Beyond the laminated glass

Every day, on my way to work, I see people on the sidewalk, I see people hanging off buses, crowding into rickety cabs, on their way to work. Many of them have an education, many don’t. Many have fled the tragic droughts of eastern states, their bank accounts nil, deep in debt with money-lenders forever on the head. They come from places thousands of miles away in search of a living. They toil hard for every scrap of food, every scrap of clothing they can afford, and send what-ever they save back to their villages, back to their sons and daughters, and wife and ailing parents.

And as I look at them I wonder … how many of them have thought of a Harvard education?

There are very few who can think beyond basic necessities. Who have the luxury, if I may call it so, of spending sleepless nights over a GMAT score, fewer who bite their lips over a 700. Even fewer who can think of applying to Harvard for an MBA. The vendor on the side-walk selling his deep fired samosas has not even had an education and perhaps never will.

I must be very ungrateful if I neglect to realise that I am lucky, very lucky indeed, to just be able to prepare my application for an MBA. There is very little that I have done which makes me a candidate. Most, or almost all, of it has been done for me. I salute those who have been accepted to their chosen schools in R1, I salute those who will make it to their choices in R2 and then R3. I must not however forget that there’s a world out there which’d never have a Harvard degree, or even the need for one. And I express my gratitude to HIM for allowing me this opportunity and hope I can make the most of the experience for the benefit of those who haven’t had this opportunity.

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