Sunday, October 12, 2008

A case to solve all cases

Lalbadshah is a 24 year old Happy-go-Lucky single male. He has been generally healthy all his life except for a few minor injuries and hails from the emerging metropolis called Bengaluru, erstwhile known as Bangalore. Population statistics and demographics of the city are available in Exhibit 1.

He has recently joined a premier management institute called Not-ABC Institute of Management located in the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh in a scenic village called Prabandh Nagar. The Map of this village marked with the location of the college and local liquor stores named after the ubiquitous fraction, 3.4, is available as Exhibit 2.

Initially, Lalbadshah, henceforth referred to as L in the case, found the place quite charming. The facilities were good and the Mess was a drastic improvement as compared to the food available during his undergraduate days. The weather was not quite to his liking but he thought he could ‘handle’ it.

Soon, the days got longer, the classes more annoying the weather seemed out to take his life. A detailed description of the factors including shattered dreams, incompetent faculty and their motivation to shove articles up his orifices are mentioned in Exhibit X which unfortunately cannot be displayed here. L’s frustration levels grew at a rapid pace as he could neither comprehend why he was being taught the Network Layouts of computing used in the ancient roman empires nor could he understand what professors meant by increasing market elasticity, a term hitherto used only in the context of pyjamas and Nappi Pads.

He is now caught in the crossfire of handling Power and Politics as part of his role in the Student Council and his academic performance issues which continue to bog him down all the time. The stress has led to him being caught napping several times in class and a general sense of despondency in his otherwise cheerful demeanour. His friends complain that he is no longer as awesome as he used to be although there is still no competition even close in sight.

L has mapped his emotions on a scale ranging from “I need a nap” to “WTF am I doing here” and the corresponding graph has been presented in Exhibit 3. His mood is a consistent level of ‘Frustrated’. To add to his pathetic state, there is a general lack of presence by the fairer sex both in his college and his life. The only solace is the presence of a few sane friends who share his pain.

Advise L as to what his strategy to cope with his current crisis should be. Who is to blame? What should have been done and what can be done? Also, discuss what could be the driving factor for him to come up with this post when he has 2 long drawn company forms to fill and 3 quizzes to prepare for. Forms, quiz details and list of other not-so-important activities are not in any exhibit as the author does not think they deserve such undue importance.

PS: Exhibits will be exhibited shortly. Bear it.

12 comments:

Raghavendra TK said...

I can totally relate to the shitty assignments part. Cant wait to get out of grad school.

And Captain Murphy says..... said...

Me too!!!!!!!!
Ive had enough!!!
Just hand me the degree and let go of me...
I have realized its a complete and utter waste of time

Harish said...

Nice post dude! Your case clearly mentions many intricate details. Especially line 3 in Page 10 Para 5 :)

Nagendra S said...

Hmmm...wonder if this is going to be the next case study in BIO. title: Ali's despondency :)

Financial Guru said...

Dude,
I love B school!!!

Unknown said...

Yeah. You are a head case, all right. Snap out of the self-absorption, and write something witty :P

Lalbadshah said...

@TK, captain murphy: Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!

@harish: Yeah. Which states the long terma nd short term implications of all alternatives.

@nagendra: DWO in this term.

@jello: Balls. You're a firang!

@thumbelina: Someone's jealous.

Anonymous said...

I am waiting for your reply
-P

Lalbadshah said...

@P: The answer is Yes. I'm madly in love with you.

PS: Since I found no question whos reply you seek, I assumed one on my own and gave an appropriate reply.

Tech and finance said...

Same here dude ... i dont have it as difficult as you do ... but can totally understand

Anonymous said...

Come on. B-school isn't so bad. The liquor shops took care of all the frustration. And the shitty assignments took care of themselves.

- socialloafer

Dheep Joy said...

Dear Mr. Lalbadshah alias awesome Ali,

I find your post quite hilarious, even though you set out to describe your agony.

Regarding the solution to the case, I offer none that can qualify as one. But no, I would not disappoint you utterly. I wish to refurbish your memory and remind you of one statement issued by one of the few faculty whom I think you would appreciate - Prof. Rocky. He said (during the induction)that in his class in IIT Madras, he was 10th while at the same time, he was an avid sportsperson. Further and here comes the important point, he chose to be there.

So, if you have already made a choice for yourself about what you want to do here, you can be cool. Just reflect on the choice and see whether you are living upto that choice.

Thanking you,
Dheep.