Showing posts with label Student. Show all posts

IIFT – S01E01

June 30th, 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 30th, 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 30th, 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!

Middle Class = Exploitable Class

Aspirational tab defines the so discussed middle class. I have some core values, beliefs but I’m not a philosopher. Whole essence is that I always have a take on problem of others and there is a clear cut solution that I believe in. The solution may be feasible/ practical or not. I always feel comfortable with the people who agree with what I think. The only thing I do not like about myself is to blindly trust the person who just simply speaks my language. Am I exploitable?


 


The nation witnessed the birth of a new party recently and in a way supported them whole heartedly. Why? Because they speak our language. According to us whatever bad happens the reason is always corruption. We trust them without even having an iota of doubt and support their credibility as our representatives. Aren't these the same people who could not arrange a ticket for the constituency from other parties? Let’s take an example of the one who threw shoe at someone who was our representative. The shoe was thrown on us because we elected and asked him to sit there for us. How can he stand and desire to be our representative? But we trust them just because they speak our language?? 

They were chosen as the representatives of the constituency and were given a chance to form government. If we were the ones who selected them then who gave them the right to dissolve the government? The reason is not even worth discussing and would have been laughable if given in a college election. They were given five years to work for us and make our lives better.
 Were they given any checklist or even timeline such that if they fail to meet a task they should start packing for a holiday?

I recently heard an appeal on radio requesting everyone to advise them about so called “Public Fund” utilization. This fund is collected from every one of us while we buy anything, say Petrol, milk, toothpaste etc. The fund will be well utilized as the leader states. The same leader was given two years paid leave to pursue the higher education with a condition that he will serve our country with the newly attained knowledge. He then resigned from his post, not surprising. Whose money was utilized to fund his paid leave and higher education? Wasn't that ours??
The assemblies were setup in our country for a specific reason. If these places were useless then we could have saved millions and would have spent on other infrastructure needs. If I assume that people do nothing while sitting there then it would be injustice to an economy which showed tremendous growth in the last decade. It would be great to have a point of view of everyone but I don’t think I am capable of understanding the repercussions of the decisions at macro level. People are elected to sit there and expected to work in unison while it cannot be a daily routine for us. 


But I trust him because now he is speaking ‘my language’. Are my sentiments and emotions such that they can be so easily manipulated by anyone with a mask on? It’s not that I am not capable to understand what the intention of some people are. But I and my best friend – Hit & trial take time to come to a consensus. The common reply which I expect is that the writer is from opposition. For your information my dear Leader I am just a ‘Common Man’ from Indian Middle class.

By Ravi Sehrawat

À Bientôt!- Part Une

It happened one day…

I recently attended the graduation ceremony of my engineering college (a year too late perhaps, happened in full swing nonetheless). It was good to reconnect with old colleagues. The topics of our conversations ranged from reminiscence of the “good old days” to general curiosity about what the other person had made of their life.

Amidst all the catching up and laughter, I happened to bump into my project mate, a friend who I had spent most of my last semester with, designing (watching him design?) a fancy vehicle locking system. Ashwin squealed out “Sruti, you got everything that you had asked for!” Honestly, I was very confused. Until that day, there hadn’t passed a single day in my life when I hadn’t whined about how I never get what I want. He continued, “It was exactly a year ago that you told me you wanted to do your MBA and that sometime in life you would like to go to France, walk the streets of Paris, admire paintings in that museum- what was it? - Louvre? And oh yes! Eat their food, sip their wine. .6 months into a B-School and you have it all! Some luck woman!” It’s funny how it took a-year-late convocation to make me realize that the world wasn’t conspiring against me after all. While Ashwin, being the enthusiast that he is, chattered on, I took a minute to thank the universe (Rhonda Byrne claims gratitude is key in her latest- “Magic”).

I can’t even begin to explain how/why IIFT has been right for me at so many levels, and the exchange program most definitely tops the list of reasons. When I learnt that I had been nominated to study at IESEG School of Management in Lille, it wasn’t just the fact that I was going to spend a trimester abroad, in “foreign land” that gave me the shivers; people go abroad all the time with their families these days. No, it was about the journey that awaited me, the adventure that I knew that I was going to embark upon with four other friends, some old, some new.


