Throwback to IIM Bangalore days

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

Of giving up..

In 2014, I had the opportunity to visit my husband's alma mater IIM Calcutta for the first time. As soon as I entered the campus, I could sense a feeling of "chill". The same might not be felt by the students but as a visitor visting a campus which has 7 lakes and gentle breeze overflowing , I felt at peace. I remembered William Wordsworth saying - " What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?" I felt like just sitting by the lake and staring at the gentle waves doing nothing. I had barely completed one year of married life by then and the IIM Calcutta campus seemed more romantic than academic to me at that point in time.

In the first year of marriage, as far as my experience goes everything seemed so rosy , carefree and devoid of any responsibility. Just as I was touring the campus , I noticed this statement written " Perpetual giving up is the eternal truth of life" . It was a statement made by Ravindranath Tagore.

Perpetual giving up, what is that? Giving up all the rat race to lead a peaceful life, giving up money , what was that? But yeah we were on a vacation then and I did want to imagine or think of more profound thoughts. Hence we just clicked a pic there and left.

Our daughter was born in 2015. I believe nobody is trained to be a parent, we all figure it out alongside that journey obviously with help from parents, elders and friends. From being DINK ( Double Income No Kids) couple we became DISK( Double Income Single Kid) couple. Parenthood adds another dimension in your relationship as a couple. It involves giving up certain things you did previously because you have a little one to care for. It means giving up on sleep at times, it means trying to maintain your sanity and giving up on your anger. It also means acceptance of the new situation and giving up on the old.

More years of marriage also means giving up on things which you can't change in your partner. It means accepting what is workable.

As I write this, I feel giving up sometimes means peace. How much should you give up? Why should you give up? All this is very person dependent. But you can judge as is mentioned in the book Dear Ijeawele "Because when there is true equality, resentment does not exist".I only know one thing- try this out in your relationship once- give up on low priority disagreements. Try it once. Its hard but it gives peace. Coz " Perpetual giving up is the eternal truth of life" . As I went to IIM Calcutta this year and saw this statement again, I couldn't agree more.

Try giving up once , try being an unconditionally yours for your spouse sometimes. I had read this word unconditionally yours sometime back- in the context of unconditionally being available for someone. Try being that unconditionally yours for your spouse. I am trying that too. Its difficult but hey whats life without any challenge?

- Dhanashree

p.s - this is from my series of posts on  account of my 5th wedding anniversary
the pic is an old pic from 2014
#weddinganniversary #5yearsofmarriedlife
#marriedlife

5 saal baad---

Its been 5 years since I graduated from IIM Bangalore. It was exactly on 1^st April 2013 that I was convocated and 2 weeks back I could see a flood of picture posts on my facebook timeline depicting convocation pictures. It was a throwback in time. I remembered the CAT prep, the congratulatory letter from IIM Bangalore, the first day, the 2 years that went by and the convocation. It felt like everything went by so fast. Lot of people ask me, is the IIM MBA worth it? Is there a return on investment? To this, I have no direct answer. Let me tell you what this MBA taught me or meant to me. I made/met some really amazing friends in IIM Bangalore. People who were not only brilliant in academics, but also excelled in sports, arts or the likes. People who despite all this were humble.  Let me tell you, I am yet to find one dumb student in IIM Bangalore. People who had to repeat a year just had to because the system of relative grading means bottom 5% in  x number of subjects qualifies as fail. But they had some amazing ideas too.

I met people who came from remote villages of India, whose parents were not as economically well off, who came due to their persistence and merit. People who studied in vernacular medium till class 10 but who did extremely well. People who had hardly ventured outside their hometown and college town, but had amazing ideas. IIM brought all these diverse bunch of people together. It made  the world flat for the rich guy and the poor guy, for a city bred guy and a remote village guy  , it gave them an equal chance. It showed merit matters, it is a living example of making it big despite all odds. If anyone feels today whether putting their kid in a smaller school deters their chances for a good degree, I can show you many examples of IIM grads coming from small places.

The faculty was equally amazing. Faculty who despite their global degrees would talk so nicely and mostly devoid of ego. Some of them being on boards of banks etc but will talk to you as a friend when you meet them even now. Extremely well read people who you can have a sensible conversation about almost any topic.

In terms of monetary return of investment, I have no right answer whether IIM gives ROI or not. Because again this answer is time and person dependent. But I am sure , IIM gives a worth to remember experience to everybody. Of meeting and studying with some of the best people in the country who come from varied socio economic backgrounds. This is something to cherish and worth to remember for a lifetime.

