Finding the right call

Get up at 530 am… not that we had slept well the night before… the time was mainly spent cramming some facts… and mostly studying the fin theory… it is time to move now… the huge waiting room is calling… it is a mad rush to beat the crowd at the common bathrooms… shaving hurriedly and finishing off the other chores… dressing up in the best possible clothes… deos, perfumes, moisturizers and hair gels and what not…

Reach the venue at 630 well a little later actually but in time to wait… we find that some of the comfy corners are already gone… taken by early risers and enterprising people who had the foresight to see what was coming… small sacrifice to beat the long waiting times… good thinking…

Somehow I find a place near a friend who does not normally say no and shamelessly sit in the chair next to him and plug into the network and power sockets… and begin the endless wait for my name to be called… it is not an unknown waiting time wait… I know that my turn will not come for some time… but it is agony waiting like this…

One by one my friends move out of the room when their name is called and come back smiling… they also have finished the race even before it even began for me… frustrating… I look at the watch… oh man it can’t be… just half an hour… I have been waiting for only half an hour… and already I find a battalion moving out of the race… so what if they are people who are not in the same league as you… so what if you knew that your turn will anyways come only later… but the subconscious frustration starts getting on your nerves… another 1 hour later the watch has only moved another 15 minutes…

Then one by one, your group’s turn comes… but still there is a guy called Murphy blocking your way… you are probably the last one… the queue moves painfully slow… this time you actually wait a real 2 hours before the name is called… and you meet your nemesis…

The formidable force meets the unprepared fear… the duel lasts for a torturous time… you don’t know whether you are at an advantage or not… no clear strategy no game plan… and nowhere to run and nowhere to hide… you just parry the blows as and when they are showered upon you… you make an occasional feeble attack but then mostly it is a defensive… then you are returned, an exhausted and tired warrior, breathlessly recounting the nightmarish experience to the next gladiator about to enter the circus…

Now the wait is even more agonizing… I don’t know whether there is another fight scheduled or when I would meet my doom… you don’t know how much longer… I just wait… a couple of more fights and I let caution to the winds… I don’t care what happens or how I fight, my only aim is to get out of the fight alive… no strategy seems to be working and I am just glad to walk out alive…

Then there is the long period of lull… you cannot move out of the race… and there are other warriors to give you company… but then you grow impatient at being unoccupied… there is still another half day to pass… and you know that you have signed up for no more encounters unlike many who just about are participating in all the jousts… but still you find the wait irritating… you cannot quit the race yet, unless the results are declared officially after the dope tests etc… but that is actually the work of Mr. Murphy again… he is holding up the declaration of independence for some silly reason like proof reading…

Finally, I can hear my name being called as the winner of some tournament… I cannot recall the events, so don’t ask me for the strategy I adopted… I don’t have any… and I am in the full mood to quit the race then and there… but then I want that one fight that would actually give me glory… you may call that committing suicide, but I would say that I am human too and want to have my shot at fame…

PS. But somehow better sense and Murphy prevailed and I did not waste my energy fighting another losing battle. I quit early the second day.

PPS. For those who did not understand what the above post means, I am sorry you have missed one of the greatest b-school life's experiences.