Same time ... Last year …
It had relatively been the same time last year … Memories have been quite nostalgic. I was working with Cognizant then. The clients have come and the team was going through a packed schedule of knowledge transfer of the sytem that we would be taking over in a few days. It was then, I had a call from XLRI for BM. I had my interview on March 7th at 4.00 AM. I somehow managed to ace the interview and get into a place which had always been my distant dream.
Almost a year has passed by and I was returning back home for a short break. I was sitting in the Calcutta airport rather jobless and those memories of preparing for interviews an year ago began to haunt me. I took out my laptop and started scribbling all those arbit thoughts that lingered around my mind.
It has been a year since I had come here. This is the first place to have given me everything and have seen me in every possible emotional frame of mind. A month after my interview, I was waitlisted for my admissions at XLRI and I got a confirmed call 2 weeks later. A pride of some sense crept in mind. A lot of people around me started looking for me to set standards … I and, I alone knew that I can never be a role model to any human being on earth. It has always been a trial and error life for me. I do think a lot before taking any decision, but never really plan for anything to happen. I always take life as it comes and give seriousness only to issues that deserve it.
It took some time for me to land back in ground to realize that the task has just begun and I have not really moved anywhere. I was wondering how tough MBA life would be. After having met some seniors, I was under an impression that XLRI is a tough place to live in. Fear gripped and the day arrived. I set foot in Jamshedpur. The campus was too cute and city was very graceful than the Bihari town that I had imagined it would be.
I had always been the lucky one …. Eventhough, I had worked hard and have earned the things the tougher way, I had always been Lucky in the sense that, things had been happening to me when I really want them to happen. XLRI came at the right time when I was feeling really guilty of doing some technical work, when my real goal was of being a manager. I had a bad hindi and I was out of home for the first ever time in life. I am a chatterbox and will hardly remain silent. Lucky as I was, I had a tamil roomie. Had it been a hindi roomie, I would have leant hindi faster, but would have found it hard to adapt myself to a new world.
Not just a roomie, I had some nice bunch of friends who I got extremely close with over a period of time. I got nice people, fairly decent dosas, good south Indian thaali (atleast once a week), etc … Jamshedpur was not the best of the places, but XLRI was. It was a learning experience in itself. You see varied personalities flocking from all over India to do their MBAs. You understand, how people work and hence how organizations work. Life began rather slow and I had to flex every muscle of mine to adapt to rather demanding culture and schedules. XLRI is not all about education. Eventually reading and working hard is always a personal choice that you had to make at one point or other. XLRI does not really put in deadlines or schedules. They are just laid down and there was always an option of bye-passing them. XLRI made me change a lot of my personal habits and attributes.
Frankly, I had always been a conservative Chennai-ite who has a very well defined value system. I firmly believed that what I understood was universal. XLRI was initially a culture shock for me when I had encountered men and women drinking together (In Chennai, even men drinking alone was look down at). For the first time in my life, I came upon women chain smokers. In Venky, there will be around 10 % who smoke. Here 50 % of the junta smokes of which 60 % are chain smokers. Life looked different to me.
Men into women hostels are still controlled in different part of India (not just in Chennai). Here it was different … men and women can walk into any hostel at any point of time. The things that once looked vague for me because of my own prejudices looked clear to me now. I myself was gifted with two very close friends(rakhi sisters) by the institute.
I was going thro a lot of confusion if those that happened around me were right or wrong, but I was sure of one thing – “I am changing for Good”.
Balanced, as it had been XLRI also had my share of tough times. I have seen few of my best friends going through terrible emotions of love…. Some managed to get out and some did not have the heart to forget. Some where successful and some had their fate elsewhere. Having seen their emotions closely, those were some really disturbing moments.
The disappointments sometimes lasted long and sometimes they dint last even for hours. Former was a case of being knocked out of the junior SAC because of a foolish question that one stupid mate of mine had come up with. It took me 7 full months to make it into SAC again. SIP started of on a nice note with a Hewitt shortlist and a fabulous GD, but later followed up with pathetic shortlists. Life looked tooo glooomy for me in just a few days ... Thankfully, it all ended in a few days when I was among the first few to sign out with priced offer from HLL.
XLRI was not what I expected. May be that was what made it special in my life. Had the seniors presented a rosy picture, the story might have been different. It reinforced my principle again: “Expect the Least out of life … You will never be disappointed”. Having been with a new group and having tired every new thing, life sometimes looked empty.
Having looked at the past, everything seems like, it has happened for Good. I had never regretted when I look back the way I had lived. This is what gives me immense satisfaction. XLRI may or may not make me a CEO …. But It had made me a MAN.
One more year to enjoy at “My XLRI”…I will miss you for another week.
