MY TRYST WID DESTINY

My FMS Interview was on 18th march,last day last slot.That day I was had an incessant cough and had to take some cough drops with me.I took two of them before my GD and a couple after it as I had to wait a little more than 2 hrs for my PI+Extempore.The lone good call I had and the desperation to convert the same made me even more stressed out.Thank god FMS doesnt take a stress interview,however,the extempore itself makes the process a stressful situation.

After our form filling and certi verification we were taken into a room where 11 chairs were kept in a semi circle formation and as my number was the last in my group I was sitting at  an extreme end.There were 3 panel members and  in the middle was sitting the dean of FMS.Before the start of the GD the panel members had called one of us to take out a chit from a box to select the GD topic.I leaped at the opportunity,as you never know what may get you brownie points and even though there were no points at least my face becomes known.I went back to my seat and waited with baited breath for the dean to announce the GD topic.

Snapshot of GD :“there is no room for honesty in politics”.The minute I heard the topic I had a feeling that the GD might go off-track at some moment or would become a fish market.

GD rules:
1 min to think
10 minutes for GD
1 minute for summarising

As  soon as the bell rang 3 of us started the GD to introduce it.My strong voice and confident body language  made the other 2 candidates withdraw and I was able to continue with ease.I introduced the GD by defining the topic,structured it nd gave it a direction.Apart from that I came into the GD 3-4 times more and gave good facts.At the end of the GD the group members told me that i did well and they liked the facts I had brought in.The good thing was the GD did not become a fish market owing to the fact that the dean had wrned us tat if the GD goes into a fish market the GD would be stopped.I came in once again to give 2 points of summary in the last 1 minute.overall i gauged my performance to be good.

Now it was time to gear up for the real battle i.e. PI+Extempore.I was the last student to be interviewed of all the candidates shortlisted for the interview.So I had more than 2 hours to think about the interview  and get even more tensed.Waiting for the interview made me impatient and more and more stressed out.

As I entered the room saw 4 panel members same as those present in the GD plus one maam.

Panel Members Intro: 3 Gentlemen,sitting in the middle was the Dean(D),beside him were 2 gentlemen, 1 was young prof(YP),the other was old Prof(OP)and A lady L1 sitting in the extreme right.


Me:Goodafter noon Maam.Goodafternoon sirs.
All:Good afternoon.

D:Pls have a seat
Me:thank you sir.
D:so you are the 2nd last person to be interviewed?
Me:No sir.I am the last one to be interviewed
(D checks his file)


YP:yeah he is the last on to be interviewed.

D:oh alright.So prateek how does it feel to be the last one?(he asked me with an upset tone)See we are all very tired and we just not liking it anymore.(he said as if he was disgusted by the whole process and didn want to see me there )

Me: Sir actually I would like to take it in a positive way.As it gave me the time to gather my thoughts for the interview and also I was able to come out of the groove of a GD in which we have to show group dynamics while an interview is about your own personality.

(At this moment I saw that everybody was listening to me very intently as they were expecting -ve points here but i gave +ve points..tat moment I felt “ki baazi marli maine toh”.)
Me:adding to that I would also say that I got to know a little bit about the panel members and also the kind of questions being asked.(I said this with a grin on my face and everyone laughed).

L1:So what did the others tell you.
Me: (Yey!ab toh mauka hai impress karne ka chauka maro )Maam first of all I would like to say that everyone is very happy with the process and a characteristic is that everyone is coming out with a smile on his/her face.Everyone found the panel members really very nice.

L1.Well after 5 days and you being the last person, i would say it is very hard to remain nice.(every body laughs)
D1:Yeah its very hard to remain nice.


Me:Yes sir.I can understand that.

D1:Okay prateek.First we will have an extempore on which you will have to speak for a minute and then we will move ahead.
Me:Fine sir.(arrey ab tak interview nai chal rha tha kya)

D1:since you are the last person to be interviewed I would now like to give a chance to our Young prof here to give you the topic of extempore.
Me:okay sir.(theek hai bhai ab topic toh dedo kyun dil ki dhadkanein badha rahe ho)

YP:So prateek after I give you the topic you will be given 10 seconds to gather your thoughts and as the bell rings you have to start speaking on the same for 1 minute.
Me:that will be nice sir.(arrey haan bhai sab pata hai humein 2 ghante se yahi sun rha hoon main)
YP:the topic is “it is us who have created GOD”
Me: (yeh kya hai?main ni.main ni.main ghar jar ha hoon )

Bell rings:Blah blah blah...more blah blah blah and towards the end some more blah blah blah and the bell rings.


as i regain my composure YP shoots a question.

YP:So prateek was it difficult to convince us on the same.(well they seemed impressed)
Me:umm..sir actually I was saying whatever was coming to my mind so I think I found the topic okay.

D:Do you believe in GOD?
Me: (now I knew where he was going.I I say I believe in GOD.The next few questions will be which GOD?what religion?details about that religion?and I’ll be screwed.If I say no I don t believe screwed again.)
Sir actually I am agnostic.

D:okay fine.So prateek what is going around in the world right now.(Yeyyyy.bach gaya.religion se toh deviate ho gaye )
Me:Sir recently Japan has been struck by such a grave earthquake.Sir here I would like to say that everyone is thinking about the economic losses.But what nobody is thinking is that so many people have lost their loved ones.So many people have lost their homes.There houses and life were set up after so many years of hardwork and now they will have to start from scratch which is not easy and requires a lot of optimism and self confidence.(This was a custom made answer just for the dean as he had done something in philosophy in the US so I said lets touch his heart by talking about the humanitarian aspects.)

