So 1 theme is up and I’m all set to move into the dreaded credit based themes from tomorrow . Which basically means no slip shod work , no last minute haste makes waste presentations ( not that we were doing that earlier ) and pulling up of socks and stockings for everyone . Am I excited ? well kind of , there’s nothing quite like staring into the unknown and going in head on unsure of when the next consoling yourself by philosophically saying “ Shit Happens” scenario is going to play out . The big bummer is that I’m supposed to submit a Theme Paper in a few days time which is supposed to be , and I quote , “a learner's reflective, analytical report“ which could , “helps you to introspect where your next destination (at the end of the next theme) is and you may even embark on a small planning exercise.” . Yeah right ….
So what exactly have I learnt or in this case unlearnt in theme 1 ? Firstly , send anyone to a good b-school , he (being a unisexual term) will be unable to speak ‘normal’ English in classes especially while interacting with the faculty . Of course a notable exception to this rule is when students are chit – chatting amongst themselves but that is another matter in itself . Something as simple as throwing a ring onto a stick can be translated in b-school talk as ‘Considering the task at hand and the main objective , I took the minimum possible risk by carefully evaluating all available options and decided to maximize my benefits by moving to the position that offered the least resistance to my goal’ . Well its not all serious , we have proudly inculcated this jargon into our normal day to day conversations and I really don’t think I can count the number of times I hear the words ‘bigger picture’ , ‘miscommunication’ , ‘thinking outside the box’ , ‘natural tendencies’ etc everyday . Its become such an integral part and parcel of our PGP 1 lingo that we just cant do without it , and how can I forget the quote unquote hand sign ( not to be confused with the normal hand sign also frequently used by b-school students ) .
Secondly , We is bigger than I . Most activities are based on team work and though I’m not the most qualified person to be talking about teams and all that , I feel that I’m really lucky to be in a pretty amazing group . 8 people , 1 Asso group . It isn’t the perfect everyone agrees with everyone type of group that naïve people wish they were a part of , but when we are on a roll our group can come up with some amazing stuff . Of course , where is the spice in life if everyone has the same opinion ? The word spice these days does bring terrible memories of the unemotional Ash in Mistress Of Spice , but our group is anything but devoid of emotion .
Three , once an engineer , always an engineer . Its easy to make out who is an engineer and who isn’t by watching their style of functioning . Engineers have this tendency to Reverse Engineer i.e clearly define what you want and then work your way backwards to where you are , thus obtaining a solution rather than the other way round . Another useful trait of engineers is their in-built Examination Gas ( E.G) mechanism ( for those not in the know , Indian engineering students have the magical ability to write about all topics under the sun , the moon and stars when they have a university exam question paper in front of them and they know shit . The magical part is that they pass ) This E.G mechanism can easily morph itself into the scourge of B-school professors everywhere – Global Gas ( G.G) which isnt very difficult to define but the best thing that can be said about it is that you will know it when you hear it . Global Gas is everywhere in a B-school , it could rear its ugly but humorous head when classes are going on , or when an over enthusiastic student is answering or when seniors are giving presentations to us or when we have to submit assignments . Usually followed by a loud sssssss sound from various sources voicing their disapproval in unison . The trend seems to be changing slightly as we have a new challenger to the well entrenched ssssss from our batch , it the Missile Squad who drop missiles followed by various types of explosions . So we have the Bouncy missile , the Disco missile , the Silent missile , the Nuclear Bomb missile , the Machine gun missile etc slowly but steadily rising up the popularity charts.
Four , its easy for an MBA student to turn an unfavourable situation into something really interesting . Faced with a really long session about something that wasn’t really informative or new , some students came up with a really interesting game that involved 2 people playing book cricket , 2 others betting on the game with points at stake and different cricket stadiums up for grabs once a better reached a certain number of points . Buying a stadium reduced your risk while betting after that and they were thinking of refining the model and selling it to unscrupulous elements who make up the cricket betting racket that has its tentacles all over the world . And here they are planning on teaching us ethics ….
