The Interview

**Disclaimer: Though based on true incidents, no offense is intended towards any individual. The names are fictitious. 

“Get here, so we can finish this interview. You were a part of this team, so you need to provide your inputs!” Chris replaced the receiver on the desk phone, without waiting for Anil to respond.

A few minutes later, Anil pushed open the door to the cabin without bothering to knock first. “Alright, I am here. It is a Friday and we are supposed to be participating in a jam session. I finished all my work and was about to pack up. Remind me again, why I am here.”

Chris did not bother to look up, his eyes glued to his screen. “I am preparing for the jam too. Yeh dekh.” He beckoned to the seat next to him.

Anil walked around the large desk, not missing the unpacked guitar in the corner. Chris had been practicing. He pulled up a chair and peeped into the screen over Chris’ shoulder and whistled.

“Whoa! Yeh naye gaane hain! You sure we can pull this off? These are all new songs!”

Chris snickered. “Hell yes!”

Chris, Anil, Nayan, Ishaan and a few others, had set a routine for themselves to jam up each Friday in the office cafeteria after work for a couple of hours. This had started off as a small, casual, fun event on the side and over time, had snowballed into a featured event on the office newsletter. Naturally, all the participants, and the audience, was equally excited for the Friday night event. The cafeteria vendor too, enjoyed it, because he sold a lot of snacks during those two hours. It was such a Friday, when Chris had insisted on Anil joining him for an interview. The candidate was a young network specialist and was interviewing to fill up an empty position by way of an internal promotion. The candidates were never told about the competition that they faced, unless it was a highly visible role. This particular role was tough, and the rest of the candidates had failed to make it past the technical test. The test had been created by someone who had trained Anil during his days, so Anil knew the efficiency of the test at screening potential candidates. But at the moment, both the men were busy studying the list of songs that they were to perform during the jam session.

They were disturbed by a sharp knock. Both looked up, to see the interviewing candidate smiling at the door. Tanay was a young and promising techie, with a curious attitude. No technical problem was too tough to solve. It could take longer, but he would always solve it. This made him a perfect fit for the role.

“Come in, Tanay! Take a seat.” Chris said in a booming voice.

Tanay walked in and sat down. “Hello Chris; hi Anil!” He smiled at Anil because they had often shared notes on certain common technical issues. Chris looked at him sharply and turned to Anil.

“You are familiar with him? Want to take the interview?”

Anil frowned. “No, I will second chair.”

Chris turned to his screen, scrolling through the list of songs. “Tell me Tanay; there are two IP addresses. One has three digits in the first octet and the other has two digits. What is the difference?”

Anil struggled to keep a calm face. This was a question that he knew was not expected. He looked at Tanay, with a blank expression.

Tanay’s smile faded a little. He spent several seconds thinking about it, nervously. “I am sorry, I am not aware.”

Chris responded. “Alright, I am done. Unless you have any questions.” He said, turning towards Anil.

“No, I am good.” Anil replied.

“Thank you Tanay, your interview is done. You may leave.” Chris said, without looking at the nervous Tanay.

Tanay stood up, dejected, and walked out of the cabin. He had not expected to fail this miserably in the interview.

Anil shuffled his chair a little. “What is the answer to your question?”

Chris guffawed. “Mereko kya maloom? How do you expect me to know that?”

Anil’s eyes widened. “That was a good candidate! I have seen his work. You can’t just send him away just like that!”

“Relax! He has already been selected on the basis of his scores. I have received his test results, and this question too, was given to me by your guru. The kid walked in, all smiles, nervous underneath. I thought we could have some fun. Chal, let’s go to the cafeteria and play some music.” Chris said, grinning.

Anil smiled, as he shook his head and walked out to gather his guitar.

**Copyright: Amit D'Souza