M.S./Phd or MBA? The million dollar question!!

After a long time, thanks to my cousin and a taxi driver that I finally found something interesting to post about. And as the topic of the post goes….yes, its about the dilemma, that from ages to come, all graduating engineers have faced and are facing and will face in future too….that is what to choose for post-graduation M.S./Phd. or MBA……

My cousin had posed me the question of which field to choose for Post Graduation last weekend. He had asked me why you are happy in i-banking inspite of spending four years of your efforts in doing core technical engg. projects. I didn’t know how to convince him. But today my taxi driver happened to have the answer for me surprisingly….As usual I was late in the morn and he was standing at the gates of my building waiting for me….prompt….just like every day…..when I got into the taxi he asked me :

Taxi Diver : Madam aaj jyada late ho gaye ho

Me: Haan bhaiyya, mera bhai aaya hua hai….chutti leni thi…par mili nahi

Taxi Driver: Hahhaaaa toh madam aaj aapka mann nahi lagega kaam mein office pe

Me: Haan bhaiyya….pakk gayi hoon

Taxi Driver: Kyun madam….chutti nahi mili toh kya hua…kal chutti hai na

Me: Bhaiyya aap roz roz kaam karke pakk nahi jaatey kabhie

Taxi Driver: Nahi madam, humko toh bahut acha lagta hai….roz naye naye logon ko unki manzil tak pahunchatey hain….unse do batein kartey hain….unke zindagi ke bare mein thoda pata chalta hai hamara unko pata chalta hai….aur kya madam….har din naye logon se batein hoti hai…humein unse thoda seekhne ko milta hai unke anubhav se… ……Aur Bhagwan ke daya se khane ko toh hai…Aur kya chahiye….Humko toh bahut anand milta hai taxi chalane se….Aur madam kaam acha lagna ya bura lagna khud pe hota hai…kaam pe nahi

And I got the words for my answer. Now coming back to the topic of Post graduation…….While one school of thought talks like the Amir Khan of Three Idiots Movie as to “Agar bank mein hi jana tha toh Engg kyun kiya tha…gadha”….Another school of thought reasons out saying that “Knowledge is vast…and diverse in nature….four years of Engineering taught me the basics of B.Tech…now my mind wants to explore a different field and test my abilities there…by acquiring new skills”……

While both the reasons sound very logical what’s interesting is to see the debate…when one tries to prove that his chosen field is better than the other. It is amusing to see the way both have convinced themselves….”One calling other gadha and bhikari…helping fraud companies” and the other calling “Pot bellied , lazy, directionless, inferiority complex wale masterjis ….Undecipherable shitty objects (thts what we used to refer the strict/khadoos profs as :P!)” . Now if we sit to draw parallels then there is no end to it….An engineer’s parallel being a mechanic, chemist or electrician …just as the commercial people would name them and the commercial people being named as dalals, paan seller etc. The names proving nothing but immaturity and the inferiority complex within a novice who is just trying to console and give solace to his ego, self-respect and inhibitions….and nothing else…

Now what’s amusing to me is that….is it necessary….and is this the only way to convince oneself about the field you choose…..I understand that it is a difficult decision and at that age its difficult to gauge what is your field of interest……But then why such mental blockages…..

Any career you choose has its own challenges, pit falls and advantages….and if you are hardworking and can develop interest in the learning you will definitely succeed and enjoy doing whatever you have chosen. I have seen examples of frens going for Phd in technical field and then go for MBA and frens going for MBA first and then pursue Phd. …..also, simple engineers who have done better than any post graduate….and others who have no conventional degree and are yet more successful than the passouts of branded colleges.

Why only Phd or MBA…I have seen few of my friends choose to do something as diverse as fashion designing or civil services and are doing really good there. And for an economy to run…we need all kinds of people…MBAs, Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, Professors, Artists, workers , politicians and the list is endless………Most of them had started with the initial dilemma of which field to pursue and have then discovered interest in the fields they chose and are happy…..

All that is needed is the ability and the maturity to find interest in what you are doing…and the ability to enjoy by being open-minded enough to appreciate and realize true potential of every field!