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Snapshots
of IIM - A
Anuj Arora
Hi Janta!!!
Before I start this
article, I would like to WARN you!!! Anyone who has got big
expectations from life in IIM or any other good MBA institution should
shut this page and go to something prettier because this is gonna get
messy over here.
For all those who have
read my previous article, "I'm BACK". But in tatters. One
month in IIM-A has already taken its toll and if that was not enough,
I'd my first Mid-TERMS, which means the torture of whole months
concentrated in 6 exams!!!
To start from the
beginning, it is business as usual and I have formulated a weird daily
pattern that is sustainable.
I wake at 8:30 am
EVERYDAY and sleepwalk through the minimal effort required that makes
me look "presentable" in class. Every day, I've to make
critical decisions regarding "time management" such as:
-
have both bath and
breakfast (becoming a rarity)
-
bath but no
breakfast
-
breakfast but no
bath
-
neither (becoming
alarmingly a regular option)
Every day, I've to take
solace that, some people arrive in far worse shape than me, others
fight a losing battle with sleep and occasionally doze off right under
the prof's nose. Four hours later, I lumber off to the mess, and just
can't wait to fall on my bed; UNLESS, the class notice board has the
deadly signs of a quiz at 2:30 pm. Which means, another hour of
frenetic page turning followed by sitting emptily through 15, 30, 40
minutes back in the classroom for the quiz to get over.
About the professors -
they are GOD!! Many are in consulting as well for big MNCs and GOVT OF
INDIA. The classroom is akin to an amphitheatre, with name slips
arranged, to confine each soul to his dreadful misery for the rest of
the year to a single seat. For example, my name Anuj hasn't done
anything good since I've to sit in front row right under the Prof's
nose. So in evening, I manage to get an hour or so of sleep which is
very necessary for those "long nights!!" It's 6:00 pm and
I'm confused about which subject to start. I would like to add that
for each subject there is a long reading to be done, usually exceeding
15 pages, and the very inevitable small fonts to ensure we read
more!!!
Then it is 8:00 pm and
still no headway in preparation for the next day's class, so I give up
and head for the mess, and sit amidst people who give my confidence a
bad jolt by offering some free advice on the mess tables. "Haan,
Economic Analysis kaa next chapter ho gaaya, read the case also, very
easy to solve yaar..... Pass the water please".
Soon it is 10:00 pm,
and after some more struggle between Accounting and Human Resources, I
give up and head for the CA in the adjoining room, who gleefully
smiles and is chased around by several of the so-called engineering
types like me. At 12:00 midnight, we have a birthday in our dormitory,
and there is a proper round of cakes and bumps. Birthdays are a nice
thing here; dorms have proper dorm "birthday manager" who
formally circulates a mail across the institute, arrange for cake and
pastries, and also get the share of bumps. Also, they ensure that
there is a fair sprinkling of the feminine kind around to witness the
inanities other people impose on the birthday boy. Also there is this
tradition of getting one's face smeared by the birthday cake and cream
by a girl of your choice, if she obliges. Else some sympathetic lady
comes forth to do the honors. The face looks ugly, but I believe it is
worth it. So I cannot wait for mine to come by...…
Also my dorm (hostel)
"D2" has a glorious past. It is well known for its special
characteristic of "dunking" the other students. So I've to
live to the expectations as well.
It is 2:00 am and I
head for the canteen, after promising to wind up the day by 4:00 am.
At 2:00 am, everybody is awake. There are meetings scheduled at 3:00
am in the night sometimes 5:00 am and everything is a mess now.
My standard of living
has been decreasing everyday. Earlier, I'd rarely wake up till 3:00
am, but now things keep getting worse each day. So now I've woken up
till 4:00, 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 am!!! It's our duty to tell the
birds that wake up guys!! We’re a kind of their alarm system.
That's about it. In
case of a detailed description of life at a B-school, a guy called
Peter Robinson has done a far better job with "Snapshots from
Hell". In case this induces fear, then that is what it is meant
to do. Keeping sanity is an uphill task.
Hence, as a payment for
writing this article for you guys, I expect you all to pray for some
less mortal souls like us who are facing this music everyday!!!
Byeee
and enjoy your life because you never know how bad it can get!!!
* Contributed by -
Anuj Arora
B.Tech. Electronics & Communications,
Kurukshetra University,
IIM-Ahmedabad, PGP-1 |
