The trepidation of a Dubai Indian with a quest for home...

I'm sure you have heard the proverb "Things happen twice in your life..." well in my case, I guess somethings happen much much more than twice...

Visa officer: So you live in Dubai?
Me: Yes but...(rudely interrupted)
Visa officer: So, where's your UAE residence visa then?
Me: Well, I'm actually on tourist visa here but (rudely interrupted)
Visa officer: Well then you cant apply for your visa from Dubai, where are you a resident?
Me: Well, I have an Indian passport but my wife and I have never lived in India
Visa Officer: ummm...well then your not residents of India
Me: Umm....not exactly, we are Non Resident Indians but we were born and raised in Dubai..
Visa Officer: Alrite, so where do you live then?
Me: (OHHHH GODD not this same conversation again)

It's conversations such as the above OR the long wait on the visit/tourist visa line in the Dubai immigration arrival terminal OR the fact that I need a visa to enter a country that I call home that remind me of our biggest challenge....

You see, you could live in Dubai all your life or have been born here but you are never a permanent resident. My folks moved to Dubai from India in the late 70's in search of a better life and 35 years later are now facing the rude reality that they will have to "return HOME to India" at some point in the next few years once they retire and can no longer be employed here. How can moving back to India be returning home when they have spent more time in Dubai than in India? Through the decades in Dubai, they helped their families back home migrate to Dubai as well; growing up in Dubai, I had more cousins and aunts/uncles in Dubai then I did back home in India...for me, India was that regular 45 days summer school break I spent away from home aka Dubai visiting relatives and my grandparents!

Even after spending close to a decade in the US, I was drawn back to Dubai with my family, friends and fantastic job prospects here....wait, did I mention we pay ZERO taxes....I was in paradise moving back to Dubai in 2008 and loved the 4 years I spent here thereafter....and then came the move to Switzerland for IMD....

My wife and I were considering job prospects in Dubai post MBA and the first thing we realized was that moving back to Dubai would mean setting ourselves up for a similar experience as our parents and hence for the time being atleast, we have decided to enjoy traveling and exploring...

It's tough to be told that you are a tourist at home or a temporary resident at best...it's a hidden feeling of unrest that pops up every once in a while. But, nobody can take away our memories of growing up here and nobody can tell me that Dubai is not home....except the visa officer and a 1000 others I guess :-)

I promised to talk about the post MBA journey in the previous post but we'll get to that next time...for now, I can tell you that my wife and I are headed to Dublin end of March for the next journey and I start my new job on March 24!!!

Until then from my beautiful glimmering city of Dubai (my home for now and forever)

Vikas

60 days after my last blog

It's been a long 2 months since I last blogged at IMD...between December and now, my wife and I have been to Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Ghent, Cologne, Berlin, Dubai, Baroda, Goa, Mumbai, Coimbatore and now back to Dubai for so much needed R&R time! and the best part of the entire trip was not the locations but the fact that we got to spend it with our besties who joined us from China and Dubai!

Heineken Brewery Amsterdam

There are days when all the events of last year seem surreal - being up at 7 am every morning after late nights preparing cases, meeting the sea of familiar faces at the Lorange auditorium in Lausanne, Switzerland...group exercises and putting fish and alligators on the table during leadership experientials, intense sessions with a psychiatrist and the many stresses of exams, case preps and a job search...I found myself explaining all these to a friend at a party the other day and he looked at me like I was from another planet!

Luckily however between all the surreal-ness of this experience, we had the chance to celebrate our classmates weddings and also had the opportunity to have a mini reunion in India...nothing like an Indian wedding to bring everyone together and nothing like the beaches of Goa for a mini IMD reunion...

At Priya's wedding sangeet in Baroda with Steeve, Rafael and Tristan

The IMD MBA 2013 group at the wedding in Baroda! 

Goa & an introduction to shack food! 

and finally, what can I say of being back home....nothing like catching up with old friends and family before we leave to Dublin for the next chapter in the journey in March...tune in for more details on the job front and more Dubai stories in the next entry...

hmmm...I wonder if my 2.5 readers are going to continue reading my blog post IMD but nevertheless its another one of those interests IMD has inspired in me and let's see how long I continue at it before it becomes another lost hobby! :-)

The final words from your 2013 bloggers....

