Wearing A white full sleaves shirt tucked in black non denim trouser , hair nicely combed , black tie with grey strips , clean black shoes ,a shining silver coloured titan watch, a matching belt , clean shaved…I stand before my college gate. Ready to enter a new world….a world of professionals….yes it’s
"The Placement day" .
Indian Army had come to conduct G.D’s and interviews for fourth year students though we 3rd year students were also eligible.
"The Placement day" .
Indian Army had come to conduct G.D’s and interviews for fourth year students though we 3rd year students were also eligible.
As I entered students conference room…I saw faces…faces whom I recogonised as my friends some time back……today they were my competitors…..faces ..........……some confident…. some quiet,,,,some anxious and some pretending to be normal…(I guess these were the dangerous one’s).
“ Hey Nishchay…!! ” , I heard a sound coming from a group of students….”over here…!! “,called Abhay. I could see Abhay , Ankita , Ankush and Piyush sitting together . ”Hey …u looking good….like a model…!! “ , said Ankita.
“Thanks a lot dear”,I smiled.
Soon we all started discussing what we call ‘ pre placement preparation’ ranging from dressing styles to certificates to an answer to a particular type of a question..”neva point a finger at anyone in G.D.”, said Piyush,
”try to see in the eyes of the interviewer…it helps establishing confidence…”,said Abhay….my friends are so helpful…or I’m an idiot that I din’t knew these things…
.In the middle of these things..I saw a tensed face of Ankush. His family had been going through a torrid time and I knew what this job meant for him…an intelligent student though , he neither had many certificates to show nor was he comfortable with English. Moreover,he was a dropper in class 12th , I hoped he does well today…though,ofcourse , for me I was the first priority.
“Students , we’ve divided you in batches of 10. Every batch will have a seperate Group Discussion session and selected students will be interviewed”.
This statement marked commencement of our Placement activity . I just hoped there were no brilliant speakers in my batch.
The official who was to conduct our G.D. was 7’2’’ tall . He did a favour to us by sitting as otherwise we would have to strain our necks to hear him say.
In the G.D. room every student reminded me of a hungry loin ready to grab his prey as soon he’s set free . “RESERVATION”….as the official spoke the word…the hungry loins pounced upon it… . The term I had cursed all my life ….the term I hated the most…the term which had come in my way of getting a seat in ITM GURGAON….here I was praising it …, irony.,.as we call it..,” Reservation is one of the basic steps to bring lower caste students at par with higher caste…Indian govt has taken a very positive step and we should encourage it",( screw you INDIAN GOVT..I thought in my mind as I spoke.)… … ‘I don’t think you’ve done well….you’re out’..pumped my heart..though my mind hadn’t lost hope as I left the room.
Some loins couldn’t catch the prey and the rest were selected .
I was lucky to get into the selected group…!!
Then came the second stage.BUT WAIT..!!...was I ready for it…??..i hadn’t expected to get a call for interview and here I was…qualified but now what..?? I don’t have resume…what am I going to show to interviewer..??
“so what u can take mine…”.said Rahul . Rahul was an intelligent .active student of our college . He was probably the only one besides Ankush among third year students who was seriously considering this job , though,his reasons were different . Army was surely his bailiwick. He had grown dreaming of battles ,medals and that sweet feeling of victory.
“ I’ll mail you my resume and you can change the name in it…come to net lab” . These words brought some relief to my otherwise anxious look will surely pay you back Rahul , noted my mind .So as planned I got the name changed in the original draft . Some students who were selected in the second round also did the same with ‘my’ resume. So now we had 8 copies of one resume excluding Rahul’s with only difference among them being the names . Jasmeet was to be interviewed by a different official and so multiple copies was not an issue for him.
“Nischay Saxena” the peon called my name.The time had come. With an anxious mind and confident body language I opened the door.”May I come in sir..?”
“yes”.came the reply.I approached towards him “please take the chair”.I did so wondering if my hair were still set…or my shirt was as white as t’was in the morning or were my shoes still shining??...am I lookin tidy…??
