XLRI - Feb 19

Essay: Private sector cannot solve India’s Public Health Problem

Time: 20 minutes

Number of People: 12 + 1 (who had missed morning slot)

Comments: Horrible fish market. People cutting each other left and right. Shouting. Aggressive tones. Not letting others start of finish. I tried to make an entry 7-8 times and wasn’t allowed to speak. Eventually, made 3 odd entries. Decent ones. Each one of us was asked to conclude in 30 secs.

Interview: 7^th out of 12 people

Panel of 3: Prantik Ray, Ashis Pani, Gloryson Chalil

Time: 15 minutes

PR: Come in.

Me: Good morning, Sirs. May I have a seat?

All: Of course. Please sit.

GC: Give me your file.

PR: So you’re from Narsee Monjee. Why not do an MBA from NMIMS? Why come all the way across the country to Jharkhand in a Maoist-infested area?

Me: Sir, I’ve known people who have graduated from NMIMS and I know someone in XLRI right now. I’ve spoken to both, taken their reviews and I think XLRI would be a better choice. And I’ve no inhibition about travelling to any part of India to get education from a premier institute.

PR: But everyone talk good about their own college! It’s all biased.

Me: Sir, the people from NMIMS wasn’t much biased and he said otherwise. I believe that it will not be much value addition if I do an MBA from there.

PR: Fine. So your college’s name has Commerce and Economics.

Me: Yes, Sir. Economics was one of the subjects in each year.

PR: You know about inventory right? So I’ll ask you on valuation.

Me: Sure, Sir. Accounting Standard – 2. Valuation of Inventory.

PR: Hmm. So what are the different ways of valuation allowed by AS2?

Me: Sir, FIFO and Weighted Avg.

PR: Why not LIFO? Is it just a direction without reason that we’ve to use FIFO or Weighted Avg?

Me: No, Sir. In fact, US GAAP allows LIFO. However, we’ve adopted a conservative approach in India. LIFO does not present a correct picture. FIFO or Weighted Avg gives a valuation closer to the correct market trend. In LIFO, the goods last in go out first. So the goods on books are old ones and there may be a scope of over-valuation as compared to current market prices.

PR: You’ve marked HR in the form too. So let me ask you. These companies like Infosys have Human Resource Accounting. How does it work?

Me: Sir, I’m not exactly aware. But I believe the valuation is on the basis of the age group of employees, a standard deviation measure taken to calculate the normal period that can be served and the salary payable for that period.

PR: That is an acceptable method.

GC: (Irritated) You’re a CA?

AP: Why have you not mentioned in your XLRI form?

Me: Sorry, Sir. I believe I must have if there was space for it. Can I see the form? (Seeing it) Sir, there’s only space for Post Graduation in the form. CA is a Professional Course. There wasn’t any space for that so I didn’t mention.

AP: CA is a post graduation too. You should have mentioned.

Me: Sir, I’ve done B.Com So M.Com could be a Post Graduation. ICAI doesn’t see CA as a Post Graduation.

AP: Never mind. So you Completed CA in 2011.

Me: Yes, Sir.

AP: So tell me. Who controls interest rate in India?

Me: The Reserve Bank of India.

AP: You're telling me that RBI decides the interest for banks?

Me: Actually, RBI does it indirectly. They set the CRR,..

AP: What is CRR?

Me: The balance that each bank is required to maintain with RBI.

AP: So CRR directs interest rate? What non-sense!

Me: Sir. I was completing my statement. CRR, SLR and Repo Rate decide the liquidity in the market and the balance that each bank has with itself to lend. There's a base rate of RBI too.

AP: There is no base rate for RBI.

Me: There is, Sir. I saw it on RBI site. I think it was 8.75%. Not sure. So basically, based on these, the banks have free funds to lend. And they won't lend below Repo Rate in order to make profits. So indirectly, RBI controls the interest rates.

PR: So you’ve done CA. Why do you want to do an MBA? No. You can’t learn much more than what you learn in CA.

Me: CA covers more of Accounts and Auditing. As regards to finance, only basics were covered in certain areas such as Derivatives and International Finance.

PR: If you want to learn more, do a certification.

Me: (Countering that) I’ll learn much more with an MBA than with a certification.

PR: How do expect to learn in XLRI?

Me: (Spoke about the faculty, learning from peers and started talking on case method pedagogy but cut short)

AP: So what is your area of interest?

Me: Sir, academic or otherwise?

