This second week was full of bloopers! It started with a trip to Paris on Sunday. We took an early train to Paris East station and a metro from there to visit the Notre Dame cathedral. (Fortunately for us, we found out that ‘youths’ could travel in Paris on Sundays at discounted rates!) The Notre Dame looked brilliant on a cloudy backdrop. Since the entrance was free there was a long queue. But first we went to a nearby Subway and treated us to some amazingly tasty chicken subs! :)
Then we went inside Notre Dame (but not to the top as that would have cost 6 euro!) It was tall, dark & beautiful. Hundreds of candles dimly lit the silence. Big paintings adorned the walls below the large coloured glass windows. I am guessing we would see a lot like this in our trip but the first time has its own memories. Anyways, when we came out the cathedral we found two of us missing. After a long time of searching we found them and decided to have a meeting point wherever we go (the idea never materialised though!)
Next we went to the legendary Eiffel Tower. Though it was supposedly called an eye sore and waste of money historically, we found it pretty grand! There were many queues there, some for elevator and some for stairs. We decided to do it the harder way (and cheaper). There were 700 steps to Level II and as we went up it kept getting chillier and windier. Both Levels I & II were quite high up and presented wonderful platforms to see the beauty of Paris from all directions. So I took out my Nikon D3100 and started clicking frantically. :D After an hour and half of sightseeing we came down and started taking pictures of Eiffel from outside. There were many Indians there illegally selling little Eiffel key rings.
Anyways, now comes the part where I made my biggest mistake in last god-knows-how-many-years. I was posing for pictures (like boxing, kicking, holding the Eiffel) and decided to do in-the-air pose. I found a small railing made of blunt but arrow shaped iron rods and foolishly decided to jump from there. What happened is history! :P The iron rod pierced my shoe (Am gonna sue Nike!) and made a big bloody hole in my foot potentially compromising my whole trip! :( It was time to catch train back to Reims, so I limped all the way back to the Paris East station and asked for medical help there. The info lady almost fainted seeing the blood and immediately called for medical men (tattooed and dressed in orange) who applied first-aid and advised me to seek help at Reims. I thought of ignoring the advice and went back to Reims.
On Monday morning the pain had increased. I still managed to limp my way to the class. I read in wiki that eminent people have died because of infections from foot injuries and that changed my mind. Returning back to my hostel I asked the receptionist on medical facilities here and was duly advised on taking a cab to Emergency unit since all hospitals were closed by then. So I did that – a very good decision in retrospect! I got bandaged properly, given a tetanus vaccine to last 10 years, prescriptions on antibiotics and got some sterile cottons from a young doctor (giggling at his own English). And the best part is – wait for it – EVERYTHING WAS FREE! I really commend the healthcare system they have setup here! :)
So I had to manage whole week with an injured foot, burnt fingers (from the microwave grills), painful hand (from injection) and weak body (from antibiotics). But I was in good spirits. I attended all classes, got ‘+’ in presentations, went to open a bank account (because they give away around $30 for free to students!) and even made a weekend trip to Normandy beach! \m/
Normandy trip started with us going to a wrong station and missing the train! :\ Somehow we managed to reach the beach (4 hours late!) Then we found out that there were 2 major issues with the Le Huvre beach – families & pebbles! But it was a nice evening spent with me sun-bathing and others sea-bathing. And the fact that two young ladies decided to change in front of us made the day! ;) We tried to catch train back to Paris but missed that too! (I ran hobbling with my injured foot for 30 mins!!) :( We spent Saturday night in a hotel there and set off the next morning to the Paris flea market. Paris flea market was cheap and hence crowded. Lot of Gujjus were selling stuff there. I bought a French cap, gloves, jacket and passport wallet at good bargains. Finally, we went back to Reims tired and happy. :)
So, this week it was both pleasure and pain. But my health is improving with each passing day and I am eagerly waiting for the real Eurotrip to start next Friday where we embark on a tour of 6-7 countries! :D
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Eurotrip Travelogues – Week 1
It all started much before the time when I and Soham waved goodbye to my parents at Delhi Metro Airport Express station. For months we had been preparing for ‘the trip’ to Reims Management School (France) by getting Schengen visa, Eurail pass, Medical & Travel Insurance, Acceptance Letters, Hostel Accommodation, Youth Hostel Card, International Student Card, Basic French Language Certificate, etc, etc. I spent last 2 days in Kolkata (Sunday & Monday) shopping with my mom – bought 25kgs of food (maggi n stuff), other usuals like warm clothes, shoes (Nike worth 6K!), cosmetics, medicines, etc. Our flight allowed only 40kgs so some stuff had to stay back. My parents came along with me to Delhi (after all my close relatives had warmly bid me farewell) where Soham joined us on Tuesday morning. We went to spend some time with my cousin Dr. Kushal (at his hostel filled with Medical books) and then to a Kali Temple where my mom prayed for my successful journey. Our Turkish Airlines flight was at 4:45am and I & Soham caught the last metro to airport at 11pm, so we reached more than 5hours early. We met other guys from IIML & IIMI there and off we were to Istanbul!
