Done and Dusted With

I will try to make this my final post about my MBA life. The reason for that is that I want to get it done and dusted with. There were lots of ups and downs and lot of things which I would prefer to forget, and move on. In this post, I will try to give a brief summary of what I feel my MBA life was like.

To be frank, on hindsight, I feel that there were several things which I could have done, but did not. For example, being more pro-active in competitions. Not for the prize money, but for the experience. I did participate in quite a few, but I admit I never gave it my all. I never stayed awake till the wee hours of the night trying to solve a business case. Maybe out of laziness, or maybe because I just didn’t want to. And to give a brief comparison, I know quite a few of my batchmates who stayed awake nights to work on their presentations/excel sheets.

My other regret is that I didn’t network much. With corporates or people in other bschools. I haven’t even been to any IIM so far[Not even C, which is close to my hometown]. Again, maybe it was my lack of interest, or my lethargy.

My third major regret is that I didn’t involve myself into academics either. I didn’t do a single live project (almost every single batchmate of mine has done at least one), didn’t try to publish any paper, didn’t do any research, checked the central database only twice or so, didn’t read any good book [HR/Marketing], didn’t solve any business case, nor did I try to update myself with the latest business trends. Not to mention, my total apathy at studying for the semester exams[which I started just one week before the actual dates]. Not surprisingly, I ended up amongst the bottom 20 of the batch[amongst a batch size of 220 students].

I even flunked in a few Finance papers. This was one area where I could not force myself to study, even to pass. I disliked most of the theory classes, and did not take any initiatives to do something which could add value to my curriculum vitae. I even took my final project lightly.

But the worst part is that I failed to make friends[barring a handful]. Its not that I did not get along well with others. Its just that I never felt like trying to extend a hand of friendship or support. I never belonged to any group in college. Most of the time I was alone. I hated it, but made no attempts to change it.

Extra-curriculars went for a toss. I would just spend my free time watching anime/movies or lazing around at coffee shops. I don’t remember having done a single meaningful conversation with anyone on the topic of MBA/business.

Was everything so bad and negative about my MBA life? Of course not. There were some good moments too. But those were far and few in between. You may say that I am being pessimistic but I really do not have any ‘Ahaa’ moments to share from my MBA life. I did have a few crushes, but then again I failed to take any step in that regard. I honestly do not know what value add an MBA degree has done to me. How different am I now from the person I was before stepping into a bschool?

There were so many moments when I promised to myself that I would do meaningful things- Master MS Excel/Powerpoint, Learn Japanese, Buy a telescope, join an Astronomy club, go for sight-seeing in different cities in the north[I couldn’t even visit Agra, forget other cities], make friends and go out to have fun, network with other DU students, participate in various events, and I could go on and on. The list of things I planned to do, and failed to execute. And failed to learn from my mistakes. After that I just lost my inspiration to do anything.

Of course, I would prefer to leave the negativity behind me, now that I have entered corporate. I wish I could find myself a permanent source of inspiration. But right now, am in a much better state of mind than I was during MBA. I can actually afford to relax after a hard days work. And that constant nagging at the back of my mind is gone. But somewhere, something is still missing. And I still keep procrastinating on certain issues. I have to learn to back my plans with proper actions, else they will be redundant. And I have to learn to step out of my comfort zone, another thing I am not really good at.

Lets have hope. It’s a good thing to have really. That, and some decent PS-3 games. I have purchased GTA-5, and Batman Arkham Origins releases soon. So much for distractions.

My Bschool Bestest

I bet the caption caught your attention, didn’t it? Anyways, this article is based on my personal experience, being a moderator at Pagalguy.com, and also active at several other MBA forums. Call it ego or whatever, but the truth is that most Bschoolers become incredibly defensive when it comes to talking about their alma mater.

After all, nobody wants their[or their bschool’s] skeletons to be out of the closet, do they? Naturally, everyone will only talk about the positive aspects of joining XYZ School of Management, and will conveniently leave out the cons. If at all they are included, they will be as good as being neglected. Most placement reports claim 100% placements, with the top brands on the front page. This gives a very wrong impression to aspirants. Say for example, a particular bschool had 400 students, and the top 100 got good offers, and the bottom 50 remained unplaced. Still the placement report will suggest that ALL the students were placed in decent companies with good profiles.

This is an era when even the top bschools are struggling to place all their students, not to mention the tier-2 or tier-3 ones. But this is not the focus of my article. I find it irritating when bschoolers try to hide details from the public, openly resort to lying, and get into heated arguments whenever there is a comparison between bschools. A common comparison is between an IIM and a Non-IIM, albeit top bschool. Just for an example, lets take comparing IIM Lucknow with XLRI, or a new IIM versus MDI/NITIE/IIFT. The IIM grads will swear that an IIM tag matters a lot, whereas a non-IIM grad will focus on other aspects[say location, alumni base, etc]. Some people will claim that an IIM is an IIM, hence it’s the sole reason for you to join. Others will remark that it’s better to take a bschool which is well established than to worry about an IIM tag. This is just one example out of many.

Unfortunately, this only adds to an aspirant’s confusion and doubt, since he will get biased reports from both sides. Recently, one guy called me up asking for my opinion on IIM L vs FMS. I tried to give him as objective a perspective as possible and even highlighted the points where L scored over FMS. However, I know from experience that most people will not do that. They will go at any length to defend their own bschool.

It saddens me to say this, but some of my batchmates have done the same too[repeatedly claiming FMS’s superiority over others]. There is a [albeit thin] difference between promoting one’s bschool and blindly boasting about its strengths.

Some of the common confusions [for aspirants having multiple converts are]:

i) IIM A vs IIM B vs IIM C
ii) IIM L vs FMS vs XLRI
iii) IIM I vs IIM K
iv) MDI vs NITIE vs IIFT
v) New IIMs
vi) SP Jain vs JBIMS vs newer IIM [including K]
vii) IMT vs NMIMS vs XIM-B vs SIBM

And others.

My advice to bschoolers: Guys, you people are talented and wise. Stop misguiding others, and try to lay out as objective a picture as possible. Trust me, it will increase the respect people will have for your bschool.

@Aspirants: Don’t get misguided by what an institute’s placement report claims. Talk to the students, alums, and third parties [neutral] to get an overall picture. Lot of bschools don’t even have proper campuses of their own[but advertise it]. And if you have multiple converts, don’t spend too much time over-thinking. Just set your priorities and chose one and stick to it. Remember, if you have it in you, you will be successful no matter where you end up.

Adios for now. It’s time to play Call of Duty: MW 3.

The Final Tribute, Part 2 (FMS Batch of 2014)

*Continued from previous post

Of course, the batch of 2014 cannot be left behind either. The legacy of FMS has to be borne by them.

Though its true that I may not have interacted with my juniors much(thanks to my introverted nature), I shall still be glad for their support and best wishes. Thank you all, and hope you do well in your internships and remaining year ahead.

To Aarti Gupta, for being one of the first persons in 2014 I actually interacted with. Thank you for your incessant chatter and also for those few competitions(giving me some CV points). You have lot of potential. I do hope you do well ahead.

To Aparajita Puri, for winning the HR Leadership Award(for which you patiently waited for your check) and for giving me the Fountainhead(the best book I read in 2012). That helped me realize more about individualism. Also for motivating me to do well later on as well. Everyone knows you will probably be at the top of the Corporate ladder soon. Good luck.

To Inderpreet Singh Narang, not just for taking over the post of HR Soc President, but also for being a nice and humble human being. Competitive, knowledgeable and helpful, I am very sure you will do a great job at handling HR Soc and in your life ahead.

To Mayank Popli, for being a great JFS, as well as an active and smart personality. To Tapan Waval, for being a talented individual and gifted in the art of speech, and staying excited/enthusiastic every single time. To Vineet Jain and Sudeep Bansi, not just for being great JCSes, but also for fun people to talk to. To Mahesh Shetye and Yuvaraj, for some meaningful conversations we had.

To Parul Rai, for being a good friend and supporter throughout. Even when I was depressed or frustrated, I knew I could count on her to bear my nonsense. Always smiling, hard-working and talented, I am pretty sure she will do well in Mark Soc and otherwise. Thank you for all your encouraging words.

To all the associate members of HR Soc: Inderpreet(mentioned earlier), Parampreet, Abhrajit, Pritha and Aishwarya. I seriously had lot of fun working with you guys, whether it be in Fiesta or outside. Will definitely miss the time spent in HR Soc. Best of luck to all of you.

To my mentee Dhruv Jayant: Dude, you are talented. Don’t worry so much about MBA. To my buddy, Bijayini Samal: I hope you rock and have a gala time at HCCB, living the life of a princess. Sports soc will definitely do well with your presence. Plus bring out whatever potential you have in you. Keep in touch.

To Neha Joshi: you are sweet and talented. I hope you do an excellent job as the next Cultural Secy.

To Divyam Singh: Fellow Manga/anime fan. Awesome mimcry buddy. Wish I could have spend some more time on masti along with you. But anyways, I know you will do a good job as Media Secy. Stay in touch.

To Mayur Dhingra, Shaunak Acharya, Prajata, Swati Saini, Vinay Prithiani, Yagya, Pragnya, Rounak, Anish, Manu Oberoi, Manu Gupta, Pratinav, Harshal, Bhaskar, Manish, Deepak D, Apurv Narang, Eshan Sett, Sindhu, Asif, Nikhil Goud, Preeti Topno, Rohit Mishra, Adinarayana, Amrit, Arpit, Abhishek Bansal, Vivek, Dhruv Raghuvanshi, Gayathri, Shalinee, Prateek, Aditi, Sneha, Vinita, Vipul, Rishabh Kalia, Darryl, Shashank, Divya, Pratham, Srinath, Khushal: We may not have interacted much, but it was great knowing and speaking to all of you. I wish you all the very best ahead. Keep the legacy of FMS intact.

