During his initial days at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Mission Possible Conqueror decided to check out #CaféTANSTAAFL as it was mentioned by one of the gripping lectures. He started from the #heritage dorms, passed through LKP, VSL and by the time he reached TANSTAAFL, he felt as as out of place as a #camouflage jacket in a fashion show. The last time he had any exposure to such a lively college environment would probably have been in a Bollywood movie.
The textbooks which were issued by the publication department the previous day had already put down his idea of having ‘great time’ at the #iima . #Marketing, Micro-Economics, Managerial Computing had already made him rethink to exactly which would be that subject he would mention to his peers when they ask him about his ’favourite’ subject.
Yet, here he was, 35 something, an #army #veteran, surrounded by one of the brightest #management students in the nation, who could quote management mantras and lingos faster than he could ever rattle out the briefing in front of senior commanders.
His entry into the corporate world would seem to him like a covert operation where nobody (including him) was aware of the actual plan. Initial days had made MPC feel like he was sent into an enemy territory with just a compass in his hand which would indicate every other direction apart from his NORTH.
Yet, MPC was a soldier who would not give up so easily, atleast that was what he had learnt and practiced for last many years. He started putting in extra effort by going to the library and spend his evenings there just as he used to spend his time with his equipment being in the forces.
To reinforce his effort, he even made friends with some of the management students who became his management lingo/jargon gurus. In turn, MPC would share his random fauji experiences with them.
Slowly, the #business terms started to make sense. The case studies became battlefields where he could now strategize.
By the end of his course, MPC not only survived, but turned out to be a soldier who had conquered the 'battlefield of business'. Overcoming various ‘battles’ during the course, MPC landed his #dreamjob .
On the last day, while packing his bags, MPC was sure about one thing; he might not be the brightest star in the sky, but he burned with the fiercest determination. As per him, that was a quality worth more than anything.
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