The flight services were excellent, so were the air hostesses and so was the breakfast (we ordered veggie so as to avoid the possibility of beef!). I found 3 empty seats, made a bed of it and slept there peacefully. When I woke up we were already flying over Turkey. Istanbul looked rather beautiful from the window, with sea on one side and land on other, not to mention the Turkish architecture. We had a 5 hour stop there but we longed to go outside the airport (which by the way was full of tall, fair, sharp, beautiful women!). Turkish officials kept on directing us to some Passport Police which we could not find for a long time and when we did, we found a long line! When an Indian there said to us that he was stuck there for 12 hours (!), we gave up all hope of going outside and waited patiently for our connecting flight to Paris. :\
After an awesome Chicken lunch (and wine for Soham!) and watching movie ‘Diaries of a Wimpy Kid’, we reached Paris at evening, and so did our baggage! (We had almost lost all hope of seeing that happening after hearing all the horror stories of seniors on delayed baggage). To all our surprise, a lanky fellow was standing there with a card naming Soham Banik! Apparently he was from the agency which gave him (and others) scholarships. I had not applied to the scholarships pessimistically judging from historical data that almost nobody gets that but this time they gave scholarships of over Rs.1 lakh to almost everybody who applied! (Ain’t I something?? :O) Anyway, so the guy took all the scholarship holders on his car and gave rest of us directions to reach the Paris East station - via shuttle to Terminal 3 (free!) & metro to Paris Nord (9.10 euros!) - from where we were supposed to catch a train to Reims. As I got the first looks at suburbs of Paris from the metro, what I noticed most were the omnipresent graphitis (spray paintings on walls – all of them!). On the way we pissed off one security guy at metro station (one of us left his big suitcases lying unattended while buying tickets and security was shouting & whistling for few minutes to find whose they were!) and one beefy guy at Paris East (because he thought we jumped lines and was partially right – thankfully a young pretty French lady defended us while we pretended not to understand what was going on!) :P
Riding on the ‘local train’ with a speed more than Rajdhani Express we finally arrived at Reims around 10pm on Wednesday. The station area (Gare Centre) looked deserted; the train station got locked at 10:30 and we were thrown on streets all empty except for a hippie couple (a lady with a long red tail (wth!) and a guy with a long ponytail) playing with some yoyos and smooching casually, frequently. We found some taxis after a long time, but they insisted on carrying only luggage on one taxi and passengers on other. So had to let them go in fear that the one with our luggage might never return! There was also a lot of confusion on whether we should go to a nearby hotel (costing 40E) or a temporary hostel (costing 20E) or our own hostel (free) which wasn’t supposed to be open at this time. Finally, we decided to go to the temporary hostel (only to know next day that our own free hostel was open that time!) We managed to get the driver of the Mercedes taxi angry when we weren’t ready to pay extra euros for so many luggages (40 kilos each!). We paid when he slammed the door real hard! :P. We spent the night at CIS hostel and finally went to our permanent accommodation at Crous Gerrard Phillippe in the morning. The hostel room - which to my astonishment opened with the key chain instead of the key - is pretty neat and compact with large windows & cupboards. The only problem is that all the taps & showers have buttons which need to be continuously pressed for water & there was no mug or toilet papers!! (Do the math! :P)
Reims (pronounced as Raans) is a beautiful place with classical European churches, buildings, pavements, canals, trees and lasses. The climate is excellent (AC weather!) and romance is rich in the air (lot of PDA!). The problems for outsiders are language, transport & non-availability of people on roads, but none of us could help but love the place (Soham – ‘I am gonna come back here and live forever!’). The culture is pretty different from India, with strangers greeting you on eye contact, cars stopping even without red signal to let you cross the road, people sitting outside restaurants chatting casually with no traces of hurry or worry, working 9 to 5 and then partying from 8 to 12, etc.
First day (Thursday) at Reims Management School was the Welcome Day and we were the last students to enter the auditorium (just 1.5 hrs late!) and were welcomed by students (more than 60% girls!!) with applause! We even got a free RMS shirt. There was a beer party at night along with a music concert organised by RMS students and we went there to soak in the European party experience. We had fun but unlike other guys we hesitated to talk with gals, so Soham took a self-resolution that next day he would talk to them or sleep outside the railway station! :D
Next day we were late again but this time had to listen to ‘9 means 9’! :P We completed all paperwork and were treated to free breakfast & lunch followed by a tour to Pommery Caves where Champagnes are made. The caves were something new to us and so was the sight of a stuffed elephant hanging upside down! So we got a lot of pics & free Champagne! ;) We then went to make a bus/tram pass of 1 month and an advance reservation to Munich via Strasberg (the reservation lady sat with us for half an hour to get us the tickets since all trains were booked). At Friday night there was a Pizza party and we ate & drank unabashedly in merry only to discover that it wasn’t free! :O Oh btw, Soham did fulfil his resolution and even had to turn down a late night invitation by gals to have fun at their hostel! ;D
So now, after a good night’s sleep here I am on my room this Saturday afternoon eating maggi, bhujia & Soham’s sandwich (made of turkey eggs & potatoes) reminiscing on the hectic but enjoyable few days & getting ready for the bigger adventures awaiting us.
