Abu Dhabi Diary: Part One
Finally people, landed in Abu Dhabi safely and it has been quite a pleasant homecoming. Its been a long two years since I last left these foreign shores, and no number of visits will take away the feeling of awe I get each time I disembark from my flight.

I still haven't been out for my customary walking tours of the shopping malls and parks. Those will, I am sure, yield many an exciting mail in themselves. However this time I would like to talk about my experiences from Chennai to Pavaratty, the quaint corner of Kerala I call home, and then on to Abu Dhabi.

My journey started from Chennai, and with Dawood around it wa bound to be an eventful one. This time though the provider of confusion was my travel agent. He told me that I was confirmed for the Allepey express, while the ticket was actually confirmed for the Trivandrum Exp. So Dawood left for the station early with one of my bags, while I followed him later by auto. I told him of course that my train was the Allepey express. And as will always happen when you need to reach somewhere on time, I chose the one auto guy who did not know how much fuel he had. We huffed and puffed and croaked our way to the station a full lavish three minutes ahead of time. Unfortunately that was when I came to know that I had the train name wrong. However I was just able to catch up with the train. My coach was S10 which put a whole new dimension to the stamina I need to run that much. So there I was on the Trivandrum Exp. while Dawood was dutifully waiting at the Allepey Exp. with a bag too. Anyways we parted ways such.

I was one senti session and one bag short. Of course the added bonus was that I did not have a morsel to eat or a drop of water or anything on me. I was banking on getting something to eat on the train. By the grace of the CEO of all things up there, and a dutiful train server, I made it to a veg. meals and a water packet. If you have been tuned into recent going ons you would know that the average drinking water has enough pesticide in it to put a coil of Mortein to shame. But a fulfilling packet ofdiluted pesticide nonetheless.

After a brief sojourn at home which included some hearty sumptuous meals and some quick catch up with relatives it was back to Cochin at 2:00 in the morning for my flight. And from the wword go at the airport I was treated to some vintage Air India service. Dont think I am cribbing or anything but, after ten minutes of trying to be optimistic and patriotic I had to admit that these guys really know how to make a customer contemplate suicide. (Which I guess they could do by drinking a lot of bottled water...)

The lines of people where going to hell. They guy at my counter was maybe ten minutes away from his retirement and was so slow in issuing the boarding pas, it was like watching Chris Harris bowling to Rahul Dravid on the first day of a test match. People were jostling for space everywhere, as if the frist ten passengers got a refund or something. And the irony was that there were atleast three or four counters vacant with a whole lot of AI staff who did not looked particularly occupied. Anyways that through, the rest of the stuff was pretty ok. Cochin Airport is pretty cool. (And that is with no mallu partiality...)

The next site of interest was the plane itself, an Airbus 310-300 I think. And again AI really surprised me with their callousness, and in the case of the Air Hostesses utter ferocity towards passengers.

Now generally the Gulf-Kerala sector is particularly unglamourous with most people on their first flights and a lot of wives going to meet husbands and so forth, a glorified, bed-bug-less KPN bus if you will. But even then the neglect they showed towards the passengers was incredible. I suppose if you need AI to pay any attention you either have to be on a Delhi-New York flight or look very rich and loud in First Class. But your terrycot sari and banana chips accent will get you spite at best. The Air Hostesses had contempt if you ask me. And many passengers were as uncomfortable as Ganguly facing a Brett Lee special in Guyana or some such place.

I could write a whole lot on how well "hosted" we were on the plane. But,as with many things Indian, there was a real silver lining to the whole thing. The flight supervisor, a Mr. Derek Aranha, and Tamilian guy cabin crew member were delightful to watch. Mr. Derek was all smiles and grins for the ladies, and jokes and cuddles for the kids. Really helpful and I felt great just watching him handle all these newly wed brides and paranoid grandmas with their baggage. The tamilian was all sweetness but without the smiles. The guy had this really stern look which some of the sweetest people have. Something like the yankee actor Steven Seagal, even when he's saved the day and got the girl, he still looks like he's being electrocuted through somebody part outside the frame.

