I had been called for the interview for the post of engineer SC by DAE in Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR) Kalpakkam. I had applied for DAE through my GATE score. I actually had no plans of applying and did not even know about the opportunity, but my friend, Manish, in NIT Durgapur had initially thought of applying and had made a draft and later decided against applying. So just casually said that he had to cancel the draft then. Then I got to know about the fact that if the GATE score is above 340, we would be called for the interview directly, without us having to write the entrance exam. So I decided to go ahead and apply.
Then one fine day came an interview call letter when I was sitting at home, wondering what to do next. My interview at IISc was just 1 week away. When the letter came and I got to know that I would get the Travel Allowance for the interview, I decided that I will attend the interview. It was on 6th July. I had booked a ticket in SETC from Bangalore, directly to Kalpakam. I had not booked the return ticket as they had mentioned that we may have to stay back for an extra day if we are called for the medical test and I had to meet a few of my friends and seniors in Chennai. I left home at around 8pm on 5th, Sunday. I caught the bus from Shantinagar bus stand at 9.30 and reached Kalpakam at 5.30 AM in the morning.
I did not know the name of the stop and I asked the conductor to tell me which stop was nearest to the guest house, but he never told me anything as I could not speak Tamil, apparently. Then I got down at the last stop, and took an auto all the way back. While I was traveling in the auto, I could see the sea beach which is inside the campus itself. The place is really beautiful, the campus is green and really well maintained. I just liked the place for its cool breeze, its beach, calm and pollution-less environment. I even made up my mind that if I got through in the interview, I would definitely work for DAE, there’s nothing like working for such institutions and serve India in that way.
I reached the guest house, had to wait for a half an hour as nobody had arrived at the reception. I met one more candidate who was from Kurnool and he had arrived some 1 hour ago. After the receptionist came, we were given two adjacent rooms in the officers Hostel just next to the guest house and were told to be ready for the interview by 8.30 am. Then we took some time to get ready, had breakfast in the mess, and started studying a bit (final moment preparations always work for me).
Then we went for the interview at 8.30 and saw that people had already turned up. There were around 60 of them. We were given a few form to fill and then we were given an interview sheet which had our serial no in the panel where we were giving our interview. Mine was CSE panel and the serial no was 7. There were around 20 people each from ECE, Mech, and a few other branches. But only CS had just 8 candidates on that day. So I started thinking that the chances are quite good. As I was 7th, I was expecting my turn to come by lunch time.
Then started the wait. The CSE panel interviewed each candidate for upto 1 hour! I was thinking whether I had the content to speak for 1 hour. It was 12.30 and we were asked to go for lunch and collect the TA from a room in the guest house itself. I came back again at 1.30 and started waiting again. I had met the person who had serial no 6 in CS panel. He was called at 3, and I was ready for my turn next. I was called at 4 and was told to wait outside the room till the panel called me inside. I was expecting the call at any moment, but again I just kept on waiting and finally my turn came at 4.30. I was almost sure that he was through. And yes, he definitely was as the clerk went and gave him the medical slip to appear for the medical test and he was immediately taken the medical unit!
I had prepared for only two subjects: OS and Automata. We had got to know that the panel was asking the candidates for 5 subjects! I was asked to write down 5 of my favourite subjects. I put down the 2 subjects and asked them if its really necessary to write the names of 3 more subjects as I had not prepared for them at all. They were prompting the names of a few subjects, but I went on and wrote DBMS, C++ and Data structures. I answered the OS and Automata questions confidently and the rest, I tried hard to recollect and blabbered something.
Finally, it was an hour long interview and I was waiting for their decision in the lobby. They took more time than they usually took. I thought that I had created a lot of confusion in their minds, and so they were having a long discussion to decide if was to be selected or not. Finally, the next candidate was called and I knew that I was not through. I went back to room, kept the file, changed to casuals and was off to the beach, alone! It was a great evening, the sea waves had started reaching their heights, I could see a few boys playing volleyball and was told that a considerable part of the beach went under water after the Tsunami. I made a few more friends in the beach who had given their interviews as well. We all roamed around in the campus for a while and went for dinner. One of them was from Dharwad and we made plans of going to Mahabalipuram and then to Chennai as he had his train from there and I had planned to go there to see my senior from college, who is working at Wipro, Chennai.
I woke up at 6 in the morning, got ready and woke up Harsha and Santosh. We had planned to leave by 7, but we left at 7.30, returned the keys to our rooms and paid the bill, which was Rs. 40 per day and went to the bus stop. We caught a bus to Mahabalipuram (which the locals call by the name
Mamallapuram), reached there by 9 and went to the Shore Temple first, with all our luggage. That was the worst part of the trip, we had to carry our luggage all around the place in Mahabalipuram as there was no cloak room and none of the shopkeepers were ready to keep our luggage for a while, which is understandable! The shore temple, which has been struck by cyclone and reconstructed is a small structure by the carvings on the pillars are great. And its proximity to the sea and the peaceful environment there really made it hard for us to leave, we were just sitting there enjoying the breeze and the serenity of the place. We then hired an auto rikshaw and went to the 5 Rathas, inspected the structures there and returned to the bus stop. We had breakfast there and wondering what to do next. As they both had to go to the railway station in Chennai and I had to go to my senior’s (Rajendra) place, we decided to split and I took the bus to Adyar, where my senior lives. I reached at around 1 and asked Rajendra for directions. I reached his house and a sleepy Manish (Rajendra’s roommate who was working in the night shift in IBM) welcomed me and showed the way to kitchen, where lunch was ready and went back to sleep. I had lunch, watched TV for some time, read the newspaper and slept.
After two hours of sleep, I woke up and saw that Manish was getting ready for a cup of chai, I accompanied him, we talked about IT companies, engineering colleges, working abroad and what not and came back. Rajendra arrived at 5.30 and I was happy to see him after 1 year. His other roommates arrived and we were talking for some time. Then, Rajendra had planned for dinner in a restaurant in some IT park (I don’t even remember its name). So, Rajendra, Manish and I left and caught a bus to that place. Manish then took another bus to office. We bought dinner from Mc D. The place is similar to Transit (Forum), Bangalore. My bus was at 11.30 pm. We were done with dinner by 9. But the bus stand (CMBT) was too far from that place, so I had to leave early. Rajendra came to the bus stop to see me off. Then he took a bus back to his residence. I reached CMBT by 10.30 and still had 1 hour for my bus. CMBT is a big bus stand, I had never seen a bigger bus stand than that and its really well maintained considering the amount of traffic (of buses and people). The bus arrived at 11, I got in and dozed off. It was a Rajahamsa, and felt really comfortable (much more than the SETC bus that I took to go to Kalpakkam). When I opened my eyes, I was at K R Puram bridge and was feeling cold (it happens when you reach Bangalore).
The 3-day trip was great as I got the chance to meet a lot of people, see a lot of places and ofcourse, I gave an hour long interview, which has been the longest and the most technical natured interview that I have ever given!
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