When we go out to meet friends or relatives, my uncle will put his arm around my shoulders and announce proudly "Dinesh is going to do his MBA!". The relatives will be suitably impressed and I will smile shyly. After which my uncle will ruin the whole thing by saying,
"He's got into IIM Ghaziabad!"
This is profoundly embarassing. The more ignorant relatives wil congratulate me for getting into an IIM while the more knowledgable ones will look at me like I'm some sort of fraud.
"Its IMT!" I'll hiss at my uncle.He will dismiss me with a wave of his hand.
"IMT, IIM its all the same..just changed a letter thats all."
While the IIM's are a powerful brand, known to everyone irrespective of whether they have prepared for the MBA exams or not, IMT is known only to those who have taken all the exams and know that it is among the top 10 schools in the country.
My mother fares no better than my uncle.After I got my admission letter from IMT, she called up all her friends and said that I had got into IMS.That was really irritating because IMS is a coaching center for entrance exams and not a B school by itself. Later that evening when we went to a relative's wedding, people shook hands with me for getting into IIFT, IIM Bangalore, TIME(another coaching center) and MDI.
"Ghaziabad is a very modern city" someone told me very gravely. "You wont believe that you are in India, its full of malls and sky scrapers!"
"Err..thats Gurgaon, not Ghaziabad.Ghaziabad is a small industrial town in Uttar Pradesh."
Its really annoying when there is not even a flicker of recognition when I say I'm going to IMT Ghaziabad.You are quickly robbed of your sense of achievment. At the end of it, you start hating the IIM's.
My only comfort comes in hobnobbing among people who have passed out of B schools and friends who have also given the exams and got into other colleges. Only when I'm with them do I feel a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from being associated with a well known brand.
26 comments:
I had a friend who went to IMI Delhi... imagine his plight!
Hmmm...this whole post reeks of some arrogant stench...since this whole MBA business, your writing just isn't the same, IMT, IIM, TIME..who cares? Life has so much more to offer...let's just get on with living it shall we?:)
Maybe you are right divya...but leave me to my selfish thoughts.Yes,life has so much more to offer but at the moment I dont care for much else.
hmmm..divya..it isnt arrogance..just a sense of achievement, lets say ? i agree there are other things and other exams :) in life..but the poonai ( CAT ) is a master in itself..and getting pass it..is like, well, i dunno..its pretty satisfying..let the man have his words..:)..what say dinesh ?
Dinesh,
It's not as though I can take your selfish thoughts from you:). Perhaps I was being harsh, perhaps I need to praise you like deepa has to feed your self-worth:p hehe j.k. yes, great achievement, well done...:)
Well, first - congratulations!!! And good luck!!
Secondly even though its probably not my business - Dinesh, its your blog so you should post whatever the hell you want. If other people don't care they shouldn't be reading it.
And now my opinion- holy crap, I thought it was hilarious, loved it!! Keep it up man!!
No Divya, you dont need to praise me.What I would like is for you to understand the tone of the post(or for that matter, my entire blog).I always poke fun at myself.Not in an outright manner but in a more subtle way.If you notice in this post I start of thinking I'm some big shot for getting through IMT but then I'm quickly brought back to the ground when no one recognises me for it. That was the essence of the post.Not "Hey, look at me, I got into IMT!"
If you honestly thought that I needed praise to feed my self worth then I can only suggest you read a lot more books.Stop taking things at face value and try to understand the context.
Hi. I am a different Divya. The one you went to school with. :)
Ok, here's the deal. My sis got into LBS. When she told someone they looked at her with phull pity/concern and said, "Didn't you try for LIBA? It's a very good school!"
Now, no offense meant to LIBA... But LBS versus LIBA?! The point I'm trying to make is, it takes all kinds. So don't let the lack of recognition from certain segments bother you. I think it is an achievement to be proud of. More than anything else, you've worked damn hard to get to where you are today. Enjoy the fruits of your labour! :)
Also... I loved the post. Well worth the wait. :)
Here I am again.
