CHAPTER-8

Q. Describe some incidents in life that you remember/look back often

A.
1. Getting into college
After completing boards, I had dropped a year to prepare for engineering exams. But
right at the time of exams, I came down with TB and could give only JEE with any
semblance of preparation and proper mindset. I didn't make it through JEE or any of the
other exams. It hit hard specially since I was a school topper prior to that and this was
the first time I had started doubting myself. I decided to drop another year though
everyone around me was all up for me to take admission in any college I wanted to. For
the next whole year, it was walking on the edge and it was a big relief when I made into
DCE as it was the top priority at that time. I consider it significant as I think it changed
me in many ways. Since then, for better or for worse, I have never been overly bullish
about my abilities. It brought a sense of perspective and balance in my life regarding its
vagaries and certain circumstances once can't really control. I also believe that it
changed me to deal with failures in a better manner. Moreover, I am still ambivalent
about the decision to drop another year. It turned out okay for me but very easily it could
have been another disaster. Looking back at it, specially at low moments in life, makes
me feel a bit blessed and believe that eventually things will turn up in my favor.
2. Choosing the present company
I had two offers from campus placements in college. One was from a power company
and other the present one which is an oil and gas company. The pay in both was largely
similar and both are hugely promising sectors for a mechanical engineer. I chose the
present company because of a couple of reasons either of which had nothing to do with
technical reasons. It was a life-altering decision and it is natural that sometimes I look
back to it if for nothing else just to contemplate the intricacies of what-if. I might have
been in this PDP class 2 years back or maybe I wouldn't have been here at all. I guess
with decisions like these, one is forever condemned to live with thoughts of opportunity
cost.
3. Switching between departments and to decide not to switch companies
I presently work as a Piping Stress Engineer but I was recruited as a mechanical
equipment engineer. Then 6 months into the training, I was shifted to Pipeline
department and a year later to water engineering. Every time I was given a choice of not
taking it but against all conventional wisdom, I chose to change my department. Not
committing on developing a core skill has been a big risk and yet again I am still not
sure if I took the right decision. It eventually has given me a good understanding and
overview of my industry and will stand me in good stead if at all few years down the line
I choose to become a project manager but it will not be the most traditional route one
can take. All these switches have come with an sense of excitement at a chance of

getting to learn something new but from a holistic point of view, such approach is still
quite risky and looking back it is sometimes troublesome.
4. Should I have asked her out? Maybe yes. Well, I do look back at this incident quite a
bit.
(Sir, I will never write this point in a formal application to a college but here I couldn't
resist. So, apologies.)
Q. List some attributes of yours that you are really proud of.
A.
Some of my qualities I like and have found them handy to have
1. I am good at cutting out emotion from a situation and usually am able to evaluate it
through cold hard logic and nothing else.
2. I think I am good at bouncing back from failures. A bit strangely, I often tend not to
blame luck which helps me convince myself that any shortcomings can be addressed by
me only. Sometimes it might not be true but it helps me move on, not dwell on things
beyond my control and learn valuable lessons.
3. I think I have decent writing skills both in English and Hindi. I have a (now almost
defunct) personal blog and some of my earlier posts even surprise me at times.
4. I am good at learning/adapting to things quickly.
Q. Describe some instances where these attributes helped you achieve a good
outcome.
A.
1. That I am good at evaluating situations objectively has helped me on both personal
and professional fronts. It helps me give sound advice to friends and relatives as more
often than not people do respond favorably to logic. Professionally, it has helped me
diffuse potentially volatile situations as many a time in a regular workplace tempers flare
and people get easily offended. Cutting out emotions at such times is often good. Also it
helps to identify situations with the potential of non-compliance and which can turn tricky
later. For example sometimes colleagues ask you to bypass some mandatory
requirement for a project document as that will save them time and effort. But keeping
your emotions aside and watching out your back is more useful in such scenarios.
Moreover, though I haven't had an opportunity to have a first hand experience of this, I
think people who are not prone to be swayed by emotions tend to make good leaders.
By evaluating situations objectively they are more capable of manipulating situations,
emotions and people working under them than others.
2. I think the ability to bounce back from failures is a vital tool if one is not a prodigy and
hence has to face occasional failures. One of the situations I have already described