And finally, to Mehak Dhir:

It may have been a co-incidence due to which we became friends, but that was one lucky co-incidence I guess. I have learnt a lot from you: being a task-oriented manager, giving your 100% in anything, focusing on important issues, appreciating the value of others, opening up to others, experimenting with different type of coffee, amongst rest. Thank you for your motivation and inspiration throughout. Thank you for helping me fight the negativity inside of me. Though you should really try listening more, and learn to control your temper better. I still wonder why you don’t like calling yourself ambitious. You are naturally talented and intelligent to reach the top (whether it be corporate life or Mt. Everest). But I really appreciate the fact that you are a humble and really helpful/understanding person at heart. Finally, thank you for your patience too (tolerating my negative side can indeed be frustrating, I know). May God always support you in your endeavors. But you didn’t gift me a Hattori Hanzo blade. :( Nevertheless, you shall always be awesome.. \m/


Next Post: All I wanted to say about MBA

The Final Tribute, Part 1 (FMS- Batch of 2012 and 2013)

All right, so am finally done with MBA. And it is really a sad fact, that this is just my third post of the year. Of course, I can take the help of various excuses- Placements, Exams, Work, etc, but I guess I just somehow lost the inspiration to write. But a proper ‘All I wanted to say about MBA’ type post is pending. In this post however, I shall be expressing my gratitude to all those people who made a positive contribution during my life and stay at FMS. It is said that in business, MBA and corporate, you don’t make friends, but only acquaintances, competitors and colleagues. How much of it was true for me?

Statutory Note: Though am mentioning the names of mostly a few people, but am indeed thankful to all FMSites and professors who I have met and known.
Lets start with the senior batch:

Batch of 2012:

I would like to thank Arpan Srivastava, for being an ideal Gsec, and helping us throughout the journey. Thankfully, we are still in touch. The entire placement team, all the society members, thank you for helping us in our ‘Summers’ prep. I would like to thank my mentor Rima for all her support she lent me, without which I am pretty sure I would have done a miserable job. Manmeet Singh Hora, for being a great support, especially with tying of turbans, spirituality, guidance and being a great person overall. Satyajit Bagchi and all the executive members of HR Society, for being supportive throughout.

Apart from the above a few more names to take: Saurabh Jyot Singh, who grows younger with each passing day, Chitrang, for being an excellent Mark Soc President, Ranjeet Pratap Singh, for his famous anecdotes. I admit that I did not make much of an effort to interact with the senior batch, on my side, which on hindsight was probably a mistake. Nevertheless, it was a good experience knowing a few talented people.

Now let us come to the batch, with whom I spent the maximum amount of time.

Batch of 2013:

Undoubtedly the first name which will come here is that of Abhirup Debray, the guy who stood behind me at all times, through good times and bad. Although we are polar opposites( he loves drinking and cursing), am still proud to have him as a friend. He has made it a long way, coming from a small town, and has always inspired me to go ahead and do well. Having known him even before joining FMS, it was a pleasure spending time with him. He is one person who will never bore or disappoint you. I hope you make it even bigger, buddy.

Next(do not take it in any hierarchical order, the names are just on random basis) to come is Mayank Rajput, another guy(from Gwalior) who I knew before joining FMS. He is a dreamer with a good sense of imagination. Creative, writes well, reads a lot, and a manga/anime fan(lot of traits similar to mine). Wants to be a big writer. I know he will succeed. A bit lazy yes, and it takes lot of effort to push him to work, but once he is committed to something, he will make sure that he does it. Nevertheless, sleeping is his biggest weakness. Stay in touch, dude.

Now we come to one of the biggest ghissus in our batch. Divya G, as we know her. A telugu by birth, but a proper Indian by choice(having travelled and stayed at multiple locations). Yet another person I knew before coming to FMS. She is very dedicated, hard working, focused and intelligent too. Once she sets her target on something, she will achieve it. She was always a big inspiration for me, and was always there when I needed her for emotional support, academic help, or for anything. And like me, a very strict follower of her principles. I only wish she wasn’t so short tempered, and so fudgy about marks. Nevertheless, a close friend for life, I wish you all the very best for the future in Cadbury and otherwise, Divya.

Lets head a bit west now, shall we. The city of Mumbai. Famous for Vada Pao. And Sheetal Kasbekar. She is one person I consider as close as a real sister can be. Never let me feel alone whenever I was depressed or frustrated. Very caring, very kind and passionate. Has that bubbly charm in her, like that of a school girl. Loves to eat a lot. And has a golden smile. But takes lot of tension at every small thing. Panics more than I do. But nevertheless, a very smart professional and marketing expert who will surely rock at Nestle. And help me in getting directions when I roam around in Mumbai.

Lets go back to the south(don’t worry, am not doing any regional discrimination here). Or we can even go to the north east, in Guwahati. This IITian from the south is an introvert, but still a brilliant guy. Karthik Junnuri or junnu as his friends call him, has a mixture of talents. But his best trait is that he will always be ready to help you, even if he has his own problems or tasks to perform. He is one guy I have hanged around with a lot. He makes you feel comfortable, and he really knows lot of stuff, even though he does not talk much, and has a soft voice. Miles to go, buddy.

Next comes another traveler, who has been at multiple places. Preethi Puram, the Media Secretary. Its actually hard trying to describe her in words. But she has been a great friend, an amazing person to chill and hang out with. She loves taking initiatives and doing fun stuff. Has supported me a lot, and is extremely trustworthy. You know you can share lot of stuff with her, in spite of her being in Media. I hope you keep rocking in ITC.


For some other quick names, I would like to thank Raveesh Mayya(most versatile and altruistic person in batch of 2013 without a doubt), Shashank Prabhu(very mature, calm and skillful), Tasneem Ahmad(for being a great support in HR Soc and otherwise), Vikram Kapany(Awesome Inspirational Figure), Akhil Kumar Som(Fearless and determined) Sunny Gajjar,Neha Kapoor, Snata Borah, Tapish Panwar, Vishal Sharma, Amandeep, Chandan Mandal, Priti Kumari, Tina Singh, Suhail Pawaskar, Ankit Kumar, Shashank Arya, Ashraf, Ankush Bhadrish, Nikhil Nathani, Richie Pandey, Ajay V, Aditya James, and a lot more. I am sorry if I missed out on anybody.

*To be Continued

Chilled Winter, Delhi Style..

‘I am happy’. Yes, I am happy. I feel content, blissful, grateful, for all that I have, and for all that I gained. Have been doing some trivial and yet meaningful things in the past few weeks or so. Cooking some random stuff[nothing great, just edible], reading a hell lot of books, played a couple of new games, and watched a ton of Bollywood movies[okay, if you don’t know me, I am a person who almost always sticks to Hollywood, considering the string of flops produced in Bollywood], such as Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Rang de Basanti, Udaan, English Vinglish, Oh My God, Mirchi, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, amongst others. Am not sure why this sudden fascination for Bollywood.

Have cut down a bit on junk food, and trying to go the healthy way[minimized consumption of soft drinks and chips, have to cut down on chocolate now]. Am trying my best to be optimistic in every circumstance. Working in HR Society is a great experience. Working with other people is also a learning curve. But I feel I have been a bit lazy, considering the fact that I haven’t explored much of Delhi in recent times. And neither could I manage to make even one trip to some other town or city[whereas almost all my batchmates have gone hiking, trekking, swimming, in all sort of locations]. Sometimes, being a loner hurts. But I have learnt to accept it as a part of life. Not being in any group has both pros and cons.

I know that I have considerably cut down on writing. Mostly because, whenever I open MS Word with the intention of penning down an article, I often turn up with a blank. What to write next? Which topic? And so on. Nevertheless, writing is one thing which I don’t plan on giving up,ever.

I have also perfected the art of listening. Indians are known to be cantankerous speakers, but few actually try to listen out to things. Everyone is just bursting out to give his or her own opinion, without any regard for viewpoints of others. In this matter, I can listen out to people and I do try to put myself into their shoes, before taking any further decision.

There is an interesting OB[Organizational Behavior] course which I have taken this semester, called Counseling Skills for Managers. Surprisingly, the number of people in this course is close to 70, but most have just taken it in order to relax from the competitive environment of finance and marketing. However, I find it extremely interesting. The teacher is very good with her methodology, and even conducts psychological games in class. Have already witnessed some of the theories made by Freud and Jung, and now am seriously regretting the fact as to why I didn’t opt for Psychology or Philosophy at Undergrad level. I would have loved to be a psychologist. Oh, well, enough cribbing. One important lesson I got from a class, is that its important not to be judgmental about others. However, this is a near impossible task. We immediately form opinions about people we meet and interact with. We label them as smart, attractive, intelligent, rude, uncouth, lazy, etc. In most cases, we don’t even bother finding out the facts.

Then there is another Course called Brand Management, which I find interesting. Coupled with Consumer Behavior[previous semester], its pertinent to say that in many cases, Marketing is about creating the right perception in the mind of the customers. Once you start perceiving a product as good, the sales will automatically catch up[assuming lot of other conditions too, nevertheless]. Marketers have borrowed a lot from psychology as well. Professor Harsh Verma is one of the best faculty members FMS has.

Placement season is arriving, and I need to prepare for it. What exactly do I prepare anyways? Apart from some generic stuff. Anyways, I guess it’s important to build your content, and then know yourself well, and project it too.

Of late, am reading a lot of magazines as well. The Economist, HBR, Fortune India, Frontline, Businessworld, etc. A decent way of passing time and building knowledge at the same time. The people who don’t read are missing a lot in life.

And yes, I didn’t get a PPO from Tata Motors, so it’s the end of a nice journey and association with the company. Will have lot of fond memories to last a lifetime. But as of now, its time to concentrate on the future, and also act upon some of my goals/plans. Will be visiting home next week. Eager to meet a few friends, especially Maitreya and Girish.
Rest later, Merry Christmas in advance, to all.

Internship Diaries, Post 2

So continuing from where I left off. Life at Wilson was fun, the Warden was a nice guy, and there were many people from different Bschools including IIM A, B,C,L,XLRI, etc. Met and befriended a cool guy named Mayank, who is a commerce graduate, indeed a rarity in Bschools. [Incidentally, also met another commerce grad from XL who was staying in Wilson- Abhishek Jain. Hope he clears his CFA lv 2]. Basically, Rachit, Twisam and I used to go to office together, it was the same for us. Sometimes we took the bus, other times we hired a cab. Wilson college being close to Marine Drive, we had a gala time out there. Just watching the sea waves strike the shore is a sight which cannot be described in words, but gives you pleasure.

