slot 2

Slot 2 is about to end...2 more days of classes...6 more lectures.
then the end slot exams. never realized how this slot flew past me.
hope to do well in the exams and be more regular in writing this blog.

lots of things on my mind recently...career goals,
life goals, other things like how can you differentiate between so many talented ppl
and what happens to those who are unlucky enough to not make the cutoff ever,
even if they are as good as the ones who got selected.
and what happens to those who got selected and have to manage all kinds of extra currics with the
TREMENDOUS load that IIMA puts in terms of acads.

and why the case method???...maybe I will get my answers some day...'blowing in WIMWI's wind'

P.S: I went from Mumbai, where it rains cats, dogs and the rest of the zoo, to Bangalore where it rains ...let's say less (to prevent beating from some1 who always gets caught in the rains) to ahmedabad where it has rained exactly 7 min in the last 3 weeks if I remember correctly.
Where to next...Kalahari I guess.

We're halfway through slot 2 and the dreaded 'short' quizzes are in 'short' supply.
Guess there is going to be a lot of them in the business end of the slot.
Olympics are over and India won a gold medal!!
FRA is becoming more interesting and less mechanical...trying to figure out ppl doing FRA-ud is better than trying to figure out where the sheet is unbalanced.
Marketing is something I don't particularly understand but the need for non-linear thinking and Prof. Koshy's exhortation to "zameen pe aa jao" are interesting.
The insights from the class are great...you literally have to get into the customer's head and think like him...something I'm not at all good at.
A gem from his class:
" Whenever you are trying to take an important decision, look in the right place."
Going home this weekend and participating in Nihilanth.

Branded for Life

A t-shirt commonly seen on campus reads:
" BRANDED FOR LIFE: IIM AHMEDABAD".
Having felt the lack of a strong brand behind me for a long time, I am now getting what is probably India's biggest brands behind my name.
The alum network is wonderful, the profs and facilities are great if not world class.
The placements are out of the world, the companies sell themselves to us.
The branding goes to the extent that we get an insti email ID for life...our own connection to this place forever.
We even get our own visiting cards that will have my name, contact details and say
' Student, PGP 2008-2010'.
As always with 'branding' its the initial act of branding that hurts, that burns the skin...it's called PGP-I at IIMA.

EOS1 ( End of slot 1)

This blog was meant to be a 'diary' of sorts for my days in WIMWI...and the rate at which I write it will tell you what kind of work they expect out of us.
Today we had the last classes of the first slot. Midsems from Monday. This slot has screamed past me and I am living on the hope that I have caught something while it has gone.
Its been a complete change from the 'relaxed' lifestyle at IISc...infact the only time I have had good coffee is when I went home a couple of times ( yeah...I managed that!!).
The tuchchas (thats what the seniors are called) say this was the easy part and the pressure will really mount from the next slot. Everytime they talk I can hear them go Muggo Fachchon Muggo silently.
I am down to an average of 5 hrs of sleep a day. So much has changed since I left IISc abt 6 weeks ago...my lingo has gone from spikes and splines, DWT and CWT to WAC and ME, FRA and ID to DC++ and DBab.
By the end of this year I guess I will agree with Peter Robinson when he says "If someone told me I would have to repeat first year at B-school, I'd do just one thing. Get on my knees and beg for mercy!"
I knew what I was getting myself into and I intend to make full use of the opportunities WIMWI presents. I will never complain about the workload no matter how inhuman it gets...and I will try to update this blog as frequently as I can.
Signing off!!

One week to go and it will be the slot-end exams. Time has flown past so rapidly.
Feel like I haven't learnt anything yet. All in all, one-sixth of fachchadom will be done.
FRA is FRA-itening. Some others seem manageable.
Have been reading a lot of blogs recently. Somehow those guys come out sounding so much better, so much more 'philosophical'. Not that I want to try.
This slot has been good in a way...not been completely devoid of the company I love so much.
18 hrs of traveling to spend 30 hrs with your loved ones...with the famed WIMWI acads breathing down your neck...as Ash Rai said "...because you're worth it."

Weeks 1 to 3.5

Been here almost 4 weeks now...quizzes happening with tremendous regularity.
Extra-currics too starting now...soon there will be no time to stand and stare.
News of PPOs and very lucrative internships, exchange programmes with some of the best B-schools in the world lure me everyday. The lack of sleep (I am down to an avg of 5 hrs a night) is hitting slowly...very soon we will be beyond it all.
The slot is moving at break-neck speed and will be over by the time we realize what just hit us. Then the super packed slots 2-5 along with T-Nites, Conflu, Chaos and the big daddy of them all...SUMMERS!!
Have been trying to come to terms with all that is happening around me and inside me. A lot has changed and not all changes are nice.
Read this line in the blog of a super-super tucchi..."The problem with dealing with yourself is that you can see through all your excuses." How true!!
Assuming there are 6 slots of 6 weeks each...I am already through with 10% of fachchadom.
Amen!!

First post from IIMA...

Been at WIMWI for a fortnight now...still coming to terms with the culture shock vis-a-vis IISc.
The place is amazing, the profs are amazing, the classmates are great.
IIMA has its own culture all aimed at bringing the best out of us...our endurance, punctuality, ability to deal with stress.
More from WIMWI in the days to come.