The flight services were excellent, so were the air hostesses and so was the breakfast (we ordered veggie so as to avoid the possibility of beef!). I found 3 empty seats, made a bed of it and slept there peacefully. When I woke up we were already flying over Turkey. Istanbul looked rather beautiful from the window, with sea on one side and land on other, not to mention the Turkish architecture. We had a 5 hour stop there but we longed to go outside the airport (which by the way was full of tall, fair, sharp, beautiful women!). Turkish officials kept on directing us to some Passport Police which we could not find for a long time and when we did, we found a long line! When an Indian there said to us that he was stuck there for 12 hours (!), we gave up all hope of going outside and waited patiently for our connecting flight to Paris. :\
After an awesome Chicken lunch (and wine for Soham!) and watching movie ‘Diaries of a Wimpy Kid’, we reached Paris at evening, and so did our baggage! (We had almost lost all hope of seeing that happening after hearing all the horror stories of seniors on delayed baggage). To all our surprise, a lanky fellow was standing there with a card naming Soham Banik! Apparently he was from the agency which gave him (and others) scholarships. I had not applied to the scholarships pessimistically judging from historical data that almost nobody gets that but this time they gave scholarships of over Rs.1 lakh to almost everybody who applied! (Ain’t I something?? :O) Anyway, so the guy took all the scholarship holders on his car and gave rest of us directions to reach the Paris East station - via shuttle to Terminal 3 (free!) & metro to Paris Nord (9.10 euros!) - from where we were supposed to catch a train to Reims. As I got the first looks at suburbs of Paris from the metro, what I noticed most were the omnipresent graphitis (spray paintings on walls – all of them!). On the way we pissed off one security guy at metro station (one of us left his big suitcases lying unattended while buying tickets and security was shouting & whistling for few minutes to find whose they were!) and one beefy guy at Paris East (because he thought we jumped lines and was partially right – thankfully a young pretty French lady defended us while we pretended not to understand what was going on!) :P
Riding on the ‘local train’ with a speed more than Rajdhani Express we finally arrived at Reims around 10pm on Wednesday. The station area (Gare Centre) looked deserted; the train station got locked at 10:30 and we were thrown on streets all empty except for a hippie couple (a lady with a long red tail (wth!) and a guy with a long ponytail) playing with some yoyos and smooching casually, frequently. We found some taxis after a long time, but they insisted on carrying only luggage on one taxi and passengers on other. So had to let them go in fear that the one with our luggage might never return! There was also a lot of confusion on whether we should go to a nearby hotel (costing 40E) or a temporary hostel (costing 20E) or our own hostel (free) which wasn’t supposed to be open at this time. Finally, we decided to go to the temporary hostel (only to know next day that our own free hostel was open that time!) We managed to get the driver of the Mercedes taxi angry when we weren’t ready to pay extra euros for so many luggages (40 kilos each!). We paid when he slammed the door real hard! :P. We spent the night at CIS hostel and finally went to our permanent accommodation at Crous Gerrard Phillippe in the morning. The hostel room - which to my astonishment opened with the key chain instead of the key - is pretty neat and compact with large windows & cupboards. The only problem is that all the taps & showers have buttons which need to be continuously pressed for water & there was no mug or toilet papers!! (Do the math! :P)
Reims (pronounced as Raans) is a beautiful place with classical European churches, buildings, pavements, canals, trees and lasses. The climate is excellent (AC weather!) and romance is rich in the air (lot of PDA!). The problems for outsiders are language, transport & non-availability of people on roads, but none of us could help but love the place (Soham – ‘I am gonna come back here and live forever!’). The culture is pretty different from India, with strangers greeting you on eye contact, cars stopping even without red signal to let you cross the road, people sitting outside restaurants chatting casually with no traces of hurry or worry, working 9 to 5 and then partying from 8 to 12, etc.
First day (Thursday) at Reims Management School was the Welcome Day and we were the last students to enter the auditorium (just 1.5 hrs late!) and were welcomed by students (more than 60% girls!!) with applause! We even got a free RMS shirt. There was a beer party at night along with a music concert organised by RMS students and we went there to soak in the European party experience. We had fun but unlike other guys we hesitated to talk with gals, so Soham took a self-resolution that next day he would talk to them or sleep outside the railway station! :D
Next day we were late again but this time had to listen to ‘9 means 9’! :P We completed all paperwork and were treated to free breakfast & lunch followed by a tour to Pommery Caves where Champagnes are made. The caves were something new to us and so was the sight of a stuffed elephant hanging upside down! So we got a lot of pics & free Champagne! ;) We then went to make a bus/tram pass of 1 month and an advance reservation to Munich via Strasberg (the reservation lady sat with us for half an hour to get us the tickets since all trains were booked). At Friday night there was a Pizza party and we ate & drank unabashedly in merry only to discover that it wasn’t free! :O Oh btw, Soham did fulfil his resolution and even had to turn down a late night invitation by gals to have fun at their hostel! ;D
So now, after a good night’s sleep here I am on my room this Saturday afternoon eating maggi, bhujia & Soham’s sandwich (made of turkey eggs & potatoes) reminiscing on the hectic but enjoyable few days & getting ready for the bigger adventures awaiting us.