  It was the fashion capital indeed…




I remember when we landed at the Charles De Gaulle Airport of Paris, in time for new year celebrations. Just when the fact that we had reached started sinking in, few of us were shown out of the airport by a huge scary cop. Soon after, a cab ride to the hotel that cost us an equivalent of Rs 6000, did not help much either. My French, that I took so much pride in previously, failed me miserably at each and every step. It was definitely not a kickass start, so to speak. But as the night unfurled, things started looking up, more than looking up.

A walk on Champs Élysées (http://bit.ly/12hzOQj), the most commercial street of Paris, was definitely an eye-opener for a fashion lover like me. Hidden under layers of clothing and a thick black jacket and looking at French girls strutting about in their skirts and high-heeled boots, I felt like the quintessential monkey-capped bong. They were impervious to the 3 degree chill- I was going to follow suit very soon, I just didn’t know it that time. Marked by two significant monuments at its either ends, Champs Élysées was a vision to behold, the whole of it- beautiful people walking on a beautifully decorated street, obnoxiously priced and yet very charming pubs and restaurants, a jazzy ice skating ring, crêpe counters, a real-but-fake snowman, cuddly couples, stalls serving Vin Chaud (http://bit.ly/1bo3z8O) and Louis Vuitton.

As we reached the end of the street, in front of Place de la Concorde (http://bit.ly/11CcUrM), and looked to the right, there it was glimmering in full might, the Eiffel Tower. It was just as gorgeous as the world claims it to be. I was half expecting “Michel Adams presents FTV” to pop up mid air. Delighted with our discovery, we paced towards the Eiffel.

Walking along the Seine late at night was fun. Amidst the gaping-at-the-cars and the getting acclimatized to the grandeur of the buildings, the jokes and comments never stopped coming in. And that’s the best part about traveling with friends. No matter what the situation is, you’re bound to have a good laugh! That is really what makes the journey so memorable and worth it.

As we walked, we came across a hell lot of couples, smitten by each other, completely in love. Honestly, I don’t blame them. There was something about Paris; it was almost designed for love. I don’t know whether it was the weather, the open roads, the empty spaces, the imposing structures, the river, the perfectly arched bridges or the cliché associated with it but something about the city definitely screamed, “Love!” The silly-romantic-non-MBA girl in me kind of resolved to come back here with someone special someday (no offense to my lovely friends!).


After a never-ending walk, we finally reached our destination. The Eiffel didn’t look that perfect anymore. It was just a lot of metal and lights (it does look exceptional during the day, but that was something that I learnt at a much later stage of my visit). It was a wonder of the world nonetheless, so the photo clicking session began. Meanwhile, some Indians and Bangladeshis tried selling us Eiffel Tower key chains, offering us the best of deals. They even tried to please us with their Hindi. But I couldn’t care less. I was all about France and the French that time. The language, the clothes, the mannerisms, the crêpes- all of it. Crêpes! Now I could write a novel about the Nutella strawberry ones made in front of the Eiffel. They were most definitely the BEST that I’d had all across Europe! A soft but crispy crêpe smeared generously with the godly Nutella and add pieces of the sweetest, juiciest, reddest strawberries on earth and tadaaa! You have for yourself, what I’d like to call, “An experience divine”.

The following days we celebrated New Year’s, visited the Louvre, Sacré Cœur (http://bit.ly/12hB5a0) and Notre Dame (http://bit.ly/152Rpxr) and relived our childhood in Disneyland. Paris was my second favorite city in Europe (narrowly defeated by Rome). I can go on and on about each of these experiences, whether it is the evening mass at the Notre Dame or the Tower of Terror in Disneyland. But the fact is that I’d just end up boring you with a lot of details that might seem inconsequential to you, the way I bore some of my friends who missed exchange.
Because you’d never know with what passion and enthusiasm I’m writing this, because you never felt or experienced what I experienced. And hence I’m going to be limiting these blogs only to the fun and exciting parts…

 Next stop, Amsterdam!

By Sruti Chatterjee