For those who are in hurry, I have a ready answer. i.e. No!
I don’t regret it and for those who are dealing with their MBAs in the same
retrospection as I do, I wish to explain why none of us should regret being an
MBA.
"Indian education system is full of prejudices. We insist
that “everyone should know a bit of everything and that too within an age limit”.
Owing to our socioeconomic and cultural diaspora, this is impractical assumption,
thus an unjustifiable pressure on students. However, we do not have bandwidth
to deal with this problem, we should simply submit to the mercy of the time.
Until the age of 5 years to 15 years, our kids deal with
every kind of knowledge without appropriate support system. Horrible teacher-student
ratio, dysfunctional or retired infrastructure, dust ridden libraries and treacherously
changing syllabus… still they perform!
It was even more horrible for my generation. Ours was time when
physical punishment and public shaming was the part of teaching curriculum. In
our time, every class had pre-determined set of students who will be vouched to
public shaming and most often 3rd degree harassment just for the
sake of being whoever they are. I was one of them. I was dark, lame, Hindi
speaking, MTI ridden paranoid zombie of my classroom. For most of my school
time was spent thinking, why my parents want me to be in such a big school
where I don’t stand a bloody chance to even tell my name confidently lest
learning anything worthy. I spent half of my life wondering what useful should
be done out my years left on earth. While everyone was imagining medicine, machine
and management, I was lost in melodies, lyrics and poems. My friends used to
worry about me more than anyone among the guardians or teachers put together. I
had chosen Mathematics, because that was the only option left in an English
Medium School for the boys of my native town. Other options were Hindi medium schools
tagged barred as if those schools were meant only for untouchables or negros a
century ago. Since that day till now, I regret why there was no good school for
literature!
I regret that I am not formally educated in literature. I
have, all my life, been scared of mathematics, physics and chemistry. Fortunately,
my generation was introduced to something called computer. Yahoo Messenger was
the window, through which I had conversations with a Vietnami, a Tibeti in
exodus, a Kashmiri, an American and few Pakistanis. Computer helped me practice
Chess without a fear of any public shaming if I lose the game. I realized I can
win chess if I remove my fear of being ashamed off in case I lose. This was the
time sky had fallen on my rhyming world. A friend, after returning from
Bangalore, told that no one speaks Hindi in big cities and if we have to be relevant
in this world, English is must. Those were days when my poems were in full
demand and I was dreaming of living a full life as a poet and storyteller. I
was scared because if English is grazing all opportunities, a Hindi Urdu poet
will die of starvation! Yet again, I was forced to select Computer Science
Graduation over Literature. I could not help because all my friends were choosing
science and I stand no chance leaving my home without them. Three years, grace
marks, substantive practical marks, exam hall mercy of invigilator helped me
pass through computer science graduation. Yet again, I was all set to go for
journalism in my masters but not even a crow or sparrow from friends were agreed
to my decision. As they said, MBA can at least fetch us a decent job, what good
will I be able to get from a journalism?
I had no answer! For me, my friends were always right. They
had great choices of jeans, shirts and shoes. They all had at least one girl
friend and a lot more to flirt with. They were all of fair complexion, tall
than I am, relatively better in pocket money and of course respectful
marksheets. I stood no chance to prove why, for me, journalism was better
option than an MBA. I am a story teller, so I can be a good sales man, I am
good poet, so I can be a good brand manager. I am a good English speaker, so I
can be an administrator or a catalog writer or website content writer or
product manager… but no-where, literally, no where I could see that I can be
just a good observer who can rhyme the feelings of being a sensitive creature. Just
no one could imagine I could curate emotions, I could word them and sing them
for those songs could have heal us from the agony of being left alone in middle
of dense crowd. I could have narrated how suicides seemed nicer then life for
many who could have made this world a better place. I could have helped the world
know, why sparrows and vultures has left us, where have they all gone? I could have
painted new stars on dark skies which is getting smoky every night as compared
to the last one.
Here I am, an MBA with distinction in computers and
marketing with an experience of working with sixteen companies in last sixteen
years. From Chennai to Chandigarh and from Baroda to Bhubaneshwar travelled all
across India… city by city. I could never design a machine but sold them, I could
not study medicine but sold them for a bomb, I could never write a piece but
brought ads for a lot of news papers and magazines in my life. I somehow, by learning
the art of treachery, managed to teach students of engineering and MBAs about
how to live a graceful life in the world of profit mongers.
Yes, I don’t regret my MBA because I now know how to sell my
stories, how to make money of my political insights, how to narrate histories
and how to figure out what judiciaries, armies and parliaments of the world are
syphoning away. What could have otherwise belonged to my kids or your kids or
our kids.
Had I not been an MBA, I could not have got to understand
how CEOs and Executives have become the vampires working for the dragons called
capitalists. Had I not been an MBA, I could have got the chance to understand how
these skyscrapers are triggering crimes in slums.
Being a poet, I earned my self-respect. By being a story
teller, I learnt what is emotional sensitivity of the masses. As a discarded soul,
I have learnt how to do friendship with books. As computer graduate, I have
learnt why they do not teach a lot of things in school. And as an MBA, I have learnt
how profit and loss is a zero-sum game and why only point one percent is in
profit and why rest of us are in loss! As a wanderer… now I know, how to wage
war against the tyranny of those point one percent not so human but arrogant
demigods.
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