Friday, June 6, 2008

MBA-The Indian Fantasy

As soon as somebody gets the wind of the fact that you are preparing for MBA some god installed hype or charisma gets attached to you.Working in one of the biggest multinational companies in India MBA was only an option ..never a necessity!!All my life i have seen people who have sacrificed their dreams and have accepted mediocracy as a way of life..i just refused to be in the same league.If you think you are a pathetic team player,cannot stand the artifice of the mediocracy of the people around you and an MBA is gonna take away all the worries ..think again!!!Coz after MBA u r goona land up in a job which is of the same type as you have done before and your woes are only going to increase.I am doing MBA coz i need the right platform to build on my technological skills with nuances in business..
Anyways..as November approached my preparations for CAT(the most hyped about entrance exam in India) went for a toss ..partly because of work pressure partly because of my laziness.By that time the colleagues have already started speculating that my CAT will be a complete disaster(considering i never studied).And then came the D-day..when i went to "try my luck" with a Few Lac dedicated CAT veterans..!!And those 2 Nd half hrs whizzed off even before it started and i came out..not very sad as i have done well Nd not very happy as i could have done better(if i would have stopped staring at a hot chick with a low-waist jeans in front of me).Then after few months of anticipation and little bit of anxiety the results came out and i managed to get some gd/pi calls(not from IIMS though).The gd/pi looked more like Miss Universe pageant to me and every group discussion i found out some morons shouting at the top of his/her voice as if their life depended on it.Finally after going through the gruelling interview questions from Kautalya's Arthasastra to Kareena Kapoor's wardrobe i managed to fetch(quite surprisingly though) some final calls...phew..##$$%%!!
I don't intend to grow India's economy at 200%..nor do i intend to make V-shaped underwear a norm in India's remotest village.All i want to do is to touch as many lives as possible ...and deep down i feel that the platform is somewhere missing!!and that's where an MBA fits for me..

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Kolkata-My childhood..everybody's dreamz

Aloha buddies
There can't be a better place to start of than my hometown where i spent 18 years of my life.Right from the hustling,bustling and the narrow lane city lanes which become submerged in knee deep water in even a mild shower to the road side 'phuckawalas' this place has it all.The tram which still ply through the heart of the city , the Victoria Memorial which stands as a apostle of the heritage and the culture of this more than 300 yr old city.
In spite being born in a middle class family in South Kolkata i enjoyed all the privileges and amenities of modern day life,not because i deserved it,but because my parents loved me a lot.After a short stint of schooling at St Mary's School i joined South Point school in Ballygunge.I still remember i was once thrown out of classes because i tried to imitate Amitabh Bacchan while sitting in class and trying to pose as if i am smoking and saying 'Haain' in Amitabh style to my teacher.My only aim in life at that time was to have as many Gi-joe soldiers as possible and make them fight among each other!!!The fight ended successfully only if some of the soldiers lost their hands and legs...in short they died and it lead me to buy more Gi-joes...studying was the last option.Then as i grew up my priorities changed to scoring goals for my team (plz don't forget i am from kolkata where football has more craze over cricket).My parents thought i am goona be the next generation Tendulkar or Kapil Dev and sent me to Arun Lal's Bournvita Cricket Academy but to no avail..the only thing i liked there was the 'chole wala' who used to sell masala chole for 5 rupees.In spite of taking all the pain of getting early in the morning,doing all the pathetic exercises(which included 20 rounds in a big park) and then practicing on the nets i could never give cricket the place football had in my Life.Ohhh!!! sorry i forgot to mention by that we had won the 'para' football tournament and was kinda hero and wanted in every team.Before i could realize i was in class 9th and the pressure of 10 th board 'egg-jams' began to tell!! That is when the my neighbours became more significant in my life..coz they were more interested to know how my preparations were going rather than whether i was dead or alive!!My whole day was packed with tutions and school.Finally the melodrama unfolded ,i gave my board and managed to get seat in science in South Point(which is the most sought after school for science in Kolkata).It was not that i wanted to take science but i was told that only smart kids take up science...and hell ya i wanted to prove i am smart(in front of both the sexes mind you).Then started the real pain -studies ...as the big fat books began to take priority in my life i forgot all about 'para' football.Started taking tutions to tame the 'tough' subjects because i was busy sleeping in classes.But tutions did not help either coz i was busy watching the gals there.What kept me going was the constant nagging of my parents ..they used to compare me with our neighbour's son who used to study till 3 am in the morn(the evidence was that the light's used to remain on in that guys room till 3 am...ohh god!!!).The trauma of Higher Secondary took away my sleep though not my happiness.After 2 years of 'more for less' and 'less for more studies' finally my exams were over....and so was my apathy !!!finally i am a freebie..i thought now life is gonna be fun..

P.S.-i doono whether i fetched brickbat or bouquet for this confession..i tried to be as candid as possible