Duhb-yuh Eych Wahy???

No, this is not about the game “Why” of the late 50’s nor this is about the ‘World Hunger Year’ – a non profitable organization; this one is about the mystery of ‘why’. Known as one of the 5 W’s, a concept used in journalism and investigations, this so called ‘why’ has given severe headaches to most of the students like me (read fresher). The moment we started preparing for the gd/pi’s for the B Schools Mr. Why was always there with us. Be it the preparation sessions or be it hanging out with friends, Mr. Why was hell bent on becoming our friend. Though I did my best to avoid him but without any success. ‘Why MBA’ has to be one of the toughest questions that I have faced so far. I guess preparing for CAT was much better than thinking about Mr. Why and its mystery. Mr. Why managed to give us sleepless nights for sure, and I guess most of the freshers would agree with me. So much so that, there was a ‘why’ in everything. Why Enthusia? Why Technovanza? Why Pratibimb? (These are the names of our college fests). On the lighter side we (I along with Pratik) also had some fun, but the confusion never seems to die. In a way this was a good thing to happen, minus the sleepless nights and trauma (yes it was a trauma). What followed after Mr. Why’s introduction were a series of questions, which made sure that one has to do a lot of introspection. It is only because of this that I could know myself better as a person. Mr. Why also made me realize that it’s important to have some sort of goal in life, which many of us do not. In a way what happened was good, but the mystery of ‘why’ continues….

The Human Run Machine Still At His Maximum Efficiency!!

It comes by running down the ball to fine leg. By the time the little master reaches the non strikers end the crowd goes crazy. The helmet comes off, the head tilts up skywards, the head comes down and the eyes look at team mates and the crowd in acknowledgment and the bat is raised again for the n’th number of time. I have lost count on that one now. For the record this one against New Zealand was the Master’s 43^rd century in ODI cricket. Even his strongest critics might be wondering how he can do that again and again and again. I remember what Mr. Ravi Shastri had said once after Sachin had scored a century, “And they say Mr. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar should retire from cricket, MY FOOT!!!” The other day I was watching a news channel wherein the anchor was discussing about Sachin’s retirement. Well he will be hiding for cover for sure. It is said think twice before saying anything; I guess the saying should be modified for the genius, think ten times before commenting on the great man. Well I guess no one and I mean no one in this world has a right to decide or even comment on his retirement. He has proved himself time and time again and let the man who has played only 425 ODI’s and 156 Tests, scored only 84 centuries and 142 half centuries in both tests and ODI’s decide his retirement plans.

The 163 scored yesterday was special. One would imagine that a player who has scored so much in an innings would keep the opposition interested, not to be. The master stamped his class and scored his first ODI century in NZ. It was a wonderful innings and NZ had no idea of what was coming for them. He took charge after Viru got out, gave Yuvi a wonderful stand and then took on the attack to the opposition with Dhoni. If it was not for his injury I think there was a fair chance that he would have went on to become the first player to score 200 in an ODI. But records do not matter; in the Masters own words, "I am enjoying the game. I just want to go out and enjoy my game and not have targets. While doing that if it happens, well and good. The most important factor is to keep enjoying my game, and keep winning games for India." That’s the way to go Sachin, you keep enjoying the game, keep scoring the runs, keep winning matches for India and bring a smile to millions and millions of people around the world. It’s a great pleasure to watch you bat Sir. Only West Indies is left where a century has not been scored and I hope and pray that the final frontier is conquered. All hail Sachin!!!

P.S. The match was a little too close for comfort. India has a serious problem in finding the third bowler. I guess with Ishant coming back in the next ODI we would see a better performance by the Indian bowlers. And I am still wondering why the hell Munaf was smiling after being smashed all around the park and had the courage to stand in front of MSD after that, luckily he bowled 2 waist height no balls and hopefully with Ishant back we wont see him again in the tour. The first few lines of the post were inspired from cricinfo.com, I liked those lines so much!!

Those 28 hours at IIM Ahmedabad!!!

It finally got over. I had my essay writing and personal interview round for IIMA on the 16th of February. The process took place at the campus of IIMA itself. I reached Ahmedabad on the 15th and stayed in one of the dorms, D – 305 (reminded me of the D block in VJTI and a coincidence that I always go to D – 305 when I am in the hostel). The campus is huge. The majestic buildings made from bricks give an amazing view. I also happened to see the tunnel that connects the old campus with the new one and the photo gallery therein.

So the day arrived, my round was scheduled at 2 pm. I met a friend of mine from my college and also got acquainted with the others who were there. As expected, stakes were high; one could feel the tension in the air. Everybody looked nervous, me included. I was in panel 1. 10 of us were supposed to be present but 1 person did not turn up. We were asked to sit in a room. Tables and chairs were arranged in a rectangular manner. A professor came and greeted us, told us about essay writing. We were supposed to write an essay of about 30 lines in 10 minutes. I was a little nervous as some of the topics for the previous batches were a little weird. But I got lucky; the topic was “How will India win 200 medals in Olympics 2020”. Since I have a very strong background of sports and had done my homework on Beijing Olympics ’08, I managed to write a descent essay. I feel 10 minutes are not sufficient for an essay. If someone does not have enough ideas about the topic he will lose out in the essay, as was the case with few people who just could not complete their essay. After this we were asked to wait outside and the interviews started. I was scheduled to go in 6th.

