Recalling the Conversation ..

Following are the reminiscences of my interview at MICA on the 2nd of April, 2013... 

Here we go.. 

The GE was quick and fun! I took up the dancer act and embarrassed myself to the core  :D .. Trust me I have never danced before like I did in the GE..dumbest moves of my life :/ .. (MICA seriously made me do some weird stuff.. :’(  ) I drew some silly faces on the channel’s banner (I don’t know why :| ), our logo was a plate of Idli and Samosa.. Must be one of the best groups on that day !  It went well thanks to the hilarious news presenters each one of them did a great job! 

I waited for my PI till 4.30.. 

MY PANEL :  Vibrant Prof. (V), Falguni Ma’am (FM) and a South Indian Prof. (SI)

FM : You have worked with Lakme ..Name some brands of Lakme.

Me : Told them all.. ( went on and on when she stopped me)

FM : What idea does Lakme represent as a brand?

Me : All the gyaan about how Lakme has always represented the Beauty of Indian Women since Jawaharlal Nehru’s time..The brand loyalty etc.. ( I was interrupted)

FM : What are your views about the brands like Lakme and Fair & Lovely.. do you think they do the right job when they market their products? 

Me : Lakme has it's own way of Marketing the products..as long as it conveys the right message I'm fine with it.. But when it comes to Fair & Lovely, advertisements where they show a dark skinned girl failing in her career and her father commenting "Kaash mera beta hota", are all pointless and convey a wrong message..which I would say is not the right thing to do.. 

FM : After passing out from MICA, how much time do you think you will take to reach a level where you have the right to Approve or Reject such ideas? 

(Here she was asking me that how much time, in my opinion, I would take to become a brand manager..also she tested me whether I had an idea about the profession or not..  I had mentioned BM in my SOP..)

Me : Thought for a second or two and I said : Around 4-5 years max.. (Just a guess!) 

FM : Oh no no.. BM ke baad 2 saal sales me lag jaate hain..then they make you a trainee BM then a Junior BM ..then a Asst. BM .. DASS SAAL lag jaate hain!! 

Me : (I knew it does not take 10 years! but anyways :D ) ... I don't know if it takes 10 years.. But In my opinion ma'am if I perform excellently and work hard, it won't take me much time to become a Brand Manager :D

V and SI gave FM an evil smile and FM gave me an assuring smile saying "Yes Yes.. :) "

V : Tell us how did you manage the Salon Business given that it is difficult to manage a franchisee and a company-run business where there wasn't any manager.

 Me : :o How do you know there wasn't any manager?! :D .. (He smiled like a smart man.. )  Told.. (Interrupted)

V : What problems did you face from the franchisee.

Me: Explained them how I was sandwiched between the ABM and the Franchisee at first..And took that as an opportunity to explain about the wrong practices that were going on in the billing system and how it affected me.. In short I faced a corruption issue at work where the ABM was bribed by the franchisee..And explained it to them why I decided to quit after fighting it for a long time..

All three smiled and FM : That was a solid reason you quit your job.. Very good..

SI : Do you think after all this you have made your contribution towards the burning issue of corruption and succeeded?

Me: Told him that I was not successful because the practice did not stop.. but yes I tried my best to fight it..

All of them smiled convincingly ..

FM : Did you try to send mails about the issue now that you have quit your job.

ME: Yes I did mail the ABM’s boss.. But did not get any reply from him.

V : Tell us about how you handled conflicts at your work place because I don’t think you would shout at your employees (I smiled at him – my first dislike was ‘thrashing or beating children as a punishment :D ’)

Me: Told them everything.. How I would make sure it does not affect the atmosphere and let them cool down and later try to reason with them. Since there is always an answer to a ‘why’ . . . . .(interrupted) 

V : (smiling from ear to ear) Oh do you believe in this? Or I thought you believed in ‘there is always an answer to a Why to that answer ’ :D

Me : Smiled at him and said that is true because it is the same  :D

FM : (Suddenly out of nowhere) Who is Chanda Kochhar ?

 Me: (Quickly) ICICI Bank , CEO :o

FM : She represents Women Empowerment right.. ? That is what you wanted to say .

Me : She does represent Women Empowerment.. But I was not going to answer that.. It is just that I have faced this question so many times in the ‘GK Mode’ that ICICI & CEO are the first two words in my head :D   

V: Haha ! alright continue with the why thing..

Me: Continued my explanations..

FM: (Again!) Do you think I’m fat? (And she was actually Fat!)

