Prelude to Hell

All hope abandon, ye who enter here!
- Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

I'm reading Snapshots from Hell currently and it looks like an interesting book. The very first page quotes Dante, establishing the analogy between life in a prestigious B-School (Stanford in the book) and Hell. I picked this one up expecting insights & musings over Hell as I would be joining IIM Calcutta, another B-School, pretty soon myself. Entering the gates of Hell, so they tell me.

Some of my closest friend just graduated from IIMC and I've discussed with them about life there. We've also got a mailing group active, involving most of my would-be batchmates & few seniors. I've been gathering information, anticipating & gauging all the time. Though I have got a few contradicting bits, mostly what has settled in is -

• It's not going to be easy. No where near the breezer we had in Engineering.
• It's not going to be that tough either. Most important is to strike the right balance.
  
• It's important to learn things, but most important are the grades.
  
• You learn as much or perhaps more outside the class, then in the classroom. This much I understood in my stint at IIT Bombay.
• Finally, it's all about how you sell yourself.
  

These are the starting points I'm taking with me. Back to academia, more matured & experienced this time, hopefully. It's rather tough to not get nostalgic about the last time. I didn't do particularly well in my under-graduate course at IIT Bombay, I think mostly because I didn't apply myself, at all. As per the reputation of B-Schools go, they bury you under so much work, that you don't get many choices. And choices, given to a feckless mind, can sum up to disaster. So it's good in a way.

The feeling of exclusiveness eludes me, again. Exclusiveness, among the peers and not the entire population. The biggest group at IIT Bombay was of Rajasthanis, mainly from Kota, mostly from one particular coaching. I was the member of every big ruck. After finishing B.Tech. I joined one huge software firm and become another bit in the Indian silicon valley. Bangalore made me feel very another-brick-in-the-wall-ish, if I may. I writhed and tried to break the shackles, but I was caged in the jargon & the keywords. I was stamped - "Java/J2EE developer, CSE IITB." And I hated that. Going to IIM Calcutta, things haven't changed much. IIMC has a tradition of admitting engineers in big numbers. The batch of 2006 had 56% engineers plus 28% IITians. My herd is defined, I guess.

There is comfort in groups, they say. Along with comfort, there is conformity & submissiveness. I think we all (taking the refuge of groups, again) yearn our undivided & exclusive spot, in life, in history. Make our mark on the sands of time. Need not be Einstein-like, but we all long to be distinguished from the herd. That, my friends, is the core dream I'm carrying with me to the Joka-land. I might end up taking up the beaten path, lured by the riches & comforts. You never know.

PS: I was travelling for a while, hence the break in blogging. However, I shall leave Bangalore in another week and that would mean another silent period for this blog. Regular blogging shall resume once I reach Calcutta, hopefully.