There are several cafes on the opposite end of marine drive, stretching across for kilometers. I liked Sukh Sagar, which offered quality South Indian food. A veg restaurant called Crystal is pretty popular out there. Many times the queue outside these places would be amazingly large. One of my favorite night past time was to roam around the beach, have ice cream and take in the fresh,cool air along with others.

On one weekend, we went on an outing with Twisam and his bong friends[one of them being Shilpa, my classmate at FMS]. We visited quite a few places, including the Bandra band stand, and had a delicious Biryani at Arsalaan.

Met up with Girish as well, who is enjoying his stint with ONGC, being sent off-shore in the middle of the sea for half a month at times. We went and visited the Nehru Art gallery, Planetarium and Science center. Along with a mall which was suffering from load shedding. Had a good time over-all. Ate Paapri chaat without dahi.

But I guess one of the best weekends was at Sentosa Resort, Pune, for the All India Pagalguy Meet [AIPGM], number 9. I went over to the Pagalguy HQ for the first time, where I met up with my batchmates Nikhil Nathani and Mridul, along with some other friends such as Sourjo Mukherjee from IIM Rohtak. Made new friends there as well. From PG HQ, we took a bus to the resort[in Pune], where we spent the weekend. Best part was getting to meet the PG team, and interacting with people whom I had always wanted to meet, such as Pallavi Puri, Varun Saxena, Apurv, Harshal Modi, and of course the Pagalguy himself, Allwin Agnel. The resort was pretty good, and we had great events, best of which was probably Chuck Gopal’s[Deepak’s] stand up comedy act. Of course, there was the famous Puyscar ceremony too. Later, in the night, we all sat on the lush green grass, and played mafia till 5 am in the morning. It was really a fantastic trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. The return bus journey, where I discussed about HR, with Anvesh(from TISS) was also worthwhile.

I should also mention at this point that I made friends in Tata Motors too. Some of the senior professionals out there are really great, and I simply love it how they encourage everyone to participate in all matters. People enjoy and people work. This is something I really loved about the company. During my penultimate week, Amitabha came to Mumbai again. This time, we went to Sanjay Gandhi national park and then onwards to another big mall. I somehow fell sick during that time, and had to leave early. Nevertheless it was a good trip, though we didn’t get to see any wild animals in the park.

Back to office, well Tata Motors got an Award for being the best learning organization in South Asia. To celebrate, we had cut caking sessions and an Official party scheduled. Deboo and I were the only summer interns to be present in that party. Which was held in the last week of my internship. Was lucky that I got to go there. The entire HR team was present, and I really had lot of fun. Even danced for a change[though am a horrible dancer]. The food was scrumptious, and the dessert mouth watering. After a great evening, went back to Wilson.

But then, slowly, it was time to wish adieu. To the TML employees and my co-interns. Some of which I had become close to, and bonded pretty well. It was an emotional time for me, no doubt. These two months in Mumbai were probably the best of my life.

First, it was Rachit, who left early, and I was left without a room-mate for a week. Twisam and Rito da left the week before I did. So I felt a bit lonely at Wilson. Thankfully Mayank was still there, and that guy is a pretty enthusiastic lot.

Finally, Deboo left on Thursday , leaving just the two of us[Megha and I] behind. I actually worked a lot on my last day in office. Had my final review, got many formalities covered. But still managed to take some time out during lunch to visit the Jehangir Art gallery, with Megha during lunch. Had lunch at Samovar café, which is inside the gallery and a pretty good place. The French toast was indeed delicious, and I would recommend that to anyone. The Alu ka parantha was okayish, but I have tasted much better paranthas. Honestly, you don’t get good north Indian food in Delhi. The final lunch chat with Megha was pretty good, and I knew I would miss Mumbai.

Finally it ended. The goodbyes were done, bags packed, and for one last time, I walked across Marine Drive. Glancing over the couples, the joggers, the sleepers, and the wanderers. Maybe I was just one of them, feeling the breeze, the waves rush by. I don’t know why but I could feel a tear drop at that instant. Thank you Mumbai, thank you Tata Motors, thank you all my fellow interns, my friends, my colleagues. It was just a super wonderful, amazing time I had. Till we meet again.

Summer Internship Diaries, Post 1

Okay, I reached Mumbai on 15th of April, pretty excited. During the initial 10 days, Tata Motors had provided us with accommodation in a hotel. The hotel where I[or rather the entire 3rd batch] stayed was pretty decent, and situated at a stone throws distance from the Gateway of India/Taj Hotel. The room which I got was pretty decent. My room-mate was a bulky, bespectacled, gregarious guy called Dibyaroop, from XIM-B. An extrovert, fun loving guy who is a master at handling people. I would say anyone can learn decent management skills from him.

Anyways, I met Amitabha and invited him to my room. Later we went down to the Gateway, and had lunch at Café Mondegar, a popular,crowded place for youngsters. The Mumbai crowd had already begun to fascinate me. Amitabha left in the evening, and during the course of the day met other co-interns who were staying at the hotel, including Tapish, my FMS classmate. It was fun interacting with people from a mixture of Bschools. However, I did not really get the courage to speak to any female intern.

Okay, April 16th was my first day at Tata Motors, and my first day at corporate[being a fresher]. The first two days were reserved for the induction programme, after which everyone would leave for their respective destination[which was revealed during the induction]. I was a bit apprehensive, since I had no idea where I would end up, considering Tata Motors has its presence in multiple locations in India and outside. The office where we had to report to was near the Bombay Stock Exchange. For those who do not know, Tata Motors has 7 offices in the Mumbai region itself.

Anyways the induction programme was good, and well structured. Got to know quite a few things about Tata Motors and their business operations. A host of speakers came to take different sessions, which was quite interactive. We even had a cake cutting ceremony with the HR head. The ice was broken, and all 45-46 of us got along well. Lots of formalities were done and finally the time came for the project locations to be announced. I felt a sigh of relief when I got to hear that my location would be Mumbai itself, as I had really wanted to explore the city[having only been here once before, and that too for one day]. Deboo[Dibyaroop] got Mumbai too, and so did many others. However, quite a few did get other places, such as Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, even Nepal and Sri Lanka. Some were happy, others were apprehensive.

Got to speak with quite a few people in the induction, and hopefully made a few friends as well. Cannot recollect all their names, but to include a few, Sarthak, Navtej, Tanya, Rohan, Mayank, Priya, Ankita, Oscar, Shraddha, Mallika, Vishal, etc. It was a pleasure interacting with all of you. Also met Aditya Verma and Aastha from FMS, coming out of the Taj Hotel at night[they had their induction over there, courtesy HSBC].

So the induction ended and I was supposed to work in the same office building, since the HR division operated out of there. Got introduced to my project head and my project guides, all of them being extremely nice and helpful people. My first impression of Tata Motors was pretty positive.

Now to talk a bit about the employees in Tata Motors. To be more specific, those in HR[though I have interacted with people in several departments, but primarily I was in the HR division]. The environment was mostly informal, though of course formal meetings and discussions existed as well. Tata Motors has recently adopted a First-name culture, which is slowly spreading across all offices. Which means even a junior officer can call the CFO by first name rather than to say Sir or Maam. The best part was that anytime you could speak to the senior management team without being apprehensive or worried. Nobody would stop you from doing what you wanted to do. You had decent independence to take a call. And neither was anyone on your head pressurizing you to do this and that. The average age group in the HR department would be 24-25, with over 60% of the employees being female. So often there was situations where I found myself being surrounded by girls on all sides[not to be taken negatively though]. As for me, I got an entire cubicle to myself[which could normally seat 2 people]. That too just near the newly installed Coffee machine. Which meant I had generous helpings of Chocolate drinks and Badam Pista shakes daily. Everyone was friendly and always ready to help. Starting from the security guards[whose contribution was extremely valuable] to the Chief Learning Officer, who actually encouraged me to do lots of things.

My co-interns in the same department were: Rachit Bijalwan, Twisam Datta, Mayank Saraf, Megha Pathak, Krishnapriya Singh, Anivesh Kumar, Ganesh and Deboo. Met other interns too, such as Satish, Ankita, Prasanna, etc. Together we had lots of fun and fultoo masti. Honestly I feel sad for some of the interns who had to work alone in certain locations. Working without a fellow intern nearby is a hell boring job.
The canteen offered average food, but a wide variety of it. And it had a Free Snacks time from 5 pm to 7 pm. So you could eat and drink as much as you want for free during that time. Notable to say is that the considerable appetite of Deboo and Twisam made them partners in search of cheap, tasty food in the Fort area. They told me they found a restaurant which sold really cheap and delicious fish. Though I am a non-veg, I usually avoid eating heavy food outside. So I decided to stick to the canteen on most occasions. Nevertheless we did try out places such as Paratha Mantra and Café Samovar[in the Jehangir Art Gallery nearby].

A bit about my project work[but don’t worry I wont go into the details]. Within HR, I was working under the Learning and Development team. My project was related to making a database of External training programmes based on the need requirements of corporate functions. Didn’t understand that? Fine, lets move on.

Just after having stayed in one week at Tata Motors, a Plant trip was organized by the team, to get us acquainted with the process of developing vehicles, performing research, etc. So 5 of us interns, along with 2 other employees were sent to the Tata Motors, Pune plant. It was a fun trip, and I really enjoyed it. I feel it was one of the best part of my internship, since I could witness how a car is made from scratch and what the working environment in a plant is like.

