It’s 5:59:59 PM! So as promised, presenting the feature we talked about - PaGaLGuY’s own weekly comic strip, “Mind your Business, Anna!” (MBA!) (to be pronounced with a South Indian twist to your tongue). [image] The 'Group Discussions…
A lot of starry-eyed MBA aspirants are conditioned to believe that getting an MBA degree is the solution to all their problems, leading them to behave like blinkered fanboys of b-schools and the process of getting through to a b-school. They then treat every stage of MBA preparation as an over-glorified affair and spend thousands on various types of entrance-exam coaching to learn the obvious.
At this stage begins the b-schooler hero-worship. Trouble is, that a whole lot of MBA students end up suffering from the Post-Acquisition Indifference Syndrome, because life as an MBA student doesn't quite seem as sensational as was originally made out to be. You study a lot of material in b-school where the learning isn't any more dazzling than 'thirsty people need water'. According to Chuck_gopal:
"The marketing professor's words in the comic are inspired from something I read when I was doing my MBA. In a moment of academic inspiration, I decided to read a book on published papers on marketing at MICA. I saw this 5-page study, replete with nice bullet points, graphs, and obviously a lot of research had gone behind it. Conclusion of the report: "At the end of this exhaustive study, we can conclude that children between 8-12 like watching TV." Correct. And we always thought they were dissecting political arguments from The Economist, or learning about biological functions on Discovery Channel as one 21st century scholar proclaimed. Right?
But sometimes doing research like this is a necessary evil. Most companies are structured to shell out lakhs of rupees just to be told that pimply women use pimple-cream and biker dudes buy motorcycles. Like a professor at MICA summed up, "When the shit hits the fan, the marketing manager needs a research report to cover his head"."
No wonder, that sometimes MBA students (those who undergo the awakening) stop seeing the big deal about getting through a business school.
But let this comic not discourage you from picking the brains of MBA students on PaGaLGuY or elsewhere! There are also a lot of MBA students who enjoy talking for hours about their preparation days. Form intelligent opinions about why you really need an MBA degree ("I am bored of my job" or "I want to be successful in life" don't qualify) and whet them out with b-schoolers to get a reality check on your plans. Take all b-school propaganda with a pinch of salt and verify your perceptions about MBA, because even the top b-schools are just as fallible as anything else built by humans. But don't end up being another Chatur !
Concept and Illustrations by chuck_gopal, graphics by Apurv. Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka Chuck aka chuck_gopal is a PG Wodehouse and Iron Maiden freak, who learned how to make better presentations and contextually use words of superfluous character length during his stint at MICA. He works in Bombay, and in his spare time, apart from scaring aspirants with cartoons like these, attends gigs, blogs and tweets.
With the launch of the PaGaLGuY B-school Rankings 2010 today, we figured it was a good time to illustrate the typical b-school student's direction of thinking about B-school Rankings.
Ever wondered why students from the top 10 b-schools never contest a rankings or the methodology of a rankings? Clearly, having made their way into the coveted-est of colleges, they must be intellectually more capable of dissecting a ranking methodology to uncover its merits and demerits.
B-schoolers from institutes ranked below 10 typically fall in one of the three categories:
- The Constructive Thinkers: While accepting the rankings (either honestly or with skepticism), they will constructively debate the merits and demerits of the methodology and suggest improvements. They will genuinely take interest in the methodology and concurrently read up similar methodologies in other domains of market research to understand the subject better. If they disagree with the rankings, they will make no bones about it, but at the same time also see the constraints that the researchers faced and make peace with it through honest and constructive dialogue. They are a ranking agency's delight.
- The Sour Grape Eaters: This variety waits eagerly for the rankings season all year. Their worldview is acutely empirical, which is to say, that all is well for them as long as the result is to their liking. If a rankings generated using a game of darts or the wisdom of a voodoo gypsy lady accords their b-school a ranking of their liking, they will embrace the ranking as fair, just, amazing, awesome, credible and whatnot. But the moment a ranking is not to their liking, all hell will break loose. With the new found analyst in them, they will cursorily glance over the methodology of the rankings to selectively look for reasons why the ranking is such a big black spot on the science of market research. Armed with this self-serving data and complete disregard to reason, they will let themselves loose on forums and message boards acting as intellectuals and try to convince others (and themselves) that the said methodology is flawed, the publishers unholy worshipers of Satan and that aspirants should refrain from looking at rankings as they are all misleading. The above comic is about this variety. The Sour Grape Eaters hold majority among b-schoolers with an opinion on rankings. How to identify them? Whenever you see a b-schooler posting repeated messages, repeating himself, indulging in personal attacks, making rampant generalizations, acting insecure, you know he/she is a Sour Grape Eater. Actually, if he repeats himself even once, it's a good enough sign that he is worried that people are not listening to him enough. In all his posts, he is Eric Cartman with his mickey taken out of him, desperately screaming, "Respect my authority coz my b-school rocks!".
- Givers of a Damn: Regardless of how they are ranked, this variety doesn't care about rankings. Happy in their bliss, they are enjoying b-school life and know that good/bad rankings are inevitable and not worthy of losing sleep over. If their b-school gets a rankings that it is happy with, they will participate in the celebratory party with all their vigour. If the rankings isn't satisfactory, life will go on for them. Like for all Zen Monks, we have huge repect for them.
