MDI Gurgaon- GD/PI Experience

Time : 1400 hrs
Date : 12/03
Place : IIM-B

I reached quite early around 12:30, walked around the IIMB campus and had a coffee at Coffee Day. Even the mundane coffee tasted special in the beautiful campus. I was complaining to God why B didn't give me a call, even though I met all their "criteria"... Anyway, this is about MDI..

Group Discussion: We were a group of 7 with one girl included. We were given a graph that compared the %age population in 15-60 years age group among the G6 and the BRIC nations. It was a forecast for the next 50 years. (Methinks it was taken from the Puroshottam female's BRIC report! )
The guy who started took the words out of my mouth. The graph was in black and white, and hence it was difficult to make out which was for which nation. I wanted to begin by getting this sorted, but was beaten to it by another guy. A bad start! Sign of things to come? Anyway, I hardly write anything on the sheet before starting of with the GD, and this has been quite helpful so far. Even today I made decent contributions by identifying the age group as the working age group, spoke about baby boomers in the US, the need to develop infrastructure such as medical tourism, and alternate sources of energy eg Suzlon,about China's population falling because of the 1 child norm etc. It was a decent GD, the lady professor even said good at the end (I hope she was not being sarcastic! ). I would rate mah-self 2-3 in the group.

Personal Interview: I was called in 5th, it was according to the seating order in the GD.
Male Professor : ML, Female Professor : FL, and moi.

MP : Tell us something about yourself.
Moi : told

FL : Why do you want to do an MBA?
Moi : told, think she was satisfied at the end.

FL : Having seen Tata Steel at close quarters who do you think has a bigger contribution, the shop floor workers or the managers?
Moi : Well, it would be unfair to say who has a bigger contribution as each is important in his scope of work.

ML : Since you have a telecom background, what do you see as India's future in telecom?
Moi : It is very optimistic. Gave example of Vodafone buying out Hutch, rate of growth of Indian market, lowest costs, yet very less penetration, thus larger opportunities. Also spoke about the article in the newspaper that spoke about talks between Vodafone and Essar for infrastructure sharing.

FL : What are your views on the budget?
Moi : non-contentious, politically affected, and a non-event in the growing, globalized world. Spoke about why cement excise wont bring down inflation. Goo things about the budget education, health care and women centric, also attempt to increase water table and scholarships. Things lacking in budget, spoke about the oil exploration being taxed, cement excise, no clear cut policy definitions on how the money will be raised, no public private partnership.

FL : What are your views on President delaying hanging of Mohammed Afzal?
Moi : Spoke about it sending down wrong signals to the nation, loss of patriotism and pride. He had committed a grave crime by attacking the Parliament.

FL : But the politicians are corrupt anyway, so what difference does it make?
Moi : Said that even then, they are our democratically elected leaders, also the people killed were ordinary policemen. Spoke about families returning medals.

FL : What do you say about President pardoning Naxalites in North East?
Moi : Said they also commit crime, but we need to address why it is happening and identifying the root cause.

FL : What do you say about Pakistan's attempts on curbing terrorism?
Moi : Spoke about Pak handing over Al-Qaeda but protecting the Taliban and the strategic location of Pakistan.

ML : Then Bush did the right thing attacking Iraq?
Moi : No, it was done unilaterally, without UN backing. Even his own people do not support it now.

FL : But at that time they did.
Moi : It was because of wrong information given to them, current situation is no different from a Mutually Assured Destruction of the nuclear days. Loss of innocent lives on both sides.

FL : So what does India stand to gain/lose with worsening US-Pak relations?
Moi: Spoke about the newspaper article that said about US thinking of severing ties with Pak. Advantage for India- US-Indo joint effort to tackle terrorism(missed about India getting funds from US). Disadvantage: We need to ensure that we don't lose our sovereignty and our foreign policy is not dictated by US.

FL : Which other calls?
Moi : IIM Indore

ML : So what will you join?
Moi : MDI, spoke about AMBA accreditation and 85 full time faculty, also deep bonds between students and the profs. (Forgot to mention location and student exchange).

FL : Students coming to IIMs and MDI are brilliant anyway, so what will you learn from the faculty?
Moi : Spoke about parents and teachers being the greatest influence and teachers being considered equivalent to God in India. Also spoke about not just academics, but soft skills, networking, communication and organizational behaviour also being taught.

These are more or less the questions that I was asked. There might be some I have missed. But was immensely satisfied with my performance, was very comfortable answering questions... made the profs acknowledge and smile at times... MDI faculty is not only
good on paper, I could feel the warmth just sitting across the table. I would count mah-self the unluckiest on earth if I dont get a final call from MDI....
The wait begins................