There are lots of things I could write about the Plant trip, but I will restrict myself to mentioning a few: i) The ERC or the engineering research center, where the vehicle models are designed and benchmarking is done, ii) The different Assembly lines where the vehicles are made, the welding and painting shops, etc, iii) The Crash testing site, where vehicles are literally crashed to check for damage and impact on the drivers. Ours was a structured programme, and there were people to guide us at every step. We had official guides who gave us tours in multiple areas across the plant. And trust me, it is quite a big plant. Almost like an entire city in itself. It felt good to have lunch with all other employees, in the massive canteen. I was especially impressed to see how blue collar workers keep doing the same job hour after hour, day after day. Hats off to these guys, the actual producers. Though yes, some part of the process has also been automated, as in huge robotic arms doing the stuff.

During the two day trip, I handled all the logistics, including calling the cabs, deciding the locations to be visited next, co-ordinating with the POCs, etc. The trip to Pune, on the Mumbai-Pune expressway is also a nice one.

I had decided to meet Amitabha, as he is staying in Pune itself. So I thought I would call him to my hotel later at night. But imagine my surprise, as our team was deciding to leave the plant, I saw a tall guy wearing sunglasses, with sleek hair walking past. He looked like a salesman. I almost ignored him, till I head my name being mentioned. I turned around and saw that the guy was Amitabha. He had come for some work at Tata Motors. Talk about a co-incidence. Anyways later during the day he took me on his bike inside the main city.

We had loads of fun, and I really enjoyed it. I saw Osho’s ashram, several cafes and finally ended up at Phoenix Mall, one of the most popular ones. Had Papri Chaat, saw cricket on the extra huge television, and then left. Reached my hotel at night, and then slept off. A worthwhile trip ended. Btw, the hotel where we stayed at Pune was really good. Better than the one at Mumbai. Also met Sarthak[co-intern from SIBM Pune] there.

Back in Mumbai, it was time to search for accommodation of my own[the hotel was only there for 10 days]. I had heard lot of stories that getting a convenient, cheap accommodation in Mumbai was a pain, and that people travelled for over 1.5 hours daily, struggling in local trains, in order to reach their offices. Moreover, getting a cheap accommodation in South Mumbai[the place where my office was] was out of the question. Anyways, I just decided to go to Wilson college[near Marine drive] and search if they had a room available in their boys hostel[since the college was closed for summer vacation]. And lo and behold, I got a room within 2 days itself. That too at a very reasonable rate. The warden was a pretty decent guy, who knew quite a bit about FMS.

So I shifted to Wilson with Rachit[who became my new room-mate]. Deboo shifted to another college, Xaviers. I met up with Twisam and Rito Da[first_timer from Pagalguy] who were also staying at Wilson, along with several other people from XLRI, including Abhay, Himanshu, Rishob, Abhishek, etc. Megha and Krishnapriya shifted to an army girl’s hostel.

From FMS, Rachit Kwatra and Karandeep were also staying in Wilson, and Divya G, Divya Katoch and Bibha were staying in the girls hostel of Wilson. Shilpa Sardar was also nearby. So was Sudhanshu Suman and Indrajeet Das[though I didn’t meet them].
Now it was time for Round 2.

The Journey Ahead and Beyond

Happy Birthday to me. Today, my official 23rd year of singledom begins. But no, this post is not about my birthday or about my relationship status. Don’t worry. But this post will deal with a lot of things, basically, what are the things I have done in the past one month, or the places I have visited. I am afraid I am not very good in making a proper structure, so the events may not be in chronological order or logically connected. But bear with me.

To start with, Delhi girls are really beautiful. I have seen more beautiful girls here in one day, then I have done in my 22 years at Durgapur. More often than not, I feel sad that I do not have a girlfriend. But have learnt to adjust with that. After all, even for getting into a relationship, you need to put in some effort[which I haven’t]. But I am sure I will find the right person sooner or later. For now, there are bigger priorities in life.

Let’s start with the Delhi Darshan[in the Ho Ho bus], in which I visited 8 historical places in Delhi. Thanks to Preethi for the initiation. 7 of us roamed around like tourists, and had loads of fun. I finally saw the Qutub Minar[which I had wanted to for ages], and along with that a few others places such as Lotus Temple, Akshardham, Humayun’s tomb, Raj Ghat, Delhi Haat, etc. All of these places are worth visiting at least once. This was a trip I really enjoyed.

Now, let’s come to my next love: Japan. I happened to visit two places: The Japan Foundation[where I went alone], which is a must-visit place for any Japan lover or anime fan. The place had an exhibition going on, of 100 Japanese items, ranging from Lamps, to Garbage Collectors, to Police Shields, to Robot Dogs. You get the picture. I also happened to visit the Library, which was a great place to chillax. I read books on Japanese history, Martial Arts, and even one on the art of Swordcraft making. Each book costs roughly 2500-5000 bucks. Woah! Then there are loads of Learn Japanese books, and my favorite- Mangas. There is an entire series of Learn to draw your own Manga stuff. Mayank would have loved that.
There was another place I wanted to visit, in Hauz Khas village, along with Mayank. It was another Japanese exhibition, called ‘Tokyo is Dreaming’, basically a collection of movie scenes. Talked with a few young entrepreneurs, who are encouraging the growth of Anime and Manga in India. I was impressed. They were surprised to know that there are people in FMS who are interested in Manga and anime. Am looking forward to visiting their stall in the World Book Fair, to be held in Pragati Maidan.
Yet another interesting place which I visited was the Comic Con Expo, held at Delhi Haat. That place is always brimming with foreigners and all kinds of interesting people. Once again, Mayank accompanied me. We browsed through quite a few comics and unique stalls. Some people had come dressed up in comic book characters. Once again, had lots of fun. I also actually held Fairy Tail Manga in my hands. Its good to see the comic book industry expanding in India.

I also happened to visit Gurgaon last week to meet my relatives. Nice place[though horrible traffic]. Had a memorable stay. Made a brief visit to MDI as well[they have a splendid campus]. Ambience Mall is pretty good[and huge] too. I am so loving travel.

Started jogging yesterday. Will write an entire separate post on it. But yes, life is good. Read a great book called The Magic of Thinking Big. Also purchased the official biography of Steve Jobs. Have a tons of books to read. Classes going on as usual. Rest to be updated later.

In the end, would like to thank everyone who has made me into what I am, and who will be responsible for helping me in future too. First of all, would thank my parents, and my grandparents and all my relatives in supporting me in all the ways possible. Next, I would like to thank the entire batch of 2013 in FMS, for providing me with the best company I could ask for. And all of my non-FMS friends for being there for me.
Especially grateful to Neha, Mayank, Divya, Abhirup, Preethi, Rohan, Shimona, Ankit, and many others for providing an outstanding company.

Sick and Frustrated!

Yes, I know I have not written in a while[this dialogue sounds rather cliché now]. Lots of things on my plate. Right now, I am down with chronic bronchitis and influenza. Add to that stomach cramps, and yes, its not a pretty situation. Have skipped the entire week’s classes, and have spent most of my time taking rest at my relatives place. On Meds. Reading like crazy in order to pass time. Recently, I read numerous random blog posts[some related to Bschool life, but mostly general ones]. Also reading a brilliant book- Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig. My first major book on Philosophy. Will go on to other ones as well. Have a host of books lined up to read.

But first, I am going to rant and complain in this post. Am frustrated, and irritated. Yes, you got that right. More than my physical condition[though that is also a major factor], its also the mental and emotional aspect that is troubling me. Sometimes I feel as if I am totally disconnected from everyone else out here, that I do not have a single friend to turn to or talk to. Which brings about pangs of loneliness and despair. Maybe I am the misfit out here, or maybe I just do not know how to connect emotionally with others.

One thing which frustrates me a lot is the short sightedness and narrow mindedness of people, everywhere. If you take the case of a Bschool environment, it feels as if all that people care about, is mundane stuff[for me, for others it may be priority number one], such as copying assignments, blindly running after competitions, mugging, placements, Economic Times, blah blah. Hardly anyone even bothers to get out or even think beyond the MBA world, which really annoys me. I will give one example. During our summers process[which lasted for a week], the entire atmosphere had changed into one in which the only thing which people could think and talk about was placement jargon: CVs, Shortlists, Days 0,1,2..., Companies, Profile, Pay Package, Interviews, GDs, Bitching[yeah include that too], etc etc. After 2 days, I was so fed up that I immersed myself into my own world, disconnecting from this insane conundrum of parochialism. Each and every person[with the only probable exception being one of my real friends out here- Abhirup] was bickering on and on about placements, placements and placements. As if every other single thing in life had ceased to exist from that point onwards. Such a transition is indeed remarkable from a psychological point of view, but it pissed me off to no end. But in the end, I realized that human beings are indeed short sighted people, and sometimes simply refuse to see the bigger picture. Maybe it helps the mind function properly in this vast,unending ocean of knowledge.

Point number 2 which frustrates me: Herd Mentality[if anyone has read any good book on this topic, please let me know]. If one person takes an initiative or does something, automatically everyone else blindly copies him/her and follows suit. Sounds familiar? I guess this situation is prevalent everywhere. And this thing really frustrates me. Shows the total lack of will to do something on your own. It can be a very simple example- If one person decides to photocopy something, automatically ten more people will claim that they need to get the photocopy too[even if its totally irrelevant for them]. Basic human tendency you can say, but nevertheless I do not like it. Considering a Bschool environment, people tend to apply to any and all Major companies that come on campus. To mention one incident- a Form of a certain company was released, and practically there was a mad rush to get hold of it, with people forming long queues[what is it with Indians and queues anyways? Do they so love standing in a line for every single damn thing? Or is it simple due to the large population?] just to be the first to get the form[as if the forms would run out if they didn’t fight to get a forward place in the queue]. As one guy emerged from the room, carrying the ten page form, I asked him- ‘Are you really interested in the company? And what profile is it offering?’ To my horror, that guy replied- ‘Who knows dude. I haven’t even looked at the form. Sab le rahe the, to maine socha main bhi utha leta hoon.’ I was shocked. If such is the attitude of a person who is about to become a Manager, I really shudder to think what the future for India is going to be like. The sad truth is that people don’t even care what sort of a role/job they are getting into. Most are just concerned about the pay and/or the brand name. And they are absolutely averse to taking risk. Otherwise nothing can explain the fact that there are people who apply to every single company that comes to campus, irrespective of the profile offered[finance, marketing, operations, whatever] with the view that-‘Kahi na kahi to lag jayega’. Nice strategy. Why bother aiming at the eye of the fish when you can have the entire fish itself?

