I'm humbled!

As months pass by, I get this feeling over and over again. Cranfield MBA's have this knack to surprise me time after time. The lectures on Economic Perspectives of Globalisation (EPG) over the past few days have made me feel humbled by the knowledge mine that surrounds me. Not just the faculty - John, Sean, Steve, it is also students like Lily (China), Bence (Hungary), Jonathan (Britain), Sola (Nigeria), Nana (Ghana), Antonio (Uruguay) and so many more. These budding senior managers are no less economists and seem to know almost everything.

If someone was to ask me about the Property law about India, I would be clueless. But so many of my class fellows know so much - not just about the field they worked in, but also about the economy of their own country and even other nations. And it is not just knowledge on economics.

Imagine sustaining your commitment to your employer who sponsored you for his MBA. So during daytime we see some folks attending lectures, writing reports, joining team meetings. We also hear about them working at night on their office assignment. Next day they are again there in lectures. The capacity to take so much just amazes me.

Then there are students like Joanna (Britain) who plays all games and works so hard - whether it is playing for Cranfield University's volleyball team, organising charity auction, participating in marathons, arranging the oh-so-famous nude calendar (again for charity) and now leading the Fun yearbook project - amazing capacity.

This is also the bottom line message for all - you need to scrape the surface to see the real strength of those around you. Some may take weeks, some may take months and some others may simply miss to see it throughout the year. And this is a message I will take away in my workplace after the MBA again.

The honeymoon is still on!

Away from the maddening world of lectures, assignments, reports, etc. today we celebrated the first wedding anniversary of two Indian couples.

Imagine coming over to study full time just within months of getting married! Well, that is exactly what happened to Rajeev and Amol. They both had got married in late June last year and within months had to add another full time job (of being a student) to their status of being full time husbands.

So to make their first anniversary special, the rest of us had spared them on their actual anniversary days and decided to get together this evening, celebrate and enjoy. The two still-newly-married-couples were spared of any tasks and the rest of us called the shots, deciding who cooks what. It was a small gathering of 6 couples including Rajeev and Amol. And of course some couples (whom we call as post graduates) were also there with their kids making shrieking noises none of us could translate or understand.

With chole, aaloo, poorie's, raita, lemon rice and sweet dish (all Indian dishes), it was a sumptuous evening. The air was filled with Indian music and our loud voices cracking jokes at each other, and specially making the special-couples dance to our tunes. In the MBA, while all of us make friends with students from other nationalities, the fact that you are amidst your fellow countrymen (and women) keeps reminding you of your own roots. A look at the attire the special couple wore reminded us of the colourful event a wedding is back home. And Amol, Radha, Shweta and Rajeev made it even more memorable by wearing the same dress that they wore on their wedding day.