Life can happen over a cup of coffee -By Shashank Kamath from TAPMI

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The skies in the month of October decide to give some respite to TAPMI, Manipal every year. The rain starts receding and the weather gradually starts moving towards pleasant winters. Unusually, last year the rain was more than expected. The raincoats were still on, and the colorful different shapes and sizes of umbrellas were fluttering along. The campus along with talks over a cup of coffee at the coffee stall was the most relished thing during the rains.

During the last week of October, the internship season was in full swing at TAPMI. With two failed interviews in my dream companies, I felt that the entire world came crashing down on me. It wasn't the regret of failure, it was the guilt. I couldn't come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t able to do justice to the opportunity. Dejected, staring at the ceiling, I went off to sleep.

I woke up to the celebration sounds outside the Night Canteen. A student had just secured his dream job and his friends were making him feel special. I went too, to the Canteen to have a cup of coffee. People were busy preparing for their interviews the next day and I was engrossed in deep thoughts. Gopi Anna gave me my cup and I met a new friend there. Seeing my dejected face, he showed concern. I went on to narrate the first half of the story when the skies started pouring again. By the time I completed my story, the coffee cups were refilled. He intently listened to whatever I said. This talk over a cup of coffee was about to instill a new perspective within me.

When you decide to go with the flow

Not surprisingly, he laughed. He said “You know Kamath, life is unfair. There is no use of doing an MBA if you don’t understand it. We think we are all in TAPMI because we have a high percentile in CAT. This is a misconception.” I already knew all this. But I wanted someone to tell me this. Or rather, I wanted someone to pacify me. The quickest advice he gave on my third and last coffee was to seize the opportunity which I had. I and my team qualified for the National Level of Corporate Competition. I had a great team. Considering what I was going through, no discussion had taken place. The call was quick. We all met at 9:00 AM the next morning. They saw a different vibe, and a different perspective in me, and supported me to the fullest.

When the team went on stage to lift the bulky brass and silver-plated shield with a crystal ball positioned to give it the victory look, 3 days later, a thought struck me. We fight for things and people that are not bound to stay with us. That day we realized that we should #LetThingsHappen the way they do and it was then that even three cups of coffee seemed insignificant.

This article was submitted as an entry to Become an Author with Dare2Compete.