A Synopsis of the IIMR Journey

February 02, 2017

A Synopsis of the IIMR Journey

Disclaimer: My story is neither inspiring nor has lessons for people to take away. But for some reason I don’t know, I feel like writing about it. This might be too long although ‘long’ is subjective.

A simple choice:

8 days away from leaving this place, I find myself strangely satisfied with all I’ve done. Possibly because I didn’t come here with any expectations. Two years ago, when I had to choose between joining Maruti and doing an MBA, I chose this just because I didn’t want to work. In fact, I thought I’d be endorsing child labor by doing so. But I didn't know where I was heading to.

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Lost:

Everyone who came here had one goal or the other. Landing a dream job, starting their own venture or something like having a holistic view of things and improving their skills (basically things I deem bullshit). I, on the other hand, found myself drowning in a sea of confusion. The dreaded phrase, “Welcome to the real world” was smeared all over the place. I was afraid. Very afraid. I decided to quit the rat race. I’m still not sure if it was a good thing to do but here are the stats.

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A Walking Disaster:

20 months later, I’m a four pointer (subject to grade drops), ranking 10^th from the bottom. No class participation. Didn’t read a single case properly. The assignments were merely obligations. Didn’t even participate in any management event. Basically, I’m a below average student. But I do have a job. *grins*. Anyway, that’s the academics part, something I’ll never be able to comprehend.

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Not so environment-friendly:

Probably, the greatest lesson I’ve learned here is that you have to choose your friends wisely. For the whole of the first year, I was surrounded by people who thought I didn’t amount to much because of well, my academics. People keep liking posts on social media which say “CGPA doesn’t matter” but the same people judge you for your marks. Unfortunately for me, by the end of the first year, I was convinced that I was useless.

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Renaissance:

Then came the internship where I was assigned the role of a Community Manager. I still believed I was worthless and so, I was scared. But everyone at work was kind and helped me in whatever I was doing and soon, I found myself taking initiative and doing things. I was alone (not lonely) for most of the time during my internship and it gave me ample time to reflect upon my life. No, I wasn’t worthless. I knew it. But what was it that was pulling me back? I knew the answer. My friends’ circle. The first thing I did post the internship was to change my circle. Eureka! The best decision I’ve taken in my life!

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New Friends, New Life:

No, my grades didn’t improve. My attendance is still bad. I’m still in the bottom ten. But I’m happy. Really happy. I’ll even go to the extent of saying that my life is more sorted out than most of the people here. The point I’m trying to make is where you go in life depends on the friends you choose to have because that’s what friends do. They bring out the best in you. And I’m glad that I have quite a few here.

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In the right place at the right time:

I’m not pretending to be modest or anything here but I don’t really consider myself to be a singer. I’m an excellent imitator. Yeah, that’s what I am but fortunately for me, nobody cares about the difference which is why I’ve garnered some praise. Hearing my name being cheered was one of the best feelings I’ve had in my life and I’m grateful to my friends here for that. Although I want to be known for other things, I can’t really complain, can I? (BTW, I won the first prize in TEDx’s First Flight Writing Contest. Err…Nevermind.)

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Let’s hit the club:

I quit my committee way back and it was a bit tough dealing with it. I was told that I’d be losing a CV point and was missing out on a whole shitload of things but my CV was pretty decent even then. Probably would’ve learned a lot by remaining in the committee but that wasn’t my cup of tea anyway. But being part of the clubs was where all the learning happened. 1. I’d have missed out on meeting some amazing people if it weren’t for the clubs 2. Clubs are fun.

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The Acceptance Conundrum:

Well, there are many who think I’m weird/stupid/immature etc. I’ve even seen someone feeling sorry for me because I was mentally challenged(in their eyes). Well, I can’t really blame them. It’s the stuff I do that is responsible for that but neither will I change nor will they. We all are different and different hearts beat for different things.

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Climax:

All I want to say is that if a guy like me, who’s one of the worst MBA students in the history of mankind, could come this far, there’s no reason you should be worried about surviving here. There's one thing I’d like to briefly preach:

I’ve seen more worried faces than happy faces here. Please don’t procrastinate working on your happiness. I spent my two years trying to prove this. The best things happen in pursuit of happiness and my story is a testimony to it.