Saturday, September 12, 2009

Back to School

The last week before end-term exams is the best time to sit back and reflect about the term gone by. After 2 straight sleepless nights, the body just refuses to go on any more. I need sleep. I need some diversion. The 2 quizzes and 2 project report presentations tomorrow can wait.

They call it b-school for a reason. It is practically like going back to the schools we went to as kids with a hundred times the work load. After the laissez-faire life of engineering college, you expect post-graduation to be even more so. Nothing could be farther from the truth:

School

Engineering College

B-school

You carry a 10 kg bag to class everyday

Bags? Notebooks? Textbooks?

You carry a 7 kg bag + 3 kg laptop to class everyday

You attend all classes. Bunking has not entered our vocabulary. Proxy is unheard of.

You can get through engineering without knowing where the classrooms are

You attend all classes. Bunking has disappeared from your vocabulary because of grade drops in case of attendance shortage. Proxies have been eliminated by fixed seating with name tags and attendance sheets with photographs.

You carry water bottles to class

You don't go to classes, remember?

You carry water bottles filled with Red Bull to keep awake

You fight tooth and nail over half a mark

Did I pass? Yes!

You fight tooth and nail over one quarter of a mark

You do homework every day. Teachers check your work

If you do homework or assignments, you are ostracized from student community for the rest of your life

You do homework every day. Teachers check your assignments.

You are desperate to gain the attention and approval of teachers

Oh! You mean that bald guy is our FluMech prof?

You are desperate to gain the attention and approval of teachers


In fact, the only way in which engineering college is similar to b-school is the ratio of males to females. As they say in Malayalam, paapi chellunidam paatalam (hell is wherever the sinner goes). Since most of the people getting into IIMs are engineers, it is only natural that ratios remain the same. If you are really lucky, you land up in a b-school which has more than 15% girls. Whatever the case, remember than girls in b-schools have the extra weapon of the knowledge of supply and demand and hence in a much better position to exploit the power that comes with such a position.

One good thing about MBA is that you get to learn a variety of subjects. My favourite subjects in this respect so far have been Microeconomics and Legal Aspects of Management. Having a god-level prof for Micro is a double edged sword, though - the classes are interesting (interspersed with Asterix, Sherlock Holmes and Maradona), but he asks questions that nobody can answer. But scarier and more interesting still is a god+1-level QAM prof with a penchant for surprise quizzes. Organizational Behavior turned out to be a more interesting subject than I thought. The subject is so different from what the HR types make it out to be when you are working (of course, my aversion to HR will return the moment I start working again). These subjects have opened my eyes to new ways of looking at life and business. These also happen to be the most scary subjects I have to negotiate in the coming few days.

Oh! I forgot about football under lights and insti parties. But it is 3 am now. Can't waste any more time. It's back to assignments and exams. Sigh.

14 comments:

silverine said...

Back to school again! :(

Badri said...

I thot you liked HR in your previous company.....

Philip said...

silverine: It's kind of fun, actually :)

badri: shush, you naughty, naughty boy. I liked HR less than I liked marketing and finance ;)

scorpiogenius said...

Now I understand why they call it a school! Clear cut!! :)

I was always longing to go back to school days. But I feel now I may reconsider the 'wish', what you feel man? :)

Anonymous said...

school or b school.. gud to hav u back ..
btw, enjoy the 'school' days :D

Philip said...

scorpio: School's a fun learning experience. From just 1 term, I can say that it's going to be an unforgettable experience.

anon: Thank you :)

Twism said...

Wot? You have attendance sheets tagged with photos? *Gulp*
Everything else is kinda similar here.
Except for the fact that we have a Male:Female ratio of 50%!
:D

Joshin John said...

Wondering whether there is any connection at all between Organizational Behavior and HR Dept? :P

Vikrant said...

Hey Phiilip, what happens if someone bunks,I mean there would be guys who would still be care free? Does attendance carry marks?

Philip said...

nitram: 50%? Nah...not possible.
If true, I protest this grave injustice. I demand 30% reservation for chicks in b-schools :p

josh: I've wondered about the connection too. The disconnect between theory and practice!!

vikrant: you bunk more than 20%, you get a grade drop. you bunk more than 30%, you get an F grade. Imagine coughing up 80% without proxy..

Indian Madder said...

Lol...that's a pretty accurate summary you've got there!!

Makes me wish I could head back to campus now...despite all the cribbing I wouldn't trade those two years for anything else! :)

RGB said...

B-School must mean Back-to-School, eh? Liked the way you made that comparison!

Vineeth said...

Wow...As much as I miss ma school days, I dread those days for the stress and the number of textbooks I had..

Cant imagine gg back to tht state With an UPSIZE..

NICE DESCRIPTION PAL..

RR said...

Makes me wonder, is my CAT prep worth it?