8 Types of Friends You Find @ MBA Colleges

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MBA, mostly the final years of study in a person’s life, is a course where one makes the latest friends in a school-like setting. Though, we gather friends throughout our lives, but these friends are slightly different as they are an amalgamation of professionalism, personal touch and hard core competition.

We, the social animals can never escape our habit of making friends, smiling at strangers to initiate talks, building trust to lay foundations and standing by each other in critical situations. Though, we are well-versed with the kind of homo-sapiens that exist in our society and whom we select as friends, there is always more to know and explore.

There is always a difference with respect to the kind of friends one makes during graduation and those ones which we make at post graduation with respect to maturity, responsibility, attitude and behavior. MBA does give you a lot of friends who can be excellent references and professional contacts. Let us now explore the kind of friends one makes at MBA colleges:

  1. The Figure Fanatic: Figure Fanatics are those souls who are excellently capable at number crunching, remembering formulas and figures. They have mastered the art of solving all numerical problems via sheer logic, practice, dedication and unfulfilled desire to become human calculators. Newspapers and financial websites are their breakfast and their discussion is their lunch.  Every formula or ratio you can think of, they can derive in a short while. They are excellent at dividing the bills for group contributions at restaurants and canteens. These specimens excel at subjects like statistics, mathematics, finance or accounts as if it is their birthright. You envy them for their number love but they can add to your skills by motivating you and educating you about their secret shortcuts.
  1. Life savers: Such friends are rare and stand by you in all ups and downs. MBA takes you by surprise when you make new friends, who ditch you with time. But, there are some life-saving mountains of trust and support. At various moments you feel miserable such as rejection during placements or failure in examination; they are the ‘Aal is Well’ friend most of us dream of. They not only remain positive but also lift you when you fall weak. They seem to know your personality, you responses and behavior more than you and at least offer solutions to your critical problems if not solve them. Their presence in life is itself stress busting and enriching for they focus on the present priorities rather than other things.
  1. The Chintamani’s/ Newspapers: Such friends are like alarm clocks who keep on reminding you about assignment and project deadlines. Chintamani’s are the first ones to cry and whine at any change in rules or introduction of new rules in the entire institute. They often volunteer as class representatives owing to their habit of being teacher’s pets and handle the valuable information to people with loyalty and trust. Also, often such people spread rumors which aren’t healthy for others owing to their title of being newspapers. Confidential information must be hidden from them else the entire campus is bound to know! Always worried, tensed, such friends never fail to gather attention for their nervousness at crucial events such as presentations, interviews, group discussions and even outside examination halls. 10473852_857398064271304_581706879872845152_n
  1. The Overactive Politician (OP): With influential speech as their birthright, there are some friends who never stick to a particular motion and bend to the side which is beneficial for them. Emotions hold less significance for them as compared to fame, righteousness and social image that are crucial. They are petrified by the event of their moves being calculated or predicted by their competitors. Politicians are not only great at the political handshakes, maintaining contact with authorities but also taking lead at co-curricular or attention winning activities. Loyalty is not their cup of tea and hence in their pursuit to achieve something they go beyond normal efforts and friendships. OP’s are amazing at convincing others, winning trust, appearing genuine and gathering limelight; backed by their selfish and personal intentions. Academics are never their priority and their only trait that makes them different is their extroversion. 
  1. The Philosophy Honors: Such friends are certainly lost in the philosophy of life; spiritual pursuit or dedication to God. They deliver spiritual or philosophical one liner which make or break your day. They are the modern version of ‘Daadi’ or ‘Naani’ who are attracted by the newer versions of Epics written by modern writers. Yoga and meditation are also their never ending love. They read a lot of self help books and never hesitate in preaching what they read. They are always present to console you when you face failures and teach you to be satisfied in your life. They help you shape your personality by adding the philosophical twist to it with spices such as ethics, morals, principles, values, new beliefs, fairness etc. 
  1. The Knowledge Thirsty: This category of friends is a rare species which includes geeks. Avoiding the friendship sustainability clause, such friendships are about sharing knowledge from all sources and means. Such people are never hesitant of explaining concepts and questions in day to day life or outside the examination halls. Such people always question and have an innate desire to go deeper and deeper in to the subject. They lay emphasis on brainstorming and doubt-raising in classes with teachers and professors. Moreover, some people are stingy and competitive beings who love to learn but not share for the fear of losing competitive edge. 
  1. Butterflies: Some people are your fair weather friends who are present until their interests coincide with yours. Their interests may range from copying assignments to enjoying at your cost. These friends, as the name suggests, are temporary, look promising, very sweet spoken but do not stick to you in difficult times or failures. You can enjoy their presence like butterflies but not expect because expectations bring disappointment.
  1. Spendthrift Maniacs: Friends who spend time or money without realizing value. Some people label them as spoiled brats or filthy rich who flaunt their car, clothes and everything and for them course degree is just a formality. Friends who don’t value time will make you waste your time. People who have loaded baskets cannot understand the situations which masses face.

Practically one must have 3 close friends; the poor to teach you how to live with meager means, the intellect to teach you how to make sensible decisions and the filthy rich to help you understand how to make choices when variety is at disposal. Choosing the friends is however up to you!

Contributed by Chayan Jain (Class of 2011-2013IBS HYDERABAD)

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