Almost an MBA

(In the beginning, there was discovery, a confusion of elements, a first snowfall of impossible change. Old lives undone, left behind, strange faces made familiar, new nightmares to challenge sleep, new friends to feel safe with. Only then comes control, the need to impose order onto chaos through determination, through study, through struggle, all in defiance of a thundering truth. They're here, and the earth shudders underfoot)

What does it take for a man to find himself? Does he need Tragedy? Love? Triumph? Falls? Ups? Highs? Near-Death? Or Death?

None of these in my case. All I needed were 18 months in the sweet hell of a business school. The 18 months of all the experiences in the first passage…Well, almost all except death.

It seems lofty to pronounce that the 18 months at my school were life changing but hell, they were! I went in as a raw unpolished stone and came out after 18 months as…no, not a diamond, but a shiny cube which reflects and refracts the world around me. It made me aware of the world, helped me connect with the web of human activity (Human Activity systems, as Konher put itJ)

As my long ago previous post showed snippets of what my initiation into MBA was let me continue and dive straight into more incidents.

Almost an MBA (Part II)

1400 HRS, 23.11.06 – Dereliction of Duty

“Bloody, what do you first years think of yourself? Its bloody work that you are ignoring not some bloody assignment…”

“6…7….8…” Sharma counted under his breath. Audible only to me and Prashant “Jugadu” Anand

“If I hear more bloody complaints about your work or bloody non-work I’ll dissolve the junior editorial bloody team”

“9…10…11…” It was Jugadu’s turn to count now. I could detect the upsurge of bottled up laughter inside me and Saurabh “Cisco” Sharma next to me.

Anymore of the famous “bloody” word from the head and we would guffaw right there, right now. In spite of the fact that we were there for a serious dereliction of duty. We as members of the editorial tam from first year were supposed to be de facto correspondents of any major events. Like the National telecom Seminar 2006. This found us sleeping in the back rows of the Vishwabhavan while the senior committee was sweating it out, trying to capture every word of the delegates.

“Bloody get out and finish the report now!!”

“12”, Finally... Out of the room in 12 Bloody Counts!!

2100 HRS, 08.02.06 – Work & Fulfillment

“….and that’s why I insisted that both the streams are a good bet for the kind of intern profile you are offering us.”

“Hmmm…” SK, Director, Project Management-Asia mused “I think I am ok with that then, Harish. I will expect the resumes in mail by tomorrow 9:00 AM then?”

Thoughts swirled in my mind, “College opens at 10, Need to finish TBM PPT by 10:30, need the latest sign up list”

“Yes Sir, Definitely” I replied.

Madhav’s message when I was voted into the Placement Team flashed in my mind. ‘Congrats, someone deserving made into the team. Sorry abt ur personal life though!’

It was epiphanical. Here I was, at 9 in the night on a con call with the director of one of the worlds leading telecom companies and trying to convince him to consider both streams in our for internships.

Although, looking back, I don’t have any regrets of joining the team. To the novice, Placement Team, in any business school is the group of 6-8 students who handles with varying degree of autonomy, the entire placement process of the current batch. Internships, final placements, process, recruitment days et al. I say varying degrees of autonomy because in some cases they are just glorified clerk and in some, like my school, they have a great degree of freedom.

Back breaking grueling work, managing the aspirations of the batch at one end, pressure from the management at another and at a third vicious end the corporate who expect nothing but the best! This is what makes the life of a Placement team member…worth living. We live for the day to erase the hundreds of inscriptions of no: s, action items, plans and names and just see “Shop Closed 100% Placed and Mission Accomplished” on the huge white board.

I had the feeling twice…both after Summers and Finals…and nothing in my 25 years on earth have come close to that euphoria!