earlier. Apart from that I was getting difficulty getting placed in college in the companies
I wanted to opt for. By the time I got placed, I had been rejected from 5 different firms
and in a sens, every rejection was a failure. But on the other hand, I had opted to not sit
for around 12-13 companies as well. If I had a lower threshold and wasn't capable of
having a right perspective, out of anxiety I would have gone for any of those 12
companies and missed a chance to even try for the company I finally landed a job in.
Even at the workplace and as a stress engineer, there are mini-failures almost everyday
where all one has to do is dust up and try a new perspective. \
3. I have made many friends through my blog and Twitter account which wouldn't have
been possible if I didn't have the blog itself. Because they are your friend because
primarily they like your writing, debating with them on issues is very civil and fruitful.
More often than not, they are on a similar page as I am.
4. The ability to learn quickly has helped me a lot everytime I have changed my
department and hence enabled me to make a positive contribution.
Q. List a few areas where you believe you need to improve.
A.
1 I am a bit restless in nature and sometimes I am prone to distractions. I have been
working hard to build up focus and discipline in this regard and make mental notes
regarding the sequence in which I would like to get my work done and hence curb my
restlessness.
2. I am essentially an introvert and take time to open up to people. Sometimes it leads
me to getting bogged down if everyone around me is chirping like anything. In such
situations I guess I come across as slightly diffident.
3. I am usually a very calm person and though I would count that as one of my
strengths, it sometimes lead to a wait-and-watch approach which might backfire at
times. I have been trying to develop the maturity to identify situations where to use what
approach but have admittedly made mistakes.
4. I am not very adept at developing contacts and networking. This part of my
professional life is still a work in progress.
5. I have terrible, almost illegible handwriting. I hope I can improve that but with the
advent of electronic word-processors everywhere, the hope remains bleak. (And that is
why I am typing this out instead of writing in the PDP handbook).
Q. Describe some instances where you could have achieved more if you had been
better in the above-mentioned areas.

1. Going back, I think I could have got through the engineering exams right after my
12th exams if I was more focused. It was only in the last 6 months that I got my act
together and it clearly was not adequate.
2. I think I could have made more friends throughout my life. As it is, I have close albeit
few friends. Also, due to this I find re-establishing contacts and relationships once I
have lost touch a bit awkward.
3. In the ongoing project at the workplace, there was a situation where my department
should have clarified some points earlier with the higher management. We still went
ahead thinking that we will tackle this issue later as it had a potential to escalate into a
major conflict with the higher management. But later because of it the some documents
came into danger of being marked non-compliant wrt quality and higher management
washed their hands off it. We should have been proactive and the wait and watch
approach clearly didn't work here. Still it was a lesson well learnt.
4. Since it still are the early days for my professional life I haven't faced any problems
yet but I think a larger contact pool will always come handy later on.

Q. Starting with the earliest, list out, in chronological order all formal and nonformal education and learning that you have gained from
Formal education
Xth- ICSE Board- Bishop Westcott Boys' School, Ranchi
XII - CBSE Board- Kendriya Vidyalaya JNU, New Delhi
B.E.- Mechanical engineering. Delhi College of Engineering.
Sources of informal learning apart from theseHave spent my most of the formative years in boarding and away from home.
Drop year after XIIth.
Courses on Modern Middle East and Game Theory from Coursera.

Q. List all extra-curricular activities you have participated in

A.
School- Quizzes, Was the school prefect in class X. Played for my house Table Tennis
team in class IX and X. Stood second in a inter-school maths quiz. Played other sports
like Cricket, football and badminton as well being average in some, passable in some
and downright terrible in others.
College- Was in the organizing committee of the college fest in the first year as a
sponsor hunter. Played in the Table Tennis team of the department in the Interdepartmental sports arena and won silver medal in 3rd year. Was the captain in the

fourth year. Won the gaming contest FIFA in the second year in a Techfest. Also won
first prize in Ad making competition in college fest in fourth year.
Post-college
Was in the organising team of the cultural night in the first year in my company.
Also made a slipper ad in an Ad-making competition in office.

Q. List your hobbies, area of interest.

1. Reading/Writing - I like to read books from all the genres viz fiction, fantasy, nonfiction etc from both English and Hindi. I also have a keen interest in Mythology
especially Mahabharata and the many number of books it has inspired. I don't have a
favorite writer per se as but I have recently fallen in love with prose of Jhumpa Lahiri. I
have a personal blog at www.chaoticonfusion.blogspot.com where I have written
several blogpost on personal and contemporary issues. I also occasionally write at QnA
website Quora.
2. Watching cricket and football- I have been watching cricket and European Footbal on
TV since some time and also love to follow them via various websites and twitter
handles.
3. Travelling/Photography- I love traveling and have a photoblog
at www.sumitdas.tumblr.com. Though admittedly both have been on the backburner
thorugh the last year due to a variety of reasons including preparing for CAT.
4. Movies/music- I love watching mainly Hindi movies and love listening to various
genres of music like contemporary bollywood, classical music, folk, ghazals, qawwalis
and also like discovering generally unheard music.
5. Cooking- It is a newly developed interest and is something I am still trying to find my
feet in though would like to be proficient in it someday.