Me: Yes Ma’am you are fat. (Oh my god! :o what did I just do! Too much of honesty.. :/ )

I blabbered after both of her quick questions.. All of them laughed like anything :/

FM:  (with her sweet smiling face.. AGAIN!) Okay which was the last movie you watched? Quick!

Me: I don’t watch too many movies but I can remember Barfi (Damn I could not recall which one was the last.. :/ I guess it was special 26.. But anyways)

FM : How did they market it ?

Me: They had a unique way of using a tagline to market the movie..

FM: Tell us about a Barfi Moment in your life.

Me: took 2 to 3 seconds to think..When she interrupted

FM: No leave it… tell me what was the line

ME: Don’t worry Be Barfi

FM: Do you like it?

ME: Yes ma’am it is simple yet effective..

FM:  which ad agency came up with the line?

ME: It wasn’t any ad agency ma’am .. 3 students from MICA came up with that line :D :D

All three of them >  Ahaan Ahaan :D :D

V and FM : why do you look so submissive or nervous .. All your answers are correct! You even called her fat! :D ….  Why the blabber /nervous wala chehra ? Aram se confidently answer karo.. Have some water.. 

Me: No thanks ..but (interrupted) 

FM : Are you the protected kid? Do you have an elder brother? Has your father accompanied you here?

ME:  (Aing!?! .. :o ) No Ma’am.. I travelled here alone and I have an elder brother but I don’t think that I’m protected..and Well yes, I am a bit nervous just because this is a very important interview to me and I have been waiting for it since long.. Nothing else.. (I don’t know why I was giggling after that :| )

V: I know ..It is very important (and they all gave me a humble smile)

FM :  Okay tell us about your Father’s business

Me: told..

FM: what is the difference between the business you ran and what your father runs?

ME: my father runs a B2B business and mine is B2C.. (:o oh did I just say the exact opposite oh ..No no I’m right :D :D )

FM: Again that face :D Is B2B a cuss word or something?!?  :D

Me: No Ma’am, for a moment I felt that I answered the exact opposite :D

V:  kuch samjhe nahi toh puch Lena Ma’am ko :D

Me: Sure sir :D

SI : How would you become a leader?

Me: Sir I would lead by example.. (He interrupted me .. )

SI: okay if you say lead by example.. Tell us the difference between a Manager and a Leader..

Me : I told them that long back my father had explained the same thing to me using an example.. which I would like to use now because that, in my opinion, explains the difference best! .. (All the three smiled and nodded)

I used the example of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna to explain the difference.. about how Lord Krishna did not fight the battle instead he advised Arjun all the time.. It was a fight within the family which he had to manage etc blah blah..So he was a good manager..   And how Lord Ram himself led the battle.. How he handed the right job to the right people.. like Monkeys etc.. How he himself fought the battle from the front and led by example.. Hence he was the leader..

All of them looked impressed .. 

SI : That is one of the finest examples we have heard to explain the difference ..Very good.. Now tell us do you think there was any gender inequality in these two stories.. Mahabharata and Ramayana..if you have read them well.. 

ME: I went blank for a moment and said.. Draupadi was saved by lord Krishna so there wasn't any gender inequality there.. In the Ramayana.. (I had to think here FM interrupted..)

FM : What was Sita asked to perform ?

ME: Oh yes the Agni Pariksha :D Yeah there was gender inequality here.. ( This was horrible, I should've remembered this :( )

V: Hum darawne dikh rahe hain ? :D :D

Me: No sir ..I’m sorry I went blank for a moment :D

V: Good girl you just speak your mind don’t you :D

ME: Most of the times ..Yes..  :D not always

V: Okay I have a question for you.. When they choose the Queen of England or if a girl marries the prince they are asked to pass the Virginity test.. What would you do if you are in that situation..

Me: (Okay I was totally not expecting this :D :D and this is where I got trapped finally.. blabbering in between the lines.. ) Sir it would be unfair to the girl ..Inequality blah blah.. What's the point of marrying if the family doesn't trust you..blah blah If at all they force the test I would only succumb if the guy was asked to do the same test :| to make it equal :D (WHAT CRAP AM I TALKING!) and they started bombarding me with silly questions like -would you leave your life partner for this and why this why that.. (Just tried to make me uncomfortable.. )

Instead of being uncomfortable.. Here.. I was confused while answering them..All three of them would ask some or the other question at the same time and I was busy trying to grasp each of their words to understand who was saying what! They kept asking a  ‘Why’  to everything :D  testing my own line (There is always an answer to ‘why’ ) where I did answer them.. But they did not stop :D in the end I was almost laughing at myself and all the three were enjoying the fact that this time they were successful in troubling me :D  I tried my best to maintain my calm all the time by smiling and laughing throughout the conversation.. 

