Fight of a Genius

"A Beautiful Mind" has inspired this post.  

I was apprehensive about watching this movie, initially. I'd heard that it was similar to the horrenduous "Mayakkam Enna" (ME)- a recent Tamil film that made me resolve to never watch any creation of the director Selvaraghavan again. There are people who saw some form of genius and beauty in the film. Not me. My simple purpose was to unwind after back-to-back Finance and Quant quizzes. ME achieved something never before done by any movie- making me shut out all sight and sound, wanting to run away from the theatre!

Hence, on a lazy holiday evening, I double-clicked the icon "A Beautiful Mind" in my laptop, deciding to close it in less than five minutes if it were anything similar to ME. 

But i forgot the small "x" button at the top-right corner for the next two hours. This story- which in contrast had a logical flow comprehensible to mere mortals like yours truly- was engrossing. And yeah, there is the fact that parts of my Microeconomics reading did help me relate well to the dating logic explained beautifully in the pub (this was soothing, given that the reading didn't help a bit in the exam).

The film talks about an extreme genius whose brain imagines to the extent of making him schizoprenic. The wife's care that helps him cope with it is touching. Yes, some of this part of the film seems to have inspired ME but if this is the director's way of improvising and adapting a story to a different context, the attempt has been pathetic. There is no part of the older movie that can be called gory. Everything seems natural and credible. There is no so-called "stark reality" that pains an average movie-watcher.

Both movies have a happy ending- the protagonist wins a prestigious award. But as the adage goes, it is the journey, the storyline, that matters. One shows a genius fighting a disease and winning over it, while the other portrays a sequence of random happenings- weakly linked, gross and mostly illogical.

'Term'inated

Okay, I am one-third an MBA now. Almost, that is.

It has been a mind-boggling ride so far. Term 1 initiated me to the system and showed me the various aspects of life outside home. But the most strenuous and memorable one was the second term, which deserves this blogspace.

On day one of term 2, a senior at the breakfast counter gave me a warm welcome with "If you survive this term, you can survive anything within and outside IIMB. All the best!". Apprehensively, I began the term. The academic load was minimal, compared to the previous term. It was more than compensated for by the much-dreaded "Summer Internship Placements". Days were filled with Pre-placement talks, pizzas, resume mentoring, preparatory group formation and getting back to school and college teachers to verify your accomplishments that you never gave much thought to, back in the good old days.

As the days went by, the shortlists started arriving for the much-hyped "Day Zero" firms and preparations took a serious turn. The Summer heat was on! Well into the wee hours of each morning, the consulting aspirants were seen cracking cases and making guesstimates while those inclined towards finance were invariably found sleeping with books open on macroeconomics, derivatives and puzzles, or reading up on M&As, sectors and valuations. Newspapers- those non-white-coloured ones we booked in the first term with dreams of reading "Business stuff" (but never did anything beyond dump them in a corner)- started being respected and read religiously. "The Economist" became The Bible.

Those were the dark days when no one was happy on campus. While the agony of the non-shortlisted candidates was obvious, the shortlisted people were bothered about impressing the company representatives and ensuring that they beat the fellow shortlisted people in getting that dream job. There were just a handful of guys cool enough to either remain nonchalant or sign out of the process to pursue their dreams.

Well, everything scheduled to happen will invariably happen whether you fear it or not; so did the "Day Zero" on the 9th of November. The beautiful MDC lawns were filled with people in dark business suits, looking smart at the outset. A deeper look into everyone's eyes revealed the tension within. The following five days were a medley of cheers and tears. Gratitude for the unwavering support offered by the senior batch in helping us all get through those days is etched deeply in every junior's mind. Come November 14th 2011- we were all back to our childhood in a way- cheering, applauding and celebrating the end with champagne!

And the campus started looking more beautiful. Though a mountain of assignments, projects and quizzes eagerly awaited our return to academics, we were not worried. Life was more chilled out than ever. The four weeks from then to now remain a blur of strenuous academic activities, all going late into the night, but done on a light note. 

Surprisingly, Spring has come after Summer to our campus! And it shall stay on. 

P.S. Again, I left the campus for the vacation with the strong belief that friends make life beautiful and cheerful, during times good and bad. :)