Monday, May 9, 2011
My Interview with IMS
I am an enigma of duality...
A simple guy with a complex mind…
I like to learn new things and know more about whatever interests me…
But cannot hold on to them for long and move on to explore again…
I am a thinker, sometimes a philosopher…
And yet very impulsive by heart wanting to enjoy life to fullest…
I play and fight with kids with as ease as I converse with elders...
I inspire and motivate others with as ease as I get inspired by others…
I follow the rules and am disciplined…
Yet I can think out of box and am the greatest proponent of free will...
I want to attain peace and stability, but I still look out for challenges and difficulties…
I am an extremely friendly guy, but I still make friends very slowly and steadily...
I have got all my life planned up, but I still love getting surprises from life...
….recites Shankhadeep Banerjee about himself in conversation with Reshma Majithia, IMS Correspondent for Advanc'edge Magazine
My blueprint
I was raised in a middle class Bengali family and was educated at a well-respected school in Kolkata. Both my family & school gave great emphasis on all-round education, culture and values, and this strengthened my fundamentals. I have done well not only in academics but have also achieved in the fields of arts, music, sports, etc.
As I have a passion for computers I decided to pursue my B.Tech in CSE from NIT Durgapur. After completing my studies, I worked for Computer Sciences Corporation for 3 years for their client eBay Inc at Chennai. I joined IIM Calcutta last year.
I wanted to be a part of the booming IT industry and a B.Tech in CSE allowed me to do just that. But it had its limitations as after a couple of years in the roles of technical lead, engineer and subject matter expert, I felt that my learning curve got stagnated. The time was ripe to shift gears and pursue a challenging management career in the IT industry, and this required an MBA. But this was not just a reactive decision but also an inevitable step towards a long-term career blueprint i.e. ‘To gain enough technical experience, go for higher studies to learn the management aspects, work for 8-10 years in executive roles for IT companies, further studies and research for 7-8 years and at the age of around 42-45, with hopefully enough maturity, knowledge, connections, funding and experience, put into action my entrepreneurial plans to start a fairly large business enterprise. By the time of retirement, the company should be one of the global leaders in its domain.’
My work experience
I was deputed from Computer Sciences Corporation to work as a consultant for their client eBay Inc in the Billing Quality Assurance team at their India Development Centre from Aug’07 to May’10.
My job was to lead teams for various projects to test, certify & improve the quality of the billing related products before they went live on eBay sites across 30 countries. I also worked in training, automating, mentoring, technical support & SME roles.
Impressed by my knowledge and ability to deliver quickly without compromising quality, eBay-US team chose me to be the first person to work on the projects of massive Turnaround-08/09 initiative taken by eBay Inc. I had worked in more than 20 projects, which was by far the highest in my team. I was also the first Billing-QA Shadow TC (Train Conductor) & also eBay-QA Shadow-TC to manage release of build-trains for entire eBay.
My achievements
My achievements range from school to national level in computer programming, football, chess, social service, quizzing, singing, reporting, business ideas, NCC, etc, I was also a good tabla player and a painter. My current interests lie in spirituality, photography, trading in stocks and I am also learning guitar and French. I am a big believer in extracurricular activities. And it does help in selections too. After all that’s why all the forms have a mandatory section on this. Some institutes like SPJIMR even have a minimum cutoff score in extracurricular to get a call. Interview questions from extracurricular section are common and it helps to be prepared beforehand. I would like to add that extracurricular is just one of the many facets that is tested in selection, and I personally know some friends who did not have any big extracurricular achievements in their applications but still made through to IIMs.
My CAT preparations
I took no classroom coaching or test series and tried to do it my way. My work pressure was not very high and I was able to squeeze in 1-2 hours daily and 5-6 hours in weekends. Initially I focused on basic areas like speed reading, vocabulary, grammar, mental math, basic formulas etc. I read a lot of books during that period from a variety of topics, watched grammar lessons in YouTube and memorized Word Power Made Easy for vocabulary building. For the quantitative section, it was mostly from Arun Sharma’s book.
Later on, when I felt my basics were good enough, I started solving previous years’ CAT papers and some mock question papers from T.I.M.E and IMS on a regular basis. When the final day came, I went to the exam centre 2 hours early and sat silently in meditation for an hour, so as to have a calm & confident state of mind. After the results were out, I started preparing for GD/PI mostly on personal questions. I also attended a 2-day GD/PI workshop by IMS, which helped me gain more confidence, and brought awareness to the areas I needed to work on (like knowing more about the institutes and the courses they offer) to finally make it through.
All in all, I would say that one could crack CAT through a mandatory combination of intellectual skills, persistent effort, self-confidence and luck.
My GD-PI experience
I appeared for interviews of IIM L, I, K and SPJIMR. I cracked all except L. The GDs were almost always the same – a generic topic, many candidates and very limited time. The trick for the candidates is to make the best out of whatever little time is available by bringing in some new creative and relevant points and explaining them in the briefest way possible. A good thing about IIMC GD is that at the end, they give a minute to each of the candidates to put forth their final opinion.
