In a country obsessed with MBA education, it helps to read between the lines.

In the history of Indian education, MBA is by far is the most hyped course. Partly because of the number of zeroes that follow the non zero digit in the pay cheques of students who pass out of premier institutes and mostly because, Indians as a part of their rich heritage do not 'read between the lines.'

I still vividly remember a headline that made every one crane their heads and in the process get a catch! And that was 'IIM - A post graduate gets Rs. one crore a year compensation and the average salary stands at Rs. 12 lakhs this year' I understand this one line is too appealing to miss. What is more important is to read the paragraph that follows and not stop with the headline. For, that will reveal many things that headline didn't in the first place. Here is my attempt at reading between the lines.

1. This does not mean that everyone who gets into IIM - A and successfully completes the degree gets a one crore a year compensation. This is where B-schools use the power of statistical measures to hide what lurks behind the scenes. Suppose there were 10 students who got employed through the campus recruitment process and one student gets a Rs. 1 crore + offer. Even if all the other 9 students get placed for only Rs. Two lakh a year ( which any sane kid who can speak English from a city college can get,) the average becomes a whopping Rs. 11.8 lakhs per year ( and it is only convenient to round this figure to the nearest decimal point.)

2. The candidate in discussion was not offered one crore Indian rupees to live in Indian conditions ( the Indian cost of living.) He was offered a $250,000 for a job in the US and obviously the cost of living in the US is higher than that in India. This means, the money he can save at the end of the month is so much more lesser than it looks.

3. The word compensation is often the same as the CTC and not the salary you draw. A company can may contribute huge sums of money to insurance on your behalf which you stand to benefit only if the need arises ( trust me no one wants to meet with an accident or get hospitalized just to reap the benefits of company paid insurance.) When you take away 'costs' like this from the 'Compensation' the actual salary you draw will be much lesser.

4. The person in question had completed CA, and had worked for seven years even before getting into IIM - A. It is only logical that is offered a good pay commensurate with his experience and qualification.

More importantly, the difficulty level of CAT or other competitive exams followed by the other elimination rounds ensure only the best in the country get through. These
students have already done a lot of good for themselves throughout their lives by sharpening their intellect with or without external motivation and of course preparing hard for the selection rounds. How difficult is it impart education to these people? Not very..

Now, getting to the other side of the coin. Considering the fact that there are 2000 colleges in the country that offer a full time MBA and less than 5% of the colleges can boast of a 100% placement record, is an MBA really worth it's hype is a question worth pondering over.