This post has definitely been frustrating. It's been two weeks since I came here and I wanted to write something about IIM-R and Everest Hostel. Interesting stuff certainly happened. For instance, the fresher orientation programme, euphemistically titled "Personality Development Programme" was fun. And then I thought about all the inputs that I received before coming here.
"It's an MBA. There's really no difference between the seniors and juniors. You'll have people younger than you as your seniors and older ones as juniors. Everyone ain't everybody's best friend. There will be the small groups, of course. To each, his own."
" People are more placement oriented. They would want a certificate for each of their achievement so that it can be a bullet point in the CV."
"Work. Wild parties. Chics. Wild parties. Chics. Mostly in that ratio."
" Don't worry too much about wavelength. There will be always some idiot who'll think exactly like you."
When the rickety Haryana State Transport bus dropped me nearby the destination, I still hadn't decided on "Why MBA?". Those TIME people told me that it's a sacred thing to be pondered from within. Annoying.
So, here I was dumping IAS preparations (stability/security issues) for a while and taking up a PGDM/PGP course because, well, a job seemed mostly boring.
"Take an MBA. Granted you had a hell of a college life. But, an MBA will broaden your perspective a lot. Maybe, it'll help you decide."
" An IIM is an IIM. New or Old. Brand. But, an IAS is better than corporate life. "
(That one was by the typical Indian family relative from the socialistic era. Power over money.)
And I was slowly dragging my trolley to the too-large-MDU-campus. A temporary campus. Basically, you belong to a batch which would never see the permanent campus. As soon as people shift to the new campus, a sea change in the campus culture will take place. Your juniors will be able to leave marks, scrawling and graffiti on the campus which will last. Physically. And, metaphorically, in terms of what they leave behind. They'll be able to visit the place years later and be able to call it home. Where would you come to? MDU or the permanent campus?
A few days passed. And, I realised that the mess people don't know how to prepare a Vada. And the sambhar just about attempts to be that. Damn. All Machans and Akkas from the south have crestfallen looks.
"Think of it this way, you are given a blank slate. What you and your batch does within the course of two years, will define the institution for generations to come. "
The scorching sun.
The dust storms in summer which ruin your clothes as you put it out to dry.
Haryanvi. Hindi. National Language. Still, a mystery to people residing south of the Vindhyas.
"Bhaiyya, ek curtain dey do."
" Kya?"
"Curtain??" (Points to shop window, makes random gestures)
"Carton?"
"Carton nahi. Curtain. Curtain."
"Kya chahiye bhai?"
"Arrey curtain." (more wild gestures)
"Ohhh jee. Purdah?"
"Pardah nahi. Curtain. Curtain." (And I think to myself. Why in the world does the guy think I need clothes worn by a Muslim woman?)
" And, we call ourselves Kathor."
"What's that?"
" Arrey, you flip Rohtak."
"I understood that. But, what is that?"
"Strength."
The sun's setting. And I am drinking tea from the steel glasses, sitting on the steps of Everest Hostel. People playing cricket, football and volleyball from centre, right and left.
Later that night, some of us go and have a couple of beers from outside MDU Campus. Statutory warning : Everything's strictly forbidden inside campus. It's goes against our cultural heritage. I rightly feel guilty about it. I look upto the skies and ask for repentance from our ancestors. And feel proud that everybody else inside the MDU campus religiously follow their duties and desist from any satanic(Ravanish/Duryodanish) temptations.
Class participation, the very next day. So many hands and legs up in the air including mine, even though I try to act like I am above the kindergarten effect, by only partially raising it. That's neither there nor here. Damn that one mark.
Powerpoint. Excel. As pointed out in Legal Aspects of Business, Microsoft is definitely breaking a lot of Competition Laws here. Those people actually created a degree called MBA so that there will always be a market for Powerpoint and Excel. Conspiracy of the highest order.
People. So many different ones. Stereotypical. Un-stereotypical. Anti-stereotypical. People you actually wanted to know better but started on a wrong foot with. People you started on a good note with and now you want to abhor like the plague. The only constant in a temporary space-time dimension. Radically different from you. Strangers? Friends?
As the marauders said " I solemnly swear I am upto no good". In a variable called life, two years of stability at an institution called IIM-Rohtak. Two years to feel pride in a tag called "Kathor". Two years to decide "Next is what?" Two years to create a bunch of memories, something called a batch spirit and then disappear back into anonymity. Cross that. Two years to create something that'll outlast us all and always shine in neon lighting, irrespective of the infrastructural shift.