And hence I feel , IIM fee increase should be rationalized at some point. It should not deter any meritorious student from pursuing the IIM dream. Because if that happens, IIM would remain a rich man’s dream which would defeat the main purpose of this diverse experience.

With this I end the post..

Cheers to IIM B times!

-Dhanashree

२ ० जून आणि IIMB प्रवेश

२० जून - बऱ्याच लोकांसाठी ही कॅलेंडर मधील नेहेमीसारखीच एक तारीख. पण माझ्यासाठी २० जून ला वेगळंच महत्त्व आहे. २० जून २०११ हा माझा IIMB ( IIM Bangalore )मधील शैक्षणिक वर्षाचा पहिला दिवस. आज त्या दिवसाला सहा वर्ष उलटली. मला आठवतं बाबा मला पोचवायला आले होते बंगलोरला.

२००८ साली इंजिनीरिंग नंतर मी लेहमन ब्रदर्स ह्या अमेरिकन बँकेत नोकरीला लागले. काहीतरी कठीण आणि आव्हानात्मक करावं म्हणून CAT देण्याचं ठरवलं. IIM मधील MBA साठी CAT द्यावी लागते हे माहिती होतं . २००८ साली CAT दिली आणि मला ९८.७३ Percentile मार्क पडले.ह्या मार्कांवर मला IIM बंगलोर, इंदोर आणि शिलाँग ह्यांनी Interview साठी बोलावलं.त्यानंतर मी फक्त शिलाँग मध्ये यशस्वीपणे प्रवेश मिळवू शकले. पण काय कोणास ठाऊक , माझं मन सांगत होतं , IIM अहमदाबाद , बंगलोर, किंवा कलकत्ता मिळालं तरच MBA करायचं . नोकरी उत्तम चालू होती. त्यामुळे नोकरीला कंटाळले म्हणून MBA करते असं मुळीच नव्हतं . पुढे काहीतरी अजून मोठं शिकायचं, करायचं ही एकच इच्छा होती. मी परत २००९ साली CAT दिली. तेव्हासुद्धा हवं तेवढं यश मिळालं नाही. त्यावर्षी मला दिल्लीतील FMS मध्ये प्रवेश मिळत होता. मी ठरवलं FMS न घेता परत एकदा IIM साठी प्रयत्न करायचा. २०१० मध्ये परत CAT दिली. खरंतर तेव्हा नियमितपणे पेपर सराव वगैरे करायचा कंटाळा आला होता. अर्थातच आदल्या दोन वर्षांची मेहनत होतीच. मुख्य म्हणजे जास्त ताण न घेता मी त्या वर्षी ती परीक्षा दिली. त्याचं फळ म्हणजे मला IIMB मध्ये त्यांच्या PGP(MBA) मध्ये प्रवेश मिळाला. ज्यादिवशी मी माझा निकाल बघितला, तेव्हा माझा आनंद गगनात मावेना. तीन वर्षांची मेहनत होती. ह्या तीन वर्षात माझे कुटुंबीय आणि शिक्षक अगदी माझ्या पाठीशी उभे होते.

आज मला IIMB मधून पास होऊन ४ वर्ष झाली. IIM मधून पास झाल्यावर लोकं त्याचा आर्थिकद्रुष्ट्या फायदा झाला का असा नेहमी विचार करतात. तो विचार मीही करते, ह्याला अपवाद नाही. आर्थिक फायदा झाला की नाही ह्याचं उत्तर काळानुसार बदलेल . पण दोन वर्ष भारतातल्या बुद्धिमान आणि कर्तबगार लोकांबरोबर राहून जी जडणघडण झाली त्याचं मोजमाप पैशात करणं शक्य नाही . इतका अभ्यास आणि परीक्षा असायच्या , त्यातून ताण घेऊन त्याच्यातून बाहेर कसं पडायचं हे शिकलो. उच्चशिक्षित आणि अतिशय नम्र शिक्षक बघून " विद्या विनयेन शोभते" ह्याचा रोज प्रत्यय आला . 
IIMB मधल्या आठवणी आणि अनुभव खूप आहेत.. पुढे कधीतरी लिहिनंच ..आज खास सहावर्षांपूर्वीची आठवण म्हणून हे लिहावसं वाटलं.