"IF..."

A few days back, i was taking one of those group discussion practice sessions...as a part of my preparations for MBA and a very abstract yet interesting topic was given to us. The topic was - "IF". And as soon as the host gave this topic, there was a complete silence in the GD (Group Discussion) room. And after 5 minutes, someone broke the silence with a simple sentence. And in no time most of us were contributing to the GD. Believe me, It was one of the best GD's that i have been a part of. There was a smile on my face when the GD ended...not because I performed exceptionally well in it, but because it was an amazing and enriching experience. Let me explain...in what sense.

First let me tell you the profile of the group. There were a couple of software guys just like me. Then there were a couple of BBA and BCOM guys who were in their final year. Then there were a couple of grown up guys for whom this was the last try to crack CAT (Common Admission Test for getting into the few top class Business Schools in India). Now comes the interesting part.

Being an IT professional, I started talking about IF as the basis of everything in IT industry...because normally the algorithms and programs in IT languages are largely based on IF-ELSE conditions. So i described IF as one of the major building blocks of IT programs, etc and since IT is one of the major contributors to India's economy these days...so by inductive logic, i concluded that IF word is one of the main building blocks of Indian economy. I know its weird logic, but in GD's, if the topic is an abstract one, you get points for your weird creativity...and my aim was scoring the maximum...so i can't be blamed :) . But still this is not the interesting part i was talking about. Read ahead.

As i mentioned before, there were a couple of final year BBA and BCOM students...and for them, it was very important to get into one of the good MBA schools...because in the current Job market scenario, its really difficult for them to get a good job with only bachelors degree under their belt. And the arguments that they were giving in the GD clearly reflected their fear and desperation of getting into a good college. Their arguments rotated mainly around the fear that they had "What IF I cant get into one of the good colleges...etc etc". But still this is not the interesting part i was talking about. Read ahead :)

Similarly the arguments of the people giving a last try to CAT somewhere rotated around the various options one should look out for if he does not get what he wanted the most. So their arguments reflected a mix of fear and optimism with which they will move on to explore other options if they don't get through CAT...and so on and so forth. But still this is not the interesting part i was talking about. Read ahead :)

Now comes the interesting part. Finally :) . The thing or fact that amused me and brought a smile on my face was realizing something that i had never realized till date. the realization was that "IF" was one of the most amazing clauses in English language that i have come across. It can represent a gamut of emotions. Few examples:

Fear: What IF I fail...the biggest hurdle in some one's life. Most people don't try anything new because they succumb to this fear of failure and choose to tread a path that is more secure.
Hope: IF i win the lottery...The biggest driving force of human race is HOPE. If the hope is alive, you will get out of every predicament.
Condition: IF this happens, i will do that...and so on...

A small and simple word which when used as "IF", "Only IF", "IF and only IF", "What IF"...creates a different meaning in each and every case.

Now consider this. A person risks his everything seeing the HOPE side of 'IF'...at the same time a person does not take any risk seeing the FEAR side of 'IF'. Interesting and Weird...isn't it?