A single moment is enough to break your life-long perception about certain things. Whenever there is a steep ramp in the career, it takes some time and a level of understanding to move from one stage to the other. When this is lacking, life makes us take new things with a pinch of salt. We have no option but to face it! When you have two prized days of a weekend between the last day of work and the first day of a new journey at SPJIMR, after which life would change drastically beyond imagination, it is hard to figure things out. Imagine the state of wilderness on missing the game of thrones episodes on a Monday morning. Such was the level of my maturity when I stepped into the institution called SPJIMR.
It seemed like I had achieved something when I converted the call from SPJIMR. I knew I had to deal with a plethora of people of extremely high calibre and rich experience. This very thought pushed my pride and achievement to the backseat. The mind fragmented into two; one which reflected on the positive vibes of the external world and the other- a pessimistic one. It becomes difficult to get rid of the latter, however hard you try to do so. And if we carry the pessimistic mind to a B-school, I have realised that it can’t get any worse. To a person like me, who moved out of the hometown for the first time and daunted by the sheer talent of the peers, it struck like a thunder, so loud, lingering ever after. From that moment, this place in Mumbai has started to sculpt me into a better person. Anyone whom you speak to either has a story to tell which could inspire you or a lesson to teach which could redefine you. You realize you are in a great place when every opinion of yours has a better alternative or a completely new viewpoint. Not every time you face the reality bang on your face, like when your friend asks if you have come here to sleep or to learn. There is an absolutely zero tolerance for mediocrity at this level and suddenly when you identify yourself to be in such state, you feel isolated and disturbed. Anyway, that was not the end of the world. Life and people are not as harsh as I have seen them so far. Not really, when we begin to understand ourselves better. It takes a lot of courage to accept the reality and start working on your weaknesses. The uniqueness about SPJIMR is that you tend to get the glimpse of ground reality every now and then. Where else could you find time to discover who you are and facilitate your personal growth? Where else in this country do you get to mentor an under-privileged child? These aspects I believe would prime a person to stay down-to-earth in the entire life.
With all the daily routines of academics, loads of business school competitions, CEO talks, committee meetings that are happening round the clock every week, one thing that resonates in my mind are the words stressed by our dean – “ Chase your dreams and pursue excellence in it”, for you can’t be mediocre at what you love the most. And here at SPJIMR, I find a huge platform to exercise and exhibit every interest of mine. Now I am glad that I am here.