Easy money which is not that easy any more...

Purchase of an external hard disk, joining the gym to burn off junk calories (Calories gained from consuming junk food for lunch and mid-night meals) were all waiting for trimester 5. I termed trim 5 as competition trimester. The moment it starts, a barrage of case studies, B-plans and online games bombarded me from all sides as my mail box crunched under their weight.
And make no mistakes, it is lucre which is the key driver. Ego boost is another.
If one wins, one can easily make 15-50k from one competiton. Ans this is the only time when we actually work on concepts...class presentations are ususally CCP with some GAS (generally accepted s***) packaged well.
From 50 such opportunities to make easy money, i chose 5 as per my core competency and did a good job for 2, ok job for 2 and 1 was just sent. And then i waited. The wait was as dreadful as it was when i used to wait for MBA entrance exam results. I got one shortlist for the entry which was a bad job done. And then I lost in the second round...just a step away from 15k.
And it was not just me or my batch (By the way, NM is known for great performance in B school competions) but the whole B school junta seemed to have gone berserk. Probably they had tasted blood too, in the first year.
Whatever be the reason, this mad race is not good for me. Forget the competitions in top 15 B- schools, even at places like Chetana, IMT Nagpur, teams from ISB will fly in, at 11.55th hour, all studded in their corporate suits.
What has happened to the world. Why does it not allow me my 15K for the external hard disk and gym.
When i reflect on it, one thing is for sure. From all this, the party which seems to benefit the most is the the competition sponsor. After all, if you sponsor an event, you shell out 50 k to 1 Lac. And you get 100 -200 proposals/ case analysis/ B-plan ideas. Now which research agency can match the output.
All i know is that when i become a marketing manager, i would do exactly the same thing and derive sadistic pleasure from enslaving the b-schoolers! Till then, I will write another case. Deadline: 11:59 p.m., 13th Nov. 2006