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My interview was to be held in the KVPY building in IISc on January 27th.I reached the venue about an hour or so early and approached the lady at the reception to hand over all my documents. I’d checked and double-checked to see which documents I was required to bring from the website but it turned out that they needed a photocopy of my tenth grade report card in addition to the ones I brought. Fortunately, I had enough time to go and get a photocopy made nearby.I found a classmate of mine amidst a crowd of about 50 students and took the vacant seat to his side. My classmate, however seemed to have read through the entirety of our 11th grade science portions but all I knew was what we’d been taught until then. Moreover, I wasn’t particularly confident about Inorganic chemistry (to say the least). I was already nervous but seeing my apparent lack of preparedness, I was becoming very anxious.I was the second person to be called to ‘Committee II’. As it happened, the first one was my aforementioned friend. I asked him how it went as he emerged from the room. He gestured back saying that he screwed up. Boy, was I nervous! Waiting outside the closed room, I could hear someone inside announcing me as the next candidate and proceeding to read out my self-evaluation form (submitted to the reception lady earlier). A couple of minutes later, I was called inside.If I remember correctly, there were 7 professors inside. Lets call them P1, P2, P3, M, C1, C2 and B. They asked me to take a seat and asked if I was from the same school as the last candidate. I replied in the affirmative. This is the conversation which followed:-P1: Which subjects do you like?Me: I like Physics and Math.(C1, C2 and B look a little disappointed, lol)P1: Okay then. Let’s start with some Physics! Tell me what experiments you’ve done in your physics lab?Me: We’ve done um… an experiment to test how the time period of a simple pendulum varies with length…P1: Alright! You are given a pendulum whose bob is a hollow metal sphere filled with water. Unfortunately, a small leak develops and the water level in the bob gradually decreases. How would the time period of oscillation vary?Me: Okay, suppose we take this pendulum and set it into oscillation by giving it a small displacement…P3: How small should this displacement be?Me: Well, in the lab we’re told to use an amplitude of 15°…(They all start laughing)Me: We need the pendulum to execute SHM. No, it’s not really SHM; it’s angular SHM. So the torque experienced by the bob should be proportional to its angular displacement from the mean position. In the calculations, we use that fact that [math] \lim_{\theta \to 0} \dfrac{\sin \theta}{\theta} = 1 [/math]. So the amplitude should be pretty small.P3 (smiling): Alright, go on.(I wrote [math]T=2\pi \sqrt{\dfrac{l}{g}}[/math] onto the white board and started explaining how the effective length of the pendulum would first increase and then decrease back to the initial length. So the time period would increase and then decrease back to the initial time period. I said along the way that the center of mass of the bob would be at the center of the sphere both at the initial and final states.)P3: How do you know that the center of mass of the (filled or empty) bob is at its center?Me: Well, the easiest way to see it is by symmetry. You could also…P2 (smiling): Yeah, that’s fine. Have you heard about the Foucalt Pendulum?Me: No, I haven’t (nervous chuckle).P2: That’s okay. I’ll tell you. It’s an experiment can be conducted to measure the rate at which the Earth rotates if you know what latitude your at. Alternatively, you can use it to find out what latitude you’re at if you know the rate of rotation of the Earth.Me: Oh, cool. (or something to that effect)P2: Suppose you place a pendulum at the North Pole and let it oscillate. What happens to the plane of oscillation as you let it oscillate for a while?Me: Hmm… Well, the Earth rotates. So it’s a non-inertial reference frame. So the bob would experience a pseudoforce and the torque due to the pseuodoforce would cause it’s plane to um… I think the plane would gradually rotate (with respect to and observer on the Earth).P2 (smiling): That’s absolutely right! Now through what angle would the plane of oscillation rotate during the course of 24 hours?Me: The orientation of the plane of oscillation would actually be the same throughout. It’s the Earth underneath that’s rotating. Since the Earth completes one rotation in 24 hours, I think it would complete one whole rotation, ie 360°.P2 (smiling even more): Absolutely! Now what happens when you place this pendulum at the equator.Me: I’m not very sure but I don’t think the plane of oscillation will rotate in the that case.P2 (smiling EVEN more): You’re perfectly right! That’s essentially how they measure the latitude using the Foucault pendulum. Do you know what that pseudoforce is called?Me: Well, in geography, we’ve learnt about the Coriolis force which deflects winds and stuff. It’s probably the same thing.P3 (smiling): That’s right.P1: That’s more than enough physics. Let’s try some math.M: Are you familiar with quadratic equations?P2 (suddenly pipes up): I know a nice QE question? Can I ask one?M: SureP2: Suppose you have a rectangle whose perimeter is 100 units. What’s the maximum possible area it could have?(I’m surprised that he asked such a simple question since KVPY math has a reputation for being hard)Me: I think we can um… Yeah, we can apply the AM-GM inequality on the length and the breadth.