JK
Almost a year has passed by and I was returning back home for a short break. I was sitting in the Calcutta airport rather jobless and those memories of preparing for interviews an year ago began to haunt me. I took out my laptop and started scribbling all those arbit thoughts that lingered around my mind.
It has been a year since I had come here. This is the first place to have given me everything and have seen me in every possible emotional frame of mind. A month after my interview, I was waitlisted for my admissions at XLRI and I got a confirmed call 2 weeks later. A pride of some sense crept in mind. A lot of people around me started looking for me to set standards … I and, I alone knew that I can never be a role model to any human being on earth. It has always been a trial and error life for me. I do think a lot before taking any decision, but never really plan for anything to happen. I always take life as it comes and give seriousness only to issues that deserve it.
It took some time for me to land back in ground to realize that the task has just begun and I have not really moved anywhere. I was wondering how tough MBA life would be. After having met some seniors, I was under an impression that XLRI is a tough place to live in. Fear gripped and the day arrived. I set foot in Jamshedpur. The campus was too cute and city was very graceful than the Bihari town that I had imagined it would be.
I had always been the lucky one …. Eventhough, I had worked hard and have earned the things the tougher way, I had always been Lucky in the sense that, things had been happening to me when I really want them to happen. XLRI came at the right time when I was feeling really guilty of doing some technical work, when my real goal was of being a manager. I had a bad hindi and I was out of home for the first ever time in life. I am a chatterbox and will hardly remain silent. Lucky as I was, I had a tamil roomie. Had it been a hindi roomie, I would have leant hindi faster, but would have found it hard to adapt myself to a new world.
Not just a roomie, I had some nice bunch of friends who I got extremely close with over a period of time. I got nice people, fairly decent dosas, good south Indian thaali (atleast once a week), etc … Jamshedpur was not the best of the places, but XLRI was. It was a learning experience in itself. You see varied personalities flocking from all over India to do their MBAs. You understand, how people work and hence how organizations work. Life began rather slow and I had to flex every muscle of mine to adapt to rather demanding culture and schedules. XLRI is not all about education. Eventually reading and working hard is always a personal choice that you had to make at one point or other. XLRI does not really put in deadlines or schedules. They are just laid down and there was always an option of bye-passing them. XLRI made me change a lot of my personal habits and attributes.
Frankly, I had always been a conservative Chennai-ite who has a very well defined value system. I firmly believed that what I understood was universal. XLRI was initially a culture shock for me when I had encountered men and women drinking together (In Chennai, even men drinking alone was look down at). For the first time in my life, I came upon women chain smokers. In Venky, there will be around 10 % who smoke. Here 50 % of the junta smokes of which 60 % are chain smokers. Life looked different to me.
Men into women hostels are still controlled in different part of India (not just in Chennai). Here it was different … men and women can walk into any hostel at any point of time. The things that once looked vague for me because of my own prejudices looked clear to me now. I myself was gifted with two very close friends(rakhi sisters) by the institute.
I was going thro a lot of confusion if those that happened around me were right or wrong, but I was sure of one thing – “I am changing for Good”.
Balanced, as it had been XLRI also had my share of tough times. I have seen few of my best friends going through terrible emotions of love…. Some managed to get out and some did not have the heart to forget. Some where successful and some had their fate elsewhere. Having seen their emotions closely, those were some really disturbing moments.
The disappointments sometimes lasted long and sometimes they dint last even for hours. Former was a case of being knocked out of the junior SAC because of a foolish question that one stupid mate of mine had come up with. It took me 7 full months to make it into SAC again. SIP started of on a nice note with a Hewitt shortlist and a fabulous GD, but later followed up with pathetic shortlists. Life looked tooo glooomy for me in just a few days ... Thankfully, it all ended in a few days when I was among the first few to sign out with priced offer from HLL.
XLRI was not what I expected. May be that was what made it special in my life. Had the seniors presented a rosy picture, the story might have been different. It reinforced my principle again: “Expect the Least out of life … You will never be disappointed”. Having been with a new group and having tired every new thing, life sometimes looked empty.
Having looked at the past, everything seems like, it has happened for Good. I had never regretted when I look back the way I had lived. This is what gives me immense satisfaction. XLRI may or may not make me a CEO …. But It had made me a MAN.
One more year to enjoy at “My XLRI”…I will miss you for another week.
JK
posted by jk @ 9:09 AM
2 Comments:
ippo timeae illa..irunthaalum solraen... antha seniora podurathunna potturalaamda...roomla adaichuralaam CRP poga vidaama..enna solrae? will come up with a good comment later..
First part is too much gyan.. but i loved the II half.. yea, life here is terrific!! it is one of the best places..
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