One poignant moment was when a small girl sitting a few rows away from me was trying to buckle her seat belt, and was looking around for help. The air hostesses, as I mentioned before, all acted particularly pissed at being forced to both fly on a plane AND help people, to earn their salary. The small girl however worked it out on her own and then had this big bright grin on her face. When she grows up and things of the her first plane ride she will probably remember having to do things the hard way. Not the sweet smile of an Air Hostess, like the ads make out. It was a relief to land in Abu Dhabi and be out of that cabin. We are probably the cruelest to our own. However Mr. Derek Aranha, if you are reading this, hats off to you man.

And once in Abu Dhabi of course all our former co-passengers who had trouble with queues back in Cochin now found it increasingly easy to fall in a perfect line. When faced with a local UAE policeman, who will shoot first, cancel visa later and then deport the body back home when he feels like, following the rules to the letter pays. Maybe democracy isnt all its cracked up to be.

Moral of the story: Back in abu dhabi after two years. And I am sure there will be a lot more to write to all in the days to come. Stay tuned. Make love not war.

"Yes you may put your foot in your mouth now sir...":
Just back from my IIMK interview and GD session and they went along very very well.
 
Intro: Went to Loyola in Chennai and got down from the auto at the gate. Then I find out that the venue (LIBA) is a very long walk from the gate. So I had to make a decently long march to find the venue. Already sweaty, dirty and crumbled shirt and tie, i.e. ideal Indian Manager. Once there, there was a waiting room with an interview hall on either side. There were I guess around 14 people, with one girl who had come for a change of date. She was the only one who appeared too aggro and well had a pretty big attitude problem. At around 11:20 or so four panel members walked in, led by a rather snappy guy in a brown safari suit. He did the introductions, split the groups and we left for the GD. There were two panels, I got the brown safari (the leader I gathered), and a nice youngish chap. Very nice, warm and sweet guys.
 
GD: We went in for the gd, and the topic was, "Young graduates, show less loyalty and leave jobs quickly, should they be made to pay compensation to their employers." Again like at IIMA, a guy started too quickly, and was told to hold on. The aggro girl was in our panel. We had a three member team from IITM and one guy was particularly aggro. However I made maybe four attempts but the GD was always on the verge of breaking into a fish market, and there was too much one-up-man ship going on. I though making a few crisp points and retreating was the best method, but no structure at all, and really did not go anywhere. I did ok I guess, but the group was really not upto scratch. The girl in particular was screaming all over the place, a few guys didnt contribute anything much. GD was ended by the Brown Safari (BS). And the interview started soon after, I was second on the list.
 
Interview: The first guy came out and mentioned have a good reason for MBA. I went in sat down and they took my form. I was asked to say a few things about myself. Started on about what I do now, schooling, college, CIC repping, work ex, why MBA, mid, long and longer term plans, interests, hobbies, passion and well ended it. (a minute and a half maybe, but thats what set the stage for the interview, a real life saver and tactic worked perfectly). He asked my about why I want to do an MBA, and I said to start a company and for the IIM brand (BS actually liked the second reason a lot) . The Young chap (YC) delved into what prompted me to be an entrepreneur, and I gave examples from Work ex and some personal idealistic stuff (corny, idealistic but sincere..) YC took up maybe five minutes, while BS went through the form. But he remebered a lot from my intro...(i.e. my reply to "Tell me arbit self-praising dogmatic statements about yourself...") YC was thorough in making sure of my eagerness to start a company. And I had mentioned that I want to serve the Indian consumer, and he grilled me on that too, but it was peace. Threw in a few references about Ford, Amul, Asian Paints etc. It was very good. Then the BS guy picked up about Behram Contractor, my favorite author, thats when the interview went totally into history and thinking and Indian attitudes, really my areas of speciality. He had read Contractor too, and we had a nice time discussing about that. He then asked me what I was reading right now (A history of the twentieth century) and had a nice talk about that too. He mentioned I was good in history for my age. A reference about my schooling, what I thought were reasons for where the country is today (as in attitude wise, not geographically), my experiences and all. Very good, and right up my alley of fave speech subjects. Then we were talking about justice and things legal. Finally he asked me f I though India had a chance to improve, I said yes with some attitude changes. I mentioned how in the last two years, I had been approached only once for a bribe, and things are not as bad as we think. BS was like "At your age do not pay bribes, and all of us are not chronic bribers and all..." Good natured of course, but thats the only time he looked like being an IIM prof. He agreed with me on numerous issues and was very very appreciative of 99% of my views and philosophy (there is no other way to describe the stuff I said, not for the light hearted...). Finally they exchanged looks, looked pleased, (pleased with me, or to see me off... I dont know.....), and said "thats it, well Sunny best of luck for your career, and your future, may all your hopes come true" or some such thing. I asked if I had bored them with my ideals, and they said "No we are here to hear all you have to say and we have heard everything." YC had nice pleasant look on his face, and BS was snappy as usual but well I had nice little feeling he enjoyed himself. I left feeling mighty good. The one adjective I could use was that the interview was 100% sincere and well connected....
 
