My IIM C GD/PI Experience

IIM – C

Venue – IMI, New Delhi
Reached the venue about 1.5 hr before the start. Had heard there would be a lot of verifications. So, had to go early. My interview slot was first again.

Was searching the entire campus for the room. Finally, found the room in the ladies hostel. Wat a place to have the GD n PI????

The locale of GD didn’t look like a premier B-school’s GD. It was the residential room a guest house.

GD process –
Time to think – 2mins
Time for discussion – 10 mins

So, our 3 panelists began the proceedings.

The topic – Artists must know mathematics. (…….WTF…….)

The GD – The start was uncharacteristically tepid. No one was starting. Atlast one guy (The Smartie) started it. Gave a good enough start, then all hell broke loose. Everybody wanted to make his point.
I usually used to have a laid-back attitude for the initial 2 minutes. Used to compose myself and then used to chip in.
Tab yaad aaya, kya kar raha hai yaar. GD bas 10 min ka hai. Gave the example of the greatest artist, God as to how he must have used his maths.
There was this guy who used to give a big smile while asking “Please lemme complete”, whenever he was interrupted. He did it 2-3 times.
Several more examples came in. Someone mentioned Chabria. The smartie mentioned Leonardo Da Vinci. Someone mentioned Einstein.
I chipped in with the xample of AR Rahman(pata nahi ye kaha se aa gaya)
Also made the point of poetry. How maths calculation comes in handy in writing poetry(meters) and how there are romantic poets who write directly from the heart.
There were good examples like the angles used in architecture.
I made the point that maths isn’t a must for artistry, though it definitely is an add-on for an artist. Reached a consensus on this. The point was repeated 2-3 times more in round-about ways. J

Summary – Everyone was asked to summarise. Everyone gave decent enough summaries.
Some chap asked whether he has to give his own point or what the group discussed. The senior prof(panelist) told it’s his wish. I decided to stick to the group view. Out of 10, I was the 8th one to be asked. Was feeling nervous, don’t know why. Somehow, gave my summary. To be honest, I could have done better. The chap after me, was very anxious and in his nervousness grunted 2-3 times. One other chap, mentioned the Leonardo Di Caprio instead of Leonardo Da Vinci( lol ….)

Luckily, some other guy also had a PGDCM PI. So he went in first, I went in 2nd.

The PI
Scene:
Panelist – Three gentlemen.
Left(L) – A moustached guy.
Middle(M) – A senior Prof
Right(R) – Looked like an alumni.
Me – The innocent and meek kid J

M – So, ur name is Amartya.
Me – Yes Sir.

M - Have you heard of Amartya Sen(Have been asked this question a lot of times).
Who is he?
Me – Sir, He is the Nobel-prize winning economist

M – Do u know any of his books
Me – An Argumentative Indian

M – What was it about
Me – Told the summary I ahd written

M – I was initially of the same idea. But, its different. Its like this……
Me – I was also saying the same thing. I mean arguing is a good way of logical reasoning….

M – I think argument is taken negatively....
Me- Yes Sir(…….Aur kya bolun main. Apne bol diya to sahi hoga….)

R – So, u r from Rourkela. U must b knowing abt rourkela steel plant.
Me – (Interrupted him) Actually, I have done my engg from Rourkela…..(Uncharted territories….)

R – Anyways, u must b knowing about it… Tell me with whose contribution was Rourkela Steel Plant started
Me – Germany

R – Wat abt Bhilai Steel Plant?
Me – Don’t know

L – So, u have written over here in the career goal that you want to work in the social sector… The Sir over here(M) is a professor in ethics. He can see through you if mean what you have written over here..

Me(All smiles) – I believe in what I have written. Infact, I have a background for it.

L – what is it?
Me- I had worked on a project “A decision support system for disease surveillance for rural India”. Should I elaborate it?

L – of course
M – don’t worry, we are not going to steal it. All 3 start laughing
Me- I smiling. No Sir, I have nor problems. Went on for 1-2 mins about the idea.
Was cut in by R(alumni). Is very impatient.

R – What algorithm u used for clustering
Me – k –means

R – Do u know what is P-means
Me- The cluster centres are found out by fuzzy logic.

R- Do u know how exactly it’s found out.
Me- Don’t know much about fuzzy logic.

R – What is the diff.between supervised and unsupervised analysis
ME – Gave him a general difference

R – Actually, what gave u was a very general difference….is a more specific answer is the rules classification
Me - Ok, Sir( All smiles)

M – So, u r from Orissa. If I come to Bhubaneswar, where all will you take me.
Me – As u know, Bhubaneswar is the temple city. I would take you to Lingaraja temple, Dhaulagiri, Udaygiri, RajaRani temple. Then there is Konark temple. Puri, Konark and BBsr form a triangle

M – Tell me something about Jagannath temple. Have u been there.
ME – Yes, Sir

M – So, there is bhog served out. When is it served out
Me – Between 1-2 pm

M – I have heard they cook food throughout the day
Me – That’s because a lot of people come there. The food is given in earthern pots. We have rice, sweet dal and….(Interrupted)

M – U have written dancing as ur hobby. Wat dance do u do, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi???
Me- No Sir..I dance on Hindi movei tracks

M – Give me the names of some classical dancers
Me – Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra(Cudnt recollect more)

M – Give me the name of 1 classical singer
Me – MS Subbulakshmi

M – What singer is she
Me- Carnatic

M – Good, good…From where is she
Me – She is from South. Im not sure where exactly she is from

M – She’s from Tamil Nadu....
Me – Ok Sir

M- we are done with you. Thank you
Me- Thank you Sirs.

PI lasted for just 12 minutes. A very short one.
Cant judge anything as such. There were some “ I don’t knows”.
Fingers crossed for the results. Lets hope for the best.
As such , they don’t get enough weightage for the work-ex or acads(both are seemingly good for me)
Anyways, its over….

Status - Converted