What made us come to a One Year MBA Programme (PGPM) here at SPJIMR?

Was it the lure of the motherland or an escape from the confines of a cushy nine-to-five job in the US, with all luxuries and no worries of heading back “offshore”?

Was it my innately foolish desire to see how I can take a risk and yet triumph victorious? Or was it a spark of inspiration that my sub-conscious mind captured after watching SRK’s “Swades”?

After having literally taken no risks in the five plus years of my work experience, something inside me spurred up all the courage my spine could muster to spring up and helped me take the leap.

And no – it was not that I was not forewarned by near and dear friends, who had already been “through the grind” at SPJIMR for this one year programme, and had opined that nothing would be doled out in a plate and we had to earn our meals.  The best thing about challenge is when you are told its not “doable” or “may not give that much ROI” and you are determined that much more to prove things otherwise.  It’s like you are all cranked up and want to again end up being an underdog to emerge triumphant.  

Call it the ego….or the thirst for challenge. But this has definitely made 56 of us leave well defined and well paying careers in reputed organizations in India and all the other continents to take this up lock, stock and barrel.  Each day I have spent since joining this course early this year; have never felt I have ended up in the wrong place after meeting my peers.  In spite of our varied backgrounds and experiences, we work together and agree to disagree and agree to agree on various themes/ topics and discussions. The childlike enthusiasm to play pranks on each other, to crack those stinking jokes which make one cringe and rebuke the joker, to accommodate each others differences and yet accept one and all are some things which are priceless and cannot be weighed in terms of “loss of opportunity cost” or being in some other B-school which is the arm candy of the recruiters, but has MBA’s with the A emphasizing “Attitude”.

The eve of your birthday, when you are thrown up high in the air and caught with the same strong hands that threw you to the skies are the same hands which are going to form really strong bonds and networks for years to come. Birthday parties are celebrated each month with usual frenzy with cake, piece of samosa or a potato crispy and loads of coke and pictures of each other.

In the last nine months, we have been twice to the lush green locales of Khandala-Lonavla where we had fun and some subjects. We have had an opportunity to do pro-bono work with NGO’s and provide them consulting, to improve their operations which has been very satisfying for the heart and mind. The numerous presentations in class, the trillions of assignments, the no. of surprise quizzes, the antakshari competition, the grand welcome party given to our junior batch, the wins of our batch mates in various  B-school competitions, the guest lecture series, the company visits and the alumni interaction through MILAN 2008 have all indeed brought out the synergies of being in the B-school where I should have been and where I am proud to be.

A one year programme indeed provides you the opportunity to have the same fun and enjoyment in less the time with the same learning’s as a two year programme as your prior work experience makes your learning curve much shorter.  Raised eyebrows on the one year programmes – try giving us a look and am sure you would be impressed!

-Deepak