I can’t wait to tell you what is happening at LLTLF. But first Sugandh’s mock interview. Frankly I can’t think of too many questions to ask him that can be meaningful or won’t end in some stupid rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller that will sound like kittens being strangled. That said I do really want to help the fellow.

Later.

9.23 p.m.

So depressed. 100% feeling lifeless after that session with Sugandh.

Don’t feel like writing anything today.

Bye.

31 March 2007

8.05 p.m.

Praise the lord.

Sugandh just called to say that he can’t come today because of some IT emergency in the accounts department downstairs.

So finally I have the night to myself.

Diary, now I think I am in a position to talk about last night.

So Sugandh came in with a copy of his biodata and my resume. Then he asked me to explain how a mock interview worked. So I told him in detail what it is, why it is useful and how it prepares people for an interview. He asked me if I had ever prepared using mock interviews. I told him that I had a reputation on campus for being something of a flamboyant interviewee, so much so that when someone had performed outstandingly in an interaction with a company they called it a ‘Robinterview’ or ‘Robinteraction’.

You could sense the awe in Sugandh’s eyes.

Then he asked me to start mock interviewing him. After two or three basic questions about his family and education Sugandh began to sweat a lot and get very very nervous. So then, in a moment of weakness, I suggested something. I told him that maybe if he mock interviewed me then he would feel a little more confident and get some tips on how to handle pressure.

I told him to ask me as many easy or difficult questions as he wanted, and take notes as we went along.

Forty-five minutes later Sugandh had sheets full of notes and my self-confidence had been blown to pieces.

Even now, when I think about it, I feel horrible. There is a taste of defeat in my mouth. After some basic questions about family and my personality he asked me about my strengths—finance, flexibility, communication skills, client-focus, strategic depth, honesty, physique—and weaknesses—honesty, too much focus on work, stickler for rules, makes other people feel insecure.

So far so good. And then he began asking me about why I went to business school, why I joined Dufresne, why I was a consultant, why I was working with Lederman, why I was not an entrepreneur, why I was not working with a bank, why I was staying in a third-rate serviced apartment and why I had come to London in economy class instead of business class.

Then he started asking me if I had any friends in London, whether I missed being in India …