MY BIGGEST ASPIRATION (MBA)

In the mid 80's the most sought after qualification was MBA.  Those who had the MBA degree were offered the best jobs in town.  As a student of CA (Chartered Accountancy) I also had the aspiration of becoming MBA but gave it up as the entry norms were quite stringent.  There used to be lot of comparison between CA and MBA in those days and they used to say that MBA is better than CA as they can present themselves very well.  I never participated in those debates as I felt there is no comparison between the two as they are totally different streams of education and training.

As I grew up, I did not like the comparison between CA and MBA and continued to avoid the debate.  However deep in my mind I still had the aspiration of getting into a B-School.  In 2011 I started looking around for MBA programmes offered by various institutions in Dubai.  I wanted to get a proper grounding on the Business Management through a B-School particularly attracted by the Case Study Approach.  I did the search for a long time and also visited a few of the institutions.  I also spoke to a few people who have done the MBA programmes with various institutions and got an insight into the same.  Finally I decided that at this stage and age in life I did not have to go through the full grinding of MBA and it is better to get a feel of it through short programme.

I selected the General Management Programme (GMP) of Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) which is a course offered over eight months in Dubai and Ahmedabad.  I could not sign up for October 2011 batch as I was travelling to USA on holiday and so I finally ended up joining the course in April 2012.  The last eight months have been the most intellectually stimulating and highly enjoyable journey.

The programme emphasizes the problem-solving approach with active exchange of ideas and group discussions.  The Programme was delivered over 10 modules and was covered in 20 full days of intense learning.  The first 14 days were in Dubai over the weekends and the culmination of the learning was at IIMA campus for the last six days.  It was really a different experience for me as all the six days were filled with reading, discussions, learning and debating.  During that week in Ahmedabad there was hardly any time for sleeping (I managed about 3-4 hours of sleep on each day).  I returned to Dubai on 2nd December and it took me a good four days to get back to my normal routine.

During the course of these eight months we have gone through 44 Case Studies covering so many industries and a variety of issues in almost all the functional areas of a business.  Each Case study was supported by reading material and explanation to various concepts by the Professors.  We had very lively and interesting group discussions both in Dubai as well as in Ahmedabad on these 44 case studies which was a great learning.

When I stood at the "Harvard Steps" in the main entrance of IIMA it gave me a great sense of pride and satisfaction.  I felt as though I have achieved something big in life.

The facilities are top class in IIM A and the vibration in the 100 Acre campus is so good and pristine that one would end up only reading and learning all the time.  During that one week in the campus I never switched on the Television and never read the newspapers.  I hardly had time for anything other than learning.  My Biggest Aspiration of life has come true with my completion of the GMP at IIMA.  Though I am not an MBA I feel really happy and there is a sense of fulfillment and joy in mind on having gone through the GMP over the last eight months.

On 1st December 2012 I received the Certificate of Participation from Prof.Ajay Pandey, Dean of IIM A thus fulfilling My Biggest Aspiration in life.

There is still so much more to learn and as they say "learning stops only at the grave".  I shall continue to strive hard to learn more and more as there is a constant urge in me for furtherance of knowledge.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
9th December 2012