The reflections..

I have had moments when I have cribbed about this place, but when I am receptive to the external environment, this place continues to give me new, exciting experiences.

Tonight we six guys from section A were having dinner in the Goel dining hall and discussing random things when the Strategy Prof from the University of Michigan came with his dinner plate and asked if he could join us. It was a delight. We have had several good profs so far in the two terms but this one is perhaps the best of them all. I heard that last year he was voted the Prof of the year. He is an IIM A grad, has a PhD from Wharton and is over 45 years old. It was amazing to see how well we connected. The classroom formality had given way to informal chatter about everything under the sun. We discussed about the opportunities in the Education and Health Care sectors and the apple case. One of the guys said he had heard somewhere that the Prof had met Steve Jobs sometime back and had asked him why he was still insisting on the same strategy for iPhone and iPod that he had used for iMac and had failed to create a reasonable market share with, despite having so many things in his favour in the beginning of the industry in the early 80s. The Prof confirmed this and we talked about what happened in that talk. Inspiring to hear first hand the experiences of someone who meets Steve Jobs, Ratan Tata, and the likes regularly on corporate assignments.

I asked him the question I had in mind from a very long time. What difference he saw between us and the students at Wharton, Kellogs, and Michigan, etc. I requested him to be frank and blunt. Our class reading of his personality says he can be relied to be blunt in his opinions. While he had no doubt about the quality of the students here, he said something we all know very well. Of course, any Indian B school hasn't attracted as much diversity so far as the top US B schools do. There are many reasons for it and have been discussed numerous times on various forums. I am sure this will change very soon at ISB, but anyways. Speaking of diversity, he spoke in statistical terms since he reasoned we had already taken that course in the last term. He said that in general, the students here could be called a high mean, low variance group whereas the students at the top US schools a low mean, high variance one. For business, you might argue in favour of the latter having relatively higher creative and out-of-the-box factor, in general. He cited the fact that the majority at any international B school in any country is local. Accordingly, a top US B school has a majority of US students whereas an Indian B school like ISB has a majority of Indian students. The education system of the respective countries that brought the students through schooling and graduation reflects in everything they do. And the Indian education system is not highly encouraging as compared to that of the US. The prof made a clear point that the difference he was hinting at had mostly to do with the cultural and societal factors rather than with the quality of Indians as a whole or the quality of ISB. We Indians have a stigma attached to unemployment, failures, etc., things which the Americans consider normal and essential for success in life. I agree with him. He ended up suggesting us how to make the best of this year. He had attended his 20th reunion at IIM A recently and like every senior executive tells us, he said that it didn't matter where everybody had started from. "Your first job isn't going to decide your life." He reiterated a very important learning I have had first hand in the last couple of years - "In the end, we'll all be where we aspire to be, if we work hard, don't lose sight of the goal and have faith in our abilities."

The pressure at ISB is tremendously high. Sometimes when I get time to reflect, I try to tell myself that I am not going to study for grades, I am going to study for learning. I am not going to waste my time worrying what kind of job I am most likely to land up if I do this and that. I am going to do what I love to do. There are all kinds of people here. I just have to look up to those who inspire me.

On a different note, our sports club president has made me the Gym representative for our recreation center. I have already come to be identified with Gym here. Every week, once or twice, a person comes up to me on the lunch or dinner table - our social hangout here - and asks me if I am into professional body building. Even the guy here who has been the youngest refree for volleyball in the Olympics once asked me this over buffet. And the gym coach doesn't believe I havn't taken supplements. It's such a feeling. I tell them that I am an amateur and as I walk back from the meals to my flat, I remember the words of that astrologer that we went to when I had already been operated more than 10 times and had been advised another operation whose chances of success were only 50% - "In 10 years, looking at him, you'd not be able say that he didn't walk on his feet for months and had minimal chances of survival" - and of course, we didn't believe him. We had lost almost everything. A chill runs through my spine everytime I juxtapose my past and my present. It took 15 years instead of 10 but the day has come.

ISB is a fast paced world. Most of them here are extraordinary at something in their lives. The pressures are enormous. Sometimes, it makes me myopic. But whenever I get some time to reflect, I pull myself up to focus at the big picture. I replay the last 15 years of my life before my eyes and the answer is right there - In the end, you all will reach where you really want to.