A 'worldly' thought...

It has been more than week that we are safely seated in the MBA-flight. Seat belts are fastened, but there is no guarantee that there would be a smooth ride ahead. In fact, indications are many that more often than not we will face turbulent weather.The seat belt sign is implicitely on!
Many times I felt tired and thought I would go to bed early, that is, by 10:30 - 11:00 at night. But everyday I end up going to bed pretty late. Some thing or the other comes in the last moment and I end up staying awake till quite late at night. Everyday is so eventful. Everyday I learn lot of new things; learn a lot about myself. Already the marketing-accounting-economics jargons make some sense (however little they may be!) to me. It has ,undoubtedly, been a steep learning curve.Today there were some personality developement test. It was fun; it was interesting. You realize that you are either introvert or extrovert, go by the heart or by the brain, whether you judge or you perceive things and ,last but not the least, whether you are more practical or you go by intution.
At the end of the session I realized that all I do and feel are guided by some very basic features and characters that is otherwise deep-rooted inside. Personalities tests such as these bring those characteristics out in the surface. I became more conscious about myself. I realize the way I see the world and interpret things are different than those of others.The same pictures/images and sounds have different meaning to different people. We all have our own thoughts, views, principles and ,of course, our own world!
Though we all have so much common among ourselves, yet are so different from each other.

The beginning of a journey

The Pre-MBA which started from the 17th of September and continued till the end of the month was a sort-of warm-up to the actual MBA program. So it is not surprising that about 48 of the total 138 students attended the course.
There is a long gap between a certain date in May,2001 and 17th September, 2007. Huh! A gap of more than 6 years. And for all those who are wondering what that gap in the calendar has to do with the blog, it is the gap between when I last sat in a classroom attending lectures for my Bachelor's Degree and when I sit for the first class in my MBA (or may-be the Pre-MBA).
The thing I feared most is, I would fall asleep in the class during the lectures. But ,to my pleasant surprise, I did not! And not a single time. The credit in no way goes to me. It goes to the wonderful professors of the university who ,it will be an understatement to say, knows the art of teaching. Many times I was left in awe by their presentation and views.
Beside studying their were get together, socialising (It was a bit of hiccup for a not-so-social person like me!),sports (I almost thought that in my age of late twenties I would hardly get a chance to enjoy sport so much!), quizzes and what not?
I developed a liking for the place, the university and all that is associated with it.
In a very short span of time, I developed friendship with so many classmates from so many nationalities. Did i say there are students from 38 countries this time in the SOM in the Full Time course?
By the time the pre-MBA was over, I realized I had made a very correct decision in my life.
I realized, my journey has begun. I am in a train, which is about to leave the station.The guard has blown the whistle.The signal has turned green...the train is on its way to a new destination...
there is no looking back...

In Search of Thee...

I searched you in crowded trains,
I searched you in packed auditoriums,
I searched you in lonely highways,
...In temples,churches and mosques.

I searched you in the garden,
I searched you in the morning sunlight,
I searched you in spring-time flowers,
...In old albums.

I searched you in my memories,
I searched you in the blue sky,
I searched you in the deep oceans,
...In books and music.

I searched you in the twittering of birds,
I searched you in my dreams,
I searched you in the sunset,
...In the green mountains......

Until I heard your voice from within -
All along you were within me...
In my heart and soul!

A dream-come-true and a note of thanks!

1^st October, 2007.

When dreams become reality, we are thrilled and overjoyed. But if the reality is something you haven’t dreamt of? Well, this is just what I am into right now. When I was small, or may be a year or two back, I heard of people who studied abroad and how they are looked up and admired in the society. Especially, people who went to UK or England to study. There were a couple of friends of mine who went to US to pursue higher education – MS and then Phd. But studying in UK always meant something different and special, I think, for the Indians, or may be more specifically Bengalis (sorry for getting too regional). But perhaps it’s the close association with Great Britain for a long two hundred years that has somewhat moulded our thinking.

In the photos I used to see the typical universities – narrow roads lost its way into the distant trees. Small houses, two or maximum three storeyed high. Windows that seem fairly large and less in number. Green lawns, lush green fields, the blue sky, with white clouds floating, bright sunshine, but nevertheless a bone-chilling breeze. Or may be sometimes dark clouds overhead and incessant rain – sometimes drizzling, sometimes pretty heavy. And you find people/students under umbrellas hurrying back to their hostel or may be running towards the university. All these seem so out of a movie or a book or may be a dream to a person like me who have started the journey of life from a small city in India. But when this is what you see around, you pinch yourself and wonder ‘Hope this is not a dream!’ And when you realize that its not a dream, you look up and say ‘GOD! I thank you for all these.’ And you thank all the people that GOD sent around you without whom this dream would never ever have been possible.

Its too late today for me to write about what happened in the last fortnight in our pre-MBA. Its 12:17 am, so theoretically its 2^nd October. The class starts in about 8 hours…seems long but I have to squeeze in a night’s sleep after a busy and hectic day in the office. Then there is a bit of preparation for tomorrow. Seems like I have to start planning, get organized and improve upon my time management to make the most in the coming year. One more thing , last but not the least, that I plan is to write a diary. Surely, not possible to write everyday, but may be when inner voice wants to say something and my body permits.

Today is just the foundation stone laid for it, primarily with the sole objective of thanking all the people around for helping me live a dream that I never dreamt of a year back! Thank you LORD for sending so many wonderful persons around me. I am really grateful to you and them. May I say my ‘Cranfield Diary’ is dedicated to you all.

Beginning of a new chapter in my life

As if it were yesterday....15th january,2007. How can I forget that day? On that day I was informed by one of the best MBA schools in the world (The Cranfield School of Management or SOM) that it has selected me as one of their students for their Full-Time MBA 2007-08 classes. My joy knew no bounds...the starting date (16th September) seemed a long long time then.
After a long wait of 8 long months, the day did arrive.
At 6:55 am sharp the British Airways flight BA 0146 took off from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport,Calcutta.
Destination: Hearthrow Airport,London.
One of the passengers in the flight was Amitava Chatterjee.
Destination:Cranfield SOM
A cab was sent by the University to receive us (there were some more student for the
SOM in that flight).
At about 4:30 pm,16th September, I was in room no 1.18 in Fedden Flats; some thousand kilometers away from my hometown. My room is west facing. When I unpacked a couple of essential items, I looked out of my window. The sun was setting. It was as if, a symbolic representation of the end of my comfortable IT job. I know tomorrow, the 17th of september, the sun will rise again. But this time it will rise , for me, in the horizon of the land of the Queen!
A new day will bring for me a new life....a life that I have not even dreamt some years back.
I pinch myself and ,to my pleasant surprise, realize, its not a dream anymore today.
It is real...it is very much real.
My associtation with one of the world's best universities has just begun.
Its the beginning of a new day...a new journey and ,of course, a new chapter in my life.........