To be honest , I didn’t really know how I was going to write a long Theme report , but this entry seems to have crossed the 1 ½ page mark already . With G.G by my side , 6 pages is but a mere baby step for me . Oh no , I can hear the Disco missile dropping already !
So what exactly have I learnt or in this case unlearnt in theme 1 ? Firstly , send anyone to a good b-school , he (being a unisexual term) will be unable to speak ‘normal’ English in classes especially while interacting with the faculty . Of course a notable exception to this rule is when students are chit – chatting amongst themselves but that is another matter in itself . Something as simple as throwing a ring onto a stick can be translated in b-school talk as ‘Considering the task at hand and the main objective , I took the minimum possible risk by carefully evaluating all available options and decided to maximize my benefits by moving to the position that offered the least resistance to my goal’ . Well its not all serious , we have proudly inculcated this jargon into our normal day to day conversations and I really don’t think I can count the number of times I hear the words ‘bigger picture’ , ‘miscommunication’ , ‘thinking outside the box’ , ‘natural tendencies’ etc everyday . Its become such an integral part and parcel of our PGP 1 lingo that we just cant do without it , and how can I forget the quote unquote hand sign ( not to be confused with the normal hand sign also frequently used by b-school students ) .
Secondly , We is bigger than I . Most activities are based on team work and though I’m not the most qualified person to be talking about teams and all that , I feel that I’m really lucky to be in a pretty amazing group . 8 people , 1 Asso group . It isn’t the perfect everyone agrees with everyone type of group that naïve people wish they were a part of , but when we are on a roll our group can come up with some amazing stuff . Of course , where is the spice in life if everyone has the same opinion ? The word spice these days does bring terrible memories of the unemotional Ash in Mistress Of Spice , but our group is anything but devoid of emotion .
Three , once an engineer , always an engineer . Its easy to make out who is an engineer and who isn’t by watching their style of functioning . Engineers have this tendency to Reverse Engineer i.e clearly define what you want and then work your way backwards to where you are , thus obtaining a solution rather than the other way round . Another useful trait of engineers is their in-built Examination Gas ( E.G) mechanism ( for those not in the know , Indian engineering students have the magical ability to write about all topics under the sun , the moon and stars when they have a university exam question paper in front of them and they know shit . The magical part is that they pass ) This E.G mechanism can easily morph itself into the scourge of B-school professors everywhere – Global Gas ( G.G) which isnt very difficult to define but the best thing that can be said about it is that you will know it when you hear it . Global Gas is everywhere in a B-school , it could rear its ugly but humorous head when classes are going on , or when an over enthusiastic student is answering or when seniors are giving presentations to us or when we have to submit assignments . Usually followed by a loud sssssss sound from various sources voicing their disapproval in unison . The trend seems to be changing slightly as we have a new challenger to the well entrenched ssssss from our batch , it the Missile Squad who drop missiles followed by various types of explosions . So we have the Bouncy missile , the Disco missile , the Silent missile , the Nuclear Bomb missile , the Machine gun missile etc slowly but steadily rising up the popularity charts.
Four , its easy for an MBA student to turn an unfavourable situation into something really interesting . Faced with a really long session about something that wasn’t really informative or new , some students came up with a really interesting game that involved 2 people playing book cricket , 2 others betting on the game with points at stake and different cricket stadiums up for grabs once a better reached a certain number of points . Buying a stadium reduced your risk while betting after that and they were thinking of refining the model and selling it to unscrupulous elements who make up the cricket betting racket that has its tentacles all over the world . And here they are planning on teaching us ethics ….
To be honest , I didn’t really know how I was going to write a long Theme report , but this entry seems to have crossed the 1 ½ page mark already . With G.G by my side , 6 pages is but a mere baby step for me . Oh no , I can hear the Disco missile dropping already !
