My own shade in the rainbow

It seems strange that people from all corners of the country, from entirely different backgrounds, having seen the water run under different bridges, having worked with different philosophies...can all gather here at IIMK for a single purpose. As strange as it seems to be, the fact of the matter is that if you discount a few exceptions (which, anyway, go into proving the rule), most of the people in this batch of 2006 (or any other batch, for that matter) at IIM Kozhikode have come here to beat the others at the game. The sceptic might ask, "But isn't that expected of people who have come to an IIM after clearing one of the toughest entrance examinations in the world?"

Perhaps...and perhaps not. Is it justified to think that a person who has seen the highs and lows of academic, professional and above all, competitive life for more than four years (graduation plus work experience, if any), will still try to walk the path that he/she knows, is not going to lead him/her anywhere? Does it seem logical to conclude that even after having burnt their fingers through frayed up nerves, broken relationships at college and/or workplace, insufficient returns that are non-commensurate with the efforts put in, the focus will remain the same?

As I mentioned earlier, however illogical it may seem, it still remains the truth. The underlying truth, the basic criterion, the watch word is still that dreaded phrase Marks Obtained. Having discussed something on the lines of the purpose of coming to this institute with some one (I don't remember who) some time back, I just got thinking about it yet again after today's Microeconomics term results. Not that I have anything to complain about (not much, anyway :-)) with a really good grade of A only (why only?) that puts me into the top six of the class...but the point is something else. There are people who have grades that certainly do not match the effort that they had put in for the course. Does that mean that they should cry out at the injustice of it all, curse their luck and rue their missed opportunity of getting ahead in the game because after all, the measurement is being done in terms of marks and marks alone?

I personally feel that even if a person does not have good grades in an IIM but is able to make that up through what some call learning (and what others knowingly smile at), I think the effort has received its due. Most of the times, if not always, when a person has to face the corporate pressures for which an IIM supposedly prepares him/her during the MBA, it is this learning that actually comes to the rescue. The ways in which you have interacted with your class mates (who, by the way, are going to be some very important assets for you, down the line), the ways in which you have made the difference by doing what others are too lazy or incapable to do, the ways in which you have become some one else after those two years of MBA, the ways in which you are what you are today...are actually going to be the differentiators not only in your career but even in your personal and social lives.

Lot of idle talk...but will I, myself, be able to relinquish the thrill of receiving the highest marks, the frustration of not performing (at least in terms of marks) and all that goes with it? I am not sure but what I am sure of is this...that even if I do end up on the lower side of the spectrum, I will always be proud of making my own shade in the seven colors of the rainbow...no one repeat no one can take that from me...come what may.