Third, and maybe the most important- its the classes. Yes, you got me right again. And no, let me clarify, I do not mean just the classes of FMS, or any Bschool for that matter. I mean the way our entire education system is designed. But for arguments sake, I will take MBA classes in my discussion. I mean, I cannot understand how one can teach the intricacies of Organization Behavior, or Capital Markets in a class. All the theoretical stuff is fine, but how much do the students actually learn just by sitting in class and listening to lectures? Maybe for some people that is the best way to learn, but for me its extremely boring and almost entirely a waste of time. I would rather sit in the library, or walk in a park and think, rather than listen to some Accounting or Finance concepts which I will never use in my life. I hate the fact that we are forced to study things which we will never need to use, starting from school. And people give me this lame reason that-‘Creating a basic knowledge of such subjects is essential.’ But just fail to explain ‘Why’ exactly that is so. Even worse is that we still follow the outdated- ‘Learn by rote just in order to score high marks in exams’ system, even in Bschools, and I simply fail to understand why. Come on, its 2012 for God’s sake. What management are you going to learn by simply memorizing stuff and practicing a few numericals from text books? Why can’t we have field trips to corporate offices instead? Why not make students regularly sell products in urban and rural areas? Why not make students deal with HR issues in workplaces, rather than confining everything into a two-month internship[which is once again graded and marked]. Why not make the students handle stocks and mutual funds[for those who are interested in finance], rather than just making hypothetical balance sheets in class? No wonder we lag so behind our western counterparts when it comes to actual application of Management. Take any discipline for that matter- The outcome shall be similar. And even 25 year olds are running after marks and grades, just like dogs run after chicken bones[if this sounds derogatory, I just don’t care]. I feel disgusted after seeing such situations. And the most important thing that matters in any class is........[am sure you have guessed it right]- Attendance, what else? Remove this concept of attendance and then see how many students attend class. It will be those students who are genuinely interested in learning.

Anyways, I have gone and ranted far enough. Its time to stop here. Am going to take some rest again. Just exhausted all of my energy reserves in writing this post. See you all later.

A Day in the Life of a Thinker!

I failed. Yeah you read that right. I failed, and that too for the first time. Okay, I am not talking about life in general but about my academics. I failed to get pass marks in the theory paper of Financial Accounting in the first semester. As a result I have to take the exam again. Okay, I agree this is no big news, but still it serves as a reminder that I need to work harder. Especially in finance. Though I continue to hate the subject.

Today was an eventful day. I did quite a few things, and will try to narrate some of them down in this post. Right now, I am quite tired, though it’s already 10:40 pm, yet I am in a great mood.

Today was an off day, and I had decided that I would visit a historical monument. I had Qutub Minar in my mind initially. But the problem was getting a group to go there, and actually convince people to get out of the comfort of their blankets[Delhi winter is no joke, most people sleep comfortably till 12 pm at least]. I called up quite a few people, including Mayank[who had woken up early at 12:30 pm] and Shashank[also just woken]. Both refused. I also suggested visiting the new Pagalguy office[which I plan to in future]. Then I called up Ankit who suggested going to the Auto Expo. Unfortunately the seats were all sold out. Ultimately Ankit was busy with his personal work as well. Divya and Sheetal were both busy with work, and Preethi and Neha refused for other reasons too. Failure again? Move on.

Abhirup agreed to go, and I also managed to convince Rakesh to come. Ashish was a bit hesitant and ultimately did not turn up. We reached ‘Vishwavidyalaya’ metro station and met up with a group who was going to watch the India versus Bayern Munich football match. And Rakesh decided to go with them. So I was left with only Abhirup in the end. But it was good, though. We did enjoy to the fullest. We decided to go to the Red Fort, which was near Chandni Chowk. It was my first trip to the Historical Monument and Abhirup was the perfect guide. He showed me across all the important areas. Whether it be the Diwaan-E-Khaas or the Royal Throne[where once peacock throne stood]. You can check the album here:

Red Fort

I had a great time roaming around the place. It was serene, and I felt oddly calm moving around the lawns, gardens, and also visited an ‘Arms’ museum, which hosted some weapons of the First World war era[see the album for details].

After coming out of the Red Fort, we took a trip amongst [which is probably the worlds most chaotic] the Chandni Chowk roads, and had lunch at McDonalds. We also saw the Sis Ganj Gurudwara which is in Chandni Chowk itself. Finally we returned to North Campus and I stayed in Abhirup’s room in VKRV Rao Hostel for a couple of hours or so. Had a mini manga discussion with Abhinav Sareen and Shivan Nair. And then some gossip with Abhirup and Vipul.

Finally, I left at around 6:30 pm, and decided to walk all the way to my Kamla Nagar flat from the hostel[must be more than 3 kms at least]. In this cold, some people would say it was a foolish decision, but for some odd reason I wanted to walk. And think. Which I did. I tried to notice every single detail I could. The sweatshirts of other students which bore the college tags. The dusky roads, and the illuminated street lights. The distinct images of the colleges and the hostels. The DU stadium. The rickshaws. The vehicles. The guards and the policemen. And the people. Rich and the poor. I walked along past FMS, and on towards the crowded Kamla Nagar market[where Traffic jams are a necessity]. Suddenly a few students started shouting out at me from their car. Maybe they were drunk. Or in a jubilant mood. I merely smiled and moved on. Lots of thoughts went through my mind. About growing inequality in India, poverty, obsession with showing off one’s wealth, over crowded areas, etc etc. How people continue to ignore the poverty, filth and misery around them, as if it simply does not exist. How everyone is too bothered with their own affairs to think about anything else. How rich girls keep arguing over the color of their clothes while shopping, while small children behind them shiver in the cold. How students(and others) continue to smoke freely in a SO-CALLED SMOKE FREE campus. How people continue to deposit garbage out in the open, spit freely, and use the roadsides as toilets. How people cannot even adhere to basic traffic norms out here. Am I being too negative? Perhaps. But I certainly do not exaggerate.

I am reading quite a few good books right now. Started off the Shiva trilogy. I must say that Amish is a brilliant author. Tomorrow the CAT 2011 results shall be announced. I will be active on Pagalguy. I am also learning Punjabi[Gurumukhi]. And watching Science Fiction documentaries, hosted by the famous physicist, Michio Kaku.

In all, I walked for over 5 kms today. Walking is a very healthy exercise I feel. Do try it. Anyways, I shall end here for today. Hope you enjoyed reading. Have a good day, and enjoy every day to the fullest. Best wishes.

Myths and Realities of an MBA and Bschool Life

Okay, here are some common myths and realities related to an MBA degree and Bschool life. I realize that many MBA aspirants have several misconceptions and preconceived notions about MBA, and hence this effort in getting rid of some of the false inklings which people have in general.

1) Myth: Getting into a Top 15 Bschool is incredibly difficult for an average student[with average background]

Reality:
Nothing can be further away from the truth. Granted, quite a large chunk of students studying in IIMs, etc are from top engineering colleges with decent acads, but that does not mean an average student can’t make it. If you are willing to work hard and maintain your focus, you can surely make it. To give my own example, I am from one of the third class, unknown private engineering college in India and yet I made it to FMS in my very first attempt.

2) Myth: An MBA is a shortcut ticket to success, fame and money. You shake hands with CEO’s, ride in luxury cars, attend corporate parties, and get to date attractive women.

Reality: Of course it isn’t[this one should be obvious, but unfortunately it isn’t]. Most of the 2000 or so Bschools out there simply exist for the purpose of lightening your purses. If you still haven’t understood what I mean, then I pity you. An MBA, even from an IIM won’t automatically grant you success. You need to keep working hard throughout your life and be prepared for failures.

3) Myth: All MBA graduates from a good Business school end up as millionaires after they pass out/get 7 digit salaries/international placements in USA, Switzerland and Australia

Reality: Just a handful of students actually get a really high pay package, but unfortunately they hog all the spotlight, thanks to our media. What does not actually get highlighted, is that there are quite a few[read:many] students who actually do an internship without a stipend and end up with a pay package[finals] of what many of you may be earning before doing an MBA. This is even true of IIMs and other top bschools.

4) Myth: i) I want to become an Entrepreneur. And with so many Bschools stressing on Entrepreneurship and having courses on the same, I should opt for MBA.
ii) [On similar lines]: I plan to run an NGO. I am very much into Social service. But for this an MBA is a pre-requisite since all Bschools are stressing on rural marketing and CSR.

Reality: Listen people. Grow up. Come on, enough with lame excuses of doing an MBA. If you don’t have any reason to opt for it, be honest and bold enough to say the same. Such lame excuses of being an Entrepreneur or the next Social Activist and then later on safely opting for a high paying corporate job is simply ridiculous. Move on. You can be a decent Entrepreneur and an NGO activist without even thinking of an MBA.

5) Myth: An MBA degree is only meant for Engineers.

Reality: This is one myth which I almost agree with. Especially in the Indian context. But with respect to a global scenario, I would definitely say that your educational background does not matter as long as you are clear with your career goals. Do some research into the course contents of an MBA before you apply. If you have no interest in subjects such as Cost Accouting, Marketing Research, Operations Research or Organizational Behavior, I think you are better off not doing an MBA.

6) Myth: You don’t get any sleep during an MBA course. You keep working 24 x 7, 365 days of the year. All you do is assignments, projects and tests with little time for entertainment.

Reality: This was one thing even I was apprehensive of before joining a Bschool, especially considering the fact that I was used to sleeping 10 hours a day during Engineering. But this of course depends on your time management skills. An MBA course will be hectic and will require a certain amount of commitment, sacrifices and dedication. But that does not mean you will get no free time at all, in fact you can definitely take out time to see movies, hang out with friends and stuff. But yes, considering it’s a Masters course and a highly demanding professional one at it, be prepared for a different kind of lifestyle[especially if you are a fresher, work ex people usually do not have problems in adjusting to this work-life balance].