That’s it they said..Thank you.. Do you have any questions for us.. I asked one, FM answered and we discussed a little bit..  

I thanked them and left! 

I was Shortlisted  :) and the Wait continues till the 15th of April..

A memorable experience ..Will be cherished for life ! :)

Recalling the Story ..

"Lemonade & Cookies" sounds likes I'm writing snack cookery blog. No, I'm not writing a cookery blog. I'd rather start a blog on "How to savor Pani-Puri and have a time of your life". At this juncture, I can only be sure of this post. I don't have any idea if I'll write more posts or my writing engine will derail right after I finish writing this. Coming to the blog name I have used : Lemonade & Cookies. There is a story behind this name.  Back in school the only textbook that held my attention every year was the "English Textbook". The academic year begins, it is the first day at school and I have already read the complete English Textbook, which will now be taught to us for the whole year. The good thing about the textbook was that it had the perfect mix of stories and poems of all genres. Like many other stories, I don't know why, this one stays with me for life..

              One sunny day, Mrs. Toosey and the seven little Tooseys came straggling down the hot dusty road home. They had been for a swim back in the mud pond, a long walk away.

             In the water and when they hopped out, the mother and children looked as cool as the frogs. But now the whole family were very red-faced and dragging their feet as if ready to drop. Near the gate the little Tooseys seemed to take on a new life.Their eyes brightened, and they stepped along faster.

             "Now we can eat !", they said, "Supper on the porch. Sandwiches and lemonade just like at picnic! And cookies with pink sugar frosting!".  "Lemonade and cookies! Lemonade and cookies!" the children kept up the sing-song in tired squeaky voices all the way up the path and while climbing the steps.

Standing before the door Mrs. Toosey thrust her hand into the bag that hung from her arm.

            "Goodness Gracious Sakes Alive!" she cried, "I have lost the key. And now we're in a pickle! How are we going to get into the house ?"

           "Oh deeeaaaarr!" whimpered the children, "What we'll do? We are hungry. We want a drink of lemonade and we must get into the house."

          For a time all eight simply stood and looked at the door. At last Tommy spoke, "The key must be somewhere. Can't we find it?"

"Of course, the key is somewhere" agreed his mother, her frown disappearing, "We'll go back and find it ".

         "But we're hungry. We're too tired to walk" the children cried. But they wanted to have the cool lemonade standing in the kitchen and bite on the pink frosted cookies left on the kitchen table to cool.

         And the droopy tiny Tooseys and Mrs. Toosey started on their way back to the mud pond searching for the key along the dusty path. The key was no where to be seen. They reached the mud pond and searched everywhere. Some of them digging here and there in the wet mud but could not find the key.

         "The key must be at bottom of the pond!" exclaimed Mrs. Toosey. "But how will we get to the bottom and search for it!" Charlie cried "It is lost now. We have to go back home and try to get inside! Otherwise the cat will eat all our pink frosted cookies kept on the table!" And all the Tooseys frowned at Charlie's thought.

           All eight now walked back home with sad faces. The kids tried pulling the wooden plank off and one of them got hurt. The eldest one, was on the roof trying to enter the house from the chimney when Mrs. Toosey shouted at him to get down from the roof thinking that he might fall straight into the fireplace with his head first and his head might get pushed into his stomach! Except the door, the kids and the mother had searched all other places for the keys or tried breaking into the house. 

                Finally, tired and sad about the cookies being eaten by the cat, they all sat on the footsteps leading to the house door. The sun was shining bright and the heat was troubling little Tooseys, when they thought of breaking the door.

            All of the Toosey clan, at once, kicking and pushing at the door making comic noises...Nothing really happened to the door but due to the continuous kicks, bangs and pushes something that was hung on the nail at the upper right side of the door swung out of the nail and fell on the floor. The sound was familiar and the kids stopped their activity. Mrs. Toosey jumped with joy! It was the key! And she had forgotten about why she hung the keys on the nail. All the kids happily jumping and dancing entered the house. Seeing their favorite snack waiting for them at the dining table, untouched by the cat, all of them sang together, "Lemonade and cookies! Lemonade & cookies!".

The original story might be a little bit different in it's narration. Whatever I have written here is a recall of the incidents..It might sound like a silly story but it made sense to me when I was a kid. Just like the little Tooseys, find happiness and joys in silly little things; they're the best ones. Look at things from a Toosey's perspective and you'll enjoy every moment of it! Life is like Lemonade & Cookies.Troubles are never big or small, tackle each of them with the same energy and be happy about them. They liven up your time on earth!