GC: Both academic and otherwise.

Me: Sir, Economics and Financial Management in academics and Quizzing, Reading and Writing as hobbies.

AP: So tell me names of Nobel Prize for Economics.

Me: Sir, I can recollect Amartya Sen right now.

AP: Okay. So what did he win it for?

Me: I’m not sure, Sir.

AP: So in what all fields is Nobel Prize given?

Me: Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Medicine and Peace. It’s not there for Mathematics.

AP: Medicine? I don’t think so. No.

Me: Sir, Har Gobin Khurana got it in a Nobel Prize in Medicine. So I’m sure it’s given in Medicine.

AP: So who are the Indians who have won Nobel Prize?

Me: Umm. Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to win in Literature. CV Raman won it in Physics. Amartya Sen won it in Economics. Har Gobind Khurana won it in Medicine but he was an American citizen then. That’s all what I can remember right now.

AP: So no one in Peace for India?

Me: Aah. Mother Teresa for Peace.

AP: But she’s done nothing for Peace as such? Then why her?

Me: Sir, it’s not just give for world peace. It’s also given for service to Humanity. She helped people suffering from leprosy in Kolkata. Last year, European Union got it for Peace. And before that, Barack Obama got it for Peace too. So basically, it covers a wider scope including service to humanity.

AP: Why was Obama give Nobel Peace Prize?

Me: I don’t know.

AP: So why was Mahatma Gandhi not given Nobel Prize for Peace? He did so much for peace.

Me: Sir, he was nominated twice for the Peace Prize. Once in 1930s. But they didn’t give it to him back them. And they don’t give Peace Prize posthumously. In fact, I read about how the head of the Governing Committee said that his single biggest regret was not awarding Nobel Peace Prize to Mahatma Gandhi while he was alive.

AP: Which other awards similar to the Nobel are there?

Me: Sir, there is the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, there is Magasasay Award and there is one more in Mathematics given by the Swedish Government. I'm not sure of the name.

GC: So which company are you interested in?

Me: (started talking about how I’ve not decided if I want to get into a particular company)

GC: No. I mean, which company do you follow?

Me: Umm. The Tata Group? (weird question)

AP: So tell me. Who was the first appointment by the present Tata chairman.

(I was little confused)

AP: Do you know who is the successor of Ratan Tata?

Me: Yes, Sir. Cyrus Pallonji Mistry.

AP: So who was the first appoint made by him after he became the Chairman of Tata Sons?

Me: I don’t know.

GC: (Muttering) And then you tell me that you follow Tata Group.

Me: Sorry Sir, but I don’t know this.

PR: So who is the Dean of NM?

Me: Sir, we don’t have a Dean. Mr. Sunil Mantri is the Principal of NM.

PR: So who is the Vice-Chancellor?

Me: We don’t have a Vice-Chancellor either.

PR: What? But isn’t it a deemed university? You got to have one!

Me: Sir, that’s for NMIMS. I was in NMCCE. It is affiliated to the Mumbai University, not a deemed university. Both are separate institutes but under the same management – Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal.

PR: Hmm. Okay. Fine.

AP: So who is the head of Armed Forces in India?

Me: The President.

AP: Okay.

Me: Sir, you want me to say the head of 3 branches of the armed forces?

AP: No. I just asked about the head. Don’t want to know the others.

GC: (Shoving today’s TOI under my nose) Read this? Can someone of his stature make such a statement? I don’t need to explain to you who Salman Khurshid is.

[It was about Salman Khurshid opposing the scrapping of chopper deal]

Me: Sorry, Sir. I don’t read this newspaper. So haven’t come across it. But I believe that it is inappropriate for any senior Govt minister to comment on this issue. The CBI has sent a team yesterday to Italy to investigate on the matter. So till we have a clear picture about the same based on a report from CBI, no Congress official should come out and say such things. And it certainly doesn’t suit a man of Salman Khurshid’s stature.

AP: So which out of ABC do you have? (Zoink! I never mentioned my CAT scores to them)

Me: A.

AP: Why not B?

Me: I think it's because of my academic records, Sir.

AP: (Seeing my form) Hmm. You've 50% in CA. So did you mention CA in your CAT form?

Me: Yes, Sir. There was space to mention both Post Graduation and Professional Courses. So I mentioned CA in Professional Course.

AP: Okay. That’s it. Do you have any question for us?

Me: No Sir.

AP: Okay. You can leave. Thank you.

Me: Thank you, Sirs.