I shook hands with Mukesh Ambani as I received my degree. His words, “Srinivasan Congrats” still ring in my ears. For whatever it was worth, the MBA is truly OVER.
Whatever it was worth….now that’s a curious phrase. What WAS it worth, really ?
It was worth the peer group. That’s it. The peer group.
You can stop reading this post. That’s all I have to say.
You see, when someone tells you they ranked 4th or 17th in IIT-JEE , you simply KNOW their DNA is different ! Jokes apart, it is easy to acknowledge the stupendous nature of such achievements. Now lets say you pull out a random set of CV’s from the IIM Bangalore PGP Class of 2009. Here’s what you will see :
The first CV will read ‘1st rank in SSLC for the state of Maharashtra’. The next one will repeat the exact same wordings, just that the state would be Kerala this time. Then there will be one with a 1st rank in CET(Kerala) , yet another with a 2nd rank in CET(Karnataka) . Then there will be a couple of CV’s with CAT percentiles as 100. Yeah, you read that number right.
[ wtf this is max phootage !]
Amazing. Those of us who have written these exams probably know what it takes to get there. The mind boggles!
Now imagine setting up similar such individuals one against the other in an academic ‘battle’. Believe me, you DON’T want to get caught in the crossfire ! It is fair to say the words – ‘test’, ‘quiz’,’assignment’ and ‘exam’ get a different MEANING inside IIMB.
We pride ourselves that the best part of our Indian education system is its competitive nature. In that sense, my college is literally the culmination of that system. Indeed a (Very) Indian Institute of Management.
Success, in the business context, is the reward you get for hardwork, perseverance and intelligence. Ambani corroborates.
I believe high performance in academics is the best measure of that (esp for an age group predominantly under 26). So, the unique selection criterion of IIMB, with its ‘over’ emphasis on consistent academic performance, is really a clever strategy of Well begun = Half done.
I must admit, IIMB has been a humbling experience. In school, I used to have a condescending attitude towards people who were not in my circle of high-achiever friends. Here, I have had to stand outside that circle….
To say that talents differ amongst individuals is not enough, you have to experience it. Every person in this world is...different. Not unequal.
So much for the professional side.
On the personal front, I made some great friends. Really smart, perceptive individuals with whom you always end up having a witty and engaging conversation – be it cribbing about the system, or gossiping about who’s going out with whom. ( What are colleges for!)
Oh, I will certainly miss them : Them and all the L^2’s, Shubho’s quizzes, SecB-Bracket, IIMB Lingo, Tsepak, Section contests, Boston Legal marathons, arbit CP, Shyamal Roy’s classes, inter IIM & Sista, H-Mezz, F-top, and Gundu Rao.
And now, like T.S.Eliot, I say : Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi
**END OF PART II** [Anticlimax! no story this time]