Interviews were mostly on personal questions which are aimed to find out what kind of person you are, what motivates you, what are your goals in career and life, etc. Since I had work experience, I got a lot of questions about my work at all the interviews. At IIMK & IIMI, I also faced academic questions from engineering studies. Sometimes questions were also asked on life situations like team effort, failures, ethical dilemmas, etc. In my experience, though the content of the answers are important, what matters more is the way you answer them. It helps to be smiling, cheerful and confident. Since the interviewers are sitting from the morning listening to same kind of answers, it is better if you can provide something fresh which can get them interested. Another tip would be to give real life examples to back up the claims and statements that you make.
There is an incident that I remember from the SPJIMR group interviews. They asked us a question on the biggest challenge that we recently faced. All the other guys in our group answered the almost the same thing - either a work related issue or some college event related stuff. I was the last person in the line and could see the interviewers were getting thoroughly bored. I too had a work related challenge ready for answer but when my turn came I changed track and instead replied, “My biggest recent challenge was to convince my orthodox parents to accept my girlfriend.” There was silence for a couple of seconds and then everyone burst out laughing. For next 5-6 minutes they just asked about my love life. Even before the group interview was over, the interviewers told me that they are taking me in.
Life at IIMC
It is usually said that C stands for “Chill” and that life at IIMC is very easy and relaxed. Well, I definitely found it otherwise! Life is pretty challenging here, especially till the summer placements. There are 12-14 classes a week, 1.5 hours each starting from morning 8am to 4pm with a mandatory attendance requirement of 75-80 percent. There are surprise quizzes, long case studies, project assignments, presentations and tutorials (or crashers as we call it) that take up a lot of our time.
There are 3 terms in a year covering around 20 subjects, each having both mid-term and end-term exams with relative grading system. Then, from 2-3 months before the summer placements, executives from various companies visit the campus on a daily basis to take 2-3 hours presentations. During summer placements hundreds of GD and interviews are conducted on a span of 4-5 days, which can be nerve wrecking.
Apart from these, there are more than 15 clubs ranging from Finance, Marketing, Consulting, etc to Photography, Entrepreneurship, Movies, Spirituality, etc. which conduct competitions from time to time. Business Ideas and Case Study contests are also organized by many companies at a national level. In short, life at IIMC is challenging, competitive and an exciting learning experience.
My thoughts
From all the competitions that I have been a part of, I have learnt that the most important thing is to enjoy them without thinking about winning or losing. Of course, winning matters and the destination should be clear in mind, but if the path can be walked with interest, the journey becomes fun.
I have seen people sitting for the CAT just because everybody else is doing so and even after getting in and out of IIMs, many are not happy as they find themselves in unsuitable domains. And that is because they are not clear on what it is that would make them happy. So, I would urge all the aspirants to introspect and find out what it is that you actually want from life and whether you are ready for the inevitable tradeoffs of the management career.
A simple guy with a complex mind…
I like to learn new things and know more about whatever interests me…
But cannot hold on to them for long and move on to explore again…
I am a thinker, sometimes a philosopher…
And yet very impulsive by heart wanting to enjoy life to fullest…
I play and fight with kids with as ease as I converse with elders...
I inspire and motivate others with as ease as I get inspired by others…
I follow the rules and am disciplined…
Yet I can think out of box and am the greatest proponent of free will...
I want to attain peace and stability, but I still look out for challenges and difficulties…
I am an extremely friendly guy, but I still make friends very slowly and steadily...
I have got all my life planned up, but I still love getting surprises from life...
….recites Shankhadeep Banerjee about himself in conversation with Reshma Majithia, IMS Correspondent for Advanc'edge Magazine
My blueprint
I was raised in a middle class Bengali family and was educated at a well-respected school in Kolkata. Both my family & school gave great emphasis on all-round education, culture and values, and this strengthened my fundamentals. I have done well not only in academics but have also achieved in the fields of arts, music, sports, etc.
As I have a passion for computers I decided to pursue my B.Tech in CSE from NIT Durgapur. After completing my studies, I worked for Computer Sciences Corporation for 3 years for their client eBay Inc at Chennai. I joined IIM Calcutta last year.
I wanted to be a part of the booming IT industry and a B.Tech in CSE allowed me to do just that. But it had its limitations as after a couple of years in the roles of technical lead, engineer and subject matter expert, I felt that my learning curve got stagnated. The time was ripe to shift gears and pursue a challenging management career in the IT industry, and this required an MBA. But this was not just a reactive decision but also an inevitable step towards a long-term career blueprint i.e. ‘To gain enough technical experience, go for higher studies to learn the management aspects, work for 8-10 years in executive roles for IT companies, further studies and research for 7-8 years and at the age of around 42-45, with hopefully enough maturity, knowledge, connections, funding and experience, put into action my entrepreneurial plans to start a fairly large business enterprise. By the time of retirement, the company should be one of the global leaders in its domain.’
My work experience
I was deputed from Computer Sciences Corporation to work as a consultant for their client eBay Inc in the Billing Quality Assurance team at their India Development Centre from Aug’07 to May’10.
My job was to lead teams for various projects to test, certify & improve the quality of the billing related products before they went live on eBay sites across 30 countries. I also worked in training, automating, mentoring, technical support & SME roles.
