Going to The School: My Story

God knows when did this journey actually begin? Dream of getting into the best B- school in the country & the toughest institute to get into in the entire world. Do I really need to mention the name?

My tryst with CAT - often referred to as BILLI - started in 2005 when I was doing the final yr of my so-called engineering. Over the last years of my experience with CAT, I have seen a transition of being a guidance-seeking aspirant into a full-fledged counsellor. The only hiccup was to implement the plans that I had. I remember those thousands of discussions on formulating the right strategy & then reaping the results. But, it finally happened on the D-day (18th Nov).

The day started off on a very strange note with my invigilator messing it up badly. But then such are the occasions where one needs to rise & show his mental strength. As soon as the paper was over, as usual I realized few silly mistakes that I made in the paper.

Then, the waiting game started for the solutions for CAT - 2007 (by those self-proclaimed successful coaching institutes). Sadly, the wait wasn't worth. The solutions for VA/RC left everyone in quandary. In essence, you have to wait for the results on 8th Jan. Till then - no expectations, only worries. Finally after cruising along other insignificant ordeals, the day - 8th Jan 2008 – came and I became BLACKI - THE BLOGGER.

Part 2 of the journey begins…

If you are able to reach here, I must compliment you for your patience & forbearance. However, patience & forbearance were my real felonies in this hour. I wanted to know everything existing on this earth. 25th Feb was the day which was chosen by my destiny to decide my fate. BTW, do you know a sheer genius was born on 24th Feb? In less than 2 months, I made a real honest attempt to add all the weapons in my armoury which can be of help on that day. Those 47 days, precisely, was the time when I realized that my biggest strength would be my honesty & sincerity. And if succeed to put it on the table, I will have a great chance.

The so-called Group Discussion was no more there, much to the dismay of those vociferous aspirants who rip apart the other not so violent ones. But as the law of nature has proved, every single change has a bright as well as not-so-bright side. A good GD performance definitely helps you to carry a good impression into the PI. Anyways let me not digress from the issue.

During these 47 days, I got few dress-rehearsals which were handy to get used to things. Finally came 25th Feb, 2008.

Everything was planned, as often said. Got up around 9:30 & went through my notes. Though at such moments, you really don't know what would be asked. So I decided to go through whatever I had done. Then had bath, got dressed & finally ate something to calm those butterflies in my stomach. Well for people who don't know me all that well, I perspire a lot. So, I decided against wearing a Tie. I just kept it in my bag, thinking that I will wear it just seconds before the interview. Took an auto & headed straight to Hotel Monarch Luxor, Infantry road. I had my L interview there, so this time I didn't have to run around to find the place.

Reached the place and went straight to the waiting area. Well it was a claustrophobic place to say the least. A non-AC corridor with 1 fan standing in a remote corner. The area wasn't too big, yet I felt the fan was miles away. Then to calm the nerves, I started talking to other guys. I had met few of them in my prior experiences, so it was a little easier to keep those jitters away.

I can't complete this story without mentioning this incident. A fellow aspirant forgot to bring his wallet & he needed to pay for the auto. Looking for some help, he finally came to me. As I had met him for my I & L interviews, I decided to help him . Immediately he popped up a question - where do I pay it back? I just casually said - "The most optimistic reply at this moment would be at The School". I never knew that time will take me there.

Finally the show began. A Prof - tall, bearded, dressed in semi-formal attire - finally emerged out of nowhere, to divide us into 3 groups. The Prof looked pretty serious, as if he was up for an interview. So, let me call him Mr. Serious. The groups were not for the discussion but for interview panels. I was a member of group 3, which belonged to Mr. Serious.

We entered the room, but why we? Well, there was a small essay writing to be done before the interview. Time to meet the demi-gods & get the first feel of The School.

Mr. Serious was accompanied by two more not-so-old Profs. One of them was rather pretty young & pleasing. We often hear of roles being assigned. I think these Profs also decide to play different tunes to test a candidate at different levels. Chalo let me call him Mr. Smiley. I will introduce the 3rd MC a little later.

Mr. Smiley takes the charge: Welcome to 2nd round of selection process of… Congratulations for this success. We will be giving you a topic, on which you have to write your views or an essay in the space provided on your form. Time given will be 10 mins. After which we will start with the interviews starting from no.1. (I was no. 2 in my group, so not a long wait I realized) in 10 mins time. The interview will be for 10-15 mins per candidate. Any doubts?

