Good question, mundasingh - and I guess I'll follow by asking how we'd know that "having different interests" applies to "people". "People" is the object of the subject "We", and "having" where it is doesn't set it up as a subject.
You could probably find several ways to describe the flaw in the original:
-I'd argue that it's confusing because you've already assigned a present-tense verb to "we", so it looks to be parallel to "meeting" without any real indication that it's not.
-Similarly "having" is a present tense verb, which doesn't really fit in terms of tense. "People who have different interests" is an indicative verb - it talks about who these people are in a general sense. "Having" is temporary and current, which isn't a logical meaning. I don't enjoy meeting someone who has a fleeting interest in art but could give it up at any minute, I want to meet someone who truly has that interest!
-You really do need a word to turn the object of one clause into the subject of the next; here, you either need "who" to indicate that the people we meet have that interest, or "while" to link it back to us.
-Most importantly, on the GMAT you see 5 options and pick one. I would never write the original sentence as written and I fully believe it to be grammatically incorrect. But on the test the beautiful thing is that you get to compare. When I see the second sentence it's crystal clear who does what, and sheds some light on ways in which the original could be a little ambiguous. In that situation, go for clarity. You'll probably never get to the point at which you can always say for certain that a sentence is right or wrong - there are shades of gray out there and even where there's certitude your mind will play tricks on you. But this test isn't one of who should be an editor at a newspaper; it's one of who can make good decisions when presented with options. So "look for clarity" is a great rule...the clearer the sentence the better.
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
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