Reservations: A political Gimmick!!

Caste system in India has been prevelent in India since Ancient times. The rules and the laws governing used to vary based on the caste. The lower caste people have been the ones who were always opressed & subjected to various attrocities by the upper class people.

It was in the year 1950 that the Indian Constitution came into existance.Along with it came the 6 Fundamental rights.Rights that were equal for one and all, irrespective of the caste , creed ,color, sex, religion or region. Of these, the "Right to Equality" being the most prominent one.

Special priveledges also came into existence for the upliftment of the weeker sections of the society. Laws were made to stop the age old attrocities. Educating the masses was considered as the means of uplifting the social status of the weaker sections of the society. This is when "Reservations" saw the daylight. Reservation in educational institutes, government offices became a norm.

The cultural diversities, caste systems which differentiates us from the west is infact a menace. Its owing to these that India was ruled by East India company; a trading company that exploited the divide and rule policy to perfection. Senario, then and now, is n't much different; only that now instead of foreigners, politicians are exploiting the masses. Elections in west are fought with development & progress as the main agenda.Here ,the parameters comprise off regionism, religion, caste & creed ;just to name a few. Reservations being the latest tool being employed by the government to woo the people of weaker sections of the society.

What makes the proposal to increase reservations questionable is the sectors that they are targeting; elite institutes like IIT's or IIMs. Isn't it more effective to have these kind of reservations in the primary education system rather then having them in specialised education?
Primary education is must so that the person is able to make a choice between right and wrong;so that he/she is aware of their basic rights that prevents them from falling prey to the attrocities from any section of society.

It's good on the part of the government that it's trying to uplift the weaker sections of the society. But is it worth doing so at the expence of diluting the quality. IIM/IIT's are consider the abode for the talent pool of the country. If a person has the capability, he/she would make it to IIM's or IIT's even without reservation. Reservations in primary education are with a purpose of providing an oppertunity to the weaker sections. Isn't it a kind of encroachment on the seat deserved by the truly deserving candidate. Furthermore, Does half of Indian population comprise of the weaker section?The answer would be No!! So why 49% reservation!!

The SP Jain Experience

Finally the D-day arrived. We (me & my roomy) had reached Mumbai, the night before the Interview. I got up quite early that morning, and just before leaving for the Institute, I went through a few posts at PG by the candidates who had their interviews the previous day. I had been to Bhavan's campus, once before; for Engineering admission counseling in 2000.

Our Interviews were scheduled for 11.00 Am. Since we reached the Institute well before time, we made ourselves comfortable at the SPJ canteen. We were supposed to report at the auditorium; DOME 2. While entering the auditorium, I could still feel butterflies in my stomach; partly due to the nervousness and partly, thinking about the outcome. Dome 2 was buzzing with activity. Each face, in there, had a different story to tell; some confident; some nervous; some in their usual self, untroubled with the outcome. But each of us had one thing in common, the aspiration to excel in the interview. The arrangements in Dome 2 were good. The status of the interviews was displaced on the board & was being constantly being updated by the members of the Admission committee.

I did have to wait a lot for my turn to come. To avoid nervousness, I resorted to the best past time that we guys have; bird watching. Finally, was called in for the Interview when it was just time for the lunch break. The panelist comprised of 3 ladies; a Prof in Marketing, another in Economics and a first year student. My group comprised of 6 people; a finance guy (18 months exp-3 job changes), myself (19 months of Work Exp at L&T), a fresher from Chennai, a fresher from Nit surat, My roomy from L&T (30 months work exp with 2 months onsite at France) and an Infy Guy (36 months of work exp with 10 months at Checz republic and 2 months at Malaysia)

The Interview started off on the usual note; Introduction. It was followed by the expected set of questions pertaining to the reasons for doing an MBA, hobbies, social work, about the current job profile. I was initially asked to justify the move to take up MBA over MS/M.Tech inspite of being a Gold medalist. The Marketing prof questioned me on how I went about marketing Engineering services (Which I ‘m currently a part off), which clients I’ve been working for and what difference did I find in their working methodology. I answered them confidently and justified my answers. The interview went off smooth.

Upon coming out, I realized that we were interviewed for about an hour (though didn’t realize the same when inside). Also by the time we were out, the 2nd round of Interviews had already begun. With the results of the round 1 pouring in steadily, the Dome 2 slowly started to seem big; due to lot many rejections. The wait for the 2nd round was agonizing. Inspite of having a sedentary job, I seldom sit for long at one place (Especially since my boss sits just behind me). So sitting in the auditorium waiting for the interview to start was indeed taking its toll. By the time, I was called in for the second round, I was mentally tired; I just wanted the whole thing to wind up fast so that I could rush back to the guest house and sleep for a few hours before catching the night train back to Baroda!

The 2nd round comprised of four panelists; 2 oldies & 2 middle aged (Can’t describe their profile as they didn’t find it apt neither to introduce themselves nor ask for out introductions; unlike the previous panelist). There were again 6 candidates in the group; a guy opting for the Fin/mkt( don’t remember his profile) ; an operation guy (22 months work exp with L&T ,Powai); a fresher from Nirma( over enthusiastic- opted for marketing); myself(Marketing); a fresher again( Marketing; but don’t remember more than that) & a “kudi”(Finance , 4 months of exp).

