An ode to the LBS EMBAD/LJ2015 cohorts

An ode to the LBS EMBAD/LJ2015 cohorts at London Business School

18 months.

Of when I consider how my time is spent
Of when I fondly ask; but patience to prevent
Of living it
Of loving it

Of learning and unlearning
Of chances - taking and not taking
Of EBITDA, Viagra/Cialis, P-Max and 5-Forces
Of births, hook-ups, marriages and divorces

Of hard-work and enthusiasm
Of procrastination and boredom
Of a vacation from conventional thought and expectations
Of challenges, milestones, jubilation and aspirations

18 months.

Of escapades, barbecues and river cruises
Of waking up early, post the 6 alarm snoozes
Of bow-ties, helmets and the “I love Victor” T-shirt
Of Modigliani-Miller, Porter, and Dilbert

Of pub-crawls, binging, international dinners and ping-pong
Of all the chatter, gossip, fun and frolic all night long
Of classroom naps, Heidi Roizen and coffee-breaks
Of drunken hangovers and all the head-aches

Of learning how to and how not to run a business
Of the magical question “Good time to take a break for recess?”
Of selfies, photo-shoots and NVD surveys
Of partying till 3AM and having to part ways

18 months.

Of Christmas, Hannukah, Eid and Diwali
Of learning to forget and forgive any folly
Of Orientation, Dis-Orientation and Congregation
Of getting to party with someone from every nation

Of looking at tempests and never being shaken
Of whose worth's unknown although his height be taken
Of realizing that it's human to mess up
Of knowing that we will improve and clean up

Of Macro-economics beach shots and Movember ‘taches
Of all the boring classes where we looked for escape hatches
Of all those silly squabbles and arguments under pressure
Of the pint at the Windsor library which was a refresher

18 months.

Of appearing, disappearing, and then reappearing
Of plans - making and breaking 
Of realizing that pretending to be happy doesn't make you happy
Or pretending to be smart doesn't make you sappy

Of realizing that things I want to forget most
Are the things I need to talk about the most
Of realizing closure for a new beginning
Of moving on to a different something

18 months have flown!

18 months
4 study-group mates
78 classmates
128 cohort-mates
2 study-locations
200-something case-studies 
100-something personal assignments
50-something group projects
4.5 GB of emails 
2 English winters
2 Dubai summers

We've weathered them all!

Of building a new life and remembering every moment with you
And if there is something I really want to say, its “Thank You”

Thank you for being a part of one of the best experiences of my life! I love you all...