It couldn’t have been worse... In just a sentence that was the experience. But that is very relative... Compared to what I had gone thru, my gd/pi at IIT-D was the one where I had a hard time not only during the process but also the stay. I will start off with the flight that was scheduled to depart at 16.30 and was half an hour late... We landed at Delhi right on time. The car that was arranged took me and my mother to IIT. This was the only place where no one I knew had gone before.. The stay was at the ground floor of a prof’s residence... The place had been cleaned up for us and so had its own inconvenience... I won’t talk about something unimportant like that coz I am thankful that I got an accommodation inside the campus itself. We reached there by 10 pm on 27th.
The next day we woke up. By 10 am we were feeling so bored sitting inside that we thought we will just have a look around the campus. As soon as we stepped out we realised our folly. The sun began to burn our skin... It was piercing deep into my body... With the map I tried to get to Department of Management Studies (DMS). We walked for about 25 minutes asking for direction every minute. We even crossed a small bridge on our way and ended in front of DMS. It was in front of the JNU gate of IIT, Delhi. The building was remarkable... It was huge... maybe I underestimated it. After talking to a senior, we walked back to have lunch. The whole day, I was idling in the room... I also met a few friends who had come over from Kerala for the gd/pi process. The guys were complaining that their accommodation was poor. Each one had a single room at the new hostel at IIT-B and the facility here was opposite to that. They were literally shut in a basement where many mattresses were scattered on the floor. At night, I went to the girls’ hostel and found that only 3 girls were there for the next day’s process. The seniors were very warm and I also met a mallu in 1st year.
On 29th morning, we had breakfast and came back before the sun came out too hot... We had realised our folly only after seeing the sun burnt faces of ours that no one go outdoors in the summer there. My spirit was a bit dampened seeing my face black washed. We had our lunch and walked for 10 minutes to catch a cycle rickshaw. It was a 15 min ride to DMS. We had to register and the document verification was done then itself. It was 1.45 pm and I was thinking I had just 15 min for it to start... The whole process was supposed to finish off in 2 hrs.
Different people have different ways to relieve tension... If one sees me biting the nails then one can be sure that I am tensed to the core... I know it’s a very bad habit but then it’s how I fight tension. Another moron like action I do is skipping food... I won’t eat anything before my interviews. Not only for the present interview season, but this has started right from the first one I attended for my job, 1 yr back. So there I am sitting in the seminar hall, waiting for the presentation to start with a half-full (quarter to be exact) stomach. The volunteers came forward and asked a few of us sitting in front whether we were the 2pm batch... Of course, I thought, it was 5 minutes to 2 and will the 1 pm batch be sitting there... To my surprise, one of them asked the candidates in the 1 pm slot to come out. They were just going for the gd!!
The presentation lasted for 15 min. It was pretty impressive. After the long wait (the senior allotted to our group was trying his best to make us at home) we were called for the gd. I was in panel D and I was the 4th person. Only 7 in my panel were present... Thanks to all other B schools except IITs and IIMs coming out with the calls. The panel comprised of 4 gentlemen and a lady. They were looking very tired. One of the panelist wished us... we all wished him back. Then he mocked back saying won’t you wish the madam?
Now the fun starts... One of them said that since we were the last group of the day, we get the privilege to decide the topics... Now, the panels before us had all sorts of topics like ... ‘To decide not to decide’, ‘Left, right, 123’ etc. So the group (not me) was happy to decide the topic... A self appointed leader said a few sentences and said we should discuss on “whether gd/pi process is essential for b school admission”... I had enough of it.... I felt it was like piercing ourselves with a sword... If someone had walked out of the room I would have followed. I couldn’t believe my ears when the same person said “I don’t think we need time to think about that, we can start”. But we were told that we should think for 5 min. I couldn’t mess up this one and so I said that we should be given some time before starting to discuss. So everyone agreed. Then the panel said, ‘we were just having fun... we had the topic ready... So your topic is Reservations- good or bad’. It fell like a bombshell on me... Of all the topics, this one??
I knew that I was at a disadvantage as anyone prepared will have the same topics to talk about and hence there wasn’t much fruitful discussion. So it went on to be the most ordinary discussion ever with 2 people dominating. I couldn’t put up a good show coz of the situation that it was. It came out to be the worst gd that I had to go thru this season.
It was over by 4.30 pm and I was having a severe migraine by then. The weather was also very unfavourable. I met 2 mallu seniors. They were telling me that this was “pleasant climate” and that the summer is yet to come. 36.7 degree and pleasant climate???
I was called for my interview by about 6.15 pm. By then, I have had enough of Delhi. I was so tired and my head was breaking... I went in and thanked all Gods that it wasn’t the same panel as gd. It was supposed to be a friendly panel that I was in.
There was a lady and 2 gentlemen. One (the industry person) was going through my mark sheets.
The questions asked were:
Tell us something about yourself.
Why MBA?
What is the foreign exchange rate of dollar, pound and euro?
What is the effect of appreciating rupee on import and export?
Since I had written my interest as HR in my SOP, the industry person asked how I can be successful.
He was trying to state that HR managers are failures and now that everyone gets guides to study what will come to them for the HR interviews, its nothing innovative and that anyone can get thru an HR manager fooling them.
I was also asked about my preference and the other calls I got.
The whole process lasted for 15-20 minutes. It was 7 pm when I reached back the room. We went to a friend’s place and the flight back was only on 31st. I call this the experience of the season. After the sun burn and black wash, I have severe migraine. The next day I was down with food poisoning, vomiting even the water I drank. I reached Cochin, only God knows how, the next day.
There ends my season this year... Waiting for april 7th that will bring me good news (fingers crossed). On the whole it was a fantastic experience, something that I had never experienced. 5 interviews in a span of 1 month (SJMSOM was on Feb. 29th and IIT-D on March 29thJ) ... The most exciting one was SJMSOM as it was the first B school interview I was faced so it will be my personal favourite. I was too naive then, not knowing anything ... not even how a B school looks like. So it was definitely the one I was looking forward in the beginning and it was the best call I have. IISc went very smoothly. IIT-Kgp and IIT-M were the ones I was very cool. I wasn’t tensed at all and that was the sole reason I was tensed there. IIT-D tested my physical perseverance apart from the GD/PI.
Each place I visited was unique in its own way and each had their unique advantages to boast about. Where I will spend the next 2 yrs of my life is written before hand by the person who knows better than me, what’s best for me. So where ever I get thru I know it will be for my good coz that’s the place where I will be able to do my best.
I tried my best to be an active participant thru out but in vain... People were practically cutting you and speaking... so it was more like a war of voice... The person with the loudest booming voice can survive there.... Just like any other field... Survival of the fittest !!
... the other panels were even asking basic mathematics like fourier series, differential equations and integration 
... Hearing this question me, Iyas and Anand (both 2006 batch EC, MEC) were running to meet a batch mate of their's who was doing his M.Tech there ( after quitting Nvidia)... yea you can find all sorts of people at IISc... He was explaining the whole process of manufacturing over lunch....