Memoirs of an 0.5 MBA

“The Story doesn’t end here my friend, Picture abhi bhi baki hai”

Almost a year (well academically speaking i.e) into the rig morale as an MBA grad and here I am tonight burning the mid-night oil once again just trying to relive the entire year.

1) Champions of Nasscom’s National Case study on IT enablement.

2) Reaching the top of the International Thought challenge at IIM-L and memorable interaction with various IAS officers, top-notch CEOs.

3) Those 14 days on an unforgettable journey beyond India to the Never-Never Land.

4) Working with the BMC for their Clean-up drive (albeit done internally)

5) Chief co-ordinator of an International Mock IPO event, LST’08 with the legendry Capt. Gopinath chairing as the key-note speaker.

6) Winning the BMC case study for SLUM participation for solid waste management system.

7) Judged by the Indian Kotler “Mr.Mithileshwar Jha” as the finalists for John Deere (the tractor company) Strategic marketing case study.

8) Interacting with various entrepreneurs including Mr.Sriram(Crosswords), Vishal Gondal(India-games), the vada-pav guy and creating a forum to encourage entrepreneurship in SPJIMR.

9) Fun-filled GOA holiday with bosom buddies.

10) Grass-root level innovation expressed best only when organized with National Innovation Fund, when we conducted Uddyam.

11) Mingling with the mentally challenged kids at Ehsaas.

12) Winners at the Global Forum, Konflux’08.

13) Spearheading a team along with the Dean to evolve on his thesis on leadership.

14) Working with a startup company and trying to evolve an entry strategy into the Enterprise Segment.

15) Academically ranked 7^th in college (Seriously… don’t ask me how !!!)

16) The Icing on the Cake, when my team got mentioned in the Newspaper as I finished second runner’s up in Economic Times & CitiBank’s GrandMaster.

And these exclude those moments which I shared with all of my colleagues, such as the Binding Lonavla trip, innumerable knowledge sessions, lectures from top-notch industry leaders, once-in-a-blue-moon night out party, endless movie sessions(thanks to LAN), Atta-Maggi & Horlicks at 2 AM in the morning, pre-reads which were never read despite when they came with a do-or-die Tagline, besotting Anandwan visit to meet the legendary Late Baba Amte, Gita Shibir, endless IPs, refreshing Music DJs, Group Studies(Technically called so), Bistro-Banters and library brawls….. The Story really doesn’t end there !!!

But what did I really do cherish in an MBA life …

‘Talented Colleagues, Brilliant Seniors (You guys rock) and an entire bunch of friends outside of college’

This is my Gyaan as a 0.5 MBA :

“ There are only two things that you really learn from an MBA, how to work as a GROUP and the power of networking… the rest are all add-ons”

The first year at college was more towards experiencing different things; while I believe that my next year would be more focused towards my actual career plan; to sum it shortly first you become the Jack of all Trades and then become the Master of ONE.

Wait further as I come with my wish-list for the next year .

p.s: I totally forgot to add the Mumbai marathon.. my first Half Marathon (21 Kms in 3 Hours) and definitely a pre-cursor to many more yet to come.

The "You know when" series ... MBA

Something that struck out when i was having a conversation with couple of my colleagues and right now expanded after a bit of brain-storming...
And yeah.. all are welcome to add on to the list :)

You know you would be dining with an MBA,
when he quotes Subprime Crisis in the US as a reason for his not Tipping in India.

You know you would be married to an MBA,
when your honeymoon would have a performance review.

You know you would be hunting with an MBA,
when he blames Global warming for his lack of any catch.

You know you are chatting with an MBA,
when he creates his own abbreviations and gives his own expansions.

You know you would be traveling with an MBA,
when he takes the window seat and says he has been strategically positioned.

You know you would be reading the book of an MBA,
when it says "All time best seller" though you might have been the first person to buy the copy.

You know you would be selling a product to an MBA,
when you end up buying whatever he is selling.

You know you would be in a literary club with an MBA,
when he would claim to have read all the books by only scanning through the book reviews.

You know you would be talking to an MBA,
when every word would be followed with "Strategy" "frameworks" or even better "Strategic Framework".

You know you would be studying with an MBA,
when he says Groups works are to be done individually(other than him of course) and individual assignments are to be done by a Group.

You know that the door-to-door salesman is an MBA,
when he asks if he brings out his laptop and a Multimedia presentation.

You know you would be working with an MBA,
when he gives you all the credit but takes away your Hikes.