Why MBA?

I prepared a fabulous answer to this question when I was preparing for my GD/PIs. As any self respecting aspirant would tell you, the why MBA part of the interview is more often than not a meticulously planned, neatly packaged load of crap. But thinking about the answer gives you an immense insight into your own psyche and helps you understand yourself much more than any psychometric test would ever claim to do. This post is, was and will always remain the actual answer to the question….

Background:

Born and brought up in Delhi. Did my schooling from a decent school. Excelled in studies. Exceptional in extra-currics, debates, quizzes, extempore, editorial boards, Olympiads, you name it and my name figured there. The trend was set largely due to my family and the support I got from my teachers. But all this came to a grinding halt on 16th April, 2000. That was the day I decided to study for IIT-JEE. Slogged for 2 years, cleared screening, screwed up Mains, screwed up boards, dropped a year, life was a living nightmare. The drop year was a learning experience, came to know more about life during this period for which I would otherwise taken 3-4 years to assimilate. Cleared screening (again), screwed up mains(again), cleared and joined DCE. And the rest follows….

Year: 2006

The CAT bug had bitten me. Why? Cause it had bitten everybody. Trust me, the bug bites 75% of all DCEites in the final year. And I was no exception. No high flown ideals of doing something for the country, this is what I always thought I would do, my analytical skill are sharp (and all such BS). It was purely and completely because of the moolah. Joined IMS with a couple of friends. Went to the classes. 1 month into the prep and I knew I was good in quant. English had never been an issue. But DI was to be the achilles’ heel. Time flew by and I lost the motivation to go for an MBA. Had already bagged a decent job from campus and was happy with that for the time being. By the time forms were out, I had already made up my mind to go for the job and round up some work-ex. Didn’t fill any other form. CAT-06 came and went. Was surprised to see a decent percentile ( OA- 96.61, QA- 95+, VA- 95+, DI-87).

Year: 2007

The most important year. Rather the date 27 Feb 2007. I remember the date exactly because I had etched it in my memory. The day I got a reason to do something in life. People say that sometimes little things have a big effect in your life. I agree with them whole heartedly. A conversation between two of my friends, (I wasn’t even there), and one of them said, “Well all I can say about Amber is that this guy is a serious waste of talents”. Dude if you are reading this, THANK YOU…!!! I don’t think I ever thanked him for this, but this statement changed my life. Nothing more will be said about this.

Joined Aricent. Amazing place, Amazing people, horrible work. Started CODING..! My college and school project mates will tell you how amazingly out of this world (sarcastically ofcourse) I am at THAT..! (Thank you guy for bearing with me at that time). Didn’t appear for CAT.

Year: 2008

The statement had always bugged me to death. If a friend of mine thinks the way he said, I ought to be ashamed of myself. Work had been good. (surprisingly!). Worked on some tricky modules in my project and came out with flying colors. But something was missing! The drive to perfection was gone. Came to know what work satisfaction actually meant. By April I had found the reason and motivation for CAT. Realisation that this is not what I was born to do. I am better than this. Way better than most of my colleagues in the company. And this time, it was real. I actually heard that that statement again and again, day in and day out in my mind. Waste of talents! How dare he!!! How dare he know more about me than I ever realized. Why MBA? Now you have the answer. To prove to myself that he was right.

Joined IMS. Started studying. This time it was different. Vengeance is the word. Though could never justify it to myself. Used to wake up at 5 in the morning to study. Went to office, worked my ass off, went home, ate, slept. Everytime I started slacking I went back to the reason why I had started this in the first place. Actively started seeking out people who were preparing for the same goal. Competition yes, but mostly because of the camaraderie. These guys (Shishir, Saxo, Ruchira) have really been amazing pals right through the entire ordeal(?). Had been really consistent in all the SimCATs and AIMCATs. 2 months to go and I am scorching the road. And then one fine day, Jaundice. One month gone. Right before the CAT. Was on glucose for 2 weeks. Couldn’t even raise my head off the pillow. Slept most of the time. Started reading again in the 3rd week. Started giving mocks I had missed out on during these 2 weeks. My doctor was furious, but he just didn’t know. He would never understand. I went on. It killed to sit straight for a minute let alone 2.5 hours. But if this is the price I had to pay, I was ready. Pain was nothing, Money had lost its sheen. I was fighting against myself now. Dear God, if this is what you want… bring it on…!

CAT day :

Had a fidgety sleep the night before. Reached the centre an hour before the paper. Scanned the crowd for friends- none. Scanned the crowd for chicks- none. “Settled” on my seat. Took preventive measures to avoid the mistake I had done in the previous CAT. Paper distributed. QA-25, DI-25, VA- 40, No issues. Started with quant. Did the first 4 questions in 5 min. Got stuck in one, moved on. Got stuck again, moved on. 45 min, 12 attempts. Prayed to god for accuracy. Moved to DI, my nemesis in many mock CATs. 1st set, no attempts, 2nd set no attempts. 15 min gone, 0 attempts. Oh bugger! Tension rises. 3rd set seems easy, attempted 4 out of 5, LR set is a sitter. When I look back now, the next set was what decided, my Calcutta seat actually. Attempted 1 questions out of 4, banged my head. 50 min gone, 7 attempts. Nighmare! Moved to the next set. BLOOD! Went back to the previous set. I don’t know why I did that. I had never gone back to a DI set ever in any of the mocks. Then it strikes me. Bingo! 3 min 3 questions attempted. 55 min 10 attempts. Prayed for accuracy again. Went on to VA. 50 min 19 attempts. Decent! Bell rings… I’m out of the room. Checked the crowd again for the above two parameters. Scan resulted in the same outcome.
Drove home. For all the hooplah surrounding CAT, the day turned out to be an anti-climax. Went home, slept. Woke up to check the keys. Score- Quant- 12/12 DI- 10/10 VA- (12 or 13 or 14/19). A and C are out of question on this VA score. Maybe K or I.

Year: 2009

The year started good. JMET AIR-104.


8th Jan, a Shishir calls me that CAT results are out. Holy cow! The site is down. Refresh every 10 seconds. Official answer key is out. Maaaaaaaan!!! Qa-12/12, DI-10/10, VA-15/19. Total 144. B-E-A-U-tiful!!! Go home. Check results again, nothing. Then after 12 at night. My official result checker (Gagge…!!! Thanks bhai!) tells me he can see the page. Give him my Roll Number. Those 2 minutes are the most excruciating 2 mins. He calls up and tells me Calcutta, Indore and Khozikode calls. EXSTASY!

Joined Malay Ray. The best thing I did. That guy is a magician. Office… Class… Home… office… The most hectic period. For all those who say its about cracking CAT. Go #%@#% yourself..! GD/PI is hell…

RESULT DAY:

Hadn’t slept well the night before. Check all the sites. No result. Got ready for office. People in the bus know my plight. They’ve seen me through all this. 8 o’clock- Gandhi calls, Calcutta results are out. I call up Gagan Bansal to check my results. And rest, as they say, is history.



I’ve cut short on the results and CAT day as this post is not a narrative. The post is an answer to the eternal question…. WHY MBA? For me, it was just to prove myself.