MBA Blogs @ Manchester Business School

It is Friday morning and one of usual Manchester days: cloudy and windy. Almost everyone is in Paris but I am in MBS since 9:00 AM waiting for my passport to get delivered. I am reserving my vigour for MBAT as I am sure I will get my visa. It is 11:00 AM and I have lost all hopes of going to Paris by now. I am leaving the school with a grim face and about to reach my flat when I receive a call from courier service.

The cold wind is blowing and it has started raining. At that moment looking in dark and cold sky I recall one famous dialog from Bollywood movie “Om Shanti Om” in which Hero (Shah Rukh Khan) says: “if you really love something with your true heart then whole universe will help you in making that wish come true”. Soon I realise that I am wet, have wasted 10 precious minutes and everyone on the road is staring at me. Quickly I leave for the school, collect my passport, book the flight, come back to my flat, pack my stuff and ready to leave in just 30 minutes. I am racing against the time and if I were in Paris I could have won Gold in Cross-Country.

It is 1:30 PM and the adventurous journey starts with raining. Somehow I manage to board my flight and thinking how I will reach HEC. My plans: It should not take more than 30-50 minutes and maybe I can participate in Table Tennis Semi-finals. It is 6:00 PM and I am in a train for HEC. I learnt French basics few years back and am planning to converse with someone. I start talking to a French girl sitting opposite to me and she quickly comes to know that I am fooling around.

I ask her the direction for HEC and she explains me that ideally it takes 2 – 2.5 hours to reach the place (surprisingly she has never heard of HEC before). Today (as it is my lucky day) there is a strike at one station so the train will take some other routes. Ok, the map is already too complex, I am a MBA student and I can handle it. Check out the below map for further references (no Harvard style references):

The girl is accompanying me since last 1 hour as she is going to Paris centre. Suddenly she realises that she is on wrong train. Ok, I am now my own. I have prior experience with Indian Railways and recently with London Tube. Maybe I am on right train and she was mistaken. When I realise that I am in wrong train it is too late. Now I am sitting alone in the railway station for past 40 minutes in a jungle. Check below snap:

Somehow I manage to reach the station from where I have to board other train but which one??

“Lost in Translation” I am trying to interact with local French guys if they know where I have to go and which train I should take. After spending 2o minutes with them (of course with no results) I am hopeless and without any energy.

Another Bollwood scene, from nowhere I find Sergey to help me out from this mess. I am too overjoyed to see him to say anything. It is like God sent HIS messiah and is offering HIS services to me. Anyway coming back to reality once again I realise that I have wasted another 10 minutes.

It is 10 PM and I have reached the Hotel, tired but happy. Luck again favours me as Chris sees me entering into Hotel. The last bus for Toga party is about to leave and everyone (thanks guys) asks the bus driver to wait for me. In less than 2 minutes I am in the bus and everyone is cheering me. I think even Football team must not have gotten so much cheers as I have got on the bus. Now I am not alone, I am with my friends on MBAT journey to have Fun “Limitless”.