Yes!! That’s it!! I made it to one of the best b-schools in India. It was an amazing feeling to go back to studies after almost 3 years into the corporate sector. I was thrilled and ecstatic at the same time as all the hard work and turmoil had paid off and it was time to start a new journey altogether. It was the 20th of June when the classes at SPJIMR were supposed to begin and the entire batch arrived with enthusiasm and expectations for the new journey. The days flew by while we all were busy in following each other like a flock of sheep with umbrellas in our hands and the never-ending rains pouring over us.
That sounded dismal and boring to me as my entire life was caught between these two buildings – the academic block and the hostel room. Ahh! This is not what I expected the college life would be. I loved playing outdoor sports and had been brought up as a child who used to study only after my quota of outdoor playing was fulfilled for the day. With these rains pouring down every now and then, I felt trapped and started looking to find my fit in other club activities that are trivial in any B-school.
Unfortunately, I could not find a fit for me in most of the activities going around and was constantly webbed with the thought of when can I go and play what I love. Finally, in mid-August, the god of rain had some mercy and we had 2 days of mild rains in Mumbai. The sun shined bright upon the fields and it felt like the ground was ready to be played on. However, the cricket field was still a mess with a thick cover of grass inching taller than the average palm size and seemed to be in no shape to be played on. Disappointed with the field’s condition, I moved to the basketball court and to my surprise there were some school kids playing their heart out at the court in the evening.
I rushed back to the hostel and immediately established contact to the seniors and sports committee to arrange for a basketball. I got a deflated one from a senior and due to late night, there was no scope of getting it inflated again. I waited in anxiety for the next morning and made it to the court at 7:00 am in all passion and zeal. Then, I started playing…wait. No…I started to look for a puncture wala to help me with getting the ball inflated again. I travelled around 500m radius of the court to find a puncture-wala but wasn’t successful. Unfortunately, in Mumbai, when you live in Andheri West, you don’t find any roadside puncture walas as there are only large cycle shops that do such stuff and their opening time is 11:00 AM approximately. Ohh man..what a disappointment. I came back to the court with a heavy heart when I found some school kids playing football in the open field area next to the basketball court. I saw they had 8-10 odd footballs with them as apparently, each kid carried his own ball to the field. In all desperation, I went to one of the kids to check for if he had a pocket air pump and pin for inflating the ball.
Woohoo!!! My inner-self screamed in joy as the kid handed over the pump and the pin to me. And, finally, I got to try my hands for the first time in 6 years to play basketball. I felt energized with each and every passing moment that I played the game for. As rains kept on diminishing, I was able to find more such opportunities and more sporty people from the batch to play with. For now, it is going well with the basketball court while the wait is still on for the cricket field to get in shape. Now, I have something, a fit actually, that drives me to go through the day so that I can play in the evening. I am sure that this drive would help me a lot in my MBA journey as I am in my comfort zone now.
Prakhar Singhal
PGDM Candidate- SPJIMR
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