Key learnings from 1 year at K ( Part 1 )

People say CAT is a leveler, it’s a chance for redemption – Guys n gals from a multitude of backgrounds, irrespective of their UG degrees come together to get a management degree from one institute or other…But this is just the beginning; There’s an even more important n interesting extension to this line of thinking. That happens once u set foot in the campus after belling the CAT n cracking the interviews.

Based on my one year year experience at one of the premier management institutes in the country, to Ur fellow batch mates “You are not the 99.somethings u got in CAT, you are not the institute from where u took the UG, you are not the f****** job u did in Ur company, you r not the no of bullet pts in Ur CV, u r what you r n what you did during the one year in the institute” (Say it like Tyler Durden in fight club). But I do agree that all the above are crucial, n rightly so, when it comes to the all important P word. But what Ur batch mates think n what the companies think about might be entirely different. One day I would love to do an empirical study to prove this hypothesis.

The manner in which the entire course is structured (Residential program, numerous group assignments, presentations and projects) n the student culture (student driven committees n initiatives, hostel culture) makes it impossible not to form an opinion about anyone else in the batch. What makes this a leveler is the fact that the extent n degree of interaction is so high that u don’t rely on a guy’s/gal’s past to judge him/her.

Whatever a person’s past credentials are, however talented n interesting he is, if he doesn’t do his share of work in the campus, he’ll be labeled with the F word ( No No No … its not the F*** word , it’s the F*** R**** word ) n others won’t care a shit about him.

Students get the respect of batch mates due to a host of factors – CGPA, initiatives n volunteering tasks they undertake, their contribution to the committees n group projects, their infectious n lively spirits n many others. (No need to say, this shouldn’t come at the cost of being stamped as the F guy).The connecting thread is that all these are factors which rely on the present rather than the past.

I believe I don’t need to make u guys (at least the K guys) aware about the “popular yahoo group characters during our pre-joining days “n how they have fallen out of favor with the batch. If you are able to identify the masqueraders and pierce their veils, you will be able to recognize the power crazy visibility seeking people who try to attract attention, you will be able to identify people who tried to market themselves right from the word go on reaching the campus but couldn’t maintain their brand value. But if you think objectively, you will also realize that these are not the most respected ones in the campus, the respected ones are the ones who have done whatever is expected of them n more n have done them consistently throughout the year. They built their brand value slowly but steadily and with an impact, backed up by their actions. N i bet K is no exception and is just a representative of a bigger set.

So for the ones with a glorious past, its time to continue with the good work by coming up with its natural extension – a glorious present. For the ones with a not so glorious past, it’s time for redemption. For the ones who have made the impact in the first year, it’s the time to make a deeper and profound impact. And finally for the Free riders, it’s the time to shake of the tag which shouldn’t have been there in the first place. After all it’s a level playing ground……

Looking forward to the second year...