MBA Dream Come True !

When we Indians start out on a mission, little do we know what lies ahead. The laurels we will achieve, just the thought of the benefits of success and the fame garnered by a distant relative, drives us on. Being a typical middle class Indian trying to make it big, thus started my ‘Mission MBA’.
However, society as it is, will try to equalise the haves and have-nots, by convincing you that its all a myth that you’re pursuing. ‘Put in 3 hours of study a day’, ‘just take those mocks seriously’ or mostly ‘Oh MBA entrance? That’s pure luck and nothing else’; are the answers one gets when one seeks honest opinions from people.
Ashoka was moved by death and destruction. Mother Teresa was moved by a helpless woman on the side of the road. I was moved when I looked at my salary slip. All three of us were so convinced of the misery that existed in this world that we decided to do something. Firstly I decided to bring down Mallya’s profits by cutting down on booze. Then I joined a ‘national-level’ test series. And finally I reduced time spent in office and actually started studying.
Sometimes the courage of the people of this country makes me wonder. Maybe this is the only nation where lacs of software professionals and engineers earning handsome salaries decide to leave it all and start studying standard 10th mathematics so as to give a shot at an exam which will make them toil for the next two years like mules; and this when the probability of getting into a b-school of choice is maybe one in hundred!
Another beauty of MBA entrance is called mock cats. To those of you who do not know what this beauty is (which is highly unlikely), it is a phenomenon which every MBA aspirant has to go through, so as to convince himself and others every week that he is worthy of appearing in the final examination, clichéd D-day (devil’s day for me). So when I started getting good scores in my mocks, it further pushed me on. Of course, not by the will to succeed, but by the belief that my friends had in me. After all its not everyday that you get to be called a winner by your flatmates and co-workers.
The day I appeared for JMET was specially designed by God for me. Not that I knew of it beforehand. I had already screwed up CAT, so hopes were low. Everybody had advised me to study some of the higher mathematics that is a trademark of this exam. I did not pay heed. When bright things suddenly start going wrong, you feel its all destined and you just have to go on playing your part.
However, when I got the paper, I did not pray, did not rush through the instructions, did not look at what others were doing (as I had done in the CAT exam). But I decided to give it my best, only in my limits. I did not have high hopes, so I read through the paper calmly but swiftly, solved whatever I could. By the end of the paper I was happy that the paper went slightly better than usual.
Since time immemorial, man has underestimated himself. I got an AIR 149, with calls from all the IITs. If nothing, this was going to be a source of inspiration for the rest of my life.
Dept of Management Studies, IIT Delhi had very late interviews, and by the time I got a call, I already had a couple of rejects and a few converts. However, I still decided to give it my best.
Adorned in a black suit and red tie (especially chosen by mom), I entered the battleground. In MBA jargon it is called Group Discussion. There were a total of twelve members and 3 invigilators. The professor wrote an abstract topic on the whiteboard, and gave us two minutes to think. A lady couldn’t control herself and started ‘firing’ within a minute. Everyone took the bait and started off. I had one eye on the 3 people who held our careers on the tip of their weathered fingers. They wore a bored expression. The screaming stopped within a minute, and sensing the opportunity I read out a point I had prepared while others were showing off their talking skills. I again looked at one of the profs, and saw that I had attracted his attention. I came back two more times, while continuously nodding my head in feigned interest to what every speaker had to say.
After 15 minutes we were herded out of the room. As soon as I was out, a senior came up and called my name. He said that the interviewers were ready and I was the first, however I could rest for five minutes. Confident with my success, I did not even blink when I said I was ready.
When I entered the small room I saw a lady and two gentlemen sitting calmly on a sofa. The room was so chilled, I wished I could turn down the air conditioner. However I thought otherwise, masked a smile and sat down on the only chair in the room. As soon as I sat down the lady asked me sweetly what corporate social responsibility was. My heart skipped a beat. I tried to recollect the small number of engineering lectures that I had attended, to get an answer. Of course I got none. I blabbered something about socially responsible people. One of the gentlemen woke up as if from a dream and asked me to give an example. I felt my head spinning. I tried to divert the topic by talking about Suzlon and Tulsi Tanti. Probably the interviewers took the bait and wandered away from corporate responsibility. After that I tried to and did answer most of their questions. I was almost shivering, but I hung on to dear life, much like the last scene in the movie Titanic. When they were done, they asked me if I wanted to know something about the institute. I was too much in a hurry to rush outside, and replied in the negative. The lady said “So are you satisfied?”, and I said yes, exchanged greetings and left.
I had a mixed feeling about the whole affair. It could be both a success story and a tragedy. So on the day the results were declared, when I finally saw my name on the IIT Delhi website, I did not react. I could not. The MBA dream had come true. Another middle class Indian was going to make it big!