7) Myth: All Top bschool Faculty members are Gods and everyone gets a chance to intern abroad/apply for a student exchange programme/do an international project

Reality: True, you will certainly come across some brilliant teachers. But the fact remains that majority of the faculty will be average, and in some cases even poor or abysmal. This has more to do with the Indian education scenario than the Bschool itself. Hardly anyone gets into teaching for the love of it. Some do it, in order to network and carry out their research/publications, others do it due to lack of alternate opportunities. So do not expect God level teachers to train you. As for the second point, just a few selected students get to intern abroad or do an international project. Even in the top Bschools. And in many cases the student has to bear his/her own expenses. So just because you got into a Top bschool doesn’t mean you are catching the next month flight to New York in order to do a Customer Behavior survey.


These are some of the few points I came up with. May add more in future.
I would like to thank some of my batchmates who have made Life in FMS ‘indeed’ beautiful. In no particular order:

Mayank, Sheetal, Akhil, Shimona, Abhirup, Divya, Suhail, Preethi, Ankit, Richie, and many more. Thanks a lot guys. :)

Yeh Hai Delhi Meri Jaan!

Fine. Right now, am sitting on the upper berth of the Sealdah to New Delhi Rajdhani express and typing whatever comes to my mind on my Vaio. Its 9:43 pm according to my laptop’s clock, and the train is supposed to reach Delhi at 10:20 am. So I have roughly, 12 and a half hours to kill. Since I rarely ever get any sleep on overnight train journeys. I could go back to playing Angry Birds[or maybe not, am already sick of that game], or maybe listen to some songs or maybe watch a movie. Well, I saw Million Dollar Baby, and that left a bitter taste in the mouth. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is fantastic, but somehow I prefer happy endings more. I guess that’s what life is about. The ups and downs.

I was at home for a week[returned home after a 4 month stint at FMS]. And I got horribly bored. Reason being not a single friend of mine was available. Am actually glad to be returning to FMS, where I am sure there will be tons of activities to do[Our Annual Fest, Fiesta is just around the corner]. I have mentally prepared a list of To-Do’s for this semester[next 4 months]. How successful I will be is yet to be seen. For the first time in my life I shall be witnessing the dreaded Delhi winter. Need to be prepared.

I think I need to renovate and market my blog. Or maybe create a new one. I feel like writing a lot, but when it actually comes to down to sitting and typing, I somehow lose interest. Not sure why. Just two days ago, I was writing a post on love and my past/present crushes, but somehow I could not muster courage to write much about it. Hence, discarded that document. Perhaps I do not want to share my personal details with others. Nevertheless, that is a thing of the past. Now on to the future[and no, I am not sure if I will get a girlfriend here or not].

Sigh, its 9:55 pm now. I feel that the Indian Railways is one of the most poorly managed industries in India. With over 14 lakh employees, and losses amounting to thousands of crores, it could do lot to improve its image. I feel that the private sector should be allowed to step in and modernize the platforms and the carriages. There is no reason why bullet trains cannot be operated in India, and why the platforms cannot be kept clean and hygienic. Anyways, enough of complains.

Am I satisfied with the beginning of an MBA? Is my life going the way I had expected it to be? I am not sure. I have surely met lots of intelligent and capable people after coming here, and have surely got opportunities I would not have otherwise got. But, somewhere, something is missing. I do not feel that corporate life is my true calling. I will try following my passion nevertheless. Right now, am excited about my role in Tata Motors[internship starts next year-April or May].

So How is Delhi like for an outsider? Being from a small town, I find it big and overcrowded. There is too much pollution and dirt, as is common in most Indian metro cities. The crime rate is high, and corruption is rampant. Nevertheless, Delhi has lot to offer. From the historical monuments to the best educational institutes in the country. I found Delhi University to be a fascinating and worthy area to be in. It has a vibrant, student friendly atmosphere. The metro is of course, one of Delhi’s USP. Fast and convenient, it’s the preferred mode of transport for many. The food may be heavy and rich, but relished by most. Almost everyone knows at least some amount of Punjabi[many are fluent]. Delhi has a sizeable population of Sikhs, and you can find one at every corner[unlike back home]. People of all religion mix together freely, and have fun.
Yet, poverty is rampant, and I have been to a few slums. The living conditions of the people is absolutely below standard, and I was simply appalled to see their condition. 8-9 people living in one small room, which has just one light bulb, and a rusted bed[made of ropes]. No television, no bathroom, no fan, not even a ventilator. The children seemed lively and kept playing their games, unaware of the misery their parents were facing. One of the people told us that some hoodlums came every month to take money from them, under the pretext of cleaning up the place[which they never did]. I wonder what the Government is doing about it. But everyone needs to play their part.




I guess I will sign off here and try to go to sleep. Lots of things to be done, books to be read, games to be played. And yeah, am really looking forward to 2 games in particular- Elders Scroll 5: Skyrim, and Batman: Arkham City. For next year, it’s going to be Mass Effect 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Rising.

See ya folks. And keep smiling.

New Blog

This is the link of my new blog,:

Being FaMouS!

I shall not be discontinuing this blog, but will not be as active as before. However all of my Non-FMS related posts shall be posted here. But for details about my MBA life at FMS, do visit and read the posts in my new blog. :)


Thank you again for your support. I have had the pleasure of interacting with hundreds of bloggers and all of their blogs have made some impression on me. Take care and happy blogging.

Regards,

Satwinder Singh,
FMS Delhi,
Class of 2013.

So you want to be an Entrepreneur?

For the past few months, I have read lots of interview experiences[mostly MBA] and have conversed with several people. In many cases, people say that they want to work in a company for 4-5 years, get some corporate experience, save some money, and then start a business of their own: That is become an Entrepreneur.

Now if 2 or 3 people were to tell me this, I could have believed them. But when almost every Tom, Dick and Harry begins to say this, I have no option but to be skeptical. Nowadays it has become a fad to say that someone wants to be an entrepreneur. Not withstanding the fact that he or she may not know the heads or tails of entrepreneurship. Out of 10 MBA aspirants, 6 or 7 will say that they want to be an entrepreneur so that is why they are doing an MBA. Interviewers have become so frustrated after hearing such clichéd answers that they automatically assume that when a person says he wants to be an entrepreneur, he is obviously lying.

Here are a few reasons as to why so many people say that they want to be an entrepreneur, especially with respect to contemporary Indian scenario.

1) The Cool Factor: People think its a cool and fashionable thing to be an entrepreneur. They also believe that they can become famous easily, and launch a mind blowingly innovative product or franchise, and go global within a few months, and become world renowned. Nowadays entrepreneurs have replaced film stars as role models for many.

2) The Money: Somehow, many young people have this impression that becoming an entrepreneur will help you in making some quick bucks. That they will become a millionaire instantly as they feel that they have some unique idea or business plan. They forget the amount of hard work and patience it needs for an entrepreneur to gain success. On an average it may take 8-10 years for an entrepreneur to get fully established. Moreover, 9 out of 10 entrepreneurial ventures end up as failures. Somehow most people ignore their fact and believe that becoming an entrepreneur is in their genes.

3) No Boss, Please: Everybody wants to be his or her own boss. Most people detest the idea of a megalomaniac boss running after them 24 x 7, barking orders on the top of his voice. They feel that by becoming an entrepreneur, they have automatically become the CEO and are hence answerable to nobody but themselves. They feel that they can work whenever they want to, and can relax and take holidays whenever they want, as the business is their own. This is obviously a very false notion and can lead to disaster if the person indeed tries to launch his own venture.

There are several other factors too, but am not mentioning them. The truth is that NOT everyone can become an Entrepreneur. You need to have certain skill sets if you do want to be a successful entrepreneur, risk taking and social skills included. For details you can read a good book-'The High Performance Entrepreneur' written by Subroto Bagchi.

The worst thing you can do is to jump into entrepreneurship without evaluating the pros and cons of it. Remember just having one brilliant business idea does not mean that you can be a great entrepreneur. You need to have the ability to execute it and lead it to a chain of ideas which can develop into a sustainable business over a period of time.

MBA Exam Preparation Tips

Finally, the post which I have meant to write for quite some time. Over the last few months, many people have asked me questions related to MBA exams preparation. What to do and what not to do, tips, how to prepare for GDPI, etc. So I have decided to write on How I actually prepared. I will be writing two posts, the first one[ie this post] will deal with the written exams, and the second one for GDPI preparation. But before I start, here is a very important NOTE:

This is purely my personal experience and the methodology I followed in my preparation. If you do the same, it will NOT guarantee that you too will manage to get into a top Bschool. I am not claiming that if you follow the steps, you will surely succeed. What suits me may not suit you and vice versa. So instead of blindly following what someone else tells you, it would be best to create an original strategy that complements you. I am writing this post in the hope that it will be helpful to candidates appearing for such exams in the future. Do not consider my post as a Holy Grail or something which must be followed strictly. Make your own decisions. But yes, more than any coaching institute material, mocks, books, the three things which you surely need are:

i) Self Confidence

ii) Hard Work- Persistence

iii) Never Say Die Attitude

With these few words, I begin:

Written Tests:

For convenience, I have made this post into a Question-Answer format.

Q) 1) What do MBA entrance exams test us on?

Ans)

Most MBA entrance exams will test you on these parameters:

i) Quantitative Ability

ii) Verbal Ability

iii) Logical Ability

You can get the detailed syllabus in any coaching institute material. Different exams have different time limits. You can get more information online, and also at Pagalguy.com

Q) 2) When should one start preparing for MBA?

Ans) The first question which most people ask is What is the Ideal time to start preparation. I would say it would be better to Ask yourself Why MBA first and then decide how to prepare. If you are planning to do MBA without a valid reason, suit yourself. But do remember that it may come back to haunt you later in your life. Now to my first question. There is no ideal time to begin preparation. But generally, 6-8 months before CAT is enough. Am considering CAT as the default exam for obvious reasons.
Personally I started preparing after class 12th exams were over. But I repeat, you do NOT need to study for 3 years or more in order to crack CAT/other exams. Enjoy your college life and do not neglect studies. Plus it is always better to get some work experience before joining a Bschool.