Q. Describe the major changes that have happened in your life so far. Mention the
people, purposes, goals and other dreams that have caused these changes.
A.
In reverse chronological order
Changing departments in office- I was shifted from Mechanical to pipeline to Water
Engineering to Piping Stress department. A couple of changes were because of
logistical concerns and a couple were because I wanted to shift. One of the major
reasons I have changed is because if I stay in design, I want to eventually land up in
project management and having the overview of the major departments is a big plus
and the circumstances conspired to aid me in that as well. Admittedly in the short term

future, these kind of shifts are not very conducive to the growth, in the long-term this
mixed experience will be useful.
Choosing the company after college. :- As I mentioned earlier, out of college, I had
the choice of getting into power sector or the Oil and Gas sector. I chose O&G because
it offers more global exposure and it has far reaching effects and hence scope in the
world. If I manage to get an MBA, I will like to work preferably in an Oil and Gas
consultancy and hence this decision makes sense.
Dropping after school for engineering exams - As I explained earlier, I grew up quite
a bit during this period as it was my first encounter with real failure. I became a bit
tougher, understood stuff about myself I didn't know earlier and knew a bit more about
how to deal with doubts, fear and other inner demons.
Coming to Delhi after Xth boards- It partly was my own decision and partly my
parents as I myself wanted to go to a bigger city for better exposure. Also I had lived a
somewhat sheltered life and wanted to grow out of it.
Being sent to boarding- It was the first major change which happened to me which
changed my personality. I injected some confidence in me, made me pick up sports and
I developed long-term friendships there. The lessons learnt there still form the core of
what I am and possibly what I can be.
Q. Describe the future developments in your life as you see them. These
developments may be related to your education and career or personal life etc.
Describe all that you have done in order to realize the changes that you
mentioned.
A.
(Obviously) Getting an MBA - Since making up my mind last year about getting an
MBA, I have been working towards performing well in various entrance exams by
brushing up the concepts. Also, since I have decided to go for an MBA I have been
trying to take more interest in how my company works at a managerial level as well.
Getting a LLB preferably in corporate law- One reason I want to do MBA is to
graduate from being somebody who is executing decisions to someone who is in a
position to take them. To that end, getting a firm knowledge of law seems useful to me
as it will help me be more effective in incubation stage itself and will be specially helpful
if the firm is looking to expand operations.
Setting up a firm of my own - That is a long term objective and currently the most
likely venture seems to an Oil and Gas consultancy. If it comes to that, the contacts
developed through the course of my experience will be very useful. I also want to work
for the government in some capacity as they

Getting married - I have been trying. Mostly with not much success, but I have been
trying. Just in case, parents are also trying if a backup is required. Everybody has been
trying. That's all.

CHAPTER 5
Q. The major/significant changes that have happened in your life so far. Bring out
the people, purposes, goals and other reasons that have caused these significant
changes/decisions. What are the goals you have set for yourself. What do you
want to achieve. Tell us about your dreams.

A.
As I said earlier, in reverse chronological order, the major changes have been choosing
departments, choosing the company after graduation, coming to a big city after Xth and being
sent to boarding. The first two helped me set both short-term and long-term professional life
goals. I was convinced by my first supervisor of the current company to choose O&G over
power. The later two changes were in part initiated by me and in part my parents as I wanted to
go to a big city for exposure and they wanted the best education for me. The professional goal
in life is to work in a challenging environment which requires and enables me to learn new
things continuously

Q. Tell us about yourself as a person -as a professional, a friend, a son/daughter.

Explore the important facets of your life and tell us what you are really good at
and where you need to improve yourself. Give us examples of various aspects in
which you felt you needed to develop yourself. What have you done about those
aspects?
A.

Professionally, I am known as a guy who views the work he is given holistically, asks
questions and understands the impact of his work rather than following instructions
blindly. I am also bit of a troubleshooter as I am not afraid of asking questions and
understand how to mine internet for information. I dont have a huge circle of friends but
only have a few who have been close friends for a long time.
I am generally a calm, curious person which often helps me have a detached
perspective of things. It also works in a negative manner at times as I can come across
as an aloof person who is slow at taking initiative. I have been working to develop the
maturity to evaluate a situation at the outset and gauge the apt response to it.

Q. Describe how you typically respond to problems facing you. These problems
could be from any sphere of your life. Give examples of situations where you took
charge of a difficult situation and resolved it.
A. At the outset, I try not to panic and break down the problem in small manageable and
resolvable steps. Mostly, that works. If I am working with a team, I try to divide the work in a
manner which makes people feel responsible as well as not make them feel discriminated
against. If it is at the workplace, I gradually find out the solution by just asking about it from the
seniors and colleagues. Asking questions is always useful. And if things go wrong, I mostly try
to find what I could have done better and stop thinking about external, non-controllable
factors. One recent example was when we had a team of 3 people and had to manage a
cultural night with dinner, cultural performances and games for 150+ people. It went off well due
to proper planning, coordination and distribution of work.

Q. What are the goals you have set yourself in the past? How have you gone
about achieving them? What lessons have you learnt from these that you could
apply to your further pursuit of goals? Do you believe that your efforts influence
the results you achieve in your life?
A. Looking back some of them were, getting into a company of my preferred sector,

getting into a good college, topping school in Xth boards. Most of the goals were
achieved by breaking them into small parts and setting short-term goals. Whenever I
failed, I have realized that the basic strategy remains the same but the execution was
either faulty or the order of these short term goals was erroneous. Also, a certain
amount of hard-work, sincerity and focus is essential.
To a large extent, I think efforts influence the result. We usually don't work in such fine
margins that luck plays a huge factor and a smart strategy can cover for luck. Besides,
luck if at all it exists is something I can't control and I don't like to dwell over things not in
my control.