Kathor. Strength.
"It's an MBA. There's really no difference between the seniors and juniors. You'll have people younger than you as your seniors and older ones as juniors. Everyone ain't everybody's best friend. There will be the small groups, of course. To each, his own."
" People are more placement oriented. They would want a certificate for each of their achievement so that it can be a bullet point in the CV."
"Work. Wild parties. Chics. Wild parties. Chics. Mostly in that ratio."
" Don't worry too much about wavelength. There will be always some idiot who'll think exactly like you."
When the rickety Haryana State Transport bus dropped me nearby the destination, I still hadn't decided on "Why MBA?". Those TIME people told me that it's a sacred thing to be pondered from within. Annoying.
So, here I was dumping IAS preparations (stability/security issues) for a while and taking up a PGDM/PGP course because, well, a job seemed mostly boring.
"Take an MBA. Granted you had a hell of a college life. But, an MBA will broaden your perspective a lot. Maybe, it'll help you decide."
" An IIM is an IIM. New or Old. Brand. But, an IAS is better than corporate life. "
(That one was by the typical Indian family relative from the socialistic era. Power over money.)
And I was slowly dragging my trolley to the too-large-MDU-campus. A temporary campus. Basically, you belong to a batch which would never see the permanent campus. As soon as people shift to the new campus, a sea change in the campus culture will take place. Your juniors will be able to leave marks, scrawling and graffiti on the campus which will last. Physically. And, metaphorically, in terms of what they leave behind. They'll be able to visit the place years later and be able to call it home. Where would you come to? MDU or the permanent campus?
A few days passed. And, I realised that the mess people don't know how to prepare a Vada. And the sambhar just about attempts to be that. Damn. All Machans and Akkas from the south have crestfallen looks.
"Think of it this way, you are given a blank slate. What you and your batch does within the course of two years, will define the institution for generations to come. "
The scorching sun.
The dust storms in summer which ruin your clothes as you put it out to dry.
Haryanvi. Hindi. National Language. Still, a mystery to people residing south of the Vindhyas.
"Bhaiyya, ek curtain dey do."
" Kya?"
"Curtain??" (Points to shop window, makes random gestures)
"Carton?"
"Carton nahi. Curtain. Curtain."
"Kya chahiye bhai?"
"Arrey curtain." (more wild gestures)
"Ohhh jee. Purdah?"
"Pardah nahi. Curtain. Curtain." (And I think to myself. Why in the world does the guy think I need clothes worn by a Muslim woman?)
" And, we call ourselves Kathor."
"What's that?"
" Arrey, you flip Rohtak."
"I understood that. But, what is that?"
"Strength."
The sun's setting. And I am drinking tea from the steel glasses, sitting on the steps of Everest Hostel. People playing cricket, football and volleyball from centre, right and left.
Later that night, some of us go and have a couple of beers from outside MDU Campus. Statutory warning : Everything's strictly forbidden inside campus. It's goes against our cultural heritage. I rightly feel guilty about it. I look upto the skies and ask for repentance from our ancestors. And feel proud that everybody else inside the MDU campus religiously follow their duties and desist from any satanic(Ravanish/Duryodanish) temptations.
Class participation, the very next day. So many hands and legs up in the air including mine, even though I try to act like I am above the kindergarten effect, by only partially raising it. That's neither there nor here. Damn that one mark.
Powerpoint. Excel. As pointed out in Legal Aspects of Business, Microsoft is definitely breaking a lot of Competition Laws here. Those people actually created a degree called MBA so that there will always be a market for Powerpoint and Excel. Conspiracy of the highest order.
People. So many different ones. Stereotypical. Un-stereotypical. Anti-stereotypical. People you actually wanted to know better but started on a wrong foot with. People you started on a good note with and now you want to abhor like the plague. The only constant in a temporary space-time dimension. Radically different from you. Strangers? Friends?
As the marauders said " I solemnly swear I am upto no good". In a variable called life, two years of stability at an institution called IIM-Rohtak. Two years to feel pride in a tag called "Kathor". Two years to decide "Next is what?" Two years to create a bunch of memories, something called a batch spirit and then disappear back into anonymity. Cross that. Two years to create something that'll outlast us all and always shine in neon lighting, irrespective of the infrastructural shift.
Kathor. Strength.