I find myself completely wordless for this last blog...because you see IMD is like Sky diving...before doing it you are incredibly nervous, anxious and stressed....then you jump in tandem with the support of your classmates who are your parachutes and when you are in the air at 12000 ft, you feel alive again like we felt through the various challenges, intimate connections and long days at IMD. Finally when you land safely on the ground, all you can think of is jumping off that plane again because it was an experience of a lifetime...I would happily jump off that or any plane again knowing that I have the same classmates, family and friends by my side...thank you IMD for making me feel alive again and for helping me overcome my fears! "If you feel in control, you are not going fast enough!!" Vikas

...It is said that separation is best healed by new encounters, so I look forward to the new chapters of my life, starting with a long trip to South-East Asia. I will have six weeks to meditate about my IMD experience and reconnect with the world... Every day and bit of my journey at IMD was enriching, transformational, inspiring and–in the end–deeply connecting me to the others and myself. I feel stronger, softer, more self-confident and more humble at the same time. I have friends forever. It has been a priceless experience.  Thank you IMD, for an incredible year...! And good luck to the new year’s class!  Natalia

…A little more than a year ago I decided to take out a year off to learn more about myself (see my intro) but little did I know I would also have experiences that I will treasure all my life. I’m leaving with a safety net of 89 exceptional individuals who I can depend on for anything, and professors who I can call whenever I need advice. So if you are considering taking a break from your career (just when it seems to be taking off), don’t hesitate, take the plunge. An IMD MBA is a great way to prepare yourself for the next levels of responsibilities – by making you more aware of how you affect others, how others affect you, and how you can adapt to work with people as (or more) accomplished than yourself. For the new-joiners, I would say you have chosen well and you are in for one heck of a ride!! Hammad

This is what the 2013 MBA class said about “My IMD experience in one word”:

Super! Strengthening Intense Liberating Too short! Kaleidoscopic Wonderful Unique Mind-boggling Tremendous Unexpected Exceptional Over-the-edge HUGE Vroom!! A bootcamp Transformational Awakening! Wicked Awesome

Your IMD MBA 2013 bloggers: Natalia, Vikas, Hammad; Photobloggers: Marc, Oscar and Agis; Videoblogger: Peter 

Life after IMD

​So folks, here it is my last IMD MBA blog…riding the train from Crans Montana to Geneva enroute Paris. I told myself that I would post a few more entries before this last one but somehow between the apartment exit inspection, the many last minute errands and the depressing good byes, I was unable to spare a few minutes to post…

This blog has helped me put words to the many crazy feelings and emotions I have experienced through this crazy rollercoaster ride! Thank you my dearest classmates for reading, commenting and sharing these stories with your friends and dear ones and thank you for those many encouraging messages….thank you to my friends, family, partner and readers (my 2.5 readers J ) for taking the time to see what the journey was about and for all those lovely comments and thoughts….thank you IMD and Suzy Laurent for providing us this opportunity to share our stories openly and publicly!

So what’s next – One year after the start of the program, I now have the opportunity to change my industry, function and geography…something I wanted to do prior to the program…IMD has helped me connect with companies I could only dream off and secure opportunities that were far from planned or expected….however, personally for me the career aspect is less than a fraction of what I got from IMD.

The best part was, is and will always be the people – my classmates, the professors, the IMD staff, the network. I cannot begin to express how I feel leaving all this and Switzerland behind…We were at the mountains this weekend with my classmate Emanuelle and friends and on my ride there, between clicking a ‘selfie’ with him and between the many dinners and hikes this weekend, I started thinking about life after IMD and about not meeting these special people every day…but at the same time I realized maybe that’s not the entire reality  because in a month from now many of us will be meeting in India for a classmates wedding, we will also be meeting in Dubai prior to the wedding…..I will bump into some of my classmates during this month as we travel around Europe and we already have mini reunions and meetings planned everywhere….so whilst we might never get to be in the Lorange auditorium as a class again, I can guarantee you that we will be meeting in many arenas across the world reliving, thinking and dreaming about this 1 year in Lausanne when a group of 90 exceptional….no, sorry, not exceptional, but when a group of 90 special friends met to begin the journey of their life’s, interconnected yet isolated, challenging but rewarding….but all from the same home – IMD! What more do I need or do we need to remember that we may be far but we are never alone or away from each other!

I will miss this blog and have decided to start posting regularly on my private blog…details of which will be posted later! J

Real World. Real Learning…Real Friendships!

Much love

Cheers, Alvida, Ciao

Vikas Menon

89 Friends and me

“It’s like attending a graduation where you know everyone…and where you know their journey, their struggles, their joys…” said my wife after our graduation ceremony yesterday…

I’ve been extremely lost for words or emotions in the past 48 hours…I can’t identify, explain or decipher half of what I am feeling…my parents have been kind enough to come attend my graduation and yet, I feel like my mind is severely preoccupied and I feel moderately bad for not being able to give them my full attention even for a minute.

“We really liked your friends and how much you all share…” said my uncle who attended graduation…a senior executive and a MBA himself from the 90’s…. “you will meet them again and soon this will be another memory”…that thought seems to depress me more than his planned intention of cheering me up…

After the fantastic graduation ball yesterday thanks to the social committee, the music came to an end at 4 am followed by a group crying session from 4-6 am…I woke up today feeling “blah” and telling myself that I still have this last week for the final good byes…My best friend Ryan will be visiting this week and later this month I will be meeting with my closest friends travelling around Europe…this was the vacation I dreamed about the past few months….how will I explain to my friends back home, how and why people I know only for 1 year have become so close to me….what words can I use to explain the intensity and strength of this experience that connects the 90  of us…I can’t…

Last night, a friend introduced me to her mom because her mom wanted me to know how much she appreciated my blog and I said, that explains to me the 2 readers I have – my mom and this friends mom – I wish I could hold on to special moments like these shared with 89 friends…and I regret every moment I had ever wished for this program to come to an end…

I know this is not the usual positive end or spin to my regular blogs but this is also the first time I’ve felt this way this entire year…

And I couldn’t have said it better than when my wife described this graduation being one where you know every single person graduating and where you want to be there to applaud and share this special moment with every one of them!

