But in the b2b market, a simple analysis needs to be peppered with a lot of bullshit, so that the buyer believes that the product that he is buying is actually worth it, never mind the fact that they can understand the analysis or not.
A few things which have left me disappointed in the last few days.
- The surge in suicide rates, more so amongst the kids.
- The rising costs of management education, led by the IIMs
- The stupid selection criterion set forth by most of the IIMs.
It matters to them, what you did in standard ten, twelfth and then your graduation. Never mind that in India you have various state boards, central boards, CBSE, ICSE etc. A common measurement of academic excellence across these mediums is fruitless.
Why in god's name does it not occur to them. There was a time when I took CAT and loved it madly, because it did not value knowledge, but application of skills. You did not have to set up a profile starting from your tenth standard , depending on their criterion by the time you reach their gates.
So what will IIMs do next, a la Big 4 consultancy? It matters not what have you done or can do, what I am interested is whether your father is a well heeled bureaucrat in Delhi, who can use influence to win me a government advisory contract?
Look, there is very little I can do to change what the IIMs are doing. I can merely change my outlook so that I can find my way through this system. Or, quit and move to another country.
Say, I hold on. and 10 others also. We stay put because for some crazy reason, we subscribe to the idea of a nation state, Mother India etc. We reach a stage when we have kids who are beginning to prepare for standard ten. What do I do? I pressurize them. 10 others also pressurize their kids. You know where this roads lead, right? Suicide.
Mostly I haven't expressed my displeasure with the IIMs before, thinking that they are a private entity, they have a freehand in their criterion for gd/pi calls, their fees etc. But do they understand that they are the beacon people look up to expecting answers to everything, because they are suppose to be better.
But then, one day you take notice that a kid called Sachin Tendulkar says that he has a lot of responsibilities because people look up to his. If he is not careful, and be seen with a cigarette on his lips, a thousands others will pick it up. It effects him, this responsibility and he is aware of it.
But why do the revered IIMs do not get this basic reasoning.
They have already inculcated the culture of rigour during an MBA program, possibly with an exception on Cal. Professors in other B schools tell their pupils, look the IIMs believe in rigour as a form of education, since they are IIM's they should be right. And hence, even I will introduce rigour.
Mr. Bakul Dholakia stands up in a convocation ceremony and proudly announces, If you have survived in IIM A, you can survive anywhere in this world. Did not a single entity sitting in that ceremony have a question for him. Err...Sir....but...what if I want to live a life ...and just not survive it?
I am ok with rigour been passed down in other, mostly private , B schools.
I am not Ok, with the ever increasing rise in fees, I don't care what are their costs and the rate of inflation. A govt. institution is a govt. institution. I don't care what are the salary packages when a kid gets out of an IIM. I don't want a kid's life to be a debt trap, just like it is in US today.
Ideally I would prefer a kid to be free of any encumbrances after a formal education, so that he is not obligated to join a company which pays him disproportionately, so that he can square off an education loan, "survive" in life, and one fine day discover that , all he has done in life is survive, and forgotten, how exactly a life is lived. He should be free to choose a vocation independent of a promise of future cashflows/ career.
I am not OK with a kids life turning out to be constant struggle for grades, so that after six years he can take a shot at a seat in IIM.
I have looked up to IIMs as temples. I still do. But for how long I will continue, I am not sure.
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