Paisa Ye Paisa

On May 15th after I had converted IIM B, I had to withdraw my admission from IIM C. Sounds so easy, but it isn’t.
It was downright awkward to inform an institute that I am not going to join your institute. An institute as legendary and iconic as IIM Calcutta with a history of almost half-a-century. I took about 10 minutes as to decide what to say. The moment I told the admissions-in-charge that I am not going to join. He told me okay. Huhhhh. Much ado about nothing. Probably they were expecting it. Or maybe they accepted my withdrawal rather gleefully as they can offer admission to one who is on-hold, thereby decreasing the erosion of their brand-value.
I asked I wanted my initial deposit of Rs 1 lakh refunded. He told me very casually “you will get it in end of June”. End of June…..Did I hear it right? Asked him to repeat. He said the same thing, this time rather rudely. Before I could ask him anything else, call went blank.
I had to send Rs 1.55 lakh to IIM B within June 1st. From where the hell, I am going to manage such a huge amount. Therein I realized the value of money. Money needs to be saved to meet such eventualities. Unfortunately, I was very ill-prepared to meet the situation.
One major concern was treats. Some I had already given and a couple were still due. It’s a caught-between-the-devil-and-the-sea situation. At one hand, you cannot refrain from giving the treats and at the other hand, you don’t have the money to give the treat. Pretty dicey, you know. Well, I decided treats will have to wait.
I requested IIM B to extend the deadline. IIM B asked me to fill up the fee-waiver form and then they will consider the request. But, the form had more to fill up than even my Tenth’s history exam and probably more confusing than map reading in the geography exam. I decided against it.
So, I had to sent them the money. In these moments of helplessness, I fell back upon the people closest to my heart. They helped me a lot financially. It really feels good to have such people around you, who can see you through all rough moments.
P.S – I will take a break from IIMs. You have got bored of it and so have I. So, my next blog will not be about IIM. It will be about something very close to my heart.