Freedom

The sweet sense of freedom!
The freedom to get back to normal!

It all started in the month of May! Yeah May!
I was in the US of A visiting the wonderful city of New York! God Bless the Big Apple!
Suddenly, in a moment, I decided that I wanted to do my MBA in America.
Until then, I too was chasing the CAT dream!
I belled the CAT, got the IIM (Indian Institute of Management)! But, alas! I did not get the IIM of my choice!

Dogged that I am, I decided that I will play hard! Winner or none! I decided to re-appear.

But fate had other plans for me.
Back from the US, I started perparing in the month of July! Studied, answered tests, studied and answered tests again! That was the routine for a few days!
Days became nights and nights became days as the preparation was in full swing.

A few days before the D-Day, I took stock of the situation. At 690, I wasnt going anywhere! Definitely to the schools that I sought! I decided to buckle up! Its easy to pressurize yourselves when you know how badly you want it!

Social life was reduced to a minimum! Poor friends of my bore with my idiosyncracies, changing their schedules and accomodating me so that we could spend time together!

The day was great! The Quant section went well and I had no problems there! I was left with less time at the end though and I had to HURRY!!!
Verbal was turning out to bit of a tougher cookie to crack! All went well... never before score of 750!

Applications meant research, research meant time and time meant incommunicado Max!
The essays had to turn right! Some of them went to SO MUCH of revision that I cannot believe the number of versions that I am left with!

At the end of the entire process! I am DONE! Relieved and a weak smile on my face!
I guess that I can have a good nights sleep and rest in peace for a few days!

Things to do
-- Get life back in order
-- Meet friends
-- Party like there is no tomorrow
-- Go trekking
-- Run the Mumbai Marathon
-- Clean the house
-- Continue Jogging 8 rounds
-- Party more
-- Travel
-- Read
-- Blog
-- Live Life
-- Work (Yeah!)
-- Get pending things done!!!


Enjoy the moment and live the glory!

The end of R2

Today officially marks the completion of R2!!!
I submitted Stern today!
Although there wasn't much left to be done, It was a sigh of relief when it was submitted!

I feel relieved in more ways than one!
I guess that I can finally breathe easy!



Njoi the moment and savour the feeling!
Phase II is officially complete!
Time to rejoice!

But that marks the beginning of Phase III.
This will involve the gift of the gab and the extruciating wait for the result!
The use of the F5 key and the long wait for success! (XX - crossed fingers!)

For now! yahoo!!!!

Almost there

All done and ready to go!
The button needs to be pushed!
I have forwarded the essays to a few friends for reviews. Some have reverted back. Some are yet to get back to me. I don't foresee anything major happening between now and the submit button.
The recommendations are also in place.
Its the end of a long journey. And the journey seems to be coming to an end.

Its just a matter of hours now...its just a matter of hours!

Clamor to finish

Its suddenly a clamour to finish it all.
All in place and yet things to do!
As usual, things have to be perfect and as a result of this, i will review and get them reviewed!
and submit i will tomorrow!
And that will be the end of the third phase of the application!
The first was a mix of research and GMAT.
The second was totally research and recommendations!
The third has been the apps process! I must say that it has been a great experience as of now. Hopeful that it will be fruitful and that will probably make all the difference between a wide smile and a weak one!
Stern! here I come!

Loved NYC any which way! It was an amazing experience that I had there! Sad that it had to last for a short duration!

But hey, that is in the past! for now, have to click on the submit! that is onething that does not psyche me! hehehe!

Scary thoughts

the friend of mine who egged me, motivated me and counselled me throughout the GMAT and application process has now put me in an interesting quandry!
He asked about all the schools that I am applying to. Promptly, I replied with the 5 names... he was probably in his sleep. He asked me which my lowest and bare minimum one was amongst them! I told him!

He was shocked! He was shocked that my bare minimum way above what most people aim for. He was sceptical that if things dont go as hoped and planned (god! oh god! please let me go as per hope and plan this one time! please!), I stood to lose one year.

He already knows that I have my eyes set on only the best of the best and only those that help me get closer to my dream!
Some consider that stupid! Some consider that dumb! Some consider that daredevil!
No one that I can think of actually believes that it is a sensible idea. Deep down they all think that I am plain dumb and living in an utopian world and dreaming only about the best without any sense of reality.

I do not blame them for considering me to be dumb or stupid. May be I am. I am in search of my dream! And I am not ready to compromise. I am not ready to have the second best. I am not ready to settle for anything less than what I consider to be the bare minimum possible.

I know that the road is tough ahead and there are likely to be pot-holes, blind turns, dark alleys and U-turns. But I am ready to tackle all of that!

The one thing that I am NOT ready to tackle is the inner voice which will never let me live in peace. It will question why I decided to cave in and swim with the tide! And I will have no answer for that question. For deep within, even I would know that I would be taking the wrong decision by giving in.

I have waited for a long time for this!
And as much as I want it right away, I am not ready to settle for the consolation prize.
It is a classic gamble strategy! Double or nothing!

And while the downside is that I have to wait another year!
The upside is that I am not lying to myself!

I like the upside! I will take it!