D:(he was stunned to listen to listen these views)he just did a hmmmm(in awe i guess ).

D:prateek why has the Japanese yen appreciated against dollar while there has been a calamity there.Dont you think the yen shud depreciated?
Me:no sir actually now since japan needs yen to spend and build up its infrastructure and economy the demand has increased in japan while the supply is less so the yen has appreciated.

D:okay I have got what you are saying and that very much makes sense.Now try linking it with the trade between US and Japan.
Me:ummm..Sir I am not very sure but I would like to take an example of trade between china and US and explain.
D;No.No.Keep it limited to US and japan.(trick to shift conversation to china failed.chalak hain profs )
Me:Okay sir.Can I think for 10 seconds?
D:Sure take your time.
Me:Thank you sir.
Me:sir I think that since japan needs to buy more things now from US appreciating Yen would increase the economic activity in japan.hmmm..Sir actually I am not sure.

D:No no its okay.Go on you are right.(after a pause he says “almost”)
He laughs and I start laughing too.but it was a heartfelt laugh and nowhere did I feel a lack of confidence.
Me:okay sir I will try once again.i started off a little bit on the same lines but then I told them “Sir I am sorry I am not able to relate it with the way you are saying.

D:okay fine no problem
Me:sir actually I generally tell that I don’t know something if I don’t know the answer.

D:well that is infact a very good thing.

L1: (all this while she had been listening very nicely and smiling all the time)Do you know about RIC?
Me:yes maam certainly.Described the RIC triumvate i.e relations between Russia-Indian-China.

D:What is the WTO?
Me:Sir its the world trade organization which was set to make trade between various countries of the world fair and square and cordial.

D:where is the headquarters of WTO?
Me:Geneva,switzerland
D:Are you sure?(I am sure he asked me because he wanted to break my confidence)
Me: (However I was very confident about the answer)Absolutely sir.I am very Sure about it.

D:Is china a member of the WTO?
Me:well sir it should be.(answering I laugh a little and so do the others.)

L1:Tell me the countries that have been divided in the recent past?
Me:maam I cant recall however I can tell you which have been united in the recent past.


L1:okay go ahead.

Me:East and west germany.

L1:well that’s a very long time ago.Tell me any recent example.
Me:maam m sorry.i am not aware of it.

L1:Which of two countries South Korea and North Korea is a communist country?
Me: with full confidence I answered “Maam its south Korea”(actually it was a wild guess and the whole room bursted into laughter.I was thinking to myself oh yaar abhi toh bola tha nai ata toh bold deta hoon nai ata answer.aur abhi itna wild guess)

D:Is china a communist country?
Me:Yes sir,it is.

D:then how come US does so much trade with China?
Me:Sir actually I don’t think that when US does trade with a country it looks if it is a communist or not.Infact they just want trade and cheap goods.
D:absolutely.You are right.The Americans are very selfish in their ways.(arrey waah funda diya aur khush ho gaye )

OP: (who had been silent all this while and I guess even the other panel members must have forgotten him).
Do you know the recent news between South Korea and North Korea?
Me: (Uff phirse wohi confusing koreans)Sir South Korea attacked on North Korea.(everyone starts laughing again and I start laughing too)

D:Okay prateek your interview is over.You may go now.
Me:Thank you maam.Thank you Sirs.(chalo chalo.Isse pehle ki kuch aur poochein Koreas ke bare mein bhago yahaan se)

Verdict:

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

awesome read after so long... couldn't pull myself off...though more smileys and emoticons were expected from you ;-)

Viksy Don said...

Awesome read bhai....
surprizingly bahut zaada cool jawaab diye hai tune....I think you built a very strong base in the beginning under which they happily ignored the South Korea being a communist country...:)

Prateek Wanna be Eloquent!!!!! said...

thanks molu..tune comment kar diya matlab pakka bht acha laga hai tujhe :)..i'll put some more emoticons in tne next one for you :)

Thanks viks..haan yaar mujhe bhi apne jawab kafi ache lage..the koreas wala thoda dissapointing tha but mujhe bhi lag rha tha ki acha kiya maine :)

Anonymous said...

great one!!!! i like all the thought process u mentioned...and really awesome replies....:):):)

Anonymous said...

Geneva is in Switzerland mate, not Washington :P They weren't trying to shake your confidence after all :P

Excellent interview otherwise

Prateek Wanna be Eloquent!!!!! said...

rrey bhai logon idhar galat likh diya manine..geneva,switzerland hi bola tha maine :)..itna bhi bewakoof nai hoon main :P

thanks anonymous people :)..

PS:correction made in the post :)

fakemonk!!! said...

awesome...maza aa gaya padhke..!!

Prateek Wanna be Eloquent!!!!! said...

thanks barnala saab..oops sorry fakemonk :P

Anonymous said...

maja aa gaya golu padkar.... specially last wala koria wala part to aur bhi achha laga itne cool way main tune chizo ko tackle kar liya!!!

Seba said...

That was hell of an interview...it's more of your attitude that knowledge which mattered in an interview..keep the same jovial and way to interact people when you are suppose to be tensed is what people should learn from you....it was a great learning

Prateek Wanna be Eloquent!!!!! said...

thanks a lot seba..coming from you these views really matter :)..will keep these things in mind..thanks again :)

Abhirup said...

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Anonymous said...

Nice post, and interesting interview. And btw, did you clear FMS ( I guess you did, but just asking out of curiousity)

Prateek Wanna be Eloquent!!!!! said...

thanks shibani..yes, i did clear FMS :)

Pallavi said...

nice post!!
nice interview...
although its a late wish...
but congratulations on the convert!!!