If the internet hadn’t happened, I don’t think I would have started Make My Trip: Deep Kalra

Online travel company Make My Trip Founder and chairman Deep Kalra says that like most things in life, an MBA education, too, is in a state of flux, especially after the pandemic. Kalra, 53, says that even before the pandemic people started questioning the value of an MBA which is typically two years of your life. “What changed this perception was more online education, professional courses being available on different forums. People have started weighing the benefits of doing such a course while working and I think technology has brought about that change,” he said.

For MBA aspirants, Kalra has a word of advice: always ask yourself why do you want to go for an MBA, is it just for the degree or will it actually help you achieve your goals or learn more about courses on new technologies like crypto currency. “It’s unfair to expect your business schools to prepare you for future technologies. I did my MBA in 1992 there was no way I could learn about the internet then,” he adds.

Looking back at 1992, when he was sitting for his final exams at IIM-Ahmadabad, Hyderabad-born Kalra hardly never thought that entrepreneurship was his cup of tea. “I never thought I would turn into an entrepreneur. I was actually going to chase a professional career and if the internet hadn’t happened, I don’t think I would have started a company,” he recalls.

In hindsight, one of the things he wishes his B-school had given him more entrepreneurship courses and industry interactions and being away from metro cities in Ahmadabad didn’t help either. But what did help Kalra is the fact that a B-school provides one with a well-rounded education essential for any kind of career one embarks on. The second thing, he says, is that it gives you the requisite skills to tackle new situations that help you go down uncharted territories and that has been very relevant for me,” he says. He adds that a B-School typically prepares students for breaking down any problem into many “smaller mini-solvable problems”.