PLACED in LiFe ! Only God Knows how?

Received the mail from placement cell (which was under the watch glass for all the wrong reasons lately and their later implementation of Pareto's rule of 80:20 crap) Aug 7, 2006 1:20 PM. Now one mail sent shocks of unsettlement all around campus.. why?? ICICI Bank coming up with a 5.15 lac pa package. Man! whatta a figure and that too from ICICI. Students went beserk, jaws dropped with awe, eyes popped with surprise, tongues went dry and what not!

The shock waves were one after the other that reached from top to bottom of the ICFAIian crux. The small aiming high to the big shots aiming even bigger were out there to grab a piece of India's fastest growing retail banker. Now that did create a hell lot of a demand. Not to say it reflected in the numbers who applied for the same... a mammoth 332 applicants for the 5 profiles on offer. All except HR were called to join the fray. The mad fray went eccentric seeing the mammoth figure. And I am modest enough to say I was one among them.

My application communicated question marks all out to many in PG and around ... you? ICICI? interested in Retail Banking? I didnt have an answer. Guess it was the "job" and the "money" that was more on my mind and luring me more into it than anything else. Aziz sir had done his side of the evaluationa and made suggestions in class and adviced this is not the pie you would wanna have ever since seniors had come down to him with many a complaint on the internal work culture of company.
Hmmmm... professors, seniors, many a man had many a word to say on it!

Who cared and who cares? It was just the bucks and the bad history i had with attending interviews which made me sit in it after all and made me stand by my decision. Nothing seemed to pull me towards it. Not even a bit of aspirational value went behind the company. Never did I see myself working for the bank. Never did I see myself fit for the job. Never did I see myself with the right aptitude or attitude to take up the job. Then what the bloody hell was in it for me????

The thought never went through me ever again. It was Aug.30th morning and it was time for the kill. 8:30am report to P5 for ICICI ppt. Woke up by 8am to catch the first glimpse of sunshine. Now thats what I call timing. All hurry burry, I rushed out in tumtum with Lalit and off we go being one among the 186 short-listed for ICICI recruitment process. I see Lalit Tiwari all tensed to core as if he was sitting on a nail tip. Poor chap. Seeing him felt... why am i not feeling the same? Is anything wrong with me? Am I having low BP? Never ever have I felt so cool in my life.

There by 8:40am we enter the dungeon of dreams filled with ambitious air of 186 students all in to crack the top bank's vacancies. Seeing the number did send a shiver down my spine. Me against 185 of the best in the business. The sight was sending me into a dizzy. What am I up for here i never knew. The truth was I never wanted to even give it thought or better say it never came to me.

As time passed I felt a kindof silence within myself. I was all quite and i was listening to many a voices around me. Marketing, Finance, Banking, GD topics, GK ... what all and what not! Everything was getting to me. Walked out a couple of times and came back again. Felt like taking a breath of new life from outside to survive in the stinking breath inside. It was all fine from within but the heat was not letting me be what I am. I was losing my cool with the all heat and sweat I was being put through. Felt like shouting out "God damn it! who would wanna work with such a company who couldnt keep with its timings. Chuck it.. get lost! "

Then came this one silly goose, who happened to be our senior who said all sort of crap about the company, comparing it to TIGERS and students comparing it to donkeys, monkeys, chuvva and what not. Why did they ever send him over to talk to us?

Then came the lords of the game. The referees who were to give us a RED card or GREEN card. Curtains drawn to the mega event: the grand ppt of ICICI. Whoever wanted to hear what the company was all about and what they were known for? Felt the dire need for the fresh breath yet again and i was out. Enough is enough.

"Following is the list of candidates by groups for GD...please fall in line and move to respective classes"... and there I was picked in the second group. Every other name shot through me like bullets...I did feel like a puny mole put among the best of the lot. The beasts with their villainous smiles looked and sounded really tamed awaiting their turn to unleash mayhem. The flag off was done by a gorgeous from the company. And there began the ultimate madness. Cross selling and its business strategies... Capital adequacy ratio and basel 2 norms... sales and distribution... being midst of all violence I felt like a snail sitting atop a pile of mammoth shit. For the 10mins of the entire 20mins GD i was a silent observer(i take after gandhigiri in these affairs). All through the chaos all I did was write the case analysis in a sheet which was provided at the beginning of the GD. Then got the break,better say God showered mercy on the poor... what did i blurt out only HE knows. In the end, blessing came in disguise with the gorgeous ordering candidate number:3 to speak... Hmm now who would be candidate no:3??? Oh! thats me, thats me! Bullshit..it sure was ME... It was as if something sparked me and i got on fire. Yet again what i said only God knows... the only thing which indicated that what I was saying was making some sense was when I saw the beasts around me nodding their heads in consent or better, indicating "cut the crap". And there it was all wound up and the beasts yet again walked out frustrated with the FISH MARKET they created all for themselves.

