the race

Till date I started preparing for CAT, i believed that not reading business magazines saves you of lots of headache. Then came CAT and to maintain the "conformity" of the rituals attached with the preparation process, I too delved my nose deep into the coloured pages of the Business worlds and Business Todays. Today almost 2/3rd through my MBA, at times I still feel that not reading business magazines is a bliss.
Thanks to booming economy (debatable topic but to accept conventional wisdom for once) and globalisation and blah and blah, I can see lots of 40 odd year old very successful faces on these pages who have made real name, fame and of course money at a relatively younger age (as far as business is concerned).
That sets me thinking, were these 40 year old ppl really aware of the fact that they are going to be so mighty successful when they were say, my age or for that matter your age? Did they know what they want to do in life ? Did they have answers to those beautifully mundane questions asked commonly in MBA interviews "Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?". I realy dont know coz I of course have never met these ppl and the ppl who actually meet these ppl never ask them about it. But I've a hunch.
I've a hunch that probably they didnt know where they'll be "10 years from now" when they were my age. On second thoughts they prolly didnt even know where they'll be "5 years from now" when they were my age. No real "Market research" to prove it but then gut feeling cant really be downplayed especially a trying-to-be-marketeer's gyt feeling.
One of the reasons however not a substantial one is that I myself do not know where I'll be N years down the line. And I bet not many ppl here know likewise. And we are talking about some of the best and most focused brains in the country.
If everything goes well in 10 years I can be CEO of a company, if everything doesnt go well I could be dead by 10 years or if everything goes as-it-is, I'll be well fooling ppl into believeing that their life is a vacuum without the product my comapny makes. I'll obviously want the frist thing to happen, but How is a big question.
Maybe by running faster than others in the race to achieve the unknown and the inevitable. By taking a shorter route, may be by taking a lifet from someone, may be by gaining an early lead over others or may be by forcing a late burst. Effectively , by doing something better than most ppl around me. Then that option of everything-goes-well might happen.
You have to be at an IIM to realise what a race means. Starting from the early morning runs to the lectures to the end of the days placement runs, we are more "running" the life than living it. Not that I am cribbing, atleast my athletic instincts arent.
We all are trying to outperform the others here. Only problem is everyone else is also trying to outperform us. Be it summers, grades, assignments, numerous B School cometitions, final placements et al, we all are running "ostensibly" with eachother but towards our separate goals and with our separate motives.
Going thru these races like rituals does take a toll physically and more so emotionally. But then after so many years of running and doing reasonably well in the "championship" as a whole if not each race individually, I've realised some very important lessons.
Firstly, there will be days when you'll be ahead, there'll be days when you are behind. it is days when you are behind that will differentiate you from the mere mortals. Secondly, again, there will be days when you'll be ahead, there'll be days when you are behind. But at the end of the day you are running only with yourself and with no body other. Reiterating the "golden words" again, there will be days when you'll be ahead, there'll be days when you are behind. It is on days when you are behind you'll come to know who your true friends are. Assertiveness will push you ahead in the race, arrogance will push you back and assertiveness with modesty will ultimately propel you to the tape. And lastly, it is very easy to congratulate yourself magnanimously after each victory or to tear your character apart after every loss. but its not doing either of them is what separates men from boys.

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. - scott peck

rohit