It’s funny that these have to be called the commencement speeches when they have to be delivered on a day that officially stamps a ‘The End’ on your academic mug shot. The benign intention behind the use of English language does help to deliver a touch of euphemism to a stark reality. While some may want to reminisce the splendour of the past and fill up their minds with memories that would be engraved in their hearts forever and maybe choose to leave the hallowed portals of the institute with moist eyes that would keep those images of the last cutting chai at the bistro or the last look at the green board or the last walk through the group-work room last a little longer, I would want to keep my eyes void of these and rather keep them wide open, as twinkling as they were when I stepped in for that is the least I can do to do justice to the word ‘commencement’. There’s a new life ahead of us and it’s been waiting for some time now.
Two years is a long time. Maybe not long enough to know how to make your assets match with your liabilities, but definitely long enough to learn about things that don’t feature in the course outline. 2 years of B-school life have given me a vantage that is beyond the ken of an MBA aspirant and from where I stand I have realized that if I were to revisit the list of all things that I have learnt being here, very few, if any, would overlap with the things I had set out to learn when I first stepped into this institute. B-school life is like a jack in the box. You never know what will hit you in the face.
From this moment on we would be cast into a stereotype – the MBA; the kinds that make a subject for some clean humour on cheap sites often visited by MBA grads to seek that lost sense of subtle humour and take pride in being eligible for the office/professional jokes category. Let’s take a solemn oath to live out of that conventional image. If an MBA was really about ‘management’ we all would have been here on time, with more money in our pockets, and a little less pissed at us for whatever reasons. Time, money and anger management, when did we last take lessons on these subjects?
At the end of two years I have come to realize that I am only professionally and socially more acceptable. I feel I belong to a fraternity. I have a few friends who are much more than just that. I have a couple of memories and also a couple of bad grades. I have a few impressions and a few opinions much of which are of no use. I have seen the tip of the iceberg called the ‘real world’. I have the ability to confuse if not convince others. I am a jackass of all and a master of none. I have a whole bunch of business cards that I can use no more. I have too many contacts in my phone. I have an extra email-id to keep checking, an extra password to remember, a few more groups to join on social networking sites, more passwords to remember, GBs full of digital waste on my laptop, a waistline to match with the ‘broader perspective’ that I earned after coming here, a few timestamps that would be remembered and celebrated for a few years before the enthusiasm dies out, a few more tee shirts to add to the wardrobe, and last but not the least 30 kilos of untouched wisdom in hardcover!
I pray that we let our minds be as free as the tassel that is dangling from the corner of our mortarboards and our hearts leap in joy as high as our hats as we toss them in the air! Let’s timestamp this moment and raise a toast to new beginnings!
5 comments:
Mihir said...
Awesome awesome post!
Quite a few times while reading I thought 'Ah! This bit is my favourite in the post' soon to be replaced by another...
Awesome awesome post! :)
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PS: That broader perspective line is bullshit, by the way. But let's not discuss that here :P
K.K. said...
sahi hai...
gives a wholistic (jus cant avoid dis word.. hav used it soo many times in 'y mba' :-| ) view of d b-skool experience...
rather wat is it like after the b-skool grilling.. :-)
Harish said...
There are articles, stories, movies that start in a vein and twist jarringly at the end. Never thought sentences could do that too....till now.
Everyone one of us would have traversed through this gamut of emotions that day but it takes a perspicuous you to make the day long journey that embodied the fleeting two years last longer....AWESOME
Shilpa K said...
@MihirOn: 'Ah! This bit is my favourite in the post' soon to be replaced by another...
Decision making...that's another thing we thought we learned there! :)@KKread this 2 years hence and it will make even more sense...holistic sense!HarishGee Thanks! :)
Mihir said...
@Shilpa:
So finally you've started replying to comments... Good :P