WAT Topic for IIM Calcutta Interview: Vertical development of cities is better than the unorganized and unstructured horizontal growth. What do you think?

There were 3 panelists: P1 is a male professor aged around 50, P2 is a male professor aged around 35, L1 is a lady professor aged around 40.

Me – Good afternoon.

P2 – Please tell me you’re not an engineer.

L1 – Please take your seat.

Me – (While sitting down) I am an engineer.

P2 – So Shantanu Waaaaali, konsi waali engineering ki hai aapne?

Me – Mechanical Engineering.

L1 – Why MBA?

Me – I want to learn about management as it interests me. (interrupted)

L1 – Why engineering then? You could have done BBA or B. Com for MBA.

Me – Explained how I was interested in engineering after school.

L1 – (Kept interrupting) So now you are not interested in engineering?

Me – Explained how I want to grow and develop myself.

L1 – Why not do M. Tech in your own field?

Me – Again explained why MBA while saying I want to develop myself.

L1 – What do you mean by develop yourself?

Me – There are a lot of things that I don’t know about…(interrupted)

L1 – Do you know about quantum theory? Spirituality?

Me – No

L1 – Why not learn about them and develop yourself in that field?

Me – I am interested in learning about management.

P2 – So you’re a mechanical engineer.

P2 – What is Reynold’s number?

Me – It is a constant. Can’t recall.

P2 – What is Bernoulli’s equation?

Me – It is related to kinetic and potential energy.

P2 – Everything in mechanical is related to those two.

P1 – You are very weak in academics.

Me – I have been working at Infosys since the past 20 months as an Oracle apps developer, that’s why I am not able to recall.

P2 – So what do you do at work?

Me – I am an Oracle application developer.

P2 – Arre krte kya ho? Coding?

Me – Yes

P2 – Which language?

Me – PL/SQL.

P1 – What’s the difference between PL/SQL and SQL?

Me – Told.

P1 – Still, why not only use SQL and save it in a file?

Me – Explained how it would be redundant.

P2 – Why are you smiling so much?

Me – I think it’s because I am a little nervous.

P1 – Can we exchange 2 numbers without using a 3rd variable?

Me – No.

P1 – Are you sure? Your selection depends on it.

Me – Yes. (I was wrong . We can swap two variables without a third one.)

P2 – You don’t look like the person in the application photograph. Draw your moustache.

Me – Drew it.

P2 drew an x-y plane, shaded 2 semi-circles over moustache, turned the page and asked me to tell which function has this graph.

Me – (After taking a good 20 seconds wrote) |sin x|.

P2 – Beautiful.

Me – Smiling (A much needed boast of confidence).

L1 – Why do you have so many C’s in your grades?

P2 – The world is full of seas (C’s). How many seas (C’s) are there in the world?

Me – None, sir. Its spelled W-O-R-L-D. No C.

P2 – I didn’t ask you to spell it *serious tone*. I meant SAMUNDAR.

Me – I’m sorry, I interpreted it differently.

P2 – How many seas are there in the world?

Me – I’m not sure, but there are 5 oceans.

P2 – What’s the difference between a sea and an ocean?

Me – I’m not sure.

P2 – Which water is more viscous – sea water or ocean water?

Me – As I don’t know the difference between sea and ocean, I won’t be able to answer that.

P2 – Which is more viscous – sea water or mineral water?

Me – Sea water as it has salt.

P2 – What’s the chemical formula of salt?

Me – Sodium………(Forgot)

P1 – Graph ke time top par, ab fir se neeche..!?

Me – *Nervous smile*

L1 – So you have a diploma in Tabla. What’s the difference between Kehrava and Teen taal.

Me – Teen taal is 16 matra and kehrava is 8 matra.

L1 – Play teen taal.

Me – It’s better if I sing it as there is no Tabla here.

L1 – Okay.

Me ­- (Sings teen taal with all the hand movement and notations)

P2 bangs the table with my rhythm as I sing.

P2 – Okay. If I toss a coin from the Syahi of the tabla, what is the probability that it will land on the maidaan?

Me – Maidaan is the thinnest part of the Tabla so probability is very low. Also it depends on the size of the Tabla as they come in different sizes.

P2 – Do an analysis in 30 seconds and then leave.

Me – (After 10 secs) The coin will never completely land on maidaan as it is not thick enough.

P2 – (Interrupting me) Thank you. You may leave.

Me – Thank you (Smiling).

Verdict – Converted.