Through the corner of my eye, I took another glance at my phone. The notification tab still remained empty. It was about time. The Facebook and Whatsapp groups of MBA aspirants were abuzz with rumours that CAP results had been declared. Some aspirants had even received congratulatory mails.
My mind unknowingly drifted back to the journey which I had undertaken a year back. I still remember the day I decided to take up CAT to move from a software engineering role to a broader management role. Tackling a 9 hour job along with preparing for an exam as competitive as CAT was no mean feat. I remember waking up at 6:30 AM in the morning, studying till 9 AM and then rushing to the office. My usual morning playlist while commuting to office had been replaced by The Hindu, The Indian Express. The tired soul that searched for solace at the end of the day in the cozy bed, now had to sit through solving Maths problems which he had learnt 10 years back. It was the zeal to do something better in my career which had kept me going over the past few months. I still remember getting overjoyed at a decent CAT score only to be cautioned by seniors and mentors that the journey had only been half won. I still remember walking pretty nervously into my CAP only to get comfortable very soon and answering most questions confidently.
The Outlook mail notification broke my chain of thought and brought me to the present. Taking a deep breath, I stared at my office laptop and saw another requirement sent by the client which had to be worked upon. But even while doing so, my mind subconsciously went back to the events of the past few months. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have been working from homes. With no clear demarcation between home and work, fatigue had been setting in, probably one of the reasons why I found it so difficult to concentrate on the job at hand.
It was then that the mobile buzzed once again. From the notification bar it seemed like an email. With trembling fingers I opened the mail.
“Congratulations. You have been granted provisional admission to IIM Ranchi”
I jumped up from my makeshift workstation in joy. My mind went numb for a moment. I had converted my best call. I had grand thoughts of how happy or lucky I would be if I converted this call. But at the moment, I simply went numb. I did not feel a thing. Maybe it was the gloom around brought in by the pandemic that made me devoid of feeling a joyous moment like this. Or maybe it was the struggle of the past year of managing work, studies which had made me a more level-headed being. I rushed out of my room and hugged my mom. Even though I did not tell her anything, she saw me grinning from ear to ear and realised the reason for the smile. Maybe that is what makes moms special.
I had to put in my papers at work that day. The congratulatory messages from friends and colleagues were flowing in. It was time to move on to another challenge. And isn’t that why institutions like IIM Ranchi exist? To provide a new challenge, to provide better career opportunities. Despite its 11 year history, IIM Ranchi has managed to create a brand for itself, a brand that provides ample opportunities to grow your career. It is the place where thousands of dreams had been realised. It is the place that throws another gauntlet at you to see if you can come up trumps, this time in the world of management.