Then they quickly went through the round to check the forms & admit cards.

Mr. Smiley: The topic is "Variety is the spice of life". I repeat "Variety is the spice of life".

Next 10 mins, everyone was engrossed in writing those 15 lines (as the space was limited). I finished it in 7-8 mins I guess. The after-feeling was good. I believe that though I didn't write something which can be classified as instant-attention-seeker but I wrote something which would definitely touch a few strings of your heart & mind. In essence, I was glad with my performance. Then we were sent out to wait for our turn to get guillotined. After some 8 odd mins, 1st guy was called in. I was thinking whether I should wear the tie now or not. I dropped the idea of being overboard & decided to feel as comfortable as possible. Meanwhile, I kept myself busy talking to people sitting alongside. The 1st guy came out. He had a very usual PI wit questions related to work, liking  etc. Now I was waiting for my turn into the lions' den. The till-now-unknown puppeteer eventually emerged to escort me.

Now let me tell you more about my 3rd tormentor, mentor now I guess. He was short with a pair of seemingly light specs sitting casually on his nose, clad in a grayish safari suit with a very expressive smile on his face. He was supposed to read through your eyes, body language & every single detail of your presence. Let me call him Mr. Observer.

I entered the room & greeted the panel with "Good Afternoon Sirs" (It was 3 in the afternoon).

Mr. Smiley - Sy, Mr. Observer - Oy, Mr. Serious - Ss & myself - Yours truly 'YT'.

My description of what happened next is near to what exactly transpired. But like every other machine, I won't be able to give 100% performance. Apologies!!

Sy: Punit Garg, so Punit what's the meaning of Punit?

YT: Sir, sacred, holy, pure (too many answers i guess).

Sy: Where did this word come from?

YT: Sir, it’s a Hindi word.

Sy: Yes I know, from which language has it been taken from? In Hindi, the words have been taken from other languages right?

YT: Yes sir. (I was a little unsure of what was going on. I mean I never imagined that in the most important 25 mins of my life, i would be discussing my name, its origin & like. But, at such a stage you don't have much of a choice except to fight it out & I did the same). I think it has been taken from Sanskrit.

Sy: Ok, so is Punit a word in Sanskrit or it has been derived from another word?

YT: (A bouncer which went at least few feet above my head) I don't know exactly sir.

Sy: What's the Hindi word for good deeds?

I was totally taken by surprise by the proceeding. However, I was thinking hard & then suddenly.

Ss: What is his background (asking Oy)?

I took this as an opportunity to buy some time.

YT: Sir, I am an Instrumentation Engineer from Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur.

Well, this question didn't demand any bandwidth of my brain, so while saying all this I was figuring out the answer for the previous question & I got it.

Ss: Okay, okay.

YT: (looking at Sy) Sir, Punnya.

Sy: Yes, right. There you go.

YT: A big sigh of relief

Then, Sy opened my file & got stuck in the 1st leaf itself. Well like anyone else, I had put every single piece of paper in that file which could have sold me to these prospect buyers. And, the 1st one was obviously my biggest academic achievement, till then. My University rank# 1 certificate.

But, things don't go as planned & certificates don't serve the intended purpose. Mr. Sy didn't like anything else in the document except my university's name - Viswesvaraiah Tech. Univ.

Sy: Viswesvaraiah Tech. Univ. Hmm. So, what do you know about Viswesvaraiah?

My 47 days long prep came handy finally but not for too long I must admit.

YT: Sir M. Viswesvaraiah was a great engineer. He developed the 1st machine to harness water to generate energy. He also built the KRS dam (Krishna Raja Sagar dam) near Mysore.

Time for Mr.Oy to spook me.

Oy (askingly): So you mean to say that hydro power station wasn't there before Viswesvaraiah?

YT (a li'l unsure): Sir, I m not very sure. But he did design a machine which was first of its kind to generate power. Though, I am not sure about the details.

Oy: Affirmative smile :)

YT: A bigger smile to express my gratitude for not taking it further J

Few more questions on Viswesvaraiah which I don't recall properly.

Sy: What all awards did he (Still Viswesvaraiah) get?