Now as you view the PaGaLGuY Rankings and their discussions, try to spot b-schoolers and see which of the above category they fit in! :D
Concept and Illustrations by chuck_gopal, graphics by Apurv. Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka Chuck aka chuck_gopal is a PG Wodehouse and Iron Maiden freak, who learned how to make better presentations and contextually use words of superfluous character length during his stint at MICA. He works in Bombay, and in his spare time, apart from scaring aspirants with cartoons like these, attends gigs, blogs and tweets.
This one is a tribute to the day in the student life at a business school, and a satire on lazy students and the farce (sometimes) of case study method of learning. Enjoy!
Concept and Illustrations by chuck_gopal, graphics by Apurv. Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka Chuck aka chuck_gopal is a PG Wodehouse and Iron Maiden freak, who learned how to make better presentations and contextually use words of superfluous character length during his stint at MICA. He works in Bombay, and in his spare time, apart from scaring aspirants with cartoons like these, attends gigs, blogs and tweets.
Concept and Illustrations by chuck_gopal, graphics by Apurv. Additional photography by Manasi Kothari.
Past PG comics.
We at MBA! decided it was enough making fun of MBA and II... I mean, MIIs for now. After all, 'tis the season to participate in Group Discussions and Personal Interviews (GDPI), isn't it? So from this week on (and until we run out of ideas), we're going to give you a few GDPI prep tips through cartoons. This week, we explore five of the various characters you're likely to encounter during the fish market that is a Group Discussion.
So there you have it. Next week, we'll meet some more fun people who light up our GD sessions.
Starting this week onwards, MBA! will be giving out a few GDPI tips through cartoons. Hold on, doesn't mean you should run off to your coaching institute and cancel your sessions because your friendly neighbourhood MBA satire cartoonists are dispensing gyaan. Oh no! We're just going to take a light-hearted approach to GDs, and hopefully deconstruct them for you.
What do you think of the concept (of the cartoon as well as GDPI)? Previously, we did a cartoon that showed how a reality show participant was screwed over because of his 10th marks. What followed in the comments section blew us away - 145 comments, most of which qualified as healthy discussion (ok, some mudslinging happened, but that's inevitable, no?) about the rationale behind using 10th marks for selection. We were thrilled that our little ol' cartoon would be able to foster a discussion like that, and hopefully, our future work will also help do that. Would love to hear your comments.
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
Read Part 1 of this comic.
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
Ok, so not all b-schools are this way. And I'm sure puys are smart enough to understand who's being genuine and who's shooting through the top of their mouths. But b-schools are notorious inflators, and anything small is projected like it's the next big thing, and it's not just salaries we speak about (in fact, I didn't even bother mentioning those in this comic!). There are hordes of new b-schools - some good, some bad, some ugly. And all of them claim the same thing (which is not good for the few genuine ones). As a potential b-school student, it's upto us not to be misled by the glorious hyperbole published in brochures and take informed decisions as to where we're going.
More PG comics
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
(*PIMP = Prominent Institute of Management, Patiala)
And we are sure there are times you've felt you could just break out of the whole narrating-answers-which-have-been-learnt-by-rote rut. Coaching classes and instruction books cannot coach you more with spieling out mechanized answers.
To do a better job than what you've been coached in, have a look at your own form. Try to make it more interesting (that does not mean you start drawing pictures and reciting poetry at the interview). Do realize that the guy at the other side of the interview table is also human, and he has to listen to the same drivel day upon day. Make things exciting for him and he too will take an interest in you automatically. Channel the interview your way instead of being subjected to the same standard questions.
Disclaimer: PG is not responsible if you take our advice too much to heart and end up making a of yourself at the interview 
. We're guessing you know where to draw lines.
* MII = Management Institute of India
More PG comics
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
Credits: Big Bang Theory images from pincel3d and iNewscatcher. 12 Angry Men is a kickass movie later remade in India. The rest of the images snitched from the various email forwards that grace our Inboxes. The last image is from the All India PaGaLGuY Meet 2008 at Bangalore.
More PG comics
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
More PG comics
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
*PIMP = Prominent Institute of Management, Panvel
(See the first part of this cartoon)
More PG comics
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
More PG comics
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
PS: What is this Roswell? Read here.
More PG comics
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaikar who blogs here and tweets here.
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaiker who blogs here and tweets here.
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaiker who blogs here and tweets here.
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaiker who blogs here and tweets here.
Complete the above comic and win yourself a pair of jeans from your favorite brand and a Calvin & Hobbes Omnibus
There are five bubbles with numbers in them in the above comic. Fill 'em in using this form so as to form a coherent, funny story. Or maybe even a serious one. Or perhaps tragicomic. Or Greko-Roman Romantic... Ok, you get the picture.
If you succeed in making the hard-nosed buggers behind this comic series laugh, you stand to win big. Enter as many times as you want. Remember - Make. It. Funny.
Enter the contest by filling this form. Last date is Thursday, December 9, 2010.
And the prizes are,
First prize
- Get yourself a new pair of jeans and t-shirt - A gift voucher worth Rs 2,000 from either one of Levi's, Wrangler, Pepe... depending on availability
- Calvin & Hobbes omnibuses worth Rs 1,500.
Second prize
- You get to buy new denims too - A gift voucher worth Rs 1,000 from either of Levi's, Wrangler, Pepe... depending on availability.
- A Calvin & Hobbes omnibus worth Rs 600
Concept, illustrations and graphics by Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka chuck_gopal, a Mallu-turned Mumbaiker who blogs here and tweets here.