MBA is not about Money, Blazer, Arrogance by Krishna Kranthi is a special book for me. Nivasini publishers, owned by a very young friend of mine, have published it. They also published the anthology Celebrating India where for the first time I got published as part of a book. I had the honor of releasing this book in Hyderabad along with parents of the author Krishna Kranthi. Should that bias my review – hopefully not!
The book is a memoir of one year spent by the protagonist, a character based entirely on the author, at SP Jain Institute of management in Mumbai. It is the journey of a young software professional in a B-school. Where he sometimes gets lost in the purpose of doing an MBA course. The questions he raises are important. And most of the times skipped by students and the faculty who get lost in the huge material value associated with the degree. Does he do anything extraordinary during the course – really No? After the course – we do not know.
It is a simple chronicle of a year spent in Mumbai, doing various things that MBA students do. Form clubs, eye the other sex, do internships and visit another country as part of an exchange program. His few weeks in Europe actually become like a travel story. Where he is describing the famous monuments and his encounters with people he met during the travels. He forgets that he is doing a course. And he is narrating a story that questions some values.
It is a good documentation of how the naïve mind of a student finally gets lost in the mundane and follows the stereotype as it happens to most students. The huge value attached to the degree takes away the essence of the course. And focuses only on what it can get you – a huge salary (what you need to do for that salary does not matter most of the times), a wealthier spouse (especially if you are a guy and brides’ parents are keeping an eye out for you). And an ego of having the earlier two. Forget about the value you add to the society. Most of these young men and women do not even question the value that they are adding to themselves.
Language is simple, very colloquial as is the trend with college books. Editing of MBA is not about Money, Blazer, Arrogance – very poor, look at this sentence – I am going to starting my startup. I think I am cribbing about editing more and more these days. I think, like MBAs, editors also do not care about the value they bring to table as long as they get paid for it. As far as the author is concerned, I think he wrote completely by his experience. Only giving himself a new name. If he had reflected a bit more and probed the line of thought a little more, it would have made a good exploration of a relevant current issue.
If you are planning to do an MBA at SPJIMR, read it to know what is in store, by the day.
Currently we are no longer associated with the Book. Kindly remove our (Nivasini) name.