I am here. And I think I am comfortable here. I think this is the most comfortable place to be in. This feels secure. There is no existential pressure. Few marks variation. A little placement variation. All the good laughter to wash that down with.
Business schools are a unique place to be in. You have had some work experience to know what is out there. But you have worked in pretty lower levels of an organisation and haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet. You get an idea and you build an aspiration to make it big. You see a very drab corporate life and you see how hard you have to work to survive that. Then you come to a b-school. First thing, you meet people. Loads of loads of people. Intelligent people. Funny people. Sarcastic funny people. The to be Biswas, Kanan Gills and Zakhir Khans of the country. Then you relax a little. You let that stony face and organisation politics hardened face down a little and open up to people. Then magic happens and you make friends. Some just fade within the college life itself but some stay on. But one thing in the college that you always have in abundance is friends. All sorts. Close friends, okay friends, friends who talk when they need something, friends who are there to make an ass of you in class, friends with benefits, people who play to be friends. All sorts.
Then you get immersed in the b-school life. It’s a fantastic life. Everyday you do practically nothing. Nothing really meaningful anyway. But everyday you are learning something. Everyday you are doing something that teaches you one little thing. One little way to deal with people. One more little solution to a problem. You meet one little person who tells you one little different perspective. Between these little moments, you somewhere lose the way. You lose sight of what you had learnt in that short stint of the corporate life. You forget the drab, politically unfair, monstrous life. You get immersed in the b-school way of life. The cozy life. The secure environment engulfs you in its embrace. You forget struggles. You learn to enjoy the petite nuances of life. Early morning tea. Evening sports. Organising parties. Chilling by the lake side (An IIM Udaipur specialty mind you!). Jovial class discussions. Unassuming tests. Chit chat with your group of
homies. Life is fun. Life feels worth living. You do not have to run after superficial things like money. You know that mess will give you 3 square meals a day and an evening tea. You know you will have a comfortable bed to sleep in. Sure you would have to attend the nine am class. But if you miss it, hell would not break loose and the sky would not fall. It would be ok. Probably an email from the PGP office reprimanding you. Probably the professor would have been a little angry. Probably a sub grade down in the trimester in that subject if you did that too often. And then probably nothing at all. Expectation of important people in life like family and GF (god help you if you are in a long distance relationship in a b-school, my dear friend) subside to minimal levels. You feel free of bonds and societal pressures. Life is as good as it gets.
Then suddenly comes the fifth trimester. The placement season has gripped the school. Juniors lead the band with their summers. The laggards cry at the insurmountable task and placement cell is the most devious organization on the planet following closely behind LeT. They are incompetent asses who are having the party of their lives in that secretive Placecomm Room the entire time. This hue and cry from juniors wakes up the slumbering stony faced corporate scumbag in you. You start realizing that this celestial life is going to come to an end soon. You do not want to accept it. But you start discussing this between your
homies. Even if you aced the internship, you start having second thoughts. You envy the PPIs and drool over PPOs. Life isn’t a bed of roses anymore.
This is where most of us second year PGP students of Indian b-schools are right now. We need to wake up and tighten our belts. Or rather loosen it after all the weight we have put on here. Hear Hear, the placement season is around the corner. Buck up and prepare for the war. Talk to the feeling that is telling you that happiness in life is about to start a downward spiral. It is true and the only way to avoid it is to fail. Yes, failing does sound like a good option now but you know that you will not fail. Prepare for the war. Here is where we are!
P.S: This note has been inspired from a narrative I read on a recommendation of a bookaholic lass! I would like to thank her for this recommendation -
The Opposite of Loneliness, Published by Yale Daily News.