Jack of All Trade: Master of General Management

Jack of All Trade: Master of General Management

Sounds pretty sophisticated huh ...., it wasn't all that sophisticated for me.
I have been puzzling over this dilemma for quite sometime and it was about my Specialization.

So Let us try to unravel the mystery surrounding my Specialization.

I always thought of myself to be a Generalist more than a Specialist. I generally don’t trust my first impressions , but I surely trust my second , not the third , of-course the fourth , I hope u get the drift …… I cannot stop to give u the details……

So what made me think, I am a Generalist? I have a hundred reasons for thinking so ,
Don’t get me started on that …

I remember having read somewhere that a Generalist is somebody who knows SOMETHING about EVERYTHING. I was sure that I knew SOMETHING but was, equally sure that it was about SOMETHING and not EVERYTHING. In principle I was not a Generalist or a Specialist. I belonged to a species called MINI-MALIST which essentially meant I was equipped with what was required to get oneself out of trouble if one ended up in it accidentally.
I leave history to judge on that…

My Colleagues used to discuss a lot about Specialization. The General Discussions were circling around choosing a specific Stream or a combination in order to secure an edge. To me it was more of a babbling gossip which I had to endure because I had no choice sometimes.

So I decided to take the plunge , explore the Void , experience the Alien Splendor
( somebody please ask me to shut up …)

What I am actually attempting to explain here is that My Motivation was not precisely what it should have been

My First Crush

FINANCE ( It was Aimless confusion to me )

And here allow me to call your attention

( My Motivation was ) :

Investment Banking , Now I did not understand what it meant , I was misled by the abbreviation (IB), at times I also thought it to be a coveted job in the Intelligence Bureau ,but later realized how Ignorant I was.I had finally understood that it was indeed a whole big a deal to become one.

I have no intention of being offensive, All I could understand about IB was

a>A Front Office Job in New York
b>A Fat –Fatter –Fattest Pay Package
c>Always had to Suit up
d>To sell one's soul to the devil.

I recall from a Guest Lecture that IB was very much similar to the infamous quote
“Saaala itna kaaaam hain ki Jeene nahin deta aur Saaala itna paisaa hain ki marne nahin deta “

Now I was neither interested in the Kaaam or the Paisaa .

Coming back to Finance

The only thing I liked about Finance was that it talked a lot about MONEY , BIG MONEY and Yeah A LOT OF MONEY ...... It was always fun to hear people say “Its all about Money”.
Not to sound too philosophical because I am an unphilosophical dreamer, I was not entirely convinced about the fact that Life circled around money to the extent that other things in life were left behind in the race.


But I liked the course because it dealt with Absolutes, I could conclusively arrive at a solution based on which I could decide whether to go ahead or back-off.

Allow me to tell a story

I had performed miserably in Financial Management I & II and my hunger to master (Oops! Did I say master the subject , No way !!! I meant understanding the fundamentals ) this subject was still not satiated. So I took a Big leap by taking a Hardcore Finance Subject as my Elective.

The First day of the class the prof said he was really surprised to see so many non-finance individuals interested in the subject.
My Heart Skipped a Beat .........

He then reiterated that , this course required a lot of dedication and a strong understanding of the fundamentals. I was ready to do all the hard work but to get a grasp on the subject within such short span of time was a challenge.

The Prof immediately handed over the Course outline and Gradation Scheme. The course outline ran into pages and pages. I started feeling a bit uneasy

He then started of with the classes, I tried very hard to concentrate on the lecture despite my occasional digressions for a rendezvous with myself. The Lecture was indeed a bouncy track, with a lot of in-swingers, out-swingers, bouncers & beamers, I stood there with defenseless innocence. I had made up mind, No matter what happens, I am not leaving the field.

So I tried and Prepared well in advance for the next class and was ready with my cases too.

A digressional adventure ( Its relevant to the story). My class had guys whose name ended with “ deep “ like Xdeep, Ydeep etc..


A bunch of these guys had also enrolled for the course and were mysteriously absconding in the subsequent classes.

So coming back to the second class

After finding all the “deep”s missing from the list …………

The prof reasoned out that these individuals were barren in Intellect for Finance and hence had abandoned the course.

Now the prof does a roll call , when he came across my Name , He started a chat with me

Prof : Good to find out that you are still here , Deepak. I am Glad that there is atleast one “Deep” ( Hindi Equivalent for Light) in the class to provide light.

Me : Thank You Sir ( I am standing dumb with admiration , sometimes without admiration tooo……).

I : hmmmmmmmmmm ( Did I make the Right Decision , to stick to this class, coz , I am still not familiar with the concepts).

Myself : hmmmmmmmmm ( He is holding a huge book , full of cases and assignments, which u will never understand till eternity , Run for your Life , Its Now or Never).

Again a rough session with a lot of in-swingers and out-swingers, more of bouncers. I got injured a couple of times (when the prof started involving me in the discussions and asked a series of questions).

The death blow came after the class, when the prof gave another bunch of readings and a big textbook full of cases to be used for subsequent classes .


I came back to the hostel with a heavy heart, I am torn, I realized that I am in the middle of nowhere. The subject was becoming more of a hindrance than of a help. It started having side-effects , I couldn’t concentrate on my other subjects ( I am indeed lying).

The next class was on the following morning.

Time : 8:30 a.m
Venue: CR 1

The Entire class has assembled, the Prof is waiting and is about to begin the class, I I am still not in my seat , The Class is still dark without the only “Deep’”


Knock Knock

Prof : Answers the Door

Any Guesses ???





Peon : Hands over a revised list of students for the Course


But, wait, you haven't heard the end

Without a twinge of embarrassment, I was happily sleeping on my Bed.
I did leave a mark on that class, I stole away their only source of light and left them in
eternal DARKNESS.

I slept very peacefully till the pangs of hunger, woke me up for my Dinner.

I got up and went to the Night Canteen............

To be Continued…………….