20th June has always been a special day for me. It's the day I started my PGP at IIM Bangalore 8 years back -- that is on 20th June 2011. On this day, my roller coaster ride for 2 years began. Why did I do my MBA in the first place? There were many reasons for the same. A sense of achievement, an experience of being in one of the top institutes , career growth to name a few. Did I achieve what I wanted? There are multiple times in the year when I reflect upon this question but on days like this, I reflect even more. It's been 6 years since I have graduated from IIMB. Now I look at my post MBA life in a different perspective. I now no longer constantly think about if my career growth is at right pace, has the MBA really accelerated my career etc. Instead I am happy about some of the amazing things that the MBA from IIM has given me.
Looking back at the 2-year PGP , I feel the learnings that it gave were tremendous. It was not just about knowing the subject matter from the best of the professors. It was not just about grades. Competing with the best of best wherein in one quiz you would be at the top and in the next one barely average and managing to survive this sinusoid of grades was a task in itself. Mind you , almost everyone at IIMB have been toppers at their respective colleges or from the top undergrad colleges. Getting an average score on quiz is not easy for most of the people to accept in the first place. But going through this grind is very similar to what life would offer. Sometimes we do well , sometimes we don't. The key takeaway is that as Raj Kapoor said, the show must go on. We must continue working hard. We must move on. IIM Bangalore taught me this- it gave a boost to my existing fighter spirit. You got to work hard and better every single day. And when I meet my friends even now, I see the same spirit around.
It has given me an amazing network of people. People who came from varied parts of India, varied socio economic strata, but brought together in one campus due to sheer merit.People who are not only brilliant in their respective fields but also in a lot of other stuff. In the recent alumni meet, I met alumni who along with managing their demanding careers were into things like starting schools in their villages, doing stage shows,writing books etc. As a part of Women in IIM group, I am equally amazed at the stories of how women have managed careers, families, juggling the two and yet managing to live their dreams.
When I graduated 6 years back, all I thought of is Husshh! The quiz saga and non stop exam saga is over. The only thing I thought I would miss is the hostel and my room. Now looking back, I think those 2 PGP years at IIM B were the best learning and fun years of my life. I not only miss my room and the campus but so many memories in which the quizzes and exams seem so trivial.
Miss you, IIMB!
My old post on IIMB here - http://dsaidso.blogspot.com/search/label/IIM?m=1
-Dhanashree
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