This is not the end.....not yet

It was the night of the black and the whites; it was the night of goodbye kisses and last dances and as usual a lot of singing and swinging. It was after the club toned down the music and only when Gabriel aka Freddie our in-house rock star started singing the Bohemian Rhapsody when it all came to me. P2 had just ended which means some of us would change campuses and we might probably never see each other ever again. I had this sudden rush in my head and everything blurred in front of me, I agree the celebrations had started rather early at around 4 immediately after Sameer’s hilarious POM exam but I think more than the alcohol affect it was a concoction of thoughts which was tripping me. I wanted to freeze the moment and just look at everyone around and relive every bit of the last 4 months I had spent with them. I wanted to speak to all of them, the ones I won’t be able to meet again, the ones I wanted to finish our conversation with and the ones I wanted to start some. I even shut my eyes and pinched myself only to wake up and realise it was really true 40 % of MBA done.

After the swinging Peruvian Rodolfo aka “Aladdin” told me I need to write my next post on our drive back home I knew it would be easy. It’s always easy when there is a rush of emotions in your head. My mind was like a kaleidoscope of memories at that point in time. And even though time had just flown by and P2 was painfully short the build-up of memories and experiences was just outstanding. It was fresh in my head and it seemed it was only yesterday when about a 100 of us got drunk on the clarki bridge for the first time. The endless lunches, the endless nights, the hangovers, the bloody barbeques, the national weeks, class acts in the class and outside of it, all of it was running in front of me. I will miss getting drunk with the nasty Pizarro who is the uncrowned king of cheat sheets, looking at Pat aka the energy gangster and just laugh, having a smoke with Philip and listen to his ideas of changing the world, seeing Charlie Taylor’s stunts which earned him the super human status and a golden pass at raffles hospital, listening to Nuno’s playlist, Tahir’s fantasies and Gabriel’s songs about food and love.

I will even miss burning the midnight oil in the BOR’s with fellow sluggers Ricardo , Joris in P1 which didn’t really push our grades but definitely pushed our limits and in P2 the fellow library revellers Zori and Mateen who gave me the courage to sit one more hour every hour for 3 straight days. I can list a lot more down but then it would just seems like an Oscar speech which it is not. Honestly if I could I would thank everyone around for making these 4 months just so incredibly great. I am sure that the next 3 periods would be even more intense and leave us with enough inventories of stories. Some that we could tell our grand kids, some to our folks and friends back home and some well some just to no one. Looking forward to a shivering start of P3 in France, my tryst with some winter sports, some dungeon time with my new house mates at Chateau De Tavers, lot of wine next to the fireplace and the one thing I dig the most conversations.

Moments...

Even though I was trying hard to get my way around the options and the buybacks my mind kept wandering and I went in a zone. Come to think of it Past 4 months have been the more incredible than I ever thought. Every single moment was worth it ; well ok most of it was. It’s funny but I was thinking of may be a countdown of little stupid moments when I smiled, laughed, felt completely amazed at the sheer brilliance or stupidity of that moment. I couldn’t really come out with a countdown but I did list them down. I think I It’s a kind of a ready reckoner. Some years down the line when the INSEAD effect starts going down I am gonna refer back to this. So here’s my list of the best moments in A2.

1. Gabor to Diogo 1st OB class “you changed my Life
2. Harry’s Rainbow cake
3. Keat the DADDY
4. Istvan’s suicidal “Bond James Bond”
5. Gabriel sing sing sing sing …and he did…
6. Karl’s love song for Ioana
7. Eric’s last bench stunts
8. Jannik’s sleep sessions
9. Paolo’ blood shot eyes
10. Paolo and Jannik’s promotion to the front row
11. INSEAD Prisoner rehab session (Sonam and Richard in stripes)
12. Jannik still sleeping
13. Lukas and Christopher and standoff’s with the profs
14. Pierre the MAN
15. Pierre’s love for Jannik
16. The meat at the our first Barbeque
17. Daniel drunk
18. Rebecca’s rainbow cake
19. Everyone singing Rainbow cake Aka Zombie
20. Nuno’s rugby stunt
21. Alex’s beard
22. Ashish Di Moustache
23. Dash , Dash , Dash
24. Steph’s growing baby bump
25. J levy running naked in the corridor
26. Tahir’s fetish for food
27. Tahir’s standoff with the principals of charity
28. JAPAN= Kiku =JAPAN
29. Daniel “if you reach on time in Portugal don’t tell anyone”
30. Andrew “ nani ma ch..” taking abuses to a different level
31. Gangam style Flashmob at cabaret
32. Wendy the bottle neck
33. A2 Winning the BCG Olympics
34. Hayden holding Shaili’s hand “ you don’t want to be that guy”
35. Diogo’s love “ Mgt. accounting and strategy twins separated at Birth”

Long & Short

Its 2 am and I am sitting in the library struggling to get my way around valuing the Calls and the Puts and if that wasn’t enough there is the death spiral call and the no regret put pending. I always doubted that these finance guys have something weirdly cool about them, I believe it now.

I don’t know why but it’s during times like these when I am tripping on a lethal combination of Chicane and Hillion, I feel like looking within, taking a deep breath and looking around. It’s been almost 4 months already and 40 % of my MBA done already. So what has changed? Am I gonna kick ass in the big bad corporate jungle? Am I gonna lead my people to glory? Will I rule the world someday? phawwwwwww. Dono about that but I think I will do just fine.

Having said that I recon I definitely have more arsenal in my bag when it comes to the mind-blowing human element which makes or breaks the universe. I am more sensitive to the world around; I am more equipped to identify stereotypes and people types without being too judgemental or making a monkey out of myself. I think I can even read minds , I almost feel like the oracle sometimes. I can anticipate actions and reactions. I know the difference between how a consultant, a banker, a marketer and an engineer would attack a problem or each other. I also know the difference between how French, a Brazilian, a Singaporean and an American would try to solve the very same problem without killing each other. It’s amazing how 4 months of living in and out of each other can teach you so freaking much. I look around and I just see awesomeness, there is so much to learn, so much to unlearn and I am doing that every single moment.

I have stopped seeking the answer to the super critical where am I going from here question now. I am sure where ever I end up it will be awesome. I am going to spend the next 6 months honestly bonding with all the super humans around and making this year an absolutely smashing year for me and those around.

Good Life = Long “Friends” + Long “Alcohol" + Long "Music"– (Short "Ego” +Short “inhibitions")