Let’s get the ball rolling....
Till mid-2014, I wasn't a conscious decision-maker of my career choices. It was all about what my family expected out of me. I had just completed my Engineering and MBA was on the cards courtesy my selection in a good college through CMAT. As expected, I accepted the college's admission offer and paid the first installment of the fee. Within the first month, I felt very out of place among all the batchmates. The course curriculum didn’t excite me and I constantly questioned myself, "why I’m doing this? What’s the reason behind pursuing this degree?" Plain and simple, I was down in the dumps.
Back in 2012, I discovered my passion for Sports, primarily for Cricket and Tennis. Some random discussions with a friend made me realize that I could remember match stats and facts. Besides that, I enjoyed commentating (dry run) and analysing different game situations. That same friend introduced me to Blogger and the journey of "My Experiences With Cricket" began. The mentioned blog turned out to be my luck on purpose moment. One fine day, I participated in a cricket discussion on a Facebook post and got lucky as one of the co-founders of Cricmatez, an associate blog of ESPNCricinfo, contacted me, asked for my written pieces and I got my first break. No wonder a massive achievement and I was completely over the moon. I successfully worked on a few stories for a couple of other sports news websites -- SportsCosmoz and The Cricket Lounge -- too, and writing became a part of my life for a good two years. I didn’t earn a single penny throughout that phase (as those websites didn’t have an exhaustive revenue model) but the exposure was priceless. When MBA came calling, writing took a back-seat. I missed the thrill of watching live matches and putting the action into words. Honestly, it made me a bit miserable.
Cut to 2014 again. Here I was: trapped in a course I had no purpose of completing and barely finding time to write. When I tried explaining my situation to my near and dear ones, it seemed that they were keen on advising me rather than understanding what I was feeling. In short, I didn’t feel a connection. It was tough getting out of bed every day and living with the same questions, the answers of which I was failing to crack. Little did I know what was about to happen would change my life forever.
When the time comes to step out of someone's shadow, there’ll be challenges but growth is a surety. Going against my family's decision, I dropped out of MBA. It was an absolute chaos and I've no better term to describe its after-effects. Both the parties were disappointed to say the least, but for me there was another feeling too - I was slightly relaxed that I could focus more on writing. There was uncertainty but I managed to overcome it through passion, hard work, building connections and facing the camera to upskill myself. For making contacts, I crafted cold emails and with time I understood the importance of striking a conversation rather than straightaway asking the other person for a job.
From the end of 2014 till 2019, I had the time of my life. I worked with NDTV, Hindustan Times, The Outlook Group and SportzWiki as a Sports Correspondent. All stints combined, I focussed on original pieces, interviewed sports personalities like Virender Sehwag, David Miller, Mohammad Hafeez, Wasim Jaffer and more, managed social media accounts of sportspersons and understood the difference between online, print and TV media. Above all, I got chances to cover live games both in India and overseas. I certainly enjoyed every bit of it. Almost everyone around me had perspectives to my decision of leaving MBA, but none of it fell in the "I support you" category. Did I expect some backing? Not really. I knew my ability and I believed in myself. And when the same people witnessed my progress, I received nothing but best messages and wishes. I was glad but didn't get too overwhelmed or carried away. Surely, I had learnt a lesson.
Sport Takes Me To IIM
"Cool, but let it be." - My initial reaction when I got to know (in early 2020) that IIM (Rohtak) offers an Executive Post Graduate Diploma (ePGD) in Sports Management. Education through an institution wasn’t on my mind. I was satisfied with the process of "learning on the job". But one thing I had realized was that the sports industry isn't primarily about its media side. There's much more to it and that was enough to spur my learning demand. How would it happen? Would Google and LinkedIn be my guiding lights or, once again, would I be part of a cohort? Time had the best answer.
By having detailed conversations with the sportspersons, I could make out that there’s a lot that goes behind-the-scenes w.r.t the different teams. Be it the dressing-room talks during or after a thriller, the importance of sports psychologists, the process which leads to change or acceptance of a team culture and its analysis, the role of team managers, player agents and data analysts, and much more. From the events' angle, there's a marketing department comprising volunteers, the support staff of stadiums' maintenance, etc. At IIM Rohtak, there was an exhaustive list of experts who had worked in the above-mentioned roles and were open to impart their skills and knowledge towards the development of the future of the aspirants and also the Sports Management course, which had begun only in 2018.
I was excited but a few questions crossed my mind: What's the need of a course when I can approach these people through LinkedIn or any other social platform? Say I message 10, at least 2-3 might reply and I would request them for a chat regarding their career moves and what steps I should take to grow professionally? Obviously, I felt that was a good approach but learning from them along with a designated batch of enthusiasts and experienced pros would be a different ball game altogether. Knowledge intercourse can be the likely interpretation of the preceding statement. When learning is the goal, the why to do something gets clear.
I researched as much as I could about the course. I also spoke with the students of previous batches. There were mixed reviews but almost all of them gave the learning aspect a 10/10. I decided that I would apply for the course but keep it low-profile. I was in a good state of mind and staying quiet was the best way to avoid distractions.
I prepared hard and got through. It was a great feeling and I was confident that my life was about to take another 'right' turn. I joined the course and went on to have the most productive two years ever at an educational institution. For all those reading this story and who wish to apply for the ePGDSM course at IIM Rohtak, here're my three observations that could help in strengthening your case further -
1) Overseas Faculties
All of them are absolutely brilliant. Their experience in the field of sports is invaluable and so is their way of going about the lectures and presentations. You wouldn’t want to miss their classes. Some faculties would also encourage you to use their name so that you can build more contacts.
As far as the local faculties are concerned, they lack in sports-related experience but they don’t shy away from making changes to their style of delivery as per the students’ requirement.
2) Turn Your Academic Projects Into Live Projects
For each and every subject, a respective faculty will allot projects or assignments either on an individual or group basis. I would suggest that you don’t depend only on the secondary research to get those projects or assignments done. Talk to relevant people (from the sports industry), collect useful information, take their opinions and then make a final submission. Stick to the deadlines, but don’t forget to innovate.
3) Stay Connected
Your cohort will likely consist of freshers, experienced sports professionals, current or former players, educators, sports enthusiasts and more. It’s not about staying in touch for the two years of the course, but establishing never-ending relationships through which you'll help each other out in finding and creating jobs. Not only this, but having constructive conversations is also a fuel to career advancement.
To sum up, I never dreamt of studying at IIM. From most people’s perspective, there was nothing about me that would’ve warranted my selection in any top college, let alone IIM, because my dropout was perceived as an evidence of failure. But life is funny and amazing too. It doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you. Probably, that’s why I’m now an IIM alumnus, and a proud one!