It’s a Sunday morning and day 75 of this world vacation fiesta which is being made even harsher by these feed articles, “There’s one thing that spikes during holidays? Deaths” Duh! Nevertheless, after dilly-dallying for an hour or so I got reminded of one of the statuses that were on display last week “IIM C it is” it said. Setting aside a few impeding thoughts I prepared some hot coffee for myself and I clicked on that green icon saying “Let’s make Zuckerberg a bit richer” in my head and typed “Sir aaj interview kar le?”. And went back to think about all those times when somebody had mentioned him in front of me and “Sir CAT phodenge is baar” is all that I remembered.  “Interview bhot ho gye yaar 2.5 months se, text pe kar lo, 10 am sahi rhega”. Of course, after IIM A, C, L, K, XLRI, MDI, IIFT, FMS, SP JAIN, SIBM, SCMHRD, NMIMS, NITIE, IITs, new and baby IIMs, Pheww! Who will not be tired of interviews?

10:00 AM

Pondering over my early morning musings Csikszentmihalyi was a part of which today, I got reminded of his proposition “to truly enjoy yourself is to satisfy the intrinsic goals” I wondered what is a man’s true self?, is it the activity of imitating behavior which is devoid of societal implications around ourselves ?

“What things are you surrounded with in your hostel room, sir?”

After witnessing endless ‘Typing…’ and ‘Online’ alternations I went on drawing the image of the context in front of me.

A small room of _*single digit* by *another single digit*_ feet with an ‘uninviting blue color’ door upon dodging which I found an organized room with no 3 pin chargers and ancient pajamas hanging around (he likes clothes and has them in abundance but only in cupboard, NEATLY ARRANGED!) And when I bent a bit to remove my shoes (it’s my senior’s room, doesn’t matter if it’s just imagination!) I found a lot of shoes (he loves them too) and a badminton kit, rackets and shuttlecocks in the corner of room.

“That’s all general stuff sir, was there anything that motivated you day after day in this process”

“These small walls themselves, they screamed at me to put in more hours in absolute silence and of course this perpetuating thought of mine in bold letters in front of my desk which said ‘IIM A, B, C or nothing”

10:25 AM

Imagine there’s a friend of yours, a bit older than you. Both of you grew up together playing and studying.

He is smart, worked hard and went on to study at IIM Calcutta and became an investment banker.

You get inspired! You arrive at Kota determined to break all the barriers.

Come class 12th Boards, you score less than 75% and thus not eligible to sit for the JEE!

Yeah! This is the person being interviewed over here.

And the person I mentioned as his friend is his brother.

“What exactly went bad for you in Kota, sir?”

“After a year of trying to cope with the pressure and everything, at some point, I gave in. Stopped studying and began procrastinating. Things kept piling and dreams were beneath them, a feeling of self doubt crept in and we were in an intimate affair till my BTech 3rd year when I started preparing for CAT”

This pulled out the Frankfurt’s counter examples from my neurons, which is about trying to disprove the principle of alternate possibilities and determinism was its virtue. The thought thus becomes much simpler “If the world is deterministic, nobody is responsible for whatever has happened in their life and it couldn’t have been changed and the life is just travelling its predetermined path”

“Did this self doubt make you vulnerable?”

“Look, low confidence in itself affects a lot of other facets. So that another not so significant side, fell for someone who was not ready to accept me even after a lot of efforts, that clearly was a vulnerability. Thankfully I managed to come out of both and now I have a partner who has supported me throughout this journey and continues to do so”

11:28 AM

“What elements in your life can push you towards perpetual happiness?”

“For me, winning a badminton match or a great shot, an evening with friends and good food or a drive with family gives immense satisfaction. Bigger things like my IIM C confirmation mail are a source of joy. But again, there’s no limit for such things. At the rock bottom, comfortable lifestyle and happy people around me are more than enough.”

11:51 AM

“Were there any “butterfly effect” events in your life?”

“Twice I would say, having worked in 2 startups with my heart and soul in the college- closing down of promising ‘Rent-Le’ and not getting selected for the funding of ‘Soul Within’”

---- 99.44 years later ----

“Sorry! A few guests came in, was just serving them Coke”

This didn’t came as a surprise to me as I remembered listening “Sir to apne hi h” from everyone.

“True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing” Socrates couldn’t have been any more correct.

12:30 PM

“Do you feel IIM Calcutta will make you feel content or is there something else that you desire for?”

“Right now, I’m doing great with this feeling and with time it becomes the new normal. I want this to happen with my close ones too, excellence be their new normal”

12:52 PM

“Last question sir, what would you have been doing if all these societal biases did not exist?”

“In that beautiful universe, I’d be playing violin and trying to perfect my smashes in Badminton”

“Thank you, sir".

This approximately 3 hour long chat was a wonderful experience and I feel at the end, of all the philosophical propositions regarding various fronts of life, there’s just one proposition by Aristotle which truly and inclusively can clarify a wide spectrum of human’s thoughts related to self actualization

“Leisure is the right way to live - as opposed to taking intermittent breaks from work to do so. This is characterized by the idea of doing what you wanted to do, not what you had to, a kind of work where you forget about your surroundings”

Damn! My hot coffee was not hot anymore!!