Impressed by my knowledge and ability to deliver quickly without compromising quality, eBay-US team chose me to be the first person to work on the projects of massive Turnaround-08/09 initiative taken by eBay Inc. I had worked in more than 20 projects, which was by far the highest in my team. I was also the first Billing-QA Shadow TC (Train Conductor) & also eBay-QA Shadow-TC to manage release of build-trains for entire eBay.
My achievements
My achievements range from school to national level in computer programming, football, chess, social service, quizzing, singing, reporting, business ideas, NCC, etc, I was also a good tabla player and a painter. My current interests lie in spirituality, photography, trading in stocks and I am also learning guitar and French. I am a big believer in extracurricular activities. And it does help in selections too. After all that’s why all the forms have a mandatory section on this. Some institutes like SPJIMR even have a minimum cutoff score in extracurricular to get a call. Interview questions from extracurricular section are common and it helps to be prepared beforehand. I would like to add that extracurricular is just one of the many facets that is tested in selection, and I personally know some friends who did not have any big extracurricular achievements in their applications but still made through to IIMs.
My CAT preparations
I took no classroom coaching or test series and tried to do it my way. My work pressure was not very high and I was able to squeeze in 1-2 hours daily and 5-6 hours in weekends. Initially I focused on basic areas like speed reading, vocabulary, grammar, mental math, basic formulas etc. I read a lot of books during that period from a variety of topics, watched grammar lessons in YouTube and memorized Word Power Made Easy for vocabulary building. For the quantitative section, it was mostly from Arun Sharma’s book.
Later on, when I felt my basics were good enough, I started solving previous years’ CAT papers and some mock question papers from T.I.M.E and IMS on a regular basis. When the final day came, I went to the exam centre 2 hours early and sat silently in meditation for an hour, so as to have a calm & confident state of mind. After the results were out, I started preparing for GD/PI mostly on personal questions. I also attended a 2-day GD/PI workshop by IMS, which helped me gain more confidence, and brought awareness to the areas I needed to work on (like knowing more about the institutes and the courses they offer) to finally make it through.
All in all, I would say that one could crack CAT through a mandatory combination of intellectual skills, persistent effort, self-confidence and luck.
My GD-PI experience
I appeared for interviews of IIM L, I, K and SPJIMR. I cracked all except L. The GDs were almost always the same – a generic topic, many candidates and very limited time. The trick for the candidates is to make the best out of whatever little time is available by bringing in some new creative and relevant points and explaining them in the briefest way possible. A good thing about IIMC GD is that at the end, they give a minute to each of the candidates to put forth their final opinion.
Interviews were mostly on personal questions which are aimed to find out what kind of person you are, what motivates you, what are your goals in career and life, etc. Since I had work experience, I got a lot of questions about my work at all the interviews. At IIMK & IIMI, I also faced academic questions from engineering studies. Sometimes questions were also asked on life situations like team effort, failures, ethical dilemmas, etc. In my experience, though the content of the answers are important, what matters more is the way you answer them. It helps to be smiling, cheerful and confident. Since the interviewers are sitting from the morning listening to same kind of answers, it is better if you can provide something fresh which can get them interested. Another tip would be to give real life examples to back up the claims and statements that you make.
There is an incident that I remember from the SPJIMR group interviews. They asked us a question on the biggest challenge that we recently faced. All the other guys in our group answered the almost the same thing - either a work related issue or some college event related stuff. I was the last person in the line and could see the interviewers were getting thoroughly bored. I too had a work related challenge ready for answer but when my turn came I changed track and instead replied, “My biggest recent challenge was to convince my orthodox parents to accept my girlfriend.” There was silence for a couple of seconds and then everyone burst out laughing. For next 5-6 minutes they just asked about my love life. Even before the group interview was over, the interviewers told me that they are taking me in.
Life at IIMC
It is usually said that C stands for “Chill” and that life at IIMC is very easy and relaxed. Well, I definitely found it otherwise! Life is pretty challenging here, especially till the summer placements. There are 12-14 classes a week, 1.5 hours each starting from morning 8am to 4pm with a mandatory attendance requirement of 75-80 percent. There are surprise quizzes, long case studies, project assignments, presentations and tutorials (or crashers as we call it) that take up a lot of our time.
There are 3 terms in a year covering around 20 subjects, each having both mid-term and end-term exams with relative grading system. Then, from 2-3 months before the summer placements, executives from various companies visit the campus on a daily basis to take 2-3 hours presentations. During summer placements hundreds of GD and interviews are conducted on a span of 4-5 days, which can be nerve wrecking.
Apart from these, there are more than 15 clubs ranging from Finance, Marketing, Consulting, etc to Photography, Entrepreneurship, Movies, Spirituality, etc. which conduct competitions from time to time. Business Ideas and Case Study contests are also organized by many companies at a national level. In short, life at IIMC is challenging, competitive and an exciting learning experience.
My thoughts
From all the competitions that I have been a part of, I have learnt that the most important thing is to enjoy them without thinking about winning or losing. Of course, winning matters and the destination should be clear in mind, but if the path can be walked with interest, the journey becomes fun.
