Perhaps, this was the unique interview you have ever seen for a high-profile job. Five judges were sitting to cross-question the candidates. All are legends in their field. On one side of the semicircular table where the judges were sitting, a huge television was installed on the wall, so that everybody including the candidates could see the TV.
The candidates were called one by one and the questions via the pictures on the TV were asked. The judges, after analyzing the answers given by the candidate, rendered their verdict. The pictures selected for the questions were absolutely in a new format, new style, and exceptional from the normal interview questions. God knows, why that style was adopted!!!
A long queue was waiting for the interview. All were excited! As time moved, the queue became shorter and shorter. The last three persons were left to face their luck!
The first among the three was called by the attendant. He prayed to God silently and entered the room.
‘Hi Young man! Please be seated!’ the first among the judges said.
‘Thank you all, sir!’ he said and took his seat.’
‘Look, we are not going to ask you any questions about the academic career. It is something different. Are you ready?’ asked one of the judges.
‘Yes, sir. I am ready. As you wish, you can ask me,’ replied the young man soberly with confidence.
‘Well! Look at the picture on TV, and say something about it,’ said the first judge of the row.
The young man stated his observation: ‘On the roadside, two trees are focused upon to give some message, I guess. One is full of fruits because of which its branches are lowered down. It indicates the message that it's ready to spare its fruits for the benefit of people, while the other tree stands straight without bearing any fruit. Similarly, we can conclude that the person who is full of knowledge and wisdom is always humble, polite, and generous while devoid of such knowledge makes a person proud and arrogant.’
‘Hum..’ one of the judges nodded his head.
‘Well! Here is the second picture and give your statement,’ said the second judge.
The picture was a bifurcated road. One road was peaceful, clean stretched a distance having trees on both sides while the other road led to a crowded area having markets, buildings, etc. A man was standing in the center of the bifurcation and he was in a thoughtful posture as if he was in a dilemma about which road to follow.
The young man observed the picture a while and then said, ‘The man in the center has two options. Either he has to follow a peaceful life leading towards the stretched lonely road or he has to opt for the second one to prove to himself that life itself is a challenge, and by struggling with difficulties also, he can attain peace of mind. So, in my opinion, he should follow the clumsy road and compete with problems, which would prove his competency, while on the other one, there is no one to compete or challenge except some natural disaster to face which is unpredictable.’
‘OK..go ahead! Look at the third picture,’ said the next judge with a smile.
It was a picture of a giant wheel fully occupied by extremely excited people. The expression on their faces was a point to be noted. Some were very happy, some were screaming out of fear, and some were waiting for the thrilling moment. Everybody's facial expressions were unique in their own way!
‘So, young man! What do you think about this?’ a little satirically the third judge asked.
The young man chuckled and said, ‘Well! Life itself is like a giant while. Sometimes up and sometimes down and it never goes in a steady motion. Thrilling, happiness, and fear, all are phases of life that would be overcome or disappear on the runway of 'Time'! All the feelings would become zero at the end of the game. A man goes through all these phases to complete his life tenure!’
‘Oh! It seems your arguments are matching with the pictures! Are you becoming too philosophical or realistic?’ asked the third judge chuckling.
‘No, sir, not philosophy but I just connected the pictures to the real-life incident. That’s it. Oh, yes! I do remember Chanakya’s Niti Slokah where the two trees' description has explained,’ the young man spoke honestly.
‘OK! Look at the fourth picture and describe it,’ said the fourth judge.
The young man stared at the TV screen to see the forthcoming picture.
A big tree having few branches without any leaves but a thin network of branches in the root was shown in the whole picture, nothing else.
The young man cleared his throat, then said, ‘Well! What I know from my little knowledge about Bhagvat Gita is that- the human body is
compared with an ‘upside down tree’ where the network of roots is compared with the human brain, and the branches are compared with the parts of the body. Hopefully, every description depends upon the perception of the observer.’
All the judges gestured at each other. With a broad smile on their face, the fifth and last judge pronounced mischievously, ‘OK, OK! Now meet the last and final question. Kindly, have a look at the picture.’
It was a picture showing three main buildings. The first one is a hospital, the second: is a police station and the third one is a picture of a court building.
The fifth judge said, ‘Gentleman! This one is your last picture to observe and say something about it. What do you think about it?’
The young man looked at it, cleared his throat then said, ‘It indicates that one should be very careful while leading his life. These are the three things one should remember:
Never do anything by which you would be questioned by the police.
Try your best not to do anything by which you have to go to a lawyer.
Take care of your health, so that a hospital would not be required.
Well, these are the three pieces of advice given to me by my elders. But, I think everything is not under our control. ‘To err is human, to forgive is divine’ is truly an amazing proverb said by Alexander Pope. So these three buildings can be required when time demands. That’s what I feel.’
After the end of the interview, only one word was announced by all the five judges ‘ Congratulations!!!
Comments