The Prof sitting at the edge was more vocal. He dominated the whole proceeding & needless to say, he was the one who started off the Interview process. Why Spjain???
He went about asking all the candidates the same question in an order. Each of us trying our best to justify our choice of SPJ; but the prof wasn’t in any mood to give in. In process the Operation guy was grilled on “why not Nitie; after all that’s a better place for any operation guy to be!!”. I came up with an answer,” It provides long time value addition (had read that in their Mission Statement, in the brochure)”.Pat comes the reply, ”so does every B school!”. The oldie was in a mood for having a stress interview. So I came up with some realistic answers,” Spj looks out for complete package, an all rounder to be specific; Spj is in Commercial capital, so the exposure of the Metro would be phenomenal & lastly, The ROI is high for Spj, ie just awesome placements”. The last point struck chord, so he came up with a comment,” You being a marketing guy, should tell that reason first!” Phew!!!Baton passes to the next person.The other different answer came from the “kudi”, who answered as the Profs being very good at Spj. I thought that was a good and a safe answer, but the Oldie was in no mood to get carried away. He kept asking counter questions and finally I could see his ploy being successful. The “kudi” was indeed stressed up! (Probably felt, that it was her first experience to a stress interview).

The whole process of stress interview continued. Questions changed but their (panelist’s) objectives didn’t. By the time I was out, I wasn’t experiencing the same feel good factor which I generally feel after each interview (And, I’ve been thru all of them, touchwood).Somehow, somewhere deep within, I felt, things could have been better. But when I compared with my performance with the other members of my group, I think I had a decent outing. That notion even became strong when I talked to people from other groups. They too had an average kind of experience.

By the time we left the campus, it was already 5 in the evening. Didn’t have much of energy left out to think or introspect more. Upon reaching the guest house, I headed straight for the bed.

When I look back at all the events that happened yesterday, I just take pride from the fact that inspite of having low scores in CAT & XAT, I still managed to get an interview call from SPJ on the basis of my profile. Irrespective of result in stored for me, the experience was a memorable one.

Down but not OUT!!!!

There have seldom been times when I have felt down and out!!! Today was one of those few days. Today was the day when my SPJain, Mumbai results were out. Verdict – Not selected!!!

In the past 23 years there has been lot many things that I hadn’t longed for but had got!! But here was one thing that I had always dreamed off, ever since my childhood. A potter’s son dreams of becoming a potter, a farmer’s son; a farmer, a weaver’s son; a weaver; I too wanted to do a Masters in Business Administration like my dad. What started off just as an imitation of being like my dad eventually gathered steam by the time I was in college. It’s just a coincidence that what I wanted to become is what most of the youth aspire to do today.

It’s been 2 years since I had given the CAT for the first time. I was in my final year of engineering then. A group of friend with same eagerness to crack the exam, a devoted faculty at the coaching institute and being in college (where you could bunk the classes at will), all conducive for the cause I was into. But guess fate had something else destined for me. By the time I was giving CAT, I was already recruited by L&T. But still the zeal to excel in the exam, the zeal to make it through one of the premiere B-school in the country was still burning inside me.

It was the Nov 2003 CAT. The exam went well and was very confident when I came out of the examination hall. But then came to know that papers were leaked and so there was a retest scheduled for Feb, 04.

My center head was a motivating guy. In spite of so much happening, he kept me telling that if I could do well in Nov then I could repeat the same in Feb. But things were not the same when I was giving the retest. I had lost touch of the Midas touch. Had the Semester exams in between, followed by a trip back home (especially when I didn’t go home in Diwali, just to pool in those few days more for the Nov CAT).

Though I had got calls from NMIMS and KJ Somaya; I thought otherwise and went ahead to join L&T. I told to myself that CAT 04(The one in Nov) would be a curtain raiser for the Nov, 05 which I was actually targeting. By the time I would join for the course I would be having approx two years of work experience, which would not only add up to my cause of selection but also play a vital role in the placements. So all wasn’t lost after all.

I hadn’t enrolled for the preparation anywhere except for the final test series. I was indeed missing my group of the college. Though my room mate (also an L&Tite & a year senior to me) was also giving CAT this time along with me, he was on a deputation assignment to France. But against all odds, I gave the exam in Nov, 05.

Till the time the results came in, I was anticipating something good. But to my utter disappointment I didn’t fare well. In fact it was the lowest of all the CAT’s that I gave. I was kind of stunned in disbelief. The next day I had XAT. It took immense courage to give the same and to be very honest I wasn’t even expecting anything out of it. But was in for a surprise; 96.23%ile.It at least made me believe in myself after the CAT fiasco.


After an eventful phase, I finally managed to get a call from SPJain, Mumbai. I was delighted, because of the fact that it has been my dream to settle down in Mumbai sometime down the line. Mumbai to me has been proved quite lucky; both professionally & personally. What was even more exciting that even my roomy had got a call from the same. We had the interviews on 26th of Feb at Mumbai. Apart from the excitement of going to SPJ for the first time, I was equally, if not more, nervous about the outcome of the interview.

...............To be continued