Even before we were to officially enter the college life we were provided a pre-session assignment to be completed and submitted before the orientation. There were just 5 questions , but those 5 questions really gave an insight of what to expect from the management education. Couple of them were number crunching problems such a balance sheets and so forth. The most interesting of the 5 was the question regarding "how would you promote IPL if you are made the chairperson?"... even though having no basics of marketing it was fun brainstorming on those points. Also we are divided into 4 houses and each was to come up with a name , a war cry and a captain. Our house name was "The One"er-sena (combo of matrix and the ramayana :D ), an improvisation provided by yours truly and which somehow won the majority votes even after having some stiff competition.
Landed on 27 May morning in IIM-B campus and thus started the initial session with welcome speeches from the seniors students and the PGSEM director Prof Agarwal. This was followed by official inauguration of PGSEM batch in presence of the IIM-B director Pankaj Chandra and surprisingly my companies VP Dipesh Shah, who incidentally is also a PGSEMer. After an inspiring speeches by all the guests the inauguration concluded and this was followed by alumni interaction and they were damn frank with their answers. The below is the gist of the interaction :
- PGSEM doesn't provide immediate change in terms of role or salary. One shouldn't expect a 10x salary hike or become VP of the company after completing PGSEM. For immediate changes one should try PGP rather than PGSEM.
- In the long run PGSEM is very helpful for ones growth and the long run here might infer years together.
- The chances of a PGSEMer to jump to some other domain altogether such as finance, HR etc is very slim. For that a person is better to opt for PGP.
- Not many companies recognize PGSEMers or recruit PGSEMer specifically. If you are competent enough you will get the job.
Majority of Day 2 was filled with CSITM workshop, an event not specific to PGSEMers and we had lot of management gurus out there to present their research papers. Some were really interesting and some were outright ridiculous. It was different world altogether for us engineers having never attended a paper presentation other than technical topics. This workshop dragged the whole day and by evening we had sport competitions(with me representing the team in volleyball and badminton ) between various houses. This was followed by treasure hunt which started at midnight and dragged all the way till 2 am. This was really fun, more or less the unofficial introduction to the entire IIM-B campus which we had to explore in the death of night. Searching gardens, lampposts, football grounds, ATMs and what not. Searching the 100 acre campus with very minimal lighting was not an easy task and both the security guards and the stray dogs (who have made IIM-B as their home :P ) were a confused lot seeing so many people running from one place to another in the middle of the night.
After the treasure hunt we were needed to prepare for a long and lengthy case study, and hence our first official study night out which extended all the way till 3.45 am. In the morning we hurried quickly to attend Prof Murthy's class on how to go through a case study and it really was an awesome class. The entire interaction lasted for nearly 4 hrs and everyone was spellbound and interested till the end. That is the quality of IIM-B prof's, Mr. Sibal :D.
This was followed by some more group activities and in the end our group "The One"er sena had won the house cup by just a very small margin . Great :). Had a 15 hr sleep back home to compensate for the insomniac nights spent in the corridors of IIM-B. More or less it was a stressful , but still a very satisfying experience. Just like my treks or cycling expeditions :P.
Posted below the blog post which we as a group wrote as a hilarious uptake of our first day experiences in IIM-B and also this won the best blog prize in the House Cup. The blog has various grammatical mistakes , highlighting our sleepless plight in the middle of the night. This is the original blog without any corrections or even font change :P.
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Wanar Sena Diary
Day 1 (27 May 2011)
Disclaimer : This blog is a plagiarized work of One’er sena. Any resemblance to any other blog, living or dead is not a mere coincidence.
The virtual eWaner Sena came into life in the IIMB campus. Wanars were looking around for trees in the sprawling campus, when the kind hearted IIMB administration blessed them with executive suites with bed and cupboard with a mirror.
But the happiness did not last long. Alas!!! wanars were presented with big fat books instead of soft yummy bananas. If that was not enough, even before wanars could settle down, seniors announced the “3 idiots” who secured the highest marks in the pre assignment. Wanars clapped and decided to move on. When their primitive brains were trying to understand the course overview presentations, they faced the daunting task of remembering the names of all fellow wanars. Little RAM and primitive neural networks of Wanars found it impossible to map all the names with their companies and years of experience.
When wanars were trying to get a little rest in the cool air of the AC in the cozy environment of the auditorium, seniors offered a cup of tea and snacks. Wanar sena rushed to satiate their hunger, but alas, only few biscuits were left. Competitive fellow wanars with advanced locomotive skills had already snatched away the snacks.
Filled with disappointment and sorrow on their faces, wanars returned to the cozy auditorium. Hunger was taking its toll. Now SAC (Student Assassination Cell) barged in and bombarded with their intellectual messages on the primitive brains of wanars.
Hunger was building up and rats started playing inside stomachs of the wanars. Good news. Lunch was served under the trees. IIMB made sure every wanar gets a full stomach lunch and to the wanars delight mangoes were served for dessert.
Wanars headed right back to C11 room to meet the chairperson. Their high expectations were shattered when reality finally dawned on them. Poor wanars thought that the course will make them VPs and CEOs, but were told that they will be lucky if they become managers after the tiresome and grueling 2.5 years of torture. But wanars were happy that they will get a chance to go abroad in Wanar exchange program. Wanars were given a chance to interact with the distinguished Alumni. Wanars found out how they can transform to become smart individuals.
In the evening, after a sumptuous dinner, wanars were taken for a fun ride. There were competitions between the wanar groups. Wanar leaders proved their uselessness in front of a larger wanar community. There was passionate participation from fellow wanars. Every wanar was ready to die on a war cry from their leader.
After a competitive memory game, wanars were tested on their singing talent, and movie database. Some wanars showcased their inherent acting and mimicry skills to earn points for the most coveted house cup. When the clock struck 12 and eyes started shutting down themselves, lightening struck and thunder roared. Wanars were given a task to write this blog.
P.S. : Thanks to all our seniors for organizing the wonderful events. This blog is written for fun and no offence intended
Thanks
Group 2 Team
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