Ain't No Shakespeare

MBA is claimed to be a covetable and prestigious degree. Once very valuable because it was possessed by a rare few, now has become the next ‘BE’. And who can blame it? With hundreds of B schools popping up everywhere, every Tom, Dick and Harry has gained access to the degree. With a similar kind of thought process (about the degree being covetable and all) I took the MBA entrances and got admitted into NMIMS. Supported solely by a few scary stories and my own vivid imagination, I stepped into the college on the first day, not knowing what to expect. I still clearly recall the first week of orientation where I ended up meeting so many students from all over the country that I had trouble matching their names, faces and states by the end of the week. Overall however, the orientation was a pleasant though slightly hectic and overwhelming process. With many students sailing in the same boat of excitement and nervousness as me, I got prepared to begin my first year at MBA albeit enthusi...

I was in high school (or junior college whatever you know it as – basically 11 th , 12 th ), when I first learnt travelling by Mumbai locals – alone. That was the first step, a tiny one, but yet first among the many more to come later on. Those 2 years were some learning. And although I traveled only 2 stations – Mulund and Thane (Mumbaikars will know that it is no big deal traveling between these 2 places), my confidence had gone up way high. There isn’t something worth being so proud of in traveling by locals in Mumbai. Millions do it every day, for longer distances, in crazier conditions. But for me, who had managed to travel barely twice a year by train (that too never without getting hyper), it was a huge achievement. The following 2 years were pretty eventful in terms of travelling alone. I had buses breakdown in the middle of nowhere, trains cancelled leaving me stranded, catching trains running and what not. It made me aware of the kind of sheltered life that I had been l...

When I first sat down to write an article titled this way, I had more than a week’s stay left in Indore. I had enjoyed my stay and work so far and never really felt upset or terribly homesick. But of course I missed Mumbai. Even before this second stint to Indore I remember being comfortable about coming to a familiar place, to familiar people again and yet feeling a tinge of sadness for leaving Mumbai, especially right before my birthday. That moment, at Indore I was missing Mumbai a lot for some reason. I am a true blue Mumbaikar – born and raised in Mumbai, lived there almost my entire life so far. So everything – right from the traffic, local trains, crowd, rush – everything feels mine. I may not have seen all the tourist sites that people come from far off for, but the everyday Mumbai sights that I have grown up watching are my solace. I may not have spotted a celebrity in some posh locality, but I have had the thrill of meeting a long lost friend unexpectedly. I may not hav...

Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to travel the world. Born in a travel crazy family, I have been travelling in and out of the country almost each year. So it has always been a maniac travelling with parents, cousins, extended family – a getaway for a week or 2 every summer, or a road trip in Diwali or Christmas. If not that, it was a trip arranged by the college. No wonder then that my first experience of lone travelling came at the age of almost 23. It all began at an interview – my first job interview at My MBA College. I was placed as a summer intern at a very reputed FMCG company. When asked if I was OK with traveling, I enthusiastically nodded yes. Ever since then, till my internship began, I kept wondering where I would be sent. I hoped it was some big city like Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata or even better – some nice place in Himalayas, away from the sweltering Bombay heat. As the internship joining date approached closer, my hopes of the job location being tha...