What was a better place than Louis Khan Plaza @ IIM Ahmedabad to kick off 2015- The most amazing place on Earth; its simple yet so grand, confined yet so expansive ! It leaves you with profound memories for a lifetime!!
It was a roller -coaster year - the last semester at B-school, the convocation, corporate life, cajobportal, "Accounting for People Who Think They Hate Accounting" and almost importantly, Ms Dhwani Singal - our Chief Motivation Officer !
The year that saw my little bundle of joy growing every day, bit by bit, into an addiction , so much that I now cajole Sonia to not visit her "maayka" as I would have to miss Dhwani so much . Time flies- from being that little girl in the baby cot who used to cry and clamour for milk and then doze off to sleep again to that adorable angel who would urge me to take her in a stroller to Old Campus on college or to meet Vinmay, her bestie on campus to go to terrace to meet her pigeons when back home at Kolkata. " Chalo, bhaagengey (lets run) to "Papa, please office mat jao" to "Papa, please horse ban jaao naa " to "mujhe cake chahiye" From one who would cringe at the thought of being sent to school - "Aaj chutti hai" in May to desperately missing and clamouring for school even on a Sunday in Dec, she has changed so much !! She's a 'goondi' now but has enamoured us so much that we are willing to pay her 'goondi tax' in form of cakes, chips and chocolates
Its time for me to acknowledge the role played by this Rishra girl in the year that went by. First she stepped in to see me sail through my MBA with elan( Life in MSH 901 with her and Dhwani was certainly way way better than Dorm 27). Then as she morphed into a digital women and fitted so seamlessly into the shoes of COO @ cajobportal.com when Ayush had to move to Mumbai for his Industrial Training @ Unilever
So much to say for the pillars in my life- Mom, Dad and Didz- they have seen the dark shadows inside and yet stood by like a rock for all seasons. I distinctly remember that one feedback from my batch mates on my resilience and I owe it completely to Mom - I can face anything and everything in the world but not the disappointment in her silent eyes.
On the personal side, the year that saw the culmination of me also staying away from the comfort zone of home and returning to Kolkata to keep hearing - "You've matured a lot".
You see so many facets of human behaviour that it leaves you so much wordly wise. You lose your innocence , stop trusting people blindly, try to get into the real intent of human behavior ( there were people who walked in life to fetch a job for themselves and stepped out once they had secured it) and they say you have matured.
Realized that no matter what you do and how you do it, you will get your fair share of criticism !! The masterstroke by Genna Rulone quite summed up a lot of what happened this year
Coming to the professional side
B-school was 'baptism by fire' - quite aptly put as "Sacrifices for 1 year; Branded for Life"- it was certainly not easy to quit a job for 1 year , spend Rs 2150,000 and enter an educational institution to learn, unlearn and re-learn. But God was kind and somehow managed to pull it off !! In-fact with a lot of elan !! A Chartered Accountant, living in a world of NPVs and IRRs suddenly realised that there is so much in life- Serotonin, Amagdyla, Yognidra, Game Theory, Porter's 5 Forces, 4Ps and the 5Cs
It was an year of epic moments, an year of with people like Mr Birla whom I had hitherto only seen in newspapers and television. Who would have imagined such high profile people randomly walking into life and gifting a rare pic, a new dream, a strategic direction !!
An year that saw me complete internship at HUL- a dream company ever since I started studying for CAs. Learnt so much in the course of deciphering alternate Forex Management strategies for this FMCG behemoth
GMCS, It would so often shake in my boots when I had embarked on the GMCS journey a few years ago; mugging scripts 'by heart' to execute on stage and wondering what the students would think about me. Now things are more under control, I feel that can deliver them value worth Rs 367 (5500/15). So when even after a tiring week, I do look forward to these random interactions with young minds
From running pillar to post to have this printed by any Indian publisher for even Rs 99 to having it launched globally for 60$ by an iconic US based publisher , Accounting for People Who Think They Hate Accounting" w !!as one memorable part of the year that went by !
Can't thank Deepika enough for the 3 fabulous hits she delivered !! And most importantly, for taking up the cause of the depressed in our society (Online ), acknowledging that she has gone to those lows and then bounced back. Such bravado in a society where more than one-third Indians are depressed but keep it under wraps. The reason - society can boast of blood pressure and sugar levels but confuses a chemical imbalance in the brain for madness
However, if it was that one word that I would dedicate 2015 to, it would be @cajobportal
For cajobportal, it was such a magical experience; people who like Alchemists came into life and gave this little initiative such a huge form
I remember how I would be super tired in course of a long and tiring day at IIMA that started at 845 AM and ended at 1030 PM. From literally dozing off in the class to returning home and spending 4 hours on the cajobportal B-Plan, never knew from where this energy emanated. Have cut short exams - end term exams in 1 hour instead of the stipulated 2.5 hrs so that I could leave the exam hall and pitch for cajobportal in front of some external guests.
Was it easy to be a David pitched against the Goliaths - Mafoi Randstads and Michael Pages? To learn to hear infinite 'No, we already have an existing vendor'
Was it easy to be a player who gave no kickbacks and rather refused business than be unethical in a rather shady industry
Was it easy to have the likes of the co-founder of naukri.com, WIRC Vice Chairman, ex Group CFO of RPG, IIMA Dean-Alumni , IIMA HR Profto agree to be on our Advisory Board !
Was it easy to have a client list which included Unilever, ITC, Britannia,Cipla, Pirama, Olam India, HDFC,Goldman Sachs, DSP Blackrock, Fullerton Credit, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank,Titan, Tata Motors, Dalmia Bharat, Schneider, Schindler, Caterpillar, Amazon, Linde, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Landmark Group, Indorama Group, Tolaram Nigeria, Dunia Finance !!
Was it easy to secure jobs across the world with aggregate CTC of Rs 5 crores for users?
Was it easy to understand technological jargons - APIs and Javascripts, so as to deal more effectively with IT vendors and not allow them to take you for a ride
Was it easy to attract employees who would believe in your vision , who would work from home in different parts of the country, be it Kolkata or Kerala ?
Was it easy to chase media and get our 'bootstrapped' startup covered amidst frenzied funding chasing every Tom Dick and Harry in the market
Not sure but it was exciting, exhilarating ...........every bit of it !!
Thank you God for such an event packed year !!
2015 , you shall be missed !!
