In the words of James Packer, the illustrious son of Kerry Packer, "Knowledge is like electricity. The latter lights up everything, while the former lights up a human". It is this quest for knowledge that takes us into a B-school (atleast this is the reason given by one and all). But most people still look with awe at the term 'B-School'. Ironic as it may sound, the name exists and haunts distraught souls like me. I still haven't understood why they call it a school. What a transition - school to college to school. Wow, but don't let the word school fool you. The 'B' before the school changes it all.

As many of my peers, I too had landed up in a B-school with a baggage full of hopes, aspirations and dreams, enough to last me for a lifetime. I am not saying that the baggage is lost, but it certainly has got a bit lighter. I am sure my peers would excuse me for saying this. My reason for saying this is not to demotivate people but to demystify the truth. A B-school in itself is not a panacea.

After spending a year in a B-school, my efforts are to capture it for you. I hope your precious moments sacrificed on this article, would help you to appreciate a B-school better and not otherwise.

The first year started with a bang with all those classes, presentations and assignments with not even Sunday coming to our rescue. Engineering college seemed like one long vacation. The CGPA's (Relative grading for the uninitiated) were made public after each term forcing me to take refuge in some obscure corner in campus. It brought out the Davids and the Goliaths. The campus belonged now to those stalwarts on the top with the others still coming to terms with this disaster, though for me it wasn't unexpected. It is this devil, the CGPA, which has the power of turning friends into foes during examination time, with everybody vying for that extra half mark which would bring them a higher grade. But for non-academically bent people like me, who aspire to bring up the rear end of the academic roster, all my friends remained that way.

Numerous exams, projects and presentations later, we have the measure of how things work in a B school and know how to scrape through with the minimum possible effort. At least that's what we like to delude ourselves into believing. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude for Google, the messiah for all of us. Terms like cash cows, activity based costing and PERT don't hit us with a bang. We were supposed to be good at all subjects, which is just like expecting Sachin Tendulkar to represent India in all the sports. A poor engineering soul as I am, with the grace of the Almighty, I managed to scrape through Accounts, which was the most horrendous of all. Submissions have changed in nature. Initially there was a concerted effort by all the group members to make a contribution but this fizzled out with time. The new mode of submissions entails writing down the names of some lost members of your group who suddenly spring up just before submitting them to the Professor. But managers are known for springing last minute surprises, aren't they??