2009 - A year of making decisions!!!

As the sun set for the last time in 2008, little had I expected that the next year will be so. It has been really a great year so far, testing my skills in decision making and choosing between 2 or 3 options. It’s been such a simile, that having wanting to pursue my higher education in management, I was encountered with practical situations in the same and what better could one have expected. Though there have been a few instances which has required a lot of planning, thoughts and implementation from my side, I would like to mention 3 big instances where my decision making skills were put to a tough test.

The first one came as early as the first day of the year itself. It was about choosing between a career in the company which promised growth in the same company which I had been working and attending an important interview for admissions to the MBA program of a B School. The Career Development Workshop (CDW), as it is called, is a dream of every graduate engineer who joins the company. The sooner one attends it, the faster he grows. It’s a combination of formal, semi formal and informal events where your managerial capabilities are judged and a growth plan is arrived at the end of the two days. I too was happy to find my name in this year’s list, but the only hitch was it was scheduled in the second weekend of February, which almost eclipsed with the dates of my interview at Pune. Unfortunately, this particular institute did not even give us the choice of picking our dates. As a couple of weeks rolled on, the dates were announced and as luck would have had it, it fell on exactly the same day as my CDW!! I did not want to let the opportunity go out of my hands, nor did I want to miss the CDW. Also, I did not even want to give any hint to my colleagues and company, by being absent from the same. I tried my luck by sending a mail to the institute and luckily for me, they obliged to my request and my interview dates were preponed by a couple of dates. This enabled me to attend both the important events. That I did not attend the CDW later, due to some other reasons was a different issue. But the toughest part here was the anxiousness and the tense moments I had to spend, in the weeks that ensued between the time I applied to the institute and the day the interview dates were out. Even the few days when I was awaiting a reply from the institute for the change of interview slots were equally tense.

The second one came sometime in mid march. By this time, I had already put in my papers and was set to leave from the organization. I had received final admission calls from 3 institutes where I had applied, and was in a big dilemma over choosing among the three. The problem here was more about the approaching deadlines. I had to send the first installment of fees (running into a few lakhs of rupees), before a specified date, failing which I would forfeit my seat. So the pressure of arranging for funds, within the right time and for the right institute, was really huge on me. At times, I even made a few blunders at work, which were overlooked by my boss understanding the phase that I was going through.

The third one was the most difficult and the toughest one. I still don’t know whether I have made the right decision, but then let the people involved in the same, take a call. Two of my closest friends got married on the same day. And the difficult thing was, one wedding was in Bangalore and one in Udupi. Adding to that, one more of my college mate, with whom I had grown reasonably close over the last couple of years, also was tying the knot on the same day. It was a case of triple trouble. One of them is my classmate from Standard 3. We have been together, all through our life. We have been undeclared heroes of our class, where the first two positions were always reserved to the two of us. In the class, the competition always started from the third rank onwards. Together we have won many competitions and awards and were famous in our district. In college, we were roommates, sharing the same room in the hostel. And as luck would have had it, we were both placed in the same city Hyderabad. I met this second friend of mine, in 11th. He had migrated from his hometown to Udupi in search of good higher secondary education. And what an association it has been. For the two years of pre university education, we were literally partners in crime. We have played so many pranks together and so many tricks here and there. I even remember one chemistry problem in our 12th, where the entire college, including the lecturers got it wrong, and we had single handedly fought it successfully to become heroes in those days. Our association continued in engineering days as well, where though he was in a different branch, we were always together. And the association has continued to this day, where we both take each other’s opinion in every small and big step we take in life. The third friend I have has been a good acquaintance in college. He was a day boarder and we were not so close in college. Once we moved out of college, he found himself abroad, working for an MNC. And because of the time difference, our chat timings used to match. We grew a lot closer online, and I always wanted to attend his wedding. Now attending one wedding would definitely mean disappointing the remaining two. At times, I have even considered the option of not attending any of the weddings. But then, making one friend happy is definitely better that making none happy. Believe me, it was one of the toughest decisions of my life. And having taken the decision, I hope all my friends, especially the ones who I disappointed (all 3 of them, know each other), understand the type of pressure I was under and take no offence at my absence.

I have believed, that God has always helped me take the right decisions, and I am sure that in these instances also, He is behind me.