(Working it out on the whiteboard, I find the the maximum area is 625 square units)P3: Correct, but do you know for what dimensions this area will be achieved?Me: We can work that out but using the conditions [math] l + b = 50 [/math] and [math] lb= 625 [/math]P3: Yeah but you just used the AM-GM inequality. Can’t you tell me what the dimensions would be directly?Me: Oh yeah! It’s the equality case of the AM-GM inequality! The length and breadth should be equal. So that’ll come out to a square of side length 25 units.P3 (smiling): That’s right.M: Are you familiar with vectors?Me: Not in very much detail but we’ve done the basics in physics.M: That’ll do. Can you derive the condition a test vector has to satisfy to be tangential to the family of vectors whose magnitude is [math] r [/math]?(I take a minute to comprehend the question and proceed)Me: So, we basically need the condition the test vector has to satisfy to be tangential to a circle at the origin of radius [math] r [/math]. But um… by the invariance principle of vectors, you can translate around any vector without changing it. So you can translate any vector to be tangential to that circle.M: That’s okay but suppose the test vector is tangential to the circle at a vector [math] \vec{x} [/math]. What condition would the test vector have to satisfy?Me: Since they’re perpendicular to each other, or orthogonal as I think they’re called when it comes to vectors, their dot product must be zero. So [math] \vec{x} \cdot \vec{t} = 0 [/math].M: Good. 25 minutes are up. I think you can go. Thank you.Me: Thank you.I came out not being able to believe that it went so well! They didn’t even ask me any chemistry or biology!The thing that struck me the most was how friendly and enthusiastic they were. I was expecting a group of wise old, stern professors but they were all very pleasant and polite people.The results came out yesterday. I scored 93.86 in the interview and qualified with AIR 108. :)

We are not the sum total of the words that we utter. The words hardly even matter, in a way. Especially face to face: it’s a well-known fact that most communication is non-verbal. Even when we write, without a human being in front of us, we are sending out energy. That energy comes from inside of us. When I read your description, I felt something: a connection with another human being. Maybe I just imagined it, and it’s not real. But does that matter? The fact is, you connected with me.Your description of vulnerable feelings about writing are everything but dull: they show courage, honesty and a desire to change. This is the essence of both writing well, and conversing with others. The definition of courage is not fearlessness: it is simply action in the face of fear. And that’s what Brene Brown calls the state of vulnerability. We have to be willing to be vulnerable if we want to put our ideas out there.So with that out of the way, let’s start with that blank sheet of paper.You’ll figure out what you think through your writingThis is usually the collective wisdom on thought, and how it manifests in words on a page: by writing, you figure out what you think. But when you sit in front of a blank sheet of paper, it never feels that way.I personally like to mind map. A lot. Above is an example of my musings on my new business, trying to make sense of the mess in my head. I’ve been struggling with this mess for months, and it’s now coming together. Not on this page of A3 I might add, but on other pages that have since followed on from this one. This one is still a mess.The problem is that words are just that: words. It’s the ideas that you need to get your head around. And ideas, well, what are they? Yes I can quote the dictionary definition. But I can’t easily describe where I find my ideas. Because most of the ideation process is unconscious. The neural network that is our brain is largely a mystery, even despite the advances of neuroscience. Nobody even knows what consciousness is, for goodness sake. What we do know, is that those neurons have hundreds of thousands of connections. Each one.I read the other day on Medium, in a post by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, an interesting fact. Did you know that the smallest of brains in a worm has about 300 neurons? Well, if you added a single additional neuron, by how much do you think the complexity of that brain would increase? I’ll tell you: it would double. One neuron. We have billions of them. So you don’t lack connective power: let’s knock that one on its head.Working on your ideasHow do we work on our ideas? Most people sit down at a desk or computer, and start to write, doodle or type. That’s work: producing output.Actually, no it’s not. Not when it comes to creative work. That’s looking like you’re working. Putting on a show. At least most of the time. The real creative work is happening in the unconscious mind.Ideation, in my view, has three stages: curation, origination and production. So when you sit down to produce, you are at stage three. Your ability to produce is the product of stages one and two. Curation is your process of finding ideas and deciding which to keep and integrate. Origination is the process of making your own connections. I call it origination because we are all unique: no two people’s brains make the same connections in the same way. So the key to orginating ideas is using your experience stored in memory, and connecting this with newly curated ideas. This is an unconscious process, but your brain is wired to respond to queues from it’s environment and from its master, the rational mind. Master is perhaps too strong a word: our rational mind is better thought of as the user interface with our subconscious mind, rather than its master. Whose user