All in all I would grade it in the high nineties out of hundred. Could really be honest and passionate about a lot of things. I would have spoken for a good ten of the fifteen minutes. Only the bribe statement in the end would prevent me from giving it a full hundred on hundred. Had I made that statement in the beginning it may have been a whole different ball game. So like Sachin almost a century but caught out by inches. But 98 nonetheless. They did not go through portfolio, and went through only the form. The impression I got was that the two profs on my panel let you speak yourself into a hole, I did not, was consistent in views and all. 10 for atmosphere, 9 for content, 10 for effect, 10 for factual correctness, 8 for eye contact, 7 for the venue (no ac, scary rooms, looked a lot like the customs offices in Bombay airport..thats from my shady past....), 9 for the panel, again had an excellent, and sweet panel, 6 for the GD (it was group dishum- dishum). Over all like I said def. 95 plus on hundred. So a good day out. (By the way, marks I gave above are out of ten, please dont think it is out of 15 and give me a complex...)
 
Advice to junta: that "tell me about yourself" is a killer invitation to control the interview, sit up straight and make the hot air count. Be really passionate about something, (you can be just passionate about nothing in particular, but its impossible I have tried it, works with a few profs at rect though...), and throw good facts names, and things, keep the interview coherent and all. I can of course give you the fundas in person, but thats 200 bucks an hour, (150 bucks an hour over a sponsored meal....) ....and thats sponsored by you.....(not vice versa....)

Sidin out (out of this email, but not out of K I hope....).

"That man and his tractors...."
Okay now for all that happened at the IIMA interview. My GD and PI was scheduled at 2 pm. The IIMA panel consisted of one lady (northie, fair, and had a very unconvincing stern look on her face always), two guys a fair kandu type guy and a french bearded mallu looking guy, but maybe bong too. My gd panel had 10 people and one fundoo did not turn up. I guess there was three people with work ex. in the group.
 
GD: I was number five on the list and so got a central seat, excellent start. One goof up happened though, did not take a xerox of one cert, the lady (who was the leader I guess), shot a look, and told me to bring them before 5 o clock. The GD was on a case study about some tractor dealer who has hajaar customer savviness, but one day comes to his office to find that due to a training scheduled at 12, the staff has turned away customers who came in for servicing. That too on a heavy traffic saturday. What should he do? Some guy started, and it wasnt going anywhere, so after a minute I came in and suggested breaking down the case into a few problems, I got attention and spoke well. Pretty soon I was leading along the GD. People were speaking to me to get approval on their points, the freshers kept harping on labour problems, and I kept insisting on immediate corrective action, i.e. the pissed off farmers. It went along well. One thing I remember distinctly was two of the IIMA people changed their seating positions to get a better look at me. The lady however got up suddenly and said STOP !!!. So no conclusion and all, I must have had 5 speaking attempts, and maybe accumulated 3 minutes out of a total of 20 minutes. But no doubt I think I did well, and it was quite like the meetings I have been in, in my jobs. One guy goofed up majorly by starting the GD before she had even said start... But otherwise I think everybody except one or two guys got a good share. There were two girls, and one spoke extremely well, the other was average. Nobody hogged any light.
 
The interviews started soon after. It appeared that people who spoke well in the GD had short and very sharp interviews, while the guys who did not had a longer one. My thinking being, you got a second chance if you didnt do well in the GD. On average the interviews went for around 15 to 20 minutes each.