The interviewer had an expressionless look .He was wearing a military dress .He was serious as if I was a terrorist and he intended to extract some information from me. He had 2 medals on his left side of shirt just above the pocket.
“ So are you nervous?”
“yes I am..”
“hmm??”,he looked at me as if I gave him the shock of his life.
“actually it’s my first interview and hence I’m nervous….” Words like BLUNDER , REJECTED , YOU STUPID Y DID U SAY THIS?? , OUT , GONE came to my mind. Abhay had said to see in the eyes of the interviewer…it helps establishing confidence and here I was admitting straightaway to be nervous .
”hmm”and he noted down something
” So..whats your name..??”,he asked as I handed over my resume to him.
“ Sir ,My name is Nishchay Saxena .”
“ Introduce yourself”.
As I finished my introduction he enquired” what are the questions you’ve asked from the students who have just left after the interview??”
“sir I’m nervous enough not to ask them any question…..”
. He then opened my resume .I wanted to tell him that this is not mine . It’s Rahul’s and if you want to ask anything from it go and ask him . I wondered what had he written in his resume…what if I’m not able to answer if he asks from it..
“ You have mentioned in your resume that you are audacious and astute by nature . What does that mean??”
Sir this statement means that as soon as I leave this room I’ll make sure that Rahul goes to hospital.
“Sir it means I’m have leadership qualities and can maintain calm in pressure situations.”Though I learnt afterwards that audacious meant daring and astute intelligent.Y cant people write simple words in a document??...to make it secure from people like me who are weak in vocabulary???
Great escape…..now its over to the rest of the students with the same resume….I’m done with my resume part….!!
“You mentioned in your introduction that your grandfather was in airforce so y do you want to join INDIAN ARMY and not AIRFORCE?? “
Sir I only wanted to have an experience of gd and interview sessions and have no intention of joining even if I’m selected.I love my country but I can’t leave my family , friends and more importantly I am still single so no point in risking my life.
“Sir the world is progressing and so is technology.I as an engineer would like to serve my country .U.S. soldiers have bomb proof jackets and we only provide our soldiers with bullet proof one’s. I want to change that.”
“hmm”, he nodded , side by side he was giving me the points I tried to take a sneak peek, but all I could gather was that students before me had got points in the range of 5 to 7 in every section.
“Do you know anything about weapons ?”
I know sword because Gabbar used it in Sholay. I know pistol because I’ve seen Ab tak chappan. Recently,I came across a new kind of weapon ..its a broad iron rod and looks heavy ….thanks to Ghajini.
“Sir I only know about A.K.47 and can explain you working principle of tanks”.With this I talked about how tanks use broad tacks on their wheels to get more friction so that moving in sand becomes easy.
“Do you know anything about INDIA – RUSSIA relationship??”.
Good or bad choose one and the chosen one will decide the course of interview…….no NISHCHAY…stay neutral...nobody’s relationship will decide the course of your interview…
“ No sir”
“Can you explain with any other country ??”
“Yes sir with U.S.,China, Pakistan ….”
“Well fine Mr. Nishchay Saxena…nice meeting you…u may now leave.”
“Thankyou sir .”
As I left the room students waiting outside gathered around me . I felt as if I had won a cricket match for INDIA and surrounded by fans and journalists.I saw Rahul standing holding his resume with both hands reminiding me of a disciple religiously waiting to meet his master .”Next is my turn .”,said he ,” all the best…!! ”,I wished him.
“do you know…he made you sit for 30 minutes …..the previous two returned in not more than 10 minutes ….what were you two doing inside for such a long time …??..!!”,giggled Abhay.”what did he ask??” “what did you say??”
“is he strict ?” questions poured in from all directions as I answered them.
Results were out next month.” Hey Nishchay….!! You’re selected …came second in college…”.” What’s the plan now…you joining…??” “ congrats bro…!!”
“treat..!! “ “ I guess now that you are employed you should make a girlfriend now..” “ I knew you could do it..” “ I don’t think you gonna join…” “cool bro…your first experience and you cleared it all with ease..!!”.
With the last statement I looked into Ankush’s eyes…..and they said it all…………..