I have seen people sitting for the CAT just because everybody else is doing so and even after getting in and out of IIMs, many are not happy as they find themselves in unsuitable domains. And that is because they are not clear on what it is that would make them happy. So, I would urge all the aspirants to introspect and find out what it is that you actually want from life and whether you are ready for the inevitable tradeoffs of the management career.
Nonsense & Insensibility - Mind It!!
Rajni jokes are all over facebook these days. And they are too stupid to NOT get laughed at! I present here a small collection -
Once upon a time Rajnikanth used a tooth powder to get strong teeth..... . . . . . . . . today that powder is used as AMBUJA CEMENT
Once Rajnikanth was playing Cricket and Rain Stopped due to Heavy Play
Once Rajnikanth gone for a walk and after one hour police arrested him u know why He reached USA and having No Visa with him
Rajnikanth was practicing for spelling test. The rough sheet he used is today known as the oxford dictionary!!
Hrithik tried to participate in a dance competition with Rajnikanth. Result: He is in a wheel chair in Gujarish.
Rajnikanth was once told to choose 3 subjects when he got admission in jr.college................ He chose science,arts and commerce!!!!!!!
Rajnikanth can make calls from his iPod to his iPad...!!!
One nite, while asleep, Rajnikanth was mumbling some random numbrs... Thats how the Log table was invented.
One day Rajnikanth bunked school. Since then it is known as Sunday
Once Rajnikanth was on the hot seat of KBC....
And the computer needed lifeline to choose the question. Mind it!
Micheal Jordan to Rajini: I can spin a ball on my finger for over two hours. Can you?
Rajini: Rascala, how do you think the earth spins!?
Roger Federer: I know everything about tennis. You can ask me anything.
Rajnikanth: Ok. Tell me, how many holes are there in the NET??
All scientists failed to answer this but rajnikanth did...
Ques: Which liquid turns solid on heating?
Ans: Dosa... mind it!!!
Once upon a time Rajnikanth used a tooth powder to get strong teeth..... . . . . . . . . today that powder is used as AMBUJA CEMENT
Once Rajnikanth was playing Cricket and Rain Stopped due to Heavy Play
Once Rajnikanth gone for a walk and after one hour police arrested him u know why He reached USA and having No Visa with him
Rajnikanth was practicing for spelling test. The rough sheet he used is today known as the oxford dictionary!!
Hrithik tried to participate in a dance competition with Rajnikanth. Result: He is in a wheel chair in Gujarish.
Rajnikanth was once told to choose 3 subjects when he got admission in jr.college................ He chose science,arts and commerce!!!!!!!
Rajnikanth can make calls from his iPod to his iPad...!!!
One nite, while asleep, Rajnikanth was mumbling some random numbrs... Thats how the Log table was invented.
One day Rajnikanth bunked school. Since then it is known as Sunday
Once Rajnikanth was on the hot seat of KBC....
And the computer needed lifeline to choose the question. Mind it!
Micheal Jordan to Rajini: I can spin a ball on my finger for over two hours. Can you?
Rajini: Rascala, how do you think the earth spins!?
Roger Federer: I know everything about tennis. You can ask me anything.
Rajnikanth: Ok. Tell me, how many holes are there in the NET??
All scientists failed to answer this but rajnikanth did...
Ques: Which liquid turns solid on heating?
Ans: Dosa... mind it!!!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Nonsense & Insensibility : My B'Day Fames @ IIMC
Writing b'day fames is something unique I have seen in IIMC...Here is mine! :)
OurWeb @ IIMC
Uniting the IIMC B-School community online
Gairik Datta
12/18/2010 12:40:42 AM
Presenting the fames of Sri Sri Shankhasree Deepanand a.k.a Shankhadeep
Shanky the "Philosopher and Historian"...
Claims he was a Bengali scholar in his previous life fame
Claims he was a Chinese Warrior in the life before that fame
Only club he's a member of is Sattva fame
"Sab moh maaya hai "
Thinks he resembles "Oogway" from "Kungfu Panda" fame
Claims to be a scholar in palmistry fame
Has only predicted utter destruction to people who showed their hands
to him fame
Santa swears by his name never to show his palm again after the ass
kicking predictions fame
Claims to have understood the Mahabharata and Ramayan more than anyone else fame
Reinterprets the meaning of the "Naak kaatna" episode of Surpanakha to
an entirely whole new level!
Has a special liking for levels of Humans fame
Pegs himself at level 4 while putting all else below himself fame
"Sab moh maaya hai”
Special friend in class who comes to him only to get himself screwed
by Shanky fame
Shanky gives him tips how to woo girls through his weirdo ideas.
Needless to say the poor chap is still on the hunt!