Q)3) Which Coaching Institute to Take?

Ans) Whichever one you want. It hardly makes any difference. Personally I feel that coaching institutes are way too over-hyped with every institute claiming 100% success rate. Don’t be fooled by such ads alone, do a proper analysis before joining an institute. I made the grave mistake of joining an institute in my 3rd year of college and I regretted it. Best would be just to take up a test series and take mock tests. That’s it. If you have it in you, you can definitely make it into any top bschool, coaching or no coaching.

Q)4) How many Mock Test should one take?

Ans) I believe 10-12 mocks over a period of 5 months are more than enough. But make sure that you peak at the right time, ie when your CAT exam arrives. I personally took 12 mocks, that too of just one series[IMS]. My percentiles ranged from 89-97. Mostly in the 92-94 range. The mocks provided good practice. And analysis of mocks is crucial.

Things to AVOID:

i) Solving too many mocks, especially in a short span of time: This will just decrease your efficiency and increase your frustration.

ii) Joining too many test series, thinking you will get the best of all: Totally unwanted and useless thing to do. Most mock tests are similar to a great extent.

iii) Getting depressed after one poor performance: I got 83 and 84 percentile in my last 2 mocks. Yet I ended up with a percentile of 96.54. So nothing to get disappointed about mock scores. They are just for practice and analysis.

The most negative point about mocks is that most of them have a high standard of difficulty. Many people get frustrated after solving such problems. But in actual CAT, the problems will be logical based and you will hardly need to remember any formula or complicated step in order to solve them. I personally feel that solving extremely hard problems is a total waste of time. And I know one person who did not TAKE a SINGLE mock the entire season, was working, yet scored 99.7 percentile in CAT and 99.8 percentile in XAT. So it is quite possible to do well without bothering about your mock scores. I got fed up of mocks after I took ten of them.

Q)5) How do I prepare for Quant, Verbal, DI, LR, RC? Which books to follow?

Ans) One of the most common questions asked by many candidates. Here is a short guide:

i) Quant: Arun Sharma books are okay for beginners. You can solve the problems especially if you have forgotten your basics. Else you can take any coaching institute material and revise the basic concepts. Some topics such as Number System, Geometry, P & C, Time and Distance, etc are generally considered more important than others. Solving past papers of CAT, XAT, etc, may also help. Remember that you do not need to be a master of Mathematics in order to score well in this section. But make sure your accuracy is good. Do not do blind guesses. I am personally weak in Quant, so I cannot offer you much advice here, but do remember that with a bit of logic and common sense you can solve most problems.

ii) Verbal: GRE books are good, especially for vocabulary. Barrons guide may be useful for beginners. I personally liked Norman Lewis too. Do revise basic grammar from Wren and Martin or other books. CAT problems are usually typical in the sense that they are tricky, and the options are quite close to one another.
Apart from this, start reading extensively. Books, magazines and newspapers. The Hindu, TOI, ET, Frontline, India Today, etc. Try reading some non-fiction books, especially on management or business. This will not only improve your vocabulary, but will prove quite useful in tackling the Reading Comprehension section. Try to improve your reading speed and comprehending ability.

Remember: Reading books randomly wont help. If you do not like something do not force yourself to read it. For example there is no point starting with Ayn Rand if you are not interested in philosophy, just because your coaching institute teacher told you to. Finally solve previous year papers.

iii) Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning: This section just requires practice and common sense. But make sure that you have both speed and accuracy. Try to do calculations as fast as you can. Avoid using calculators at all costs. Make sure that you avoid passages which may consume too much time. Just by a cursory glance you should be able to decide which are the passages/caselets that you are going to attempt. Most important is not to get stuck on any problem. Practice from mock tests or previous year papers. Arun Sharma has mostly quite simple problems.

Rest will be continued in future posts. Feel free to ask any queries if you have. Thank you.

The Holi Gift

All right, I have been quite busy in the past one month or so, and did not get much time to write blog posts. Reason being I had multiple MBA interviews all over the country. I visited Mumbai, Kanpur, Kharagpur for the first time in my life, and my visit ended with a Delhi trip. While returning home, I got a call in the evening. It was Appurv[one of my friends and a Puy], who informed me that I had been selected in IIFT. That was a great feeling. I called up a few friends and told them the same.
I was satisfied and happy with my performance[IIFT GDPI] and was expecting a convert. I managed to get into the Delhi campus in the first list itself. But a bigger surprise was about to come. I had my FMS interview on 16th march.

[You can check it out on PG here ]

And here is the link for my IIFT GDPI experience:


I personally feel that I did well in both interviews. Especially in FMS, as I wasn’t asked your normal questions. I returned home on 18th morning, and decided to meet up with 2 of my best friends. We visited the Crossword bookstore which has recently opened in Durgapur. I bought 2 books and became a life time member. Awesome place for bookworms like me to chill out. Then I visited my friends place. Got an Sms from Anand saying that I had converted FMS. Its hard to describe how I felt after that. But it was definitely a great feeling. Especially when you are with your best friends. Called up Mom and told her the news. She didn’t believe that the result could come out so soon. Also saw that a few other people whom I know made it[Abhirup, Divya, Shashank, Abhishek, etc]. Now I shall have to go to Delhi soon to pay the fees. Session will probably start in July.

I would like to thank each and every one of you[including YOU the person who is currently reading this post] for supporting me in every way possible. If it weren’t for your backup I would have never made it so far. I hope I will have a great time at FMS and I wish each and every one of you all the best in your own ventures.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank some people[apart from my parents, relatives and few close friends] who were really helpful. This list is in no particular order.

Puys:

Shashank The Doc Mod, Shruti ji, Neha Seth, Avneet-ji, Mayank, Rohit Awasthi, Pallavi Puri, Rito Da, Anand J, Siddarth, Dhiresh, Ashish, Appurv, Neha Chavan, Sakshi, Namita, Varnika, Varun Saxena, Anwesa, Akanksha, Bharadwaj, Rishabh, SKR, Subhankar, Krutika, Manjushaa, Priti, Arshdeep, Pallavi Kesarwani, Shruti Srivastava, Pooja Roy, Vikram, Shirsho, Lopa Mudra, Raghav, Avinav, Hari, Naga, Caartey, Gagan, Nishant, Pritesh, Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Tanveer Sir, Prem Sir, Keerthi, Adi, Abhishek Bhatia, Prerna and others.

College Friends:

Sourav Dey, Susant, Tripti, Vivek, Rittika, Satwati, Atreyee, Kuntal, Subhojit, Saptak, Ramit, Dhiraj, Arindam, Madhumita, Swati, Kunti, Binita, Lovelin, Supratik, Surajit, Manu, Amit, Ansuman, Debashis, Abhro, Arijita, Monodeep, Priyank, Pulkit, Rohit, Supriyo, Sukant, Sumit, Sangeeta, Swami Anand Prem, Shukla, Shreshta, Shashi, Satnam, Abhishek Adhikary, Sucharita, Sumit, Arijit, Aurko, Anirban Nandy, Saroj, Soumya, Soumen, Aniket, Samrat, and many more.

Others:
Sushmit, Jayanta, Sumit Pramanik, Saurabh Audichya, Praadnya, Ankita, Swapnil, and all my Facebook friends.


With this, my MBA season officially comes to an end. I am now a member of FMS[2011-2013 batch], and Delhi University. I am quite satisfied with my performance, even though I did not get a single IIM call.

Let my convert be a proof that even freshers with average acads[85 and 79 %] and an average profile can make it to the top Bschools. All the best to all of you.

Looking forward to meeting my fellow Batchmates and seniors at FMS. This is Satwinder, signing off. Good night and Happy Holi.

MBA Progress Report

All right, here I will write a brief personal post about my performance in season 2010: MBA entrance exams. Followed by a short review and whats next.

1) CAT: 96.54 Percentile
Division:
QA: 88.39
DI: 93.80
VA: 94.60
Calls: None, till now.
Expected Calls: IMT Ghaziabad, IMI Delhi.
Borderline Case: MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai.

2) XAT:
84.18 Percentile.
QA: 72.xx
AR: 87.xx
VA: 71.xx
Calls: None
Expected Calls: None

3) FMS:
Score: Not Yet Declared, expected in range of 440-460.
Percentile: Not yet declared, but possibly 98.5+
Got a GDPI call.

4) IIFT:
Score: 39.15 [Cut-off was 35.74 for General Category]
Got a GDPI call.

5) JMET:
All India Rank: 743.
Score: 83.75
Calls Till Now: None
Expected Calls: IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras.

6) NMAT:
Score: 224 out of 360.
Percentile: Yet to be Declared
Call Expected[but not confirmed].

Review:

So Basically I did well in two exams, ie FMS and IIFT, and got GDPI calls from both. I did average in CAT, JMET and NMAT, and will still get some calls from them. And needless to say, I did poorly in XAT, and will not get any calls from it. So overall, I should have around 7-8 calls, and hopefully I will convert at least a few. My IIFT GDPI will take place next place itself, as I get ready for it. The others will take place later, possibly in March. As I do not have a job, it is imperative for me to convert as many calls as I can this time itself. My prime target is FMS of course, that’s the best amongst the lot. And coming a close second is IIFT. And I am not really interested in doing an MBA from an IIT, but lets see what the future has in store for us.

Personally, I am quite disappointed with my CAT and XAT result. I expected 98+ percentile in CAT[which could have fetched me MDI and NITIE calls]. And I better not talk about XAT for now, I know people who didn’t prepare a bit and managed to get 98+ percentile in XAT. Heck, there are some guys who didn’t even apply to XLRI and still got more than 95 percentile. Have lost the respect I had for XLRI after seeing its erratic criteria of giving calls. [People with 93 percentile have got calls and guys with 99.9 percentile don’t]. Moreover the paper was exceptionally tough[having questions of IITJEE standard], and to make matters worse, it had differential marking. So if someone guessed and got a 5 mark question correct, its quite possible that his percentile will shoot upto 98[say]. In the eventuality that I will repeat next year, I will surely not be taking XAT come what may.

