Have doubts about what to do in life? Sure.
Decide to pursue MBA? Why not.
Getting into IIM a dream come true? Oh Yes!
Now, what next?
It is and always will be one of the most exhilarating moments when you are selected in an IIM. If it happens to be IIM Indore, you get the literal feeling of being at the top of the world when you are standing at the sunset point or taking a casual stroll down any of the beautiful roads in the hilly campus and your heart feels elated at just the thought of being a part of one of the most elite business schools. The mesmerizing air, the aura of the people around you, all speaks to your soul.
My first day here sang a different tone. Even though my mind was animated, my brain was going all technical. I felt out of place, anxious, nervous. Every cell in my body was filled with CONFUSION. The first question that is asked in the interviews is: Why MBA? People have ambitious answers prepared and can throw the words at you with a speed of 3*10^6 m/s. This should give away my engineering background. For all the non-engineers out there, the big number is the speed of light. I have been a part of the race to become an engineer in - Drum roll - Computer Science. But the fun part is that I still have an inclination towards my field, the core of my education and it was about to be left behind. Out of nervousness, I started questioning every reason that I had given myself regarding why MBA is something that I should do. The real victory was when the ‘should’ turned into ‘want’. And this took time. But like most of the optimistic and full of hope movies, it eventually happened. Things started to improve. I reminded myself that I had wanted to dive into what could be a game changer in my life.
The pressures that came with the quizzes and the lectures became thrilling. They were challenges that I now wanted to overcome. Class participation was not easy for me but it became easier and I recited the motto that I can do it. I never thought I had it in me. New subjects with new concepts were overwhelming at first but then my confidence was back and soon enough I was happily increasing my knowledge base. I was relishing things that I had stopped doing long ago like taking part in competitions, fests, late night events, going up and down a large number of stairs. I was wandering into untouched horizons and each activity, small or big, gave me joy.
It started with chaos and got clearer with every passing day, hour, minute, second (Is an MBA related post even complete without a reference to time?). I realized that I have been given an amazing opportunity to polish myself, improve the positives, negate the negatives or at least get better at hiding them! It all began just like in a horror movie with things going bad but as every nonsensical character in the movie goes to check the basement, alone, even though a scary noise can be heard, I jumped head first into the routine, explored the region which is so far out of my comfort zone that I cannot even see the boundary of my comfort zone. The cherry on top was when I registered that I don’t have to give up my technical background! I could have the best of both worlds, here in IIM Indore, which is nothing short of an ocean of opportunities; for every hobby that got replaced by academics, for every academic subject that got overlooked due to a particular field, for every field not pursued.
The moral of the story: Were you also confused? Was your mind playing a trick on you too by kicking you into a corner and making you think about all the questions: what, why, how? Are you still confused about MBA or have you moved on to being confused about the domains? If the answer to any of the questions is YES, then you need to do nothing. That’s right. It will all pan out. You will find what you enjoy doing the most. You will try new things, meet new people, and get new experiences. You will regret some, love the others. After all, that is what it is all about. Taking risks and going on adventures, little by little, every day. Just have an open mind and be ready to be blown away by what MBA from IIM I has to offer and the aspiration will come to get you.
Chandler Bing, the epitome of humour, is who I am going to follow. Because that’s how you get through things, laughing at mistakes and absurdities, learning from every wrong, doing rights to compensate, exploring and travelling further down the road which I never thought I’d take.