Those few moments

Image courtesy: Google images

I was one among those few lucky candidates who had the privilege of skipping the aptitude test and attending the personal interview directly. I had already thanked God, because I know that I would have suffered if I had to take up an aptitude test. And I may not have been in TCS if I had faced the aptitude test. “Mathematics” had never been something I was really good at. 

I had missed the regular bus on the day of interview and went in the subsequent one. It was almost 9 AM when I reached our campus. I had carried my shirt in a backpack and thought of wearing it few minutes before the interview begins. I went to the computer science laboratory to staple my resume which I had not done earlier. One of the fellow prisoners in my college came up to me and asked, “Dude, Are you from the Computer science department??”. “Oh yes!”, I replied. “In that case, your interview has already started I believe. I saw a few guys from your department going towards the interview panel room”. I was shocked to hear that and rushed to change my clothes. Finally I went to the panel.

Thank God. Students from Electronics and Communication department were not done with their interview and we guys were asked to wait in the cloak room. Umpteen discussions were taking place among students. I heard so many voices around me “Dude, what is the answer for this question, what should I answer if they shoot this kind of question, what is this, what is that.....” Oh my god !! I heard all terminologies from 4 years of engineering syllabus in those few minutes. All this made me feel even more tensed. I refrained myself from talking to my own friends. Even lending my ears to people around seemed dangerous as it may shoot up my pressure. At last our placement co-ordinator came and announced “Students form the CSE department, kindly gather near the panel”. We were asked to sit in the corridors of the panel area. Finally a fair man from TCS came to us. “15 people can come to the waiting hall now”, he said.

[In the waiting room]

I quickly occupied the very first chair as I desperately wanted to get done with my interview at the earliest. I couldn’t withstand the pressure building within me. I was eagerly waiting to be called for the personal interview. Finally the placement officer called me. He pointed out a panel and asked me to get in there. Eventually the so called interview was about to begin and I was ready to face it (was afraid of course).

[Inside the panel room]

Me : Knock ! knock !

(I saw 2 gentlemen inside. One seemed to be a mid 30s man and the other one was much younger. The young man looked at me and shook his head signalling me to come in. The moment I entered both of them gave a broad smile. I smiled back and greeted them. I do not remember their names. So let their names be x and y. Oh no.. I told you in the beginning of the article that I am bad at mathematics. No more algebra. Let x=Suresh and y=Joseph)

The short man : Very good morning. Am Suresh and he is Joseph. Please take your seat !!

Me: Thank you sir.

Joseph: You are Mr Gautam right ?

Me: Yes Sir!!

Joseph: So just brief about yourself Gautam!!

Me: Hearty welcome to our campus gentlemen. I am Gautam Vaidyalinga Sharma. (I spoke for around 7 minutes. Spoke about everything except my horoscope. I knew those gentlemen won’t be interested in that. Then I concluded my introduction with the following sentence) I love to work a lot and I have the habit of understanding and analyzing things before doing them as it gives me more mental satisfaction.

Suresh: Can u give an example of this characteristic of yours. Just tell one instance where you have done something after understanding and analyzing well. It would be nice to hear that as well. 

Me: 110 crore people from our country sing the Indian national anthem. But how many people do you think know the meaning of our national anthem. Once we understand the meaning, we’ll sing from our heart with the pride that we are Indians. So it is always better to understand something before doing it !!

Joseph: Oh!! Even I don’t know the meaning of Indian national anthem. Can u share it with me so that I’ll also sing it with pride?

Me: I would be glad to share it with you. 

You the ruler of our minds our nation
To you our humble salutations
You the custodian of so many
You the guardian of India’s destiny
Through Punjab and sind
Gujarath and Maratha
Dravida utkala and Bengal
Across lofty crests and mellow leas of the vindhyas and Himalayas
Your name awakens one and all
It rests upon the melodies of Yamuna and Ganga in harmony
And swells the waves of the titanic sea
Your blessings we seek
Your praises replicate you
As the protector of India’s fate
Jaya hey jaya hey jaya hey
Victory for ever to you !!
Suresh: Ammmmazing!!! (In the meanwhile Joseph applauded as a symbol of appreciation)

(They turned the pages of my application form. He saw the second page where I had mentioned “Oracle - Java Standard Edition 2 programmer - Certified Professional”.)

Suresh: Oh you are a certified Java professional. That is indeed nice to know. Is java your favourite programming language?

Me: Yes sir. It is my favourite.

Suresh: Very good. I appreciate your extra-curricular and social activities. Now let us have some tech talk about your favourite Java.

“My bad time has started”, I told myself.

The so called “Tech talk” went on for 20 minutes. He asked me all possible interview questions in Java including “How to make java understand inputs from other languages apart from English”. All his questions were answered by me rightly/partially rightly and at the end of every answer I received a “Good” from him. Very kind of him indeed. He made sure that I am motivated always. 

[After the deadly 20 minutes of life in the Java world]

Suresh: Apart from Java which technological learning has fascinated you the most?

Me: I am fascinated towards web application development. Learning J2EE now.

Joseph: Are you by any chance nervous Gautam?

Me: I was initially nervous. But the gentlemen in front of me are so friendly that I am feeling good now :)

(In the meanwhile Joseph walked out. He got a call I believe)
Suresh: So let me ask a few questions from servlets.

Tech again .. ahww no!! :(
(Then he questioned me for some 5-8 minutes from Servlets. Again I answered all of them rightly but for two)
Suresh: It seems that you have presented a paper on cloud computing. Just explain me about cloud computing and it’s benefits.

(I gave him explanations which he asked for... Then I saw a smile in his face. I thought that he would spare me at least now. But he did not!!!)

Suresh: Gautam!! Where do you imagine yourself after 5 years?

Me: I can imagine myself as a responsible employee of TCS in a better designation than now.

Suresh: When there are so many companies. Why TCS??

Me: TCS is the best IT solutions provider in India. TATA is the pride of India. (I spoke about the glories of TCS and the TATAs for about 5 minutes). When all these glories are there. Why NOT TCS... sir????

Suresh: What do you expect from TCS?

Me: I do not have much expectations. I would expect the company to expect something from me and will deliver my best to satisfy those expectations.

Suresh: Do you have any geographic constraints ?? Because TCS has around 147 offices in 42 countries!! Do you have any problem working away from home town and away from family?

Me: TCS is TCS everywhere sir. I am very eager to work in different geographies. Would be glad to!!!

Suresh: U have to sign a bond for 2 years [and he explained so many other procedures]

I just smiled and said “I am fine with anything”
Suresh: Am impressed by your performance Gautam. All the best for a bright career.

Me: Thanks for the wonderful session sir.

(A hand shake.... and it was over)
Phew !!!!!!!!!