowded and polluted enough, we don't need small cars like the Nano". And fortunately, I did indeed begin the GD and put in some good points. Another healthy discussion, I was glad at least all my GDs were panning out well.

Interview time, and I thought since I was first up I should be done pretty quickly, but they made me wait almost 20 minutes before calling me in! Talk about frustration!! Anyway, here goes...

Panelists: P1 (female faculty), P2 (male faculty)

P2: So tell me about yourself, Arvind.
Me: Same ol' stuff...
P2: Wipro, eh? Wipro always seems to be in the news for the wrong reasons....fraud, the World Bank situation.....why are you working for such a company?
Me: (umm...duh...! It's not like I had a choice, they acquired our previous company!!!!) Blabbered some stuff about Wipro's growth, values.....
P2: Do you think Wipro is an ethical company?
Me: Told....mentioned a recent example from work where the management displayed ethics..
P2: What about the World Bank situation with Wipro...what can u tell me about that?
Me: (Damn, what exactly was it, was quite a long time back!) Fumbled through it..
P2: But what exactly happened?
Me: Fumbled again....made the mistake of mentioning the term "insider trading" in between..
P2: Insider trading? What's that?
Me: Gave a very vague description....
P2: Arvind, do you know you're not quite being precise with your answers?
Me: (%$$@!!@#$....!!) Sorry, sir, will surely improve from here on in...
P2: Ok tell me about this whole global economic downturn....where did it begin? And be precise, this time..
Me: (smiled, ah this I knew) Told about real estate situation in US...sub-prime...banks collapsing...blah blah..
P2: All right.....tell me, Arvind, have you heard of Robin Hood?
Me: Yes, sir
P2: Was he real?
Me: He is believed to be, sir, as there are many references and memorials in Nottingham in his memory....but there is no hard evidence.....
P2: Ok, what did he do?
Me: told about robbing from rich, giving to poor..
P2: Do you think what he did was right?
Me: Said no, explained..
P2: But he was helping the poor and doing a good deed right?
Me: Told about how poor should earn their money, not just have it handed to them....rich also have earned their money....etc etc..
P2: Ok, now suppose you were to justify what Robin Hood did....what would you say? Give me the counter-view...
Me: Told..

P2 then finally says something, describes a situation where I had to assume I had a chance to win a huge deal with a client for Wipro, but it involved a pay-off to the client....ethics stuff basically...I said I wouldn't go for it....against my principles, company's values etc etc.....they tried to grill me on it but I stood firm...

P1: Ok, Arvind, so what newspapers do you read?
Me: Told TOI, Economic Times...
P1: What do you read in TOI?
Me: mentioned main headlines...city news, editorial, sports etc..
P1: All right, describe the editorial page for me
Me: Described....some cross-questioning on that as well...

And that was it....! Didn't start off too well, but a pretty strong ending.....felt quite good about it....anyway, the big daddy next up, IIM-Ahmedabad!!