So, to end, the bottomline is that I have to concentrate on IIFT and FMS for now, and do my best to convert both of them.

All the best for GDPI[to all aspirants]. With this, I am signing off for now.

Thus ends the Written Stage of MBA Season 2010. Am I satisfied? Mostly yes. Now lets see how the GDPI Stage turns out to be.

P.S.- I will not be appearing for MH-CET.

Career Counselling? WTH!

I believe that one of the biggest problems that the Indian youth face nowadays is regarding choice of career. Most do not take a decision for themselves, and let their parents/relatives decide. Which can turn out to be disastrous since nobody knows you better than yourself. I have heard many of my friends say the same thing over and over again-‘Yaar, I don’t know what I want to do in life. I am not sure which career to opt for, or what to do in future. I am not satisfied with my current situation/my job/my life/etc.’ Many of them opt for safe courses- Engineering, Medical, Management, etc which can guarantee them jobs. But what after that? If you get into a job which doesn’t suit your aptitude, then you will struggle throughout your life.

Anyways, I recently read ‘Serious Men’, written by a journalist, Manu Joseph, who is also the editor of the Open magazine. It’s a fantastic novel, dealing with current day Mumbai, Science, Astronomy, Love, Sarcasm, Reservation, Education, Poverty, etc. Highly recommended novel, and a well deserving winner of the Hindu 2010 Literary award. I am quoting an entire page from the same[Verbatim]:


This, Ayyan accepted, was life. It was, in a way, a fortunate life. It would go on and on like this. And one day, very soon in fact, Adi would be an adolescent. An adolescent son of a clerk. A miserable thing to be in this country. He would have to forget all his dreams and tell himself that what he wanted to do was engineering. It’s the only hope, everyone would tell him. Engineering, Adi would realize, is every mother’s advice to her son, a father’s irrevocable decision, a boy’s first foreboding of life. A certainty, like death, that was long decided in the cradle. Sooner or later, he would have to call it his ambition. And to attain it, he would compete with thousands and thousands of boys like him in the only human activity for which Indians had a special talent. Objective-type entrance exams. Very few tests in the world would be tougher than these. So, in the enchanting years of early youth, when the mind is wild, and the limbs are strong, he would not run free by the sea or try to squeeze the growing breasts of wary girls. Instead he would sit like an ascetic in a one-room home and master something called quantitative ability. ‘If three natural numbers are randomly selected from one to hundred then what is the probability that all three are divisible by both two and three?’

He would have to answer this probably in thirty seconds in order to stand any chance against boys who were barely seven when they were fed iron capsules and sample-question papers for this very purpose; who had attended tuitions and memorized all the formulae in the world before they had learnt how to masturbate; whose parents whispered into their ears every day of their lives the answer to the decisive question: ’What do you want to become in life?’ Adi would have to fight them for a sliver of the future that men of God reviled without conviction as the ‘material world’, exactly the place that a father wishes for his son. Adi, despite the misfortunes of poverty, would somehow have to find a way to get into an engineering college. And then ensure that he did not spend a single day of his life as an engineer. Because everyone would tell him then that the real money was in MBA.

And so, even before the engineering course was over, he would start all over again, and prepare to battle thousands and thousands of boys like him in yet more entrance exams. When he finally made it and became a zombie who had entirely forgotten what he really wanted to do with his life, the light-skinned boys in the dormitory would look at him with a sad chuckle and whisper among themselves that he was a beneficiary of a 15 per cent reservation for the Dalits. ‘Lucky bastard,’ they would say.



Okay, I agree that the above page is highly exaggerated, in fact to the extreme. Obviously not ALL boys are taking up engineering, and Indians are definitely not good in just competitive exams, to name a few. But the point to be noted is the thing in General which the author wants to say. Lack of clarity in making the biggest decision of one’s Life- Career choice. Doing engineering and MBA from a good college will almost surely fetch you a good job, and that is the only reason why people do it. Because that way, at least they can earn and sustain a living in this highly competitive global environment. Even if they have to sacrifice their dreams for it. There are many people who say that let them do engineering and MBA first, and then they will try to achieve their dreams. That is just an excuse for avoiding risks, and rarely if ever wills such people achieve their goals. At max, they can earn a comfortable living in this materialistic world.



Unfortunately, in India, the concept of career counseling is almost non-existent. 90% of Indian students take up a career/course which is not suited to their aptitude/liking. No wonder they get frustrated and depressed, many even take the extreme step of committing suicide. To avoid such incidents, I believe that schools should include mandatory career counseling say for students in standard 9th or 10th. Parents should also be counseled and told not to interfere in the personal decision of the student. It is a very big misconception that only engineers and managers can get good jobs. It’s a commonly known fact that Indians only look up to education as a means to getting a job, and not as something to gain knowledge/skills/experience/etc. It’s the lure of those attractive placements that students automatically gravitate towards IITs and IIMs. I have met very few people who wanted to study in an IIT because they had an interest in Science or Engineering. We really need more students like Rancho from 3 Idiots[played by Aamir Khan].

If only people started following their own passion for a change, it would benefit us all. But are they ready to give up the security of a high paying job and take a risk? The future will tell.

Life of an Average Indian Male- Part 3

*Continued From Previous Post

Last we remember, Raj had joined an average I.T. company. He moved into a house as a P.G. The food sucked, and the place was awfully hot. Still, he tried to get used to the new environment. However the workplace had another nasty surprise in store for him.

Raj was unlucky enough to have a demon in disguise of a boss. From the worst day onwards he was treated like a slave, made to work incessantly for 12 hours at a stretch. Even when he finally trudged back to his apartment, he would still have some work left over for the day. The work kept on piling, and Raj was handed one assignment after the other. He scarcely had time to eat, let alone relax or entertain himself. Moreover, he did not get along well with his colleagues. Most were engineers from Tier-3 colleges who did not understand anything about the work or the project they were working on. At max, they could perform Control+C/Control+V jobs. Raj himself found it quite difficult to cope up with an I.T. environment, though at least he knew the basics. However working on a Java environment was tough for him. Still he slogged on, day in and night, without any breaks.

Raj lost track of time. His state became even more disheveled than before. 6 months passed, an year, and then two. There was no scope of any promotion and Raj hardly got an increment in his salary. Perks were few and far in between. But the worst part was the monotonous nature of the job. He had done practically the same thing every day, each week for the past 2 years. And now he was fed up. He desperately wanted a change from this hectic work routine. He couldn’t even remember when he had last gone to watch a movie or taken a day off. Plus all this work was taking a grave toll on his health. The smoking and drinking did not help either, apart from relieving his momentary tensions.

One fine day, as Raj was wondering around the aisle of his office floor, he noticed 2 of his colleagues talking in low tones. He tried to get closer without looking conspicuous. He was a bit surprised to see them solving Mathematical problems in their exercise books. That was clearly not related to the work they were supposed to be doing. It was then that the word MBA struck his ear. Raj gathered his nerves and spoke to the two guys about their current occupation. They admitted that they were preparing for MBA entrance exams during their work hours. Moreover they remarked such a practice was common throughout the country, as many I.T. professionals avoided work to prepare for MBA exams. Raj was suddenly excited. He could feel the old enthusiastic feeling of his pre-college years come back to him. This was what he needed, to rise the corporate ladder, to get a decent salary, a resplendent house, a beautiful girlfriend, maybe even the Honda City he had dreamed of. And the key to achieve his dreams was this simple degree- MBA. Why hadn’t he thought about it earlier?

Without wasting any more time, Raj enrolled for Sunday classes at a local coaching institute. He spared 2-3 hours every Sunday for the classes, and tried to revise the basics of English and Mathematics whenever he could get time. He started slacking off in his work, so that he could concentrate on his work. Mock test season started, and Raj started taking mocks, confident that he would be amongst the best students in the country. However, to his shock, he could only manage a paltry 77 percentile in his first test. Frustration grew and so did Raj’s anger. Now he started ignoring his friends, family. He had only one goal in life- MBA from a top institute. He solved as many problems he could. But try as hard as he might, he could never go above 85 percentile in mocks. ‘Forget it, I will score well in the actual CAT exam,’ Raj consoled himself.

CAT came and went. So did 5 other competitive exams for which Raj appeared. Now came the agonizing wait for the results. Finally, the D-day arrived. 89.37 percentile overall in CAT. Raj felt as if someone had shot an arrow which pierced his heart. How on earth could he have scored so low? 3 of his colleagues had scored above 98 percentile and had resigned from their jobs. Raj was mad with envy. However, he still filled up the forms of a few 2-tier Bschools, and managed to secure admission in an average Bschool, which offered decent placements[according to the prospectus]. Raj was so desperate for a profile change that he did not bother to inquire about the details of the bschool.

Finally, Raj bade his dull I.T. job goodbye. ‘Its time to go back to school,’ he smiled.

Fast forward 2 years into the future.

‘Sales and Trading? What on earth is it?,’ asked Rahul, Raj’s cousin.

‘I have no idea. But the company was paying well, so I opted for it,’ Raj replied.

‘But are you sure it’s the right choice? Will you like the job if you don’t even know what you are supposed to do?’

‘Does not matter. Whatever it is, it will be better than that damn I.T. job, am sure of it.’

Saying this Raj took up his new job.

2 months later.

‘What is all this crap? What on earth am I doing here? All this finance numbers and additional accounts data makes no sense to me at all,’ Raj moaned. ‘Corporate finance? Banking regulations? Its all nonsense to me. Is it so hard to find a job which one may like doing?’

‘But how could this happen to me? MBA was supposed to bring me riches, and unlock the gates of happiness and wealth. Everyone is running after it, so it should be a valuable degree. But I am feeling just as miserable, if not worse in this new job. Just what on earth went wrong?’


Indeed, what went wrong with Raj? Or, to generalize, what is wrong with majority of the Indian youth? How come most of them are not satisfied with their jobs/present situation, even after passing from decent Engineering and MBA colleges? We shall discuss all such pertinent issues in a future post. But now is the time to end Raj’s story. Thank you all for your patience.