The Interview(Part 2)

The online aptitude test was the first obstacle on our way to employment. Three sections, 120 minutes, a few gags (courtesy, a bug in the software) and lots of forced smiles and consolations later, half of us were on the other side, aware that the worst was yet to come. And indeed it was. To be honest, the interview wasn't half as bad as the excruciating wait which preceded and followed it. In retrospect, the interview itself was comic at some places. My "technical" interview for a software firm, for instance, found me answering questions on topics as "relevant" as Sourav Ganguly (apparently the interviewer was a big fan, and ,therefore, i can only assume he was a Bengali), bird flu (the then swine flu), airplanes and faltering pilots :O ..(And i had thought they were hiring me 2 code :P).

By the end of the day, my stomach and head were announcing their respective plights with competitive intensities. I was beginning to wonder whether all this was actually worth it.And then suddenly, the results were being announced. There was no more discomfort. No more pain. Hell, there was no stomach, no head. Only anxiousness. Followed by happiness. And relief. And, therefore, more happiness.

Never fails to amaze me, it doesn't, this trickery called "mind over body", which is just that. Makes me wish I could turn this otherwise symbiotic relationship between the two into a master-slave thing once and for all. And isn't that the very purpose of life according to the self-proclaimed lantern-bearers of the world? Or is it simply the way of life? Or are they the one and the same? Am I beginning to sound crazy? :O As the answers get increasingly unpleasant, think I'll stop :P

Even this sudden splurge of happiness was not entirely unadulterated. A few unfortunate and more fortunate ones had not made it through the last round. (Wonder what my head and stomach would 've had to say about that? :-?). I realized that day how difficult it is to be happy and sad at the same time.

A word of advice: When you need to be happy and sad at the same time, better be sad. It makes perfect sense to do so. I'll probably explain the logic in some future post.

But, in the end, I had managed to pull it off. My first interview. That and the show of emotions. A perfect end to a day made perfect only by the end. It was 1 a.m. by the time I reached home. My head hurt badly, but my heart seemed to be having the time of its life. And I went to bed slightly happier with the knowledge that I would be feeling even better in the morning. :)