Here's a video Truth and Dario put together for the graduation speech....

http://youtu.be/ffPTp4fIduE   

Vikas Menon

Jumping off a plane…a new drug!

​There I was at approx. 4000m above the ground huddled in a plane with two of my classmates – Mathias and Thibault. And when I say huddled, I mean it….this was probably smaller than the smallest plane I would ever dream of getting on…normally this would sound like a scene out of my worst nightmare. I have the biggest fear of heights and for years, I’ve dealt with the extreme uneasiness, clammy hands and discomfort every time I found myself atop a tall building, a monument, a sight-seeing trip, etc…..

So when my French classmate – Steeve (who has sky dived alone only 35 times!!) – suggested sky diving to me in September, he made sure I had a few glasses of wine in my system and of course, inspired by wine, I said yes….back then December was a long time away and I had completely forgotten about it until this past week when we started planning our trip to Sion!!!

But thanks to Steeve and my classmates and my buddies on that plane…I made that jump and here I am reflecting on one of the best experiences of my life….I’m quite sure this was the first of a serious of sky dives for me….

The minute we landed on the ground, Etienne, my tandem instructor who was latched on to my back asked, “Vikas, what’s the most dangerous thing you have done so far?” …of course, I answered this jump into the Swiss alps in Sion….to which he responded – “No, the most dangerous ones are yet to happen…now that you have landed safe, this adrenaline will become a drug and be the reason you do this again and again”. I later found out that it was Etienne’s 2000+ jump….

But this is exactly how a lot of us feel about life after this year at IMD….the drug is the new found appreciation for introspection and learning but the good part is that only great things can hopefully come out of this form of soul searching and ‘mind-diving’….

"Yes I do..." (1 year later)

...so this week is a week of milestones for me in many ways.....today was my last interview initiated through the on campus recruitment cycle.....speaking about interviews, I have counted that I have gone through 26 instances of interviews so far, fortunately enough not with 26 different companies...and hopefully should make some sort of a decision in the next few weeks.......but the major milestone is that it's my first wedding anniversary this weekend......while my partner has us planned to go to Zermatt....I was thinking about the same time last year....so one hour after our wedding, I was typing a last blog entry to send to the MBA office as a sample to be selected as a blogger....yes, you heard me correct - I said one hour after our wedding.....while all my friends were partying, celebrating, drinking and eating around me on the 24th November, there I was compiling this final entry........it's only appropriate then that I share the below with you.....

"Yes I do..."

As I gear up for holy matrimony this weekend, I find myself reflecting on the various decisions I made (yes believe it or not, I actually had time to reflect between the wedding planning and all that IMD Pre MBA course work and exams) that led me here. Funnily enough, it made me realize that pursuing a full time MBA and marriage have one too many similarities:

1.       COMMITMENT – I have known my fiancé for over 4 years and similarly, I have been chasing the IMD dream for over a year now. In the past weeks, I have found myself chasing a million things, tired and ready to throw out the white flag and that’s when I realized that this is what I have always wanted and it’s up to me to revive my commitment to make sure I stick it through and battle it out when things get tough……and if the pre course work is any indicator, then I better be 100% committed to giving it my best next year!

2.       It all depends on YOU – In my various interactions with IMD alumni, current students and MBA grads from other schools, I have always heard one thing – it’s up to us to clearly identify our objectives and then use the resources provided by the program to derive the best results…so while rankings are great, at the end of the day – it all depends on YOU to make it work for you.

3.       The right CHOICE - You know you are ready for that big decision when you find the right partner. I find IMD’s personal and intimate approach evident in every element of interaction, I mean which other schools personally interview every candidate?!. IMD’s strong connection with the industry fits my goals and aspirations perfectly and the ability to interact with 90 global citizens every day is icing on an already amazing cake!

In a month from now, 90 of us will be leaving a comfortable lifestyle, in some cases uprooting our families or spending time away from them with no clue of what may happen after one year but we all will agree that 2013 is going to be a year of intense reflection and one where we will build life long relationships and I find myself excitedly saying “Yes I do…”. 

Epilogue (November 21, 2013) - So my dear readers, 1 year later I am absolutely thrilled and grateful that I took that leap of faith....yes, it's been a tough year and we have learnt a lot but I wouldn't change for anything else...(and lets pray and hope my dear partner who has been through her share of the adventure feels the same way!)

cheers,

Vikas