In the waiting room, people were talking with each other on varied issues. Some of them were clearing a few doubts of theirs. As the time went by, we realized that Taylor’s series was being asked to everyone. I called up a friend of mine and asked about it and was also told about Mclauren series. My turn came and I was called in by the same professor who gave us instructions during the essay. He stressed on the general part in the interview, so I will call him Prof G. The other professor, who I think was a Bengali, asked about acads, so I will call him Prof A. The interview begins…..

Me: Good afternoon sir (prof a), good afternoon sir (prof g)
Prof G: Good afternoon, take a seat.

(Prof A enters into the scene)

Prof A: So, were any of your friends in the panel with you today?
Me: Yes sir, xyz, he is from my college and he is in abc department.

Prof A: How did you come to Ahmedabad?
Me: Sir, I came by train.

Prof A: Which train?
Me: Gujarat Express.

Prof: Did any of your friends accompany you?
Me: No Sir.

Prof A: Did your parents come with you?
Me: No Sir, I came alone.

Prof A: Ok, tell me the name of stations you encountered in your journey?
Me: Sir, startin from Mumbai, there was Palghar then Valsad, Surat, Vadodara, Ankaleshwar, Anand and Ahmedabad.

Prof A: Tell me the expansion of e raise to x.
Me: Told

Prof A: log x
(ye kaha se aa gaya yaar, ye kise yaad rehne wala hai)
Me: Thinking……..
Me: I cant recollect Sir but maybe I can try to derive it.

Prof A: how?
Me: I can use the Mclauren series.

Prof A: I have only heard about Mclaren Mercedes, a team in F!.

(Laughter all around)

Me: Yes sir, it is a team in F1.

Prof A: Who is your Mclauren then?
Me: Blah blah blah….

Prof A: Derive
Me: Started, stumbled a few times, did something and showed to him.

(The prof was lookin curiously, in the mean time I realized a mistake I made asked him whether I can correct it, he obliged)

(well the final answer was wrong in any case :p)

Prof A: What is piezoelectric effect?
Me: told something, he wasn’t satisfied?

Prof A: what is the value of pie?
Me: told

Prof A: asked a few qs on degrees and made me conclude that pie = 180 degrees, asked me the reason for diff values
Me: told

Prof A: what is e and tell me its value.
Me: told about e, dint remember its value.

Prof A: What is LCD?
Me: told about liquid being inside it, blah blah

Prof A: You mean to say liquid will flow out if the LCD breaks.

(huge round of laughter, even I join in)

Me: I never tried that Sir, (;))

Prof A: what is LED?
Me: told something, the prof wasn’t satisfied.

(Prof G takes over now)

Prof G: Ok Prashant, you are from Nagpur?
(haila, ye kaha se aa gaya!!!!!)

Me: Sir, I have been in Mumbai for the past 13 years.

Prof G: But I read Nagpur somewhere in your profile!!
Me: Sir, I was born in Nagpur.

Prof G: How long were you there in Nagpur?
Me: till 2nd std

Prof G: Then you mite be having a fair idea about Nagpur.
Me: somewhat….

Prof G: What is vidarbha region?
ME: told with districts

(then a huge discussion followed abut vidarbha and its problems. The issues of farmers came up. A lot of discussion on the crops being grown and the staple diet of the people there took place. This part was manageable as I had done my homework on Nagpur and the Vidarbha region. In between I was asked about the Marathwada region as well, which I was able to handle.)

Prof G: Lets move on to Bombay, tell me something about it
Me: Told about the origin of the name Bombay, then moved on to Mumbai and why the name. Told about GDP, financial hub, blah blah blah…..

Prof G: I am more interested in history. Who could have been the rulers of Mumbai?
Me: Told about Portuguese and the Britishers.

Prof G: How did the British arrive here?
Me: I am not so sure sir, maybe through their encroachment plans.

Prof G: Wasn’t it a gift given to them by someone?
(this was actually the answer)

Me: Not sure.

Prof G: Who is the CM of Maharastra?
Me: Told

(some discussion on congress followed)

Prof G: which is the other party and who is their leader in Maharashtra state?
Me: NCP and Chagan Bhujbal is the Dy. CM and he is an alumni of my college VJTI.

Prof G: Why did the NCP come into existence?
Me: Mite be, because of some differences with Congress.

Prof G: But their leader respects the Congress leaders very much.
Me: Agreed and told about Sharad Pawar, blah blah blha

Prof G: Were the differences related to Barrack Obama’s campaign in the USA?
Me: Sir, since I am not too sure, I would not like to comment on that.

Prof G: (smiles) we are done, thank you.
Me: Thank you sir.

I could have done better on the acads part. Overall it was a feel good interview. The profs were very friendly, no one was stressed. The profs actually were leading us to a solution if we dint knew about it. It was a great experience.

I must mention about the campus at IIM A. I havent seen a bigger library in my life before. Lawn tennis courts, basketball and volley ball courts, baddy courts sprinkled around, cricket and football grounds, truly amazing. I left in the evening, had no reservation, so had a horrible journey. But it was worth it!!!