Interview: I was fourth to go in, and immediately the lady had a stern appearance. She asked me why I have a frown on my face. And then took my portfolio from me, I made sure to hand it the right way up and she thanked me for that. She started grilling me from the first page, the quotation, and I smiled my way out of that. The two guys had smirks on their faces, and I could work out that the lady was normally not so stressing. I smiled my way out of a lot of tough questions. Did not let them stress me out at all. Then she said what I wanted to be asked, so I had to parrot out a list of all the questions that are normally asked in MBA interviews, they wanted more and more and I kept making up questions, and finally told her that I had run out of questions. There were smiles all round at that point. Then she asked me all about Arundhati Roy, again it went into stress types, again smiled my way out, even she found it funny after a point. She tried a googly with if I thought Arundhati roy was a feminist, I knew what was coming after that, so I said no my opinion was that Arundhathi Roy was a "Socialite Activist". That took a long time clearing what that meant. The Grouchy lady (GL) was hell bent on getting me on the wrong foot, but like sachin tendulkar, I smiled while blasting the hell out of the guys. All short and crisp answers mind you, nothing beyond ten words maybe. The other guys (man1 and man2) were smirking all the time. She asked if I had read God of Small Things, and I said I had started it but did not complete. Then to again check me out asked how many pages the book had, I said three hundred (man1 actually tried to prompt the answer, he whispered "three" under his breath). GL I guess finally gave up stressing me out. Then the mega surprise man1 turns out to be a metallurgist in his dark past. We spend a healthy five minutes on tech questions Iron-Carbon diagram, basic iron and steel, a little steel making, one heat treatment question, some gk on steel plants etc. He was happy, and we were smiling profusely at each other. Man2 then took over and asked me stuff like where I played football for RECT, how many teams played in the tournament, did I know about the NIT thing. He asked if NIT was good or bad, and I guess I told him honestly it is good, threw in some figures about percentage contribution from the center and all. He was happy. (By now, I was wondering why nothing came about my acads and all...) Bang GL comes back in with what was my first job, why I left, profile of my second job, and I was not involved in metallurgical engineering now. I told her honestly about how I tried to get a meta job, but nothing happened, the panel actually nodded in agreement with my troubles. Back to man2 and he asks if I was happy with my acads in college after good acads in school and PUC, I said the first year was bad bcos I lost a lot of weight, and the change, but after that I did very well vis a vis the rest of the class. He again nodded in appreciation. Then the last question was if I was Prime Minister for one day, what are the three things I would do, I said 1. Take religion out of politics 2. Spread education and understanding and 3. end all this indo-pak rhetoric and waste of national resources. Suddenly he asked if religion was not in politics where should it be, and I gave him a fundoo answer by any standards I said : "Sir, religion should go back in to the person, into himself, where it really belongs...." one sweet nod again. Then they said thank you and all, and I reminded GL about my cert xerox, she suddenly went back to grouch mode and said "If you do not bring it now, we will disqualify you and all that, we will not tolerate time waste", and I was a bit taken aback actually. But then thats when the nicest thing happened, man2 shot his hand across the GL and said," baba dont worry araam se go get the copies, tell the attender, I will come out and pick it from you". He gave a big smile and even the lady cracked up a bit and had a sheepish look. But I was still the Mona Lisa, and all encompassing smile. While the men asked questions the lady wnet through my whole portfolio from cover to cover. I had the copies outside, picked it up, the man came out, thanked me for it, I said welcome and he went back in, going through all the scores carefully. And thus ended my interview and GDs, but a couple of amazing consequences. One of the girls in my group, came over and asked me if I remembered her, I said no.. it seems I had met her at Calicut, before my REC counselling a full six years ago. Her dad was my uncles colleague at his bank. So I thought that was a great omen, I had gone to REC Calicut then hoping to get Meta, and again when I am at my next interview hoping to get into IIMA she pops up again. Talk about major omens. She did another favour too, the panel asked her in my interview how the GD went and who she thought spoke well, she said it was an ok gd, and that I spoke best !!! I have taken down her address to send her a Kisan Vikas Patra or something if I get through.
 
And thus ended my travails at IIMA interviews, good if you ask me. Some negative feedback is that they did not ask me a whole lot from my form. Nor did they ask any regular questions. They read my form throroughly I could see that, and I think I really cracked the GD. Now it is all left to the ethereal mysticisms of IIMA admissions.... We will see... 

More on this story as things happen....