Presence of mind

Well now that most of the major B-School results are out (with the exception of JBIMS) its that time of the year when you abruptly remember how tough it is to prepare for GD and PI. Suddenly bawl out to who ever would listen to you "clearing the entrance test was a piece of cake and the real test was in clearing the interviews". Now heart of heart we all know that its a load of junk and that both the stages are equally tough. Any way I was going through some of the experiences of students who have had the privelage to attend the dreaded GD/PI already. Occasionally you come across a out of ordinary performance. On such experience that teaches us the importance of Presence of mind.

posted from the link
http://himalayanwind.blogdrive.com/archive/10.html

During my encounters with various people whom I accost with demands for Interview tips, I sometimes come across incredible stories of taking risks and getting returns. I met one such survivor two days ago.

This guy had been called for the FMS (Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi Univ) interview, which also consists of an extempore speech (All of you know, I believe, that the pronunciation of ex-tempore is eks-tem-p-uh-ree. I learnt this only on this occasion.) The FMS people are notorious for giving quirky extempore topics, which may range from anywhere across economics, geography & history. I know of topics like 'Jallianwala Bagh' and 'The Fire is Raging' being given. So you can never be sure what you may be saddled with.

Now, this guy was given the topic, 'Gupta Empire'. He stood there dumbfounded for around 10 seconds, at last deciding that he'll never recall enough information to last the one minute which is the minimum required time for the extempore. So, with a brilliant flash of insight, he began, "The Gupta Empire was started in 1980 by .... and it is yet to reach its zenith ..." and so on. He was selected.

His name is Sumit Gupta.