YT: Sir, as far as remember he was awarded with Bharat Ratna.

Oy: And you remember well. A big smile again.

YT: Thank you sir. (1 formal smile)

Oy: Which year did he get it?

YT: I don't know sir.

Oy: It's okay. [:)]

Note - Pls take these smileys as grin by Mr. Oy.

Oy: Which award did he get during British rule?

By this time, I had understood 1 thing that my interview isn't going to take the beaten path like tell us about yourself, what do you like, what are your hobbies kind. It had started on a very different note & with every passing second it was taking a new rather unexpected turn. I was enjoying it till here.

Back to this question.

YT: Sir, he is called as Sir M. Viswesvaraiah. So, he was knighted by the British govt.

Smiles & grins all around.

In the hindsight, I feel this & that Hindi word question were those seemingly useless questions which actually checked how doI think under pressure. And I believe these little moments of success mattered a lot.

Sy: So you studied from Siddaganga Institute of Technolgy. What's this Siddaganga?

YT: Sir, actually my college is owned by a mutt called Siddaganga Mutt. So, the college is named as Siddaganga Institute of Technology.

Sy: Ok, but why Siddaganga? Why is the mutt called Siddaganga?

Where did that come from? I mean leave alone these names yaar. For the last 7 odd mins I have been struggling with names. My name, my university's name & now my college's name. But, you can't quit at this juncture. So, I mustered whatever I could.

YT: Sir, the mutt is near a hill & there is a temple also. Probably, the temple or the hill's name is Siddaganga. That's why. However, there is a hill on Bangalore-Tumkur road which is called as Shivagange. (My wide mouth, this is called as asking for trouble). There might be some connection.

Seriously asking, I don't know why I uttered those last 2 lines. I was just delivering an impromptu speech, I guess.

Sy: What's the connection between Shiva & Ganga?

YT: Sir, Ganga comes out of the hairlock of Lord Shiva. Actually there is a mythological story behind this. A king worshiped Lord Shiva for water. And lord Shiva eventually granted his wish by sending Ganga to earth.

Pure blabber mode ON. Unnecessary details divulged. Gave a no. of points to screw me over. I certainly don't know why.

Oy: What was the name of the king? (1st blow, defended with ease)

YT: Sir, King Bhagirath.

Ss: What was the name? Come again.

YT: Sir, King Bhagirath.

Oy: So, why did he pray for water?

YT: Sir, probably because there was scarcity of water.

Such a straight forward logic. But, it wasn't.

Another 3-4 questions on this scarcity & prayer.

Meanwhile, I noticed Mr. Ss. He looked totally disinterested. For my consolation I thought, he mustn't be aware of/ interested in Hindu mythology.

Oy: Ok I agree there was scarcity of water. But why Ganga, he could have prayed for rains.

YT: (Totally speechless) Sir, I don't know.

Ss: So where's the origin of Ganga?

YT: Sir, the place is called Gangotri & the exact point from where it comes out is Gomukh.

Uff. 10-12 mins of sheer exasperation which was to be enjoyed. I feel till here I did an okay job. But what followed next was carnage, brutal carnage.

Oy: So Punit, you are an Instrumentation Engineer. So what were your subjects?

YT: (A sudden jump to acads) Sir, control systems, micro-processors, instrument transducers.

Oy: What are the different kinds of controllers?

YT: Sir, On-Off control; proportional controller, PD control, PI control, PID control.

Oy: So, do you know how do these controllers work?

YT: Yes sir, I know their basic mechanisms.

Oy: Okay, tell me about proportional controller. For example, you take this room. How would you control the temperature of this room?

YT: Sir. First of all there will a sensor to sense the temperature of this room. Now, the room's temp is compared with the set value. Blah blah.

We two just went to discuss this controller for next mins. I shouldn't say discuss. Mr. Oy was actually pushing me into a corner with every question.

I finally resorted to explain the whole stuff on a sheet of paper. Requested for a sheet of paper. But, as expected these tangibles were futile. I was getting a touch nervous now. Soon, the other joined the party. I believe it was the best part of circus for them, so each one had to mock at so-called University topper. Few questions which I came across during this bloodshed.

Oy: Suppose I want to keep the temperature of this room at 25 deg C & this AC (pointing towards the Air Conditioner in the room) can do that for me. How does that controller fit in here?