3 hours down the lane came the daring results... 3rd name ! was it me??? I dunno... but it was. Someone else told me;) and there with me was the one who was tamed as me but talked a bit more better than me for the GD.. Mr.Sumit. And we both qualified for the same and was all set to see the worst of the next to come. 5mins later i came to know that someone was asking for my CV. But where was I? I was pruning and washing face making the glamourous myself more glamourous. Came down and made a run up to submit my CV which was not submitted b4. That made me all the more dirty.. All sweat and heat. What was inside seemed to go out with all the prespiration.

Now what happened inside is nothing to be just said like that but to be discussed about with a serious intent ;) . What went into me I dont know. Was feeling as if they were friends of mine. Talked casually and screwed them back casually with a smile with as much pleasure they took they took in doing it unto me. What made me smile... I dunno.

Walked out with the air of having conquered the world! The feeling I had before I walked through the door and after was jus the same. On my way back I answered the maids waiting outside who were curious to know what i went thru... shared the ailings and the sorrows of an interview.. and was made the nucleus of all attention.... I was seen like a demi-god who walked through hell alive...hehe it was fun!

For 24hours life was on a nail tip. Is it here or there? Will I or will I not? The thoughts haunted me like anything... but was it getting on my nerves? Naah! Chill dude as always; who was ever wondering- would ICICI do the blunder of pickin a guy like me?... A guy who wrote their psychometric test last in college after he himself deleted their test link 7times... A guy who never prepared a word for either his GD or interview and got a second chance given by the panel to speak in the GD... And a guy who never gave his resume even after he was selected for final interview... MAN! I did make a mark with this interview.

Till lunch it was like a feeling like never before... i was all smile and laughter as if i was already placed and 99% of the people around me were confident that i was throught.. none knew there was a pain behind every smile I had. "Do you know Finance? NO, Are you good with Maths? NO, Do you have great Analytical skills? NO, Then, why should we ever take u in ICICI?" - the thought rattled in my mind again and again...

It was until late 2 or 3pm that all the hustle and buzz about RESULTS came out. It was enthralling. Nail-biting scenes, tensed cherry red faces, cold hands, unstable stances, dead emotions.. all were a part of the entire play that was taking place. But someone was feeling odd one out in there... who was it? None but ME! What was that held me together, what made me stand so firm on my feet, flash a hundred smiles at all, crack a thousand PJs ... only GOD knows. The God came out with a filthy sheet of paper with a long list. Said 57 people have been selected. The crowd went mad. Then there was dead drop silence. Then names flowed one after the other... I said to myself.. walk away, u aint there. Why waste time for this? But somethin held me back... The best is yet to come. Sixth on down the list came up the deadly surprise....

Ya ya right now i aint making up the air of mystery around this one.. it was my name! No excitement, nothing... just stood there taking congrats, hearing cheers and rest of the names on the list... Then made the walk away from it all to stay alone. Hehe, seeking the same secluded world of mine!

Called up dad, mom, all the people in the world... hmmm feeling on cloud number 9... naah! it was that bit of challenge and the revenge against myself breakin the jinx within me that I aint good at cracking interviews... I did it and i did it in style! Bein in the first guy to be shortlisted in the first group of GD to the being the very first guy to be interviewed in ICFAI campus and getting recruited by the very first company on the very first day of placement ... the Man has done everythin he did want to do to avenge myself! My eyes were seeing green all the way! Money money and more money! My ass is worth damn 5.15 lakh pa. Thats a BIGGIE! You earned it man... that calls for a pat on ur shoulder. Talkin to my dad and hearing him over phone i felt... if i was there with him he would have hugged me to death. Thank God mom was not there... she would have had made a mess out crying over all of it! But missed her too while sharing the happiness.

Didnt expect she would come out to be with me when i told her my results were to be called out soon. But she was there for me from wait till the end. She was my best friend. The lil smile on her face was all that kept me cool and chill. And this time i hugged her like never before. Hmmm..she did complain last time of a cold hug i used to have... shared the entire energy i had within with her. Felt like sitting and laughin jus lookin at her face... Damn it... I got it thru! ME ME ME... they took ME! Hahahah.. it was a fun feeling and an emotion I could share best ONLY with her. Hmmmm dunno y ONLY her.... guess we are really BAD when it comes to the emotive side of life... so its just fun fun and only fun for us.

And there you have 23 yr old B.Tech Graduate who has done his MBA in Marketing now placed in India's fastest growing, second largest bank ICICI. What's in it for me??? Only God knows!