BASKING IN TRANQUILITY OF SELF REFLECTION

Dear readers,

The last time I wrote here was an eternity back. To put that into perspective between the time I last penned down thoughts & the present moment, India has played 2 world cup finals, the volatile world has been in the ruins of 2 catastrophic wars in the geopolitical landscape between Russia - Ukraine & Israel - Palestine,  boundless horizons of human creativity have become bound or to a certain extent restricted by shackles of ChatGpt, Gemini etc. So then what acted as the compulsive force that brings me here today? Perhaps the desperation to keep my intellectual faculties of thinking, reading & writing agile beyond my coursework & academics here or simply the memoir of the last 2-3 years where my constant reply to anyone was I am busy. Today at IIM Raipur when I am done with more than 90 percent of my MBA, why not reflect, contemplate & introspect.

My mathematics which is fortunately rarely wrong tells me that in the past 20 months here with 1.5 months still to go, I have written 57 term papers, 90+ quizzes, 37 course projects & endless assignments, read at least 180+ case studies, course ppt's are north of 200 & the pile of books now stands almost 5 ft tall. So If I ever told you I am busy, my reply was always etched with humility & utmost honesty. In addition to this academic rigor, guest speakers & lectures, placement processes, preparation for the classes scheduled even at odd times, sometimes 9 or 10 at night, cultural events, those games of badminton or those few laps of swimming, minutes & hours & days just flew by. Pace was all pervasive. I can't go back to the ravages of time but I can make amends surely, so I decided to write something here today. 

The detailed piece on my journey here, as I have promised a few friends would be published on my last day in the institute when I am sure the turbulent mind & heart would be brimming with emotions, hopes, anxieties, accomplishments, learnings etc. So I would complete the 360 degree loop & then pen down the complete travelogue of 21 months, if I may have the liberty of saying so. 

Manoeuvring in the galaxy of thoughts and solitude, 1 thing often strikes me, the contradictions & hypocrisy which are unique only to the tribe of humans in a planet of 8.7 million species. Mock interview preparations, placement interviews, recruitment forms & even in general conversations in personal settings & boundaries & elsewhere, one over whelming question which is always posed is "Where do you see yourself a few, say 5 or 10 years from now?" Now one might frame a very spectacular & highly impressive answer using the most complex words from the Oxford thesaurus to the same but the thumping reality is that this is nothing more than speculating in uncertain territory. On one hand it is preached, "change is the only constant", & on the other hand such questions which presume that there are no variables & everything is a controllable. 

The inability to answer this question does not stem due to one's vision being plagued by a myopic lens, but it is because one's feet are grounded in the concrete reality of life which is an amorphous entity & difficult to predict.

This question has 2 faulty assumptions. Number 1- Plans of life always find fruition & Number 2- Ambitions, priorities, circumstances, perspectives & outlook of an individual are set in stone & unlikely to change over a period of time. The planning of life no matter how meticulous it is, is very fragile. Life is a task master & the divine powers have their own methods of guiding humans to beautiful destinations, perhaps which found no place even in the wildest dreams, least of all the plans which humans make.

Saying so makes me confront the peril of the collapse & redundance of some of the learnings I have had in Strategy, which is one of my majors here. Does assimilating all the Strategy text books & a 9 or a perfect 10 pointer in papers of Strategy guarantee that an individual has strategized his/her decisions & life in general particularly well, foreseen future, eliminated all stumbling stones & roadblocks & has laid the foundation of a robust steep rising curve. The answer is no. Even the most eminent strategists of the world have had a life which resembles a sinusoidal or a sine wave with their fair share of highs and lows. 

Be it Nostradamus or Napolean Bonaparte or Shivaji or Putin or Dhoni. We stand no ground in strategizing in front of these towering & great men. As a matter of fact, the process which one follows in the pursuit of a goal is the only controllable. Even the most seamless production, flawless direction, perfect story & mesmerizing acting cannot guarantee a Box office blockbuster. 

In moments of insanity & intense environments, what keeps you in a sane atmosphere are your passions & hobbies which are driven only by the selfless motive of self expression & tranquility, not by any allurement of some achievement or validation, the 2 factors which are propelling catalysts for most human actions. The pleasant notes of my mouth organ both in times of euphoria & melancholy, or performances on stage or even writing today kept me the closest to what my core talents are. For instance I have had the opportunity to play contrasting characters of Ravana, lord Shiv and the epochal Samay(Main Samay hoon) here in a mere span of 1 week, which stands testament to the sheer diversity of experiences & activities one undergoes in an institution like this & highlights the critical role versatility plays in life. 

I have had a firm belief that there is always a scope of disagreement, non alignment or discordant notes, but there is no room for enmity & solace lies in acceptance, tolerance & camaraderie merely because of the simple reason that friendships & relationships here don't end at 4 or 5 in the evening because the day never ceases. Starting from the breakfast table to classes to sports to dinner to late night team meetings for presentations, one is bound to be surrounded by the same faces 24 x 7 . And since there is no escape, why not co inhabitation be peaceful and jovial. One question I have been asked by many people outside this campus is that to what extent a particular Bollywood movie depicts true MBA life in IIM. This I shall answer surely when I write the final concluding piece at length. But on a very lighter note & to add a pinch of suspense - Bollywood movies are works of fiction but fiction is not completely alien from reality. Wise people have already decrypted & deciphered what I meant.

Once Neils Bohr, the Noble Laureate in Physics had a fellow physicist visiting him. Bohr had a horse shoe magnet (symbol of superstition) hung outside his house to which his friend exclaimed, "You are a scientist, how can you be so superstitious. Being a physicist, I don't believe in this". 

Bohr replied, "I don't believe it in either but I have been told this magnet works even for those who don't believe in it."

And this is the true psalm & essence of life which underscores the omnipresence of divinity & the cosmic divine forces, which will transpire to work positively even for those individuals who do not possess that sense of staunch belief & unwavering faith. 

I wanted to conclude with this optimistic thought & an assurance to you & to myself, to write more often. I shall surely write a very detailed piece enriched with pictures, taking you through the eventful 21 months and reminiscing the MBA journey, once I have written the concluding chapter.

Concluding lines written by the famous poet & lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri -

"मंज़िल मिल ही जाएगी भटकते हुए ही सही,

गुमराह तो वो हैं जो घर से निकले ही नहीं।"

(The destination will surely be reached, even if through wandering. Truly lost are those who never ventured out of their homes)

My dear readers,

The rest I leave to your wisdom and fine sense of judgement.

Do drop in your valuable thoughts in comment section if any!