YT-- I don't remember the exact answers, but I certainly remember what was going through my mind. I was feeling the heat in that AC room because of that bloody AC.

By this time, I had lost count of time. I had forgotten everything else. I was just trying to tell them what exactly I knew about P-controller. My concentration level was at its best. I was speaking every word with utmost care as initially I fumbled by mentioning on-off mechanism. Thankfully, it got lost in the flurry of words that came out of my mouth. I realized my mistake immediately & ensured that I leave it behind like 1st century.

Meanwhile, I started sweating. Not because I got damn nervous & not because of my high rate of perspiration. But, I think because of both.

Oy: Are you comfortable?

YT: Yes sir.

Ss: YOU are sweating (passing a tissue to wipe)

YT: (Wiping my fore-head) I m comfortable sir. It’s just that I have high rate of perspiration. In fact, I was asked this thing in my previous interviews also (followed by a decent-size smile).

Slowly & steadily I managed to give a not-so-convincing but manageable overview of how P-controller works.

Oy: Okay, so how will the room temperature vary with time?

YT: Sir, it will vary in proportion to the difference between the set value & the measured value of room temp.

Blunderrrrrrrrr!!!!

Oy: But you said the controller o/p varies in proportion with the error. So, is it controller o/p or room temperature?

YT: Oh sorry sir, my mistake. Actually the controller o/p will vary proportional to error.

Oy: Are you sure (with a look which went straight across me)?

YT: Yes sir.

Oy: So, how will temp vary with time?

YT: Sir, for example take initially room's temp is 28 degrees. So, the error is high. So, controller action will reduce the temp. Now as the error keeps on getting smaller & smaller, the temp will reach closer to 25 degrees.

Oy: Can you show me the graph?

YT: (Spooked; drew a straight line) Sir, this is how controller o/p will vary with error.

Again, I was buying time to come up with the right graph.

Oy: & temperature with time??

YT: (talking to myself) As the error becomes small, the temp decreases. So, initially the change will be large & then will become less & less.

Finally drew the graph with this explanation to my own satisfaction at that point of time. I felt so relieved but was up for the next battle soon.

Mr. Ss who was mostly quiet all this while, except few cross-questions & intermittent bouncers, had a graph ready up his sleeve to put me into another regime of mental exercise. He had drawn an exponential curve.

Ss: So, this is an exponential curve?

I don't know was he asking or telling me.

YT: Yes sir.

Ss: So, you put any 2 parameters of common knowledge on the 2 axes which follow this curve.

YT-- Uttered something. I was again going back to technical stuff, but I think I interrupted him.

Mr. Serious after a pause: Okay, let me give you the x-axis variable.

Say its income. Now tell me y-axis variable which will follow this.

YT after thinking for few seconds: Sir, we can put expenditure on y-axis or demand on y-axis.

As the income increases, the expenditure increases. But after a point, it reaches saturation & then it becomes almost constant.

Ss: Expenditure. Okay. So where will you put Bill Gates on this curve?

Bowled over!!!!

YT: Sir, somewhere over here - pointing closer to the point where the curve becomes a straight line.

Ss: so, why is he still working so much & trying to earn?

YT: Sir, that's the human tendency. We always try to keep growing from where we are.

Punit Garg- The PHILOSOPHER.

Mr. Smiley was busy with something during all this, so Mr. Serious asked him to pay heed to my non-sense. 

20 mins over. Just a guess, because seriously I had no count of time.

Sy going through my form: So, you work with Infosys. How many people are there in your team?

YT: Sir, actually my project is a child project which comes under an umbrella project.

In my project, I am the only off-shore resource & my Manager is on-site.

Ss: What is this on-site, off-shore?

YT: Sir, these are the jargon used in IT industry. Sir, we usually pick up the words used by people. (I don't know why did I use we).

Ss: Why do we say on-site?

YT: Sir, when someone goes abroad in IT industry we usually say he is going on-site. It's a jargon basically.

I knew the answer but I fumbled. Probably, I was still not coming to terms to the fact that now the things have become a li'l better.

Sy: But in the form, you have mentioned no. of team-members as 10.

YT: Sir, that's the no. of people who are there in the umbrella project.

Sy: Okay, okay. What's this Syclo LLC?

