MBA myths unlocked- from the eyes of an aspirant turned student !!

Its funny how people form clouds of myths before you start to do something different or brave and turn the exact opposite the very moment you complete what you started. Something similar happened when I geared up for the examination of my life – the MBA entrances. To start with, my decision to take the most dreaded of all exams was either taken on a light note by people or mocked about primarily cuz of the fact that I had one of the lowest marks in college and ‘zero’ extracurriculars to add to it. A fresher with no work ex, I had no great internships either and people who had most of these in their bags would often come to me and say on a sarcastic note – “Yes. An MBA is open to all.” Yes, I was the underdog when it came to it. But there’s nothing more fulfilling and satisfying when an underdog pulls up a surprise against the mighty opponents. Whats more appealing, the things which were cracked by me were the ones I was told were uncrackable and that’s why this piece of writing is for all to believe – “Yes, we can if we really want to. We are the doers and the others mere spectators.”

It was said that it was the XAT which was tougher that the CAT. And what more, I scored more in the former. But wait for it, even a high score at the toughest of all MBA exams was not enough. People now came up to me and said- “You’ve no marks to show in college. All others have loads of it.  What are you gonna say in the interviews?” And I replied- ” U know what, I am gonna say exactly what you said. All others have loads, I have no marks. Yet I am sitting here in front of you people and not all of them. That’s why you should take me in.” I said exactly the same in all interviews and cracked most of them. Thats not it, the institutes I converted were the ones which had the image of giving unprecedented preference to work ex. And  I converted them without any as well as low undergrad marks.

Now the very same people come up to me and say- “You always had it in you Abhishek.” I reply nothing but laugh inside- on their double standards, on their foolish acts. What I’ve learnt is that no one can and I mean no one can tell us what we can’t do. Cuz we ourselves don’t know what we can do. And nothing should stop us from doing what our hearts want to do. Remember, there’s always room at the top. It is one seat we all are after. We don’t have to see how the other 99 made it. We can always be the exceptions and be the other 1 to make it.

The Unsung Hero or the Idolised Father – Whose India is it ?

It is the 21st century and the India we see today is a specimen of rapid industrialisation and is in the race of becoming one of the next superpowers of the World. The Private sector has stood up to match with the public sector and industrialists like Tata and Ambani have carved a niche for themselves in the World Arena. When I talk of such a transformation, what I ask is whose India is it today that we are witnessing ? Is it the vision of a man whose image we see everyday on the Indian currency or the man who is often understated in terms of his efforts for the freedom of our motherland? Yes, I am talking about Gandhi and Bose and don’t mistake me for arguing on a fight between the two – I am just throwing light on the visions of our two freedom fighters who were as different as the North and South Poles in their approach.

“The future of India lies in its villages”. These were Gandhi’s words with respect to India’s post independence policy. A man who romanticized village life as the hallmark of the future India, his views drastically differed from Bose for whom industrialisation was the only route to making India strong and self-sufficient. Coming to 2012, and witnessing the present India which is developing like the speed of a leopard and is already a force to reckon with, we all know whose vision was a more prudent and realistic one.

I am not saying Gandhi was less a leader compared to Bose. No, No. Infact, I consider Gandhi the best leader the country has ever produced primarily because he ruled nearly 50 crore people of India for almost 30 years, without any claim to power or authority. It was his leadership skills that won him the title- “Father of the Nation”. But my question is did India want a leader more desperately at that point of time or someone who could provide them at the earliest what they most desperately wanted – “Independence”. Bose does fall behind Gandhi in his leadership skills, but his approach was more result oriented. When I was a child, I often pondered if Gandhi was our greatest freedom fighter, why did it take him 30 years after his first movement to actually help India gain independence. That’s a long time, isn’t it? And when it did come, it came at a time when Britain was destroyed to such an extent cuz of the World War 2 that it was no longer able to maintain its own military forces, forget about ruling a country as huge as India. On the other hand, Bose was that person who stepped down twice from the post of the President of the INC and then went to continuously strive for India’s independence by taking a bolder step of working from outside the Indian premises and constantly coming into the nightmares of the Britishers.

A report says that when asked about the role of Gandhi in Indian independence, Lord Attlee replied- Mi-ni-mal, while Bose was the man who had actually given such Britishers nightmares given the number of arrest warrants and search teams the latter underwent for him.

Bose was a hero who didn’t care if he is worshipped, he cared only about his dream- independence. And, due to that, in a nutshell, to me Gandhi will always be the best leader India has produced while Bose the best hero it has ever witnessed.

What really matters? What’s actually worth it?

Sometimes I wonder, is what I am aspiring to be really worth it?

Are all those dreams imposed on me by the world worth it?

They say, become a high salaried man and you’re successful; I ask is it?

I look back and realise I have excelled in academics most times. What more, I am sitting with an XL call as I am writing  this down . But when I introspect and think about my happiest times, academic excellence hardly come into play. The first boundary I hit in the lane of my small town, the first smile my love gave to me, the kiss my mom gave on my cheeks, the lightness in the air when I was with my school buddies; these are the times I cherish. It’s not that I haven’t tasted success. I have. But even being in the best of schools didn’t give me the happiness my little old school gave me. Even this lavish flat doesn’t give me the relief my old home with a lantern gave me.

I know I’m a man, I’ve to earn, for my present family, for my future family. But is it the end – the earning which contains all the happiness? Or is it the little things we do while achieving worldly happiness is what gives us real happiness ? I ask this as I’ve felt. The pain of losing someone while aspiring for something more. No doubt, I was aspiring only for that someone. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is I forgot it’s not the work which gives you happiness, but the people you want to work for.

A good day is when you come home after a long day to see your love smile at you; cuz you know then that what you’ve worked for is worth it. And for that smile, it doesn’t matter to earn maximum or being the richest. What matters is if you have time to be with the ones you love after you’ve made money, even if it is somewhat low.

For in the end, you will not be remembered for the money you leave in the bank ( you will take that secret with you above);

what you’ll be remembered for will be the lives you touch, the people you make smile, the memories you leave behind…..

TEARS…

Last night before I went to bed,

Thoughts of you filled my head.

Though I have not cried this way in many years,

onto my pillow fell six silent tears.

The first was for your smile that I miss,

And your tender lips i love to kiss.

The second was for your angel face,

And thoughts of your loving embrace.

The third came as no surprise

as I thought of your cute little dismantled teeth.

The fourth came rolling

when i thought of those precious times which we spent together day and night.

The fifth came for one reason that I was alone,

I felt my love for you wasn’t fully shown.

I really love and miss you

And there fell the sixth silent tear.

I counted few more tears but failed to pen down the pain,

For the way you made me feel about Life,

I know none can make me feel the same.

When you start …

When you start creating ideas that make people laugh at you, be sure you’ve taken the first step towards Success.