A few years back, the male protagonist in a Bollywood movie recited these famous words "Main udna chahta hoon, daudna chahta hoon, girna bhi chahta hoon...bus rukna nahin chahta", which translates to ‘I want to fly, I want to run, I want to fall in life but never stop.’ The words resonate with most dreamers like me as I am someone who is highly ambitious and have an exhaustive bucket list that I want to live my life by. However, a year into my journey as a management student in one of the premier institutes in the country, I find myself constantly pondering over questions about all the race(s) I am a part of - the race for bagging the best company in summers, the race to fetch the highest stipend, the race for a PPO, and then the laterals and eventually the final placements. It makes me wonder if we are missing out on something more important: something as important as simply the joy of learning.
To study a management course with an exceptional pedagogy that provides us the opportunity to do multiple internships with leading organisations, be mentored by some of the most experienced business leaders and, most importantly, be taught by some extraordinary teachers, in fact 'gurus' in the real sense, is a life-changing opportunity, not just in terms of bagging the highest compensation package with a leading organisation, but simply in terms of one’s personal growth and transformation. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we all wait and work hard for but lose out on as soon as we join the race for the next big thing in our lives.
In the two years of our MBA journey, on several occasions, most of us will find ourselves in conversations that are simply an attempt at networking or creating an impression, our attempts at scoring a high GPA will be more to do with meeting a certain company's selection criteria than a genuine effort to seek knowledge and even reading the news would be more to do with clearing group discussions and interviews or simply finding conversation topics than the real desire to know more about the important events happening around us. However, as much as these things will hold us in good stead, in the long run, these shouldn't be the defining factors of the two years of our management education.
Many would argue that with a large student loan, this 'gyaan' sounds good but isn't realistic, as the pressure on them is too high. But, at the same time, I hear more and more people (even the ones passing out from premier institutes) complaining, “I didn't learn much in my two years of MBA”. I believe there is a much greater need for all of us to not let our short and long term plans (basically CV points) overshadow our current plans and our on-going journey. There is a need for all of us to stop running every once in a while and simply stop and enjoy the journey that is our academic pursuit instead of worrying too much about where it will take us.
As another protagonist in a blockbuster Bollywood movie puts it "Kabil bano, kabil...kamyabi toh jhak marke peeche bhagegi" meaning ‘one should focus on being competent; success will follow’.
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About The Author:
Apoorva Mahajan is presently a student of Human Resources at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and has done her graduation in Business Economics from Delhi University. She loves reading and debating on a variety of topics and as a proud TISSian she believes her college gives her ample platforms and opportunities to speak up for what she truly believes in!