YT: sir, that's the software package which I work on.

Sy: What's this LLC?

YT: Its Syclo LLC is the name of the company which owns this Syclo software.

Sy: Ok I get it. But what is this LLC?

YT: Sir, it's the name.

Sy: What is the full-form?

YT: Sir, I don't know.

Sy: What does it mean?

YT: Sir, I don't know.

Sy: So, tomorrow if Sujan Ramamurthy comes & tells you Syclo LLC has become Syclo Partnership. What will you understand?

YT: Sir, it means LLC signifies the form of organisation.

Sy: So, where is the headquarters of Syclo LLC?

YT: Sir, USA. United States of America.

USA came out of mouth so instantly as if it was my company.

However, Mr. Observy couldn't miss the fact that it was a fluke.

Oy: Are you sure?

YT: Not sure sir. But when I joined this project, I visited the website & I remember that it is headquartered in US.

A sheer Save Your A** move.

Oy: Okay.

One or two more questions followed.

Sy: Okay Punit. That's all. Please take 1 toffee from the bowl. Thanks. And find about LLC.

YT(Picking the toffee): Sure sir. Thank you sirs. Thank you sirs.

So that was it. I saw my watch & I realized those were the longest 25 mins of my life & certainly most decisive too.

The next-guy-in interrupts- You are laughing so much. Interview went really good kya?

I suddenly realized that I had a big smile on my face. I felt really good to know that because that meant that I carried a smile during the last few mins at least. I just told the guys waiting that my interview went just okay, wished them luck & headed back in auto with a no. of thoughts. I was trying to assess my own performance & honestly I couldn't make anything out of it. I was thinking about LLC & suddenly it dawned upon me that LLC could be Limited Liability Company. But, it was a li'l too late, I thought. Suddenly the hell broke loose. I re-thought the temp vs. time graph & I realized that the one drew was incorrect. A feeling of grief & despair surrounded me by the evening.

Next few weeks, I traveled across the nation to attend other interviews. But, they never really built that excitement. All this while, I kept on assessing & re-assessing my interview and I was filled with mixed emotions. One thing I was happy about was the whole experience. I was happy that it was my most memorable interview not because of what was at stake, but because it actually gave me the taste of being at The School.

Then, time inched closer to the day on which results were to be announced - 11 April. I was sleeping on embers of fire. On 9th Apr, I was again engrossed in analyzing that temp vs. time graph. And I relished the joy of realizing that my graph was correct. I actually did a mistake when I re-studied it. So, finally a big burden was off my shoulders.

10th April: The day that became the spoilsport. The Supreme Court lifted its ban on OBC quota. The only question which numbed every aspirant's mind - Why the day before the results was chosen for this calamity? However, there were no answers. There were - uncertainties unbound, tensions plenty - in the air. Every single day was like a century with hundreds of visits to every IIM website.

April 30: Evening, the picture became clearer. May 1 was chosen as the DAY to spell success for few & despair for few. I had decided to check the results in the evening.

May1: I started the day casually to keep my emotions at check. By afternoon, I got to know that few results are out. I mustered all my courage & went to the nearby cyber cafe to check the results.

IIM I- Results weren't out.

IIM C- Rejected :(

A painful start. I had read of an experience of a guy on PagalGuy that he had all the calls last yr but couldn't convert any.

To say that it scared hell outta me would be my most frank admission.

IIM K: Took time to open. Selected; 1st Convert; Relieved.

IIM B: Name didn't appear in the list.

IIM L: Results weren't out.

The School: Congratulations. You have been selected for admission to PGP (2008-2010 batch), IIMA.

Everything else just looked meaningless for that moment. I checked my name & Tr. No. on the page again & again. What followed next is anybody's guess - party, fun, frolic & celebrations.

So, I reach the end of my story. I am not writing this to give those 5 infallible Mantras for success, I am not writing this to give people guidance. I am writing this because now I feel that those 25 mins weren't a test of my knowledge. It was a test of my character, my sincerity, my honesty, my ability to fall & rise again, my ability to meet failure, my ability to smile at my own mistakes, etc. Those 25 mins were to test me as a whole & I don't intend to give tips or suggestions to change the real you. I am writing this to make the feeling sink in.

I am going to The School & the journey begins here…