interface is another question entirely, so let’s not go there today.So the question is how do you manage ideation, particularly stages one and two.My process is simple:I learn a lot. Reading, conversations, courses, new experiences, new people and lots of reflection. The more stimulating the better: new connections form when we challenge our minds. This requires a tolerance for ambiguity, struggle, and even pain in the form of mental anguish. If we stick with it, we get to stage two.When I want to write, my best writing is in response to a question. Or even better, a real person. I believe that is true even of fiction: as Shawn Coyne explains on his website and in his book, the controlling ideas that guide the voice - and narrative drive - of an author, define the underlying theme of what the book is about. The characters and story arc are a vehicle for exploring this theme. All writing is about something, and for something. Nobody explains it more clearly than Stephen Pressfield in his new book, “Nobody wants to read your sh*t.” On the topic of voice, I also love the profound simplicity of William Zinsser’s book, “On writing well.”When I mind map, I’m trying to answer a question or explore an idea. Trying is the operative word: the value is the process, not the output (ie the mind map). Or at least not the first one. I’m talking here of a problem that is slightly beyond me: clearly, a problem that I can easily solve doesn’t require a mind mapping process. One tip that helps me is to start with post-it notes. I use A3 paper and small post-its. This frees me from worrying about the structure: I can just free-wheel with ideas, without “getting things wrong.” Later I can order the ideas and figure out the connections. I can also chunk the ideas up and down (see the resource below on thinking more deeply).After a mind mapping session, the output may not solve the problem. So I have a question in my mind. Or I try to find one that will help. And then I ask my unconscious to work on it, but just trusting that an answer will pop up.This next step is critical. Let go. Do something totally unconnected. Preferably something immersive, whether its sport, running, watching a TV programme or meditating. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s immersive, and you switch off. Sleeping on it is even better.Next time you sit down (or first thing in the morning after a sleep), brain storm whatever comes to mind that may be connected to the question. Ideas will normally flow. This takes a bit of practice, you will get better as you do it more often.Now you have your ideas. Think about your audience, and tell them about them.A word on self-evaluating. I used to do that a lot, thinking “how am I doing” whenever I was in a meeting, or worrying about the outcomes of a training course I was running or a meeting I was facilitating. The problem with self-evaluating is that it means you are not fully present. So you do not have access to your full capabilities, your mind is busy but not on the task. So if your self doubt creeps into your mind as you try to think or write, you have to learn to shut it out. Over time, meditation and mindfulness practices can help develop this control. So too can simple self awareness, by spotting when you are ‘at it.’For more on conversational skills, and intellectual debate, please read my Quora answer to that question here:Tom Board's answer to How can I stimulate my intellect?For more on deep thinking, and the process of mind mapping and chunking thought, please take a look at this answer:Tom Board's answer to How can I expand my ability to think deeply? I struggle to grasp complex ideas presented in tough classes such as physics and economics.Best of luck.

B.Tech life taught me some interesting lessons. I would try to list them below-Engineering is overrated - I had choosen engineering out of my own interest. My parents never forced me. However all the expectations I had with engineering shattered in 1st year itself.Scoring good marks is a myth - You got good marks in your boards exams??? Well awesome. But if you think you can do the same in engineering, then you are very much mistaken.YouTube teaches better than most teachers in the college - 50 minutes of lecture but everything seems flying over the head. 15 minutes of YouTube tutorial, and I am clear with everything.One night stand with books before exams- Regular study is something engineering student leave long ago. Toppers might disagree with this concept. But for most of us, this used to be the only method of preparation.You learn more outside college than in college itself. - Whether it be training programs, internship or online courses, they teach more technical stuff than college curriculum itself.CGPA has no effect on job prospect - Unless you are poor in aptitude and skills as well, low CGPA arent going to kill your chances to land on jobs. I know seniors who had low CGPA but landed on fat salary jobs. Some even had backlogs. I too landed on 2 internships at reputed places during my B.Tech life despite of an average CGPA.Necessity of honing communication and interpersonal skills - Being reserved or fearing public speaking forms a big hurdle in long run. I had tough time in getting over my fear of public speaking.Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V are the most useful tool throughout engineering - Self-explanatory :))The best place for self evaluation - Being at a place far from home gives immense freedom. This freedom can turn you better or monster.The worst place for getting into relationship - IITians and NITians, particularly mecha guys will understand this :pHope this helpedRegards