For a moment I was like: OH MY GOD THIS MAN IS MY SOULMATE!

But then I realized that he also had my same birthday, same sports achievements in school, same debating experience and same passion for fitness and poverty alleviation.

Sugandh asked me if everything was ok.

I asked him what his favourite element of Mediterranean cuisine was. He thought for two minutes and said: ‘Mediterranean Chicken Biryani.’ I excused myself, went into the bathroom and punched a roll of toilet paper repeatedly. Then I took a small potted plant, which was near the sink, and tipped half of the soil into the hairdryer. Then I washed my face and returned.

The idea of giving him my resume, I explained, was not so that he can copy and paste things. Sugandh apologized profusely and told me that he came from a humble family where there was never the money or time to have hobbies or passions. And then he looked down and sniffed a little.

What to do. My heart melted a little bit. I may not be able to identify with poverty, but that does not mean I should not have compassion for the poor.

I told him that I was sorry for my impatience. Tonight, I told him, we will focus on hobbies and passions. I told him that putting these details on a biodata are usual for multiple reasons: first of all they use up white space and make it look very full. Secondly, interviewers are often distracted by interesting hobbies and passions and this will divert attention from asking difficult job related questions.

So I asked if there was anything he was passionate about. He said he really liked Chiranjeevi movies and had seen every single movie starring the actor. I told him he should include this on the biodata as it was quirky and interesting.

After that he said he liked reading books. I asked him which book he had read most recently. He said, ‘Barron’s Guide for GRE.’ I told him to name another one. He thought for two minutes and then told me that he preferred singing songs to reading books.

I told him to sing a song. He took a deep breath and then said something in Telugu. And then looked at me.

What happened, I asked him. How was the song, he asked me. That was a song? I asked him. Michael Jackson’s Thriller, he told me.

I went into the bathroom and came back two minutes later.

After another forty-five minutes we finally decided that besides watching Chiranjeevi movies, his other passions would be singing Telugu songs from Chiranjeevi movies, reading books about Chiranjeevi, and ‘Internet’. The last one, I told him, would go well with his professional profile and job ambitions.

Tomorrow he will come back with a finalized version of his resume. And then I have told him that we will do some mock interviews before applying for jobs at Lederman.