June 30^th, 2014 – The day I landed in the city of joy, all pumped up to embark on a journey I had been awaiting since I started solving MCQs on Numbers and Para-completion two years back. Today, I have travelled one month into the MBA (IB) programme. I look back, awestruck, and realize how much I have grown or as managers put it – what has been my value addition. Here, I see what learnings this one month has bestowed upon me.

Time Management: I have had time-bound assignments in my 9 months of work experience, but never has a deadline been so dear to me. “23:59:59” ruled my first three weeks under the IAP programme. The deadline was professed so aggressively, that now, meeting a deadline in time comes naturally.

CV points: With power comes responsibility. And with responsibility, comes a CV point. After the first CV verification, I realized that my 2-page CV in undergraduate was humbled immediately to a “half-page-CV”. This wake-up call flagged-off the race for a CV point. And believe you me, I earned my first CV point and it called for a full-fledged treat.

There is always a tomorrow but there exists no day-after-tomorrow: An MBA student becomes myopic right in the first week of joining. All that matters is “Kal ke liye kuch kaam hai?” I have never had any longer-term-plan than the next 24 hours as yet. 

Forget Engineering, Learn Photo-shopping: The first one month offers a plethora of competitions to participate in. Yes, all of them have a “CV point” at stake. Hence, one needs to create a POD (point of difference) among one’s peers and express ideas creatively. In a pool of 88 engineers out of 93 students, Photoshop is the tool which comes handy to differentiate.
Sleep-time is luxury: Before June 30^th, I used to love beds. Rolling on bed reading. Rolling on bed laughing. Rolling on bed sleeping. I simply loved passing time on the bed. But now, every morning starts with a “Shit!! I slept”. I don’t remember when the last time I wished myself a good morning was.

I am in a relationship with MS-Office: I spend more time with Microsoft Office these days than with my closest friends. The amount of trust that I share with my PowerPoint presentation, to work at the right time, is immense. I wish to learn her in and out as soon as possible so that the bond gets stronger. Barring a few deterrents like Windows updates, I believe my relationship with Microsoft will go miles. Maybe, I’ll write a national bestseller, script a multi-crorer film or tie-up with Flipkart one day.

Peer-Learning: No matter who I was before June 30^th, here, when I step into IIFT, I am among equals. A small batch size of 93 and every person in the batch has achieved something huge to be present here. And the fact that everybody knows everybody else goes a long way in peer-learning. I can reach out for help and be assured that I will not be disappointed.

Neighborhood’s Sidhu Aunty’s constant rant that “Ladka padh padh ke Weak ho gaya” is finally being experienced: Nonetheless, the rewards are worth the efforts.

I look back at this one month and I smile. I look ahead, and I am all charged up for what is going to unfold. The opportunities that a B school offers are immense. This was just the pilot episode. The theme has been set. I hope this 2 year long journey fulfils its purpose of carving me into what I aspire to become. Cheers IIFT!

Credits: Jaskaran Bir Singh

Foundation day is an important day in the life of an institution. This is the reflection of vision, mission, and values which founders manifest not only in the physical being but also in its functioning. IIFT Kolkata celebrated its Foundation Day on the 16^th of July.  It has been 8 years since it came into existence.

An institution gets old with every year but this institution is getting younger with every passing year as it has made its presence felt across the length and breadth of the country and its students are keeping it young & energetic with their achievements. The recent example is of Jitin Bhasin, (alumnus, Batch 2008) Program Head Relationship Management – Indusland Bank, who bagged the prestigious Economic Times Young Leader Award, 2014 edition.

The event was organized by IMF, the student body of IIFT. Along with them, Koshish, the CSR club of our institute, organized a Blood Donation Camp, which has become a tradition on Foundation Day. Students were equally participative and donated in huge numbers. IIFT as an institute, values the importance of students being connected to social causes which has resulted in introducing a course where students are expected to work with an NGO for three weeks during their stay.

The Centre Head, Dr. K. Rangarajan was the Chief Guest. Programme Directors Dr. J.K. Seal of MBA 2013-15 Batch and Dr. Saswati Tripathi of MBA 2014-16 Batch were present along with other distinguished faculties. Saurabh Vyas, a student of the 2013-15 Batch was the anchor for the event.

The event started with the lightening of the lamp by the Centre Head, Dr. Rangarajan who welcomed the new batch in their first celebration of Foundation Day of IIFT Kolkata. He expressed his joy as he recalled how this institute has progressed by leaps and bounds. He also got nostalgic while recalling the early years for the institute.  He acknowledged the contribution of the faculty, administrative department and the support staff for their contribution in building this institute. At the same time he congratulated everyone for being successful in upholding the values of this institution. He emphasized that as students being essence of the institution, the whole responsibility lies with them in strengthening this institution.       

The Programme Directors shared their experiences and memories they have with the institution. Dr. Saswati Tripathi advised the new batch to keep up the attitude of learning to gain as much as possible from this institute. She asked the students to keep up the legacy of seniors and motivated us to cross the boundaries that are still untouched.

Through the entire event, Saurabh spell bounded the audience with his magical use of Hindi language and poetry. He was appreciated by all for his proficiency at the language. He deployed poetry to introduce every guest which made the atmosphere more serene.        

As every beginning has an end, our function also ended on a good note where we made a promise to ourselves and to the institution to keep its values intact and to meet once again next year to celebrate this auspicious day.   

‘Hey, I just donated blood for the first time in life’, squeaked the proud me, as I sipped on refreshments. While tweeting the same ,a nice feeling sank in of donating blood for a good cause which may safe a precious life someday and I smiled to myself.

Such noble opportunity came my way in the blood donation camp which was organized in IIFT, Kolkata by Koshish : The social club.  It was organized in coordination with Association of Voluntary Blood Donors West Bengal. This coincided with the golden year celebration of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade as well as marked the foundation day of its Kolkata Center , 16th July.

Blood donation drive was embarked with IIFT Professor Dr. R.P. Dutta as the first donor. 

Doctors did the preliminary tests and fit candidates were taken forward for donation. In case someone was identified as unfit doctors went ahead to give appropriate advice to him/her. Enthusiasm among the students continued as the donors poured in till the end of drive. Happy faces can be seen all around and such infectious optimism got extended to those who were initially apprehensive about donation. 

Around 60 people comprising of students from both the batches 2012-14 and 2013-15 as well as professors, administrative staff successfully donated blood with a promise of coming back again next year with the same zeal.

 “Blood Donation will cost you nothing but it will save a life!”
“Share a little, care a little – Donate Blood.”