The M.B.A Marathon

Oh, its much more grueling and thought provoking a journey than the marathons, inspiring innovative thinking and bringing about the sense of Complete or completely incomplete.

The sarcasm of the whole mba affair, especially in india, takes away the charm from the song "Marr marr k jee rahe...ab hume jeene do"..

A peek a boo into one of the MBA maestro's home(yes the same man who completely lost you during one of the mba interviews):
MBA maestro to his son: What!!.such a low score in maths and physics..can't you get this simple thing right..see your brother..he always scored a 90 in all his subjects..especially the science ones..       
Son(wondering!!!@@): Why the hell does dad swear by science when all he does is train guys how to be a better salesmen!

No wonder, this is the tale in every indian household, atleast the middleclass strata who swear by science, know of only one destination of salvation besides the himalayas..Sorry, its two destinations now : the IITs and IIMs...
So half his life, the right guy or the good guy does what he is expected to do, that is get 90+ in all subjects, but take up science in high school, as it doesnt look good to give up on science when you are literally the Genius in the field.
He cracks the IIT which is the first step towards Mars or atleast USA. Kudos to him all this while, he has been his mother's pride...
Then comes the golden day when he lands a job, in his field of expertise if he is lucky; else into the white colar labour community of the IT GUYS.

What happened to the goals to space? That's on a short break! You need to gather experience to book your seat to space! So you work...

A few years down, you wonder why you are still lost in the same multitude that you thought you were well above, when your high scores had made your dad proud.

And then he renews his search for the route to space. Yes, space doesnt seem a near reality anymore, so he settles for USA..
Or if he forgot to save enough in his initial hay days of an  earning man, what seems the next best thing is an MBA, ofcourse from the IIM...That should put him above the multitude!

And for those who missed the race to the first II's during engineering, look to the same holy sites of IIMs as their only way forward to be included in the country's elite!

So, in this mba marathon, you suddenly find yourself alongside all your peers from the yesteryears, the first and last benchers alike.

There are those who did it all correct and there are those others who want to finally set it right.

But the mba marathon, it has takers from across the nation.

And who are the devil's guards standing tall between you and your Goal(the real one, not the one you can repeat even when asleep, thanks to the number of mba interviews you repeated it in with slight customisation)?!

Those  are the questions, "Why MBA?" and "How are you different from the other 1lakh applicants(yes it includes most of your unmarried and some married classmates from school)?"

What's a more apt name to this phase? The reunion or The survival of the fittest/ strangest/ craziest(as that would surely be very different from the others)!?

Doing the same right things half your life perhaps can't get you an entry into the most prestigious institutions in the country, and you are left wondering why i didn't bunk a few classes and do the different bit!

This is the true learning from the mba marathon...

How you wish to be honest with those on the other side of the interview table, following the norms of ethics and honesty that you swear by during the personality trait questions and keep as far away in the very well prepped interview answers.

How you wish to answer the Why question with a simple, "I am bored, tired, need a break, need a better paycheck, need a better bride prospect, need to escape from marriage", or anything that will get honest nods from many people.

What adds the heroic element to this process is the humongous walk up to the day of interview, that counts nothing less than a walk up to the everest base camp for a first timer.

Christmas by the river

City of lights, colours, music and vibrance- to me Singapore is all this.

Friday evening lining up to christmas, sitting by the river amidst so much fun and frolic all by myself feels good.

This is how singapore always makes me feel,High! Whether alone or in the crowd, drunk or sane.

Fusion of the latest scores from the indo asian pub across the river paired with 'Glory to the lord' carols by the moving choir on the boat, amidst a jingle of colours playing to the tunes in the water -what better way to unwind after a week of rigor at work!

No, you dont always need a bottle of beer to feel in tune.You sit by the multitude, filling the beeline of pubs and seafood joints along the river, and yet you are all by yourself..

A city which lets you be, just be yourself; lets you ride a child's scooter, dance around on the road at midnight; lets you just sit by the river and write your own story, lets you find yourself or simply be lost; lends you a chance to sip your favourite Green beer with the Turkey tradition- i couldn't ask for more.

Learning to enjoy my own company...I get to choose where i go, what i do -that's the bare minimum wish to make an average indian girl just too happy.