It’s always said and often widely accepted that, when you are recollecting an incident, you aren’t actually recalling that incident, but are recalling the last time you thought of that incident. So yes, what I am essentially trying to do here is to take you through a wonderful journey of mine, something which I hope to relive, as I take you along on this journey.
We know that ships look great at ports but ships weren’t meant to be stationary. It was built for the high seas. Keeping this thought in mind, and more of such skewed logic, I decided to take the MBA plunge after working for a couple of years. It is always difficult to leave behind what’s comfortable; to be willing to risk it all with one throw of the dice and take the call that will go alter the entire fabric of your future.
I made that decision, and so did 238 other fortunate souls when they got into S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR).
So now that we have established the fact that I am currently at SPJIMR, let’s make a small detour and find ourselves at the setting of our scene.
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad – 05.06.2016
I sat in the aisle seat of my flight, waiting to take off from Hyderabad to Mumbai. There was an uneasy sense of expectation, coupled with a tinge of uncertainty; the exact same way when I had left for my first job. I had chosen to travel alone back then. But this time my father was adamant to make the journey along with me. He was scared. But had enough pride inside not to let that show. So there I sat, silently, waiting for the air hostess to finish buckling and unbuckling the safety belt and once done, I duly plugged in my head phones.
I didn’t play any song. I just plugged the headphones in, put my phone away and closed my eyes to a comforting darkness. The darkness that was a friend; it always had answers to my doubts.
I asked myself, am I doing the right thing by taking the plunge? Was I right to leave my decently well paying job and move to a place where I knew no one. Was it worth all that pain? Was it?
The thing about making huge personal decisions is not that you are afraid to make them; all it takes is 30 seconds of insane courage. The real struggle is when you have to live it with it for the rest of your lives. And this is/was one of those moments from which there was no looking back. I could have chosen not to get onto that flight, could have paid heed to my darkest fears, but I didn’t. And here I am writing this article, a month later, after having joined SPJIMR.
The month so far has been anything but easy. It has been long and hard. The workload is crazy. Sleep is a bygone thing of the past. But it has been extremely rewarding. I have had the luxury to work with great minds, people with truck loads of experience, insanely talented artists and more. Every single day I learn something new. With each passing day, I tend to add more conviction to my decision, something which I pride myself on. I decided to take that flight to Mumbai. I decided to join SPJIMR. And I hope, for what it’s worth, that I shall be able to make a small ripple off my own, a small mark on the canvas that is this great institution. I hope I live to the tag, #iamspjimr.