“Shanky and Fines”
Probably fined most number of times by Placecomm fame
After being fined for not shaving, xmails placereps about his "rare
tropical skin disease" which prevents him from shaving fame
Says the disease is "contagious" to get out of attending further
placement crashers fame
"I being a responsible student of IIMC understand my responsibilities
and will shave only when there is a company ppt" fame
Never paid a single fine to date fame
Fined by PGP Office for not filling up course feedback fame
Goes and shouts at everyone in the PGP Office and the HCL guys fame
Gets fine waived for himself and everyone else as a result fame
“Shanky & the Opposite Sex”
Very orthodox, didn't approve of many of the steppers' dresses fame
But regularly found casting looong glances at those very dresses fame
"Yaar abhi tak yeh sab dress page 3 mein dekhta tha, ab toh Mess me
dekh raha hun" fame
Committed to someone to the extent marriage plans are already underway fame
Spends an average of 4 hours on the phone every day fame
Can do any task while on the phone.. and by “any” we mean literally ANY fame
“Shanky the Batch topper”
Incoming batch rank 1 (according to CAT selection criteria)
Among finalists for ABG Scholarship fame
Hence primary target was GenMan during summers fame
But forgets to upload CV for ABG fame
Yet received a shortlist fame
Showed summers CV to 0 seniors fame
Gave 0 mock interviews to seniors fame
Converted 1st interview he appeared for fame
“Shanky the Localite”
One of the most low-key people on campus fame
Found only in room, class, dining hall and (recently) gym
Goes home every Friday and returns every Monday fame
Jealous of frontie who is the only one on campus who goes home more
frequently than he does fame
Random Ramblings
Legendary dialogue fame - "Delhi chalo bolta tha.. Woh toh Bangladesh
border bhi nahi cross kar paaya"
Makes Santa claim that Shanky is the greatest traitor alive fame
Takes crashers for friends before midterms which turn into discussions
on Indian philosophy fame
Read the entire CFR book the night before the exam and gets an "A" fame
"Mera lakshya yahaan se teen "6" lena hai...6 pack abs, 6 pointer and
16 lakhs salary" fame
We would have invited you for the celebrations but Shanky Baba has
returned to his ashram....
~ Contri by Sarada, KK, GD, nothing by freerider roomie
Hon'ble mention Santa
OurWeb @ IIMC
Uniting the IIMC B-School community online
Gairik Datta
12/18/2010 12:40:42 AM
Presenting the fames of Sri Sri Shankhasree Deepanand a.k.a Shankhadeep
Shanky the "Philosopher and Historian"...
Claims he was a Bengali scholar in his previous life fame
Claims he was a Chinese Warrior in the life before that fame
Only club he's a member of is Sattva fame
"Sab moh maaya hai "
Thinks he resembles "Oogway" from "Kungfu Panda" fame
Claims to be a scholar in palmistry fame
Has only predicted utter destruction to people who showed their hands
to him fame
Santa swears by his name never to show his palm again after the ass
kicking predictions fame
Claims to have understood the Mahabharata and Ramayan more than anyone else fame
Reinterprets the meaning of the "Naak kaatna" episode of Surpanakha to
an entirely whole new level!
Has a special liking for levels of Humans fame
Pegs himself at level 4 while putting all else below himself fame
"Sab moh maaya hai”
Special friend in class who comes to him only to get himself screwed
by Shanky fame
Shanky gives him tips how to woo girls through his weirdo ideas.
Needless to say the poor chap is still on the hunt!
“Shanky and Fines”
Probably fined most number of times by Placecomm fame
After being fined for not shaving, xmails placereps about his "rare
tropical skin disease" which prevents him from shaving fame
Says the disease is "contagious" to get out of attending further
placement crashers fame
"I being a responsible student of IIMC understand my responsibilities
and will shave only when there is a company ppt" fame
Never paid a single fine to date fame
Fined by PGP Office for not filling up course feedback fame
Goes and shouts at everyone in the PGP Office and the HCL guys fame
Gets fine waived for himself and everyone else as a result fame
“Shanky & the Opposite Sex”
Very orthodox, didn't approve of many of the steppers' dresses fame
But regularly found casting looong glances at those very dresses fame
"Yaar abhi tak yeh sab dress page 3 mein dekhta tha, ab toh Mess me
dekh raha hun" fame
Committed to someone to the extent marriage plans are already underway fame
Spends an average of 4 hours on the phone every day fame
Can do any task while on the phone.. and by “any” we mean literally ANY fame
“Shanky the Batch topper”
Incoming batch rank 1 (according to CAT selection criteria)
Among finalists for ABG Scholarship fame
Hence primary target was GenMan during summers fame
But forgets to upload CV for ABG fame
Yet received a shortlist fame
Showed summers CV to 0 seniors fame
Gave 0 mock interviews to seniors fame
Converted 1st interview he appeared for fame
“Shanky the Localite”
One of the most low-key people on campus fame
Found only in room, class, dining hall and (recently) gym
Goes home every Friday and returns every Monday fame
Jealous of frontie who is the only one on campus who goes home more
frequently than he does fame
Random Ramblings
Legendary dialogue fame - "Delhi chalo bolta tha.. Woh toh Bangladesh
border bhi nahi cross kar paaya"
Makes Santa claim that Shanky is the greatest traitor alive fame
Takes crashers for friends before midterms which turn into discussions
on Indian philosophy fame
Read the entire CFR book the night before the exam and gets an "A" fame
"Mera lakshya yahaan se teen "6" lena hai...6 pack abs, 6 pointer and
16 lakhs salary" fame
We would have invited you for the celebrations but Shanky Baba has
returned to his ashram....
~ Contri by Sarada, KK, GD, nothing by freerider roomie
Hon'ble mention Santa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)