I am a strong believer of the fact that you can never connect the dots looking forward, you have to connect them looking backward. And I sometimes marvel at the way life puts the pieces together. So was my experience with MBA. I couldn’t have thought of a better combination of things and a better sequence of events to have happened to me.
I can say without a doubt after having gone through MBA that my engineering college was a temple of human values. You more or less always got what you deserved in terms of marks and behavior. I never topped the class because I never deserved it and I always figured in top 5 because I wasn't as bad either. The marks if I may put in terms of statistics always had ability as a mean and the variance maybe the efforts and luck. Maybe sometimes the marks weren’t in proportion but they always hovered around the mean never straying too far. Also most of my classmates were statues of righteousness when evaluated against the people I met during the course of my MBA. Thus I surely needed this MBA journey before entering into the immoral corporate world.
I was heartbroken when I got into IBS since I was expected to get through to some of the premier B-schools but today I can tell you IBS is a place carved out for people like me. Had I got into a good B-school, I wouldn’t have learnt as many lessons and would have surely failed in my corporate career. I entered IBS with a whole different perception of life, today getting out of it I hold an altogether different perception of life, people, career and success.
When I entered into IBS I was a strong believer of human values. I knew life was unfair but never believed it could be immoral. I always believed in values like sharing, caring, helping, truthfulness and even to some extent selflessness. I believed success at the end always comes to merit. I was full of enthusiasm and gave my best shot from the first day itself, trying to put my best foot forward. And bang I received my first jolt, a stab in the back from a person I trusted and intended to make a long friendship with. I learnt my first lesson. Your friends may be your friends but they are your competitors in the first place. Never before had I learnt to look at friends from that perspective. Fortunately I did quite well in the first semester; had I not, I might not have been able to complete the journey and might have left IBS then and there. My reason for doing well I felt was my love for the subjects apart from fact that I got quite good teachers considering the lot we have.
Then came my second semester, though the subjects were good I wasn’t able to perform. Teachers and peers were such that they only gave me a feeling of hatred towards the subjects and again added to my bad performance. There are various reasons that brought me down and would never be able to point out one except for- my inability to adapt. Here came my second big lesson, you would be required to adapt, there are no set rules or ways to operate and you have to be ready for anything. Well, whether or not I should have changed is question of moral because it might have required me to bring out my grey shades and I am not willing to get into discussion whether I should have done it. But the fact remains that I was not even quick enough to judge the change in the need of the hour.
Then of course came the best days of my MBA - my SIP, a vacation to recoup from a year of MBA and to contrast the learnings from the past year to a real corporate office. The next big lesson came here; I never believed my ears when at the last moment I was denied my preferred location for SIP after about 2-3 months of promise that I would get it. I never thought people use their words so lightly. For me promise made was a promise as good as fulfilled. I never knew promises could be made and forgotten about as if it were a dream from a night you slept well. I still am not capable of making promises that way but yes atleast now I know that’s how many people make it. Here I was quick to implement the lesson of second semester, I understood the need of the hour, adapted quickly and performed well.
All this while I had earned and lost a lot in terms of lesson, morals and marks but not much contribution was made in terms of relationships. After this came my lessons in terms of people and relationships. It was only after my SIP my friendships grew, friendships I would treasure for life. I learnt that I was vulnerable and innocent enough to be used by people and hence should stand vigilant as a watchdog to guard myself. I learnt that each person stands for himself and hence has to find his way alone, bumping into people who he might have to guard against.
But I also learnt that good and sweet people can be found even in the bad and most evil of places and I found my group. I learnt that friends are people who would stand by you and care for you whatever the circumstances. I always believed in taking a friend as he/she is and not trying to change the person and this is one thing I still believe in. My third and fourth semester taught me a lot about people, and the complexities involved in dealing with each. Apart from this I grew very close to Mother Nature. There are very few things that IBS has provided which a B-school should. Well to be specific only two, I think. One was the huge amount resources in terms of libraries, databases and internet (I know it rarely worked) and second was the infrastructure and a beautiful campus. Long walks after every meal, watching the flowers from bud to blossom, watching the mangoes grow and watching the sun set every evening became part of my day. These things and the leisure to enjoy these things would be hardly possible in future considering the hi-tech and crowded cities I would live in. I enjoyed these things and my growing friendship with people through the second year.
Then time came for goodbyes. I had a report to submit before the completion of MBA but that would be later so I left the campus before the actual completion of my MBA saying goodbye to everybody not knowing whom I would meet again. Didn’t feel much as I was travelling but as time passed after reaching home I felt uneasiness, a feeling as if I had lost or left something behind. I missed my friends terribly and felt an undying urge to meet them again. I would stay online all day trying to talk to friends whom I meet online. I felt like running back to them. I felt as if I had lost some part of me in IBS. I seriously felt quite miserable as I didn’t imagine myself ever. I then went back to submit my report and all my friends were still there and met everybody again. After submitting the report and completing formalities it was time for final adieu and I dreaded the restlessness that I felt earlier. While traveling I didn’t feel much, I thought it is yet to begin. I reached home and still didn’t feel restless. Now a few days have passed and though I remember them many a times but I am at peace with myself. I don’t stay online looking for friends. Though my friends, those experiences and IBS would always be part of me and my memories but today these memories don’t disturb me and make me restless they give me a feeling of serenity and tranquility. They complete me. :)
I can say without a doubt after having gone through MBA that my engineering college was a temple of human values. You more or less always got what you deserved in terms of marks and behavior. I never topped the class because I never deserved it and I always figured in top 5 because I wasn't as bad either. The marks if I may put in terms of statistics always had ability as a mean and the variance maybe the efforts and luck. Maybe sometimes the marks weren’t in proportion but they always hovered around the mean never straying too far. Also most of my classmates were statues of righteousness when evaluated against the people I met during the course of my MBA. Thus I surely needed this MBA journey before entering into the immoral corporate world.
I was heartbroken when I got into IBS since I was expected to get through to some of the premier B-schools but today I can tell you IBS is a place carved out for people like me. Had I got into a good B-school, I wouldn’t have learnt as many lessons and would have surely failed in my corporate career. I entered IBS with a whole different perception of life, today getting out of it I hold an altogether different perception of life, people, career and success.
When I entered into IBS I was a strong believer of human values. I knew life was unfair but never believed it could be immoral. I always believed in values like sharing, caring, helping, truthfulness and even to some extent selflessness. I believed success at the end always comes to merit. I was full of enthusiasm and gave my best shot from the first day itself, trying to put my best foot forward. And bang I received my first jolt, a stab in the back from a person I trusted and intended to make a long friendship with. I learnt my first lesson. Your friends may be your friends but they are your competitors in the first place. Never before had I learnt to look at friends from that perspective. Fortunately I did quite well in the first semester; had I not, I might not have been able to complete the journey and might have left IBS then and there. My reason for doing well I felt was my love for the subjects apart from fact that I got quite good teachers considering the lot we have.
Then came my second semester, though the subjects were good I wasn’t able to perform. Teachers and peers were such that they only gave me a feeling of hatred towards the subjects and again added to my bad performance. There are various reasons that brought me down and would never be able to point out one except for- my inability to adapt. Here came my second big lesson, you would be required to adapt, there are no set rules or ways to operate and you have to be ready for anything. Well, whether or not I should have changed is question of moral because it might have required me to bring out my grey shades and I am not willing to get into discussion whether I should have done it. But the fact remains that I was not even quick enough to judge the change in the need of the hour.
Then of course came the best days of my MBA - my SIP, a vacation to recoup from a year of MBA and to contrast the learnings from the past year to a real corporate office. The next big lesson came here; I never believed my ears when at the last moment I was denied my preferred location for SIP after about 2-3 months of promise that I would get it. I never thought people use their words so lightly. For me promise made was a promise as good as fulfilled. I never knew promises could be made and forgotten about as if it were a dream from a night you slept well. I still am not capable of making promises that way but yes atleast now I know that’s how many people make it. Here I was quick to implement the lesson of second semester, I understood the need of the hour, adapted quickly and performed well.
All this while I had earned and lost a lot in terms of lesson, morals and marks but not much contribution was made in terms of relationships. After this came my lessons in terms of people and relationships. It was only after my SIP my friendships grew, friendships I would treasure for life. I learnt that I was vulnerable and innocent enough to be used by people and hence should stand vigilant as a watchdog to guard myself. I learnt that each person stands for himself and hence has to find his way alone, bumping into people who he might have to guard against.
But I also learnt that good and sweet people can be found even in the bad and most evil of places and I found my group. I learnt that friends are people who would stand by you and care for you whatever the circumstances. I always believed in taking a friend as he/she is and not trying to change the person and this is one thing I still believe in. My third and fourth semester taught me a lot about people, and the complexities involved in dealing with each. Apart from this I grew very close to Mother Nature. There are very few things that IBS has provided which a B-school should. Well to be specific only two, I think. One was the huge amount resources in terms of libraries, databases and internet (I know it rarely worked) and second was the infrastructure and a beautiful campus. Long walks after every meal, watching the flowers from bud to blossom, watching the mangoes grow and watching the sun set every evening became part of my day. These things and the leisure to enjoy these things would be hardly possible in future considering the hi-tech and crowded cities I would live in. I enjoyed these things and my growing friendship with people through the second year.
Then time came for goodbyes. I had a report to submit before the completion of MBA but that would be later so I left the campus before the actual completion of my MBA saying goodbye to everybody not knowing whom I would meet again. Didn’t feel much as I was travelling but as time passed after reaching home I felt uneasiness, a feeling as if I had lost or left something behind. I missed my friends terribly and felt an undying urge to meet them again. I would stay online all day trying to talk to friends whom I meet online. I felt like running back to them. I felt as if I had lost some part of me in IBS. I seriously felt quite miserable as I didn’t imagine myself ever. I then went back to submit my report and all my friends were still there and met everybody again. After submitting the report and completing formalities it was time for final adieu and I dreaded the restlessness that I felt earlier. While traveling I didn’t feel much, I thought it is yet to begin. I reached home and still didn’t feel restless. Now a few days have passed and though I remember them many a times but I am at peace with myself. I don’t stay online looking for friends. Though my friends, those experiences and IBS would always be part of me and my memories but today these memories don’t disturb me and make me restless they give me a feeling of serenity and tranquility. They complete me. :)
Yeh lamhe, yeh pal hum, barson yaad karenge………