I agree with dremseller. Its an achievement (plannig to use spell check on that word. I am not very down with the i after e or e after i stuff !) and be very proud. Very very proud. It meant a whole damn deal to you and it is a whole damn deal then. I am not going to apologize for all the inappropriate words.
Anyways, I digress. To each his own, I say. I also like to ask people to not rain (though I much prfer the word PISS) on another man's parade.
@ Dinesh -- been looking at your blog for a good year and eight months (started my own after looking at yours) now and considering everything you've been through, you certainly deserve the best time on earth. Enjoy !
PS: I was right with the spelling of acheivmeant ;)
You know me as someone else !
Guess I messed up Dreamseller and prefer on the last post !!
Haha..Well written.
Congratulations on getting into IMT Ghaziabad.
Am writin my CAT this yr, do check out the post "Catastrophy" on my blog,you might find it relevant.
Cheers
hey i completely agree with u,its funny except tht its happening to u!!but in a few days we'll be in imt crowd,so no probs!
I find that quite ironic Dinesh, considering you were the one getting yelled at by dreamseller the other week for your comments...perhaps its time to actually start practising some of that clap-trap you preach? :).
P.S- The reason I wrote what I wrote wasn't to rain on your parade but to make you realise how harsh your post would sound to someone from one of those
'other' schools...
as for your posse of commentators, a.k.a drones that cannot see past their nose, I urge to read that post from a neutral perspective
Divya108, there's the neutral perspective and then there's the ignorant perspective... I have nothing else to add.
Ok kiddos, let's stop with the fighting shall we??:) Divya, you would have seen in all Dinesh's posts till now that he's really not the kind to boast. He's entitled to his share of happiness. With the kind of competition we have in India, getting through is certainly something worth being proud of. I was reading your posts, its wonderful you are going to be working here in India. But how would you feel if someone read your posts and said that you were just trying to show the world how you are sacrficing all your earthly comforts and sweating it out in an impoverished third world country?It would hurt because that's not the truth. So let's try not to misunderstand each other anymore shall we?? :) I hope you have a wonderful time here, welcome to India !:)
I'm 22 and yet I'm going to say "If you shout at me, I will tell you to my sister!!!"
Thanks sis :-)
Akka: You seem to think I'm not happy or congratulatroy, that isn't the case, obviously its a big achievement, well done and all that jazz, what you seem to be missing is the subtle point I was making that had someone from these other schools read this post they probably wouldn't be as amused. In terms of the point you made about my trip, I would completely agree with you had my post read 'Thank Goodness I'm going to India and not some God-forsaken country like xyz' or 'My relatives keep mixing India up with country xyz, how could they? they're missing the whole point of this achievement'. I realise Dinesh's intention wasn't to be arrogant but I'm sorry that's exactly how it came across...not just to me mind you, but also to a few of my friends who were reading it simultaneously. Humorous or not, it's important to watch what you write, wouldn't you agree?
Dinesh: I defend my 22 year old brother all the time;)
Ok, now we've cleared the air, we shall all be loving and civil again :)
The other B- school candidates can't ever feel bad cos they are supposed to be the creme of all business schools! :)
I guess older sisters are always terribly over protective :) Am not sure abt brothers. women are just better at that :)
True - older brothers might be as well but certainly not younger! :)
This is way better than being nodded for going to an ITI when you are going to IIT! LOL.
@ divya108 -- Wow ! even when you apologize you make it a point to talk down to people. And what's with the :) when there's nothing :) about what you just said. And as for 'posse' and 'drones', I have nothing to offer in response. :) !
anonymous - you're quite obviously a lost cause when it comes to sarcasm :)
In 1991 when I joined IIM A it was not uncommon to be asked by auntyjis... "Ahmedabad kyun ja rahi ho? Bombay mein bhi to kitne acche colleges hain!"
Time Out. Round 3 in 90 seconds !
Good one da...I understand the embarrasment
Post a Comment