I have just crossed the first step in pursuit of my MBA. We have just finished with our first terms (if I clear all the subjects) The past 6 weeks have been very hectic to say the least. There has been a drastic change in my lifestyle.
It all started with the hunting for house in Srinagar Colony. This colony is said to be located in better part of Chennai and is a posh colony. But as I went around the colony I was disappointed that a posh and developed colony lacked basic infrastructure necessary to derive its true status. Nevertheless, the landlords in the city didn't disappoint. They are the same anywhere in India at least. As soon as they see a bachelor, they visualise them as a hen giving golden eggs (thanks to the middle class upliftment in India - though I am also one of the beneficiaries.) After much struggle finally we found a house to stay though with few restrictions.
Now our energy was focused on college, activities and of course on the wonderful outdoor we had. We went to Green Coconut - a resort of ECR road. It gave a all of us a wonderful opportunity to interact with our batch mates and break the ice. I never realised how those two days passed by in games, fun-filled activities, visits to beach, swimming, music and last but not the least - Salsa. Keshav and Mantra (the Event Management company) created magic in those two days through various activities.
The fun was not to end here. The convocation ceremony of Jaycees (our seniors) was a event which was unfortunately marred by a controversy. There were some objectionable script in the skit which created a controversy which potentially could have derailed our career and aspirations. But that simmered and cooled off amicably thanks to the maturity shown by all the stake holders. I sensed I had just seen my first lessons of management even before classes had begun.
The initial classes were fun. I thought they were fillers used as build up to a hectic schedule. 165 students packed inside a room and studying some statistics (most of us were interested in collecting some other statistics though ;) and addressing lectures from our Dean
Dr. Bala V. Balachandran, our management and interaction with our seniors (which was very limited). The Seniors even made Bakra out of few of the Champions (our batch).
Great Lakes being a student run B-School expects each student to be part of some committee and handle the responsibilities associated with that committee. Few committees were thrust on some students who were felt cornered and aroused a fierce debate regarding the selection, only to find that they had been fooled.
Later when the committees were selected with most of the students able to work in their desired committees with of course some exceptions. The most sought committees like Placement Committee and Branding Committee disappointed many (Yours truly being one of those) but that's how life is. Fair to some unfair to others!!
There was more discontent withing students of our batch regarding further distribution into 3 different section which I felt was very childish and immature to expect from potential managers. Our first tryst with a real MBA class was a Psychology class. We had heard a lot from our seniors and the class lived to its expectation. A new subject which challenged many of our beliefs and knowledge. It made us think a lot about many facets of life. There were other subjects as well which I don't want to dwell much upon as I don't to discuss about my learning here with the exception of Chinese. The schedule and assignments demanded lots of sleepless nights and lots of research (read cut, copy, paste) Chinese came in as a subject where I could have fun while learning as I found the language funny. The language is more like a song but very confusing. Chinese had a part in providing those lighter moments in an otherwise tough schedule.
I can't forget the trip to Elliot's Beach where Mohit, Ashwin and I were trying to make sense of a trip to beach at 9 in the night. We rounded that evening with a very good dinner at Beasant Nagar. Another memorable evening was the IPL match which we (Ashwin, Murli, Bunty and I) witnessed at Chepauk. It was a match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab which the home team won. The atmosphere was electrifying. Those 4 hours of good quality cricket were fun filled. A nice day off.
IPL almost created rift among my roommates with each supporting a different team and cricket which arouses great passion in Indians, I spent many nights arguing on the sport and sportsman who drive India. The discussions (as most discussions are) went nowhere and the approaching exams provided the necessary force to abate our discussions and concentrate on out subjects.
The exams gave me really tough time as I found hard to manage my time between exams, assignments and other activities. The situation became more difficult to handle with two exams being scheduled in a day. The exam schedule was eased to some extent with the intervention of students and Students' Council (committee which is supposed to be interface between students and college management). But again exertion, tiredness and sleep (which always came at the wrong time) made sure that I carried the same feeling which I have at the end of most of the exmas - "Yaar!! Thoda time aur mil jaata to yeh paper crack kar leta!!"
Today my first terms have ended and I have a 1 day looooooong break. Frankly speaking having the exams out of the way gave me the same feeling of coming out of an appraisal interview. An unnecessary exercise for which you don't have an option to opt out. In a rigorous 1 year schedule I am not sure how the concept of examinations would help the institute apart from achieving some administrative goals and formal process of conducting an exam just for the sake of it. I would rather like continuous evaluations (quizzes, mid terms) which would be meaningful and effective. But again few things are beyond my control. I feel happy that exams are out of my way and I have theoretically completed 1/8th or 12.5% of my MBA. I am going for a movie today (Sarkaar Raj) and expect to put up a better performance in further terms. At least I can plan things